Felixstowe F.5

infobox Aircraft
name = Felixstowe F.5
type = military flying boat
manufacturer = Seaplane Experimental Station (1)
Short Brothers (23)
Dick, Kerr & Co. (2)
Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company (17)
Gosport Aviation (10)

---

caption = Felixstowe F.3
designer = J C Porte
first flight = May 1918
introduced = 1917
retired =
status =
primary user = RNAS
more users = RAF
US Navy (F5L)
produced =
number built = 53 (F.5); 227 (F5L)
unit cost =
developed from = Felixstowe F.2
variants with their own articles = Felixstowe F5L The Felixstowe F.5 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe.

Design and development

Porte had designed a better hull for the larger Curtiss H12 flying boat, giving the Felixstowe F.2a, which was greatly superior to the original Curtiss boat. This entered production and service as a patrol aircraft. In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F3 was flown. This was larger and heavier than the F2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, but poorer agility. The Felixstowe F5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F2 and F3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but the production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F.3, in order to ease production, giving lower performance than either the F.2a or F.3.

Operational history

The F5 did not enter service until after the end of World War I, but replaced the earlier Felixstowe boats (together with Curtiss flying boats) to serve as the RAF's standard flying boat until being replaced by the Supermarine Southampton in 1925.

In 1920. the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first ever Trans-Canada flight. The leg from Rivière du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by Lt.Col. Leckie and Maj. Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3 to determine the feasibility of such flights for future air mail and passenger service.

Variants

* Felixstowe F5L: US built version of F5 with two Liberty engines; numbers built.
** Naval Aircraft Factory (USA): 137
** Curtiss Aviation (USA): 60
** Canadian Aeroplanes Limkited (Canada): 30

Operators

* Royal Air Force - generally formed from RNAS flights.
** No. 230 Squadron RAF
** No. 231 Squadron RAF
** No. 232 Squadron RAF
** No. 238 Squadron RAF
** No. 247 Squadron RAF
** No. 249 Squadron RAF
** No. 259 Squadron RAF
** No. 261 Squadron RAF
** No. 267 Squadron RAF
* Royal Naval Air Service
* United States NavyJPN - (Post-war)
* Imperial Japanese Navy

pecifications (F5)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Aircraft of the Royal Air Force [Thetford, Owen. "Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918". London: Putnam & Co., 1979. ISBN 0-37030-186-2.
crew=4
capacity=
length main= 49 ft 3 in
length alt= 15 m
span main= 103 ft 8 in
span alt= 31.6 m
height main= 18 ft 9 in
height alt= 5.7 m
area main= 1,409 ft²
area alt= 131 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 9,100 lb
empty weight alt= 4,136 kg
loaded weight main= 12,682 lb
loaded weight alt= 5,765kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)= Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII
type of prop= V12 inline piston
number of props=2
power main= 345 hp
power alt= 257 kW
power original=

max speed main= 76 knots
max speed alt= 88 mph, 142 km/h
max speed more= at 2,000 ft (610 m)
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main= 6,800 ft
ceiling alt= 2,070 m
climb rate main= 30 min to 6,500 ft
climb rate alt= 1,980 m
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
* Endurance: 7 hours
armament=
* Guns: 4 × Lewis guns (1 in nose, 3 amidships)
* Bombs: Up to 920 lbs (418 kg) of bombs beneath wings
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Felixstowe F.2
* Felixstowe F.3
* Felixstowe F5L

similar aircraft=

sequence=
Felixstowe Porte Baby -Felixstowe F.2 -Felixstowe F.3 -Felixstowe F.5

lists=

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David and Jon Lake, eds. "Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft". London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-880588-24-2.
* Taylor, Michael J.H., ed. "Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation". London: Studio Editions, Ltd., 1989. ISBN 0-51710-316-8.

External links

* [http://www.willhiggs.co.uk/dundee/felixstowes.htm Felixstowe Flying-Boats]
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=672 britishaircraft.co.uk - Felixstowe F.5]
* [http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?style=single&currentrecord=1&page=search&profile=objects&searchdesc=Felixstowe%20F5L&quicksearch=Felixstowe%20F5L&newvalues=1&newstyle=expanded&newcurrentrecord=1 Smithsonian National Air and Space article on the F5L]