Van Berkel W-B
type of aircraft
The Van Berkel W-B was a single engine Dutch long range reconnaissance seaplane built in the early 1920s for work in the Dutch East Indies. Six were operated by the Dutch Naval Aviation Service (MLD) with disappointing results, though the last two were not decommissioned until 1933.
Design and development
As neutrals in World War I, the Dutch armed forces experienced difficulties in obtaining military aircraft from abroad. To ease the problems of both the Dutch Army Aviation Group (LVA) and the MLD, in August 1917 the Ministry of War encouraged companies like the car makers Spyker to become involved in aircraft production. The only other manufacturer to volunteer was Van Berkel's Patent Company Ltd, formed to make meat processing cutters. They began by building the Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 floatplane fighter under licence as the Van Berkel W-A, then in 1919 the MLD invited to company to design and build a long range reconnaissance floatplane for use in the Dutch East Indies, based on the Hansa-Brandenburg W.29. The resulting Van Berkel W-B was broadly similar to the W.29 but both larger and more powerful: its span was increased by more than 40% and it had a 360 hp rather than a 150 hp engine.
The W-B was a braced low-wing monoplane with wings of constant chord. These were braced from below with pairs of parallel steel tube lift struts on each side, assisted by small jury struts, connecting the wing to the top of the appropriate float. Each float was mounted on the fuselage lower longerons by basically N-form struts, the leading member doubled into a narrow V, sharing common junctions with both the wing struts and two horizontal cross braces between the floats.
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