Sopwith Baby
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| Baby | |
|---|---|
| Type | Single-seat scout and bomber biplane seaplane |
| Manufacturer | Sopwith Aviation Company |
| Maiden flight | 1915 |
| Primary user | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Number built | 286 (Baby) 180 (Hamble Baby) |
The Sopwith Baby was a British single-seat seaplane used by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915. The Baby was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Tabloid. Although the Baby had won the Schneider trophy in 1914, the RNAS did not place a formal order until January 1915. The production version of the Baby did not differ much from the Schneider Trophy winner.
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[edit] Operational history
The Baby was used as a shipborne scout and bomber aircraft operating from larger ships such as seaplane carriers and cruisers, and smaller vessels such as trawlers and minelayers. It was even considered for operation from submarines. The main role of the Baby was to intercept German Zeppelin raids as far from Britain as possible.
The Baby was also built by Blackburn, Fairey, and Parnall in the United Kingdom. In Italy licensed manufacture was undertaken by SA Aeronautica Gio Ansaldo of Turin. Babies saw service with Canada, the US, France, Chile, Greece and Norway. In Norway Babies were built occasionally as replacements, with a few seeing service until 1930. A small number of Norwegian Babies were used by Roald Amundsen in his polar expedition. Altogether, about 700 Babies were built.
[edit] Manufacturing history
- Baby:
- 100 - Sopwith Aviation Company
- 186 - Blackburn Aircraft
- Hamble Baby:
- 130 - Parnall
- 50 - Fairey Aviation
[edit] Operators
- One Sopwith Baby seaplane was used by the Royal Australian Navy in 1917. It was operated from the cruiser HMAS Brisbane.
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- Royal Naval Air Service
- Royal Air Force
- No. 219 Squadron RAF
- No. 229 Squadron RAF
- No. 246 Sqaudron RAF
- No. 248 Squadron RAF
- No. 249 Squadron RAF
- No. 263 Squadron RAF
- No. 269 Squadron RAF
- No. 270 Squadron RAF
[edit] Specifications
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.Data from {name of first source}
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 23 ft (7.01 m)
- Wingspan: 25 ft 8 in (7.82 m)
- Height: 10 ft (3.05 m)
- Wing area: 240 ft² (22.30 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,226 lb (557 kg)
- Loaded weight: 1,715 lb (779 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Clerget rotary engine, driving a two blade wooden propeller, 110 hp (82 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 87 knots (100 mph, 162 km/h) at sea level
- Service ceiling 10,000 ft (3,050 m)
- Rate of climb: 285 ft/min (1.45 m/s)
- Endurance: 2.25 hrs
Armament
- 1 × Lewis gun
- 2 × 65 lb (28 kg) bombs
[edit] See also
Related development
Related lists
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