Wight Seaplane
floatplane model
The Wight Seaplane was a British twin-float seaplane produced by J Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). It was also known as the Admiralty Type 840.
Design and development
Designed by Howard T Wright and built by the aircraft department of the shipbuilding company J Samuel White & Company Limited, the Wight Seaplane was a slightly smaller version (61 ft (18.59 m) span) of the Wight Pusher Seaplane. The aircraft was a conventional two-float seaplane with tandem open cockpits and a nose-mounted 225 hp (168 kW) Sunbeam engine. Fifty-two aircraft were built and delivered, and an extra 20 were produced as spares production being undertaken by Portholme Aviation and William Beardmore & Co., Ltd.
Operational history
The Wight Seaplane served with the RNAS at Dundee Felixstowe, Scapa Flow and Gibraltar, being used for anti-submarine patrols between 1915 and 1917.
Operators
United Kingdom
Royal Navy
Royal Naval Air Service
Specifications (Seaplane)
Data from The British Bomber since 1914 General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 41 ft 0 in (12.50 m)
Wingspan: 61 ft 0 in (18.59 m)
Wing area: 568 sq ft (52.8 m2)
Empty weight: 3,408 lb (1,546 kg)
Gross weight: 4,810 lb (2,182 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Sunbeam 225hp V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 225 hp (168 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 81 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn)
Armament
Bombs: 1x 810 lb (367 kg) Whitehead Mk.IX 14 in (356 mm) aerial torpedo or equivalent weight in bombs.
See also
Related development
Wight Pusher Seaplane
References
Mackay, Chales Edward (2012). Beardmore Aviation: The Story of a Scottish Industrial Giant's Aviation Activities. A Mackay.
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