Felixstowe F.3

The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat, successor to the Felixstowe F.2 designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe.

Design and development

In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was a larger and heavier development of the Felixstowe F.2A, powered by two 320 hp (239 kW) Sunbeam Cossack engines. Large orders followed, with the production aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Eagles. The F.3's larger size gave it greater range and a heavier bombload than the F2, but poorer speed and agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war, including 18 built by the Dockyard Constructional Unit at Malta.

Operational history

The larger F.3, which was less popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F.2A, served in the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.

In 1920, the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first-ever Trans-Canada flight to determine the feasibility of such flights for future air mail and passenger service. The leg from Rivière du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by Lieutenant Colonel Leckie and Major Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3. Six F.3s served with the Canadian Air Force/Air Board between 1921 and 1923.

On the 22 March 1921, a Felixstowe F.3 flying boat of the Portuguese Naval Aviation – crewed by the naval aviators Sacadura Cabral and Ortins de Bettencourt, naval navigator Gago Coutinho and aviation mechanic Roger Soubiran – performed the first flight between Mainland Portugal and Madeira.

Variants

Felixstowe F-III

Canadian Vickers Felixstowe F.3 built for a transatlantic attempt.

Short F.3 Air Yacht

G-EAQT (ex N4019) and G-EBDQ (ex N4177) placed on the civil register and converted for private use. G-EAQT fitted by Short Brothers, including three lounges upholstered in green and grey for ten passengers.

Operators

• The Aerial Company Ltd - G-EAQT (ex N4019) damaged in transit from the UK
• Aviation Ltd - two proposed for commercial use, carrying six passengers or a ton (2,240 lb) of freight between the mainland and Tasmania

• Canadian Air Board

• Portuguese Naval Aviation

• Aeronáutica Naval España
• Spanish seaplane carrier Dédalo – three carried

• Royal Naval Air Service
• Royal Air Force
• No. 232 Squadron RAF
• No. 234 Squadron RAF
• No. 238 Squadron RAF
• No. 249 Squadron RAF
• No. 261 Squadron RAF
• No. 263 Squadron RAF
• No. 265 Squadron RAF
• No. 267 Squadron RAF
• No. 269 Squadron RAF
• No. 270 Squadron RAF
• No. 271 Squadron RAF

• United States Navy

Specifications (F.3)

See also

References

Further reading

• Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London: Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978. .

External links

• Felixstowe F.3 G-EAQT (c/n S.6907): Article describing an attempt and proposal to establish commercial flying boat services in Australia between 1919 and 1921 using the Felixstowe F3.
• The First Trans-Canada Flight: Photographs including the Felixstowe F.3 flown by Leckie and Hobbs during October 1920 and their stop in Selkirk, Manitoba.
• Fire Fighting with Aeroplanes: Film showing the use of flying boats, including a Felixstowe F.3 (G-CYBT) and seaplanes to help prevent forest fires in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, c.1922.
• A Heroic Rescue In The Wilderness Of Northwestern Ontario: Article describing the search and rescue of Felixstowe F.3 (G-CYBT) by Felixstowe F.3 (G-CYEN) from Pikangikum, Ontario, Canada, during July and August 1922, ultimately written off charge from Manitoba in September.
• In the Wake of Captain Cook: Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau film of a visit by F.3 flying boat (G-CYDI) to Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, Canada, c.1922.
• Felixstowe Flying-Boats