Fairey Hamble Baby

Hamble Baby
Role	Floatplane scout
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Fairey Aviation
Introduction	1917
Status	Retired
Primary users	Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force
Number built	180
Unit cost	£2,100 ^[1]
Developed from	Sopwith Baby

The Fairey Hamble Baby was a British single-seat naval patrol floatplane designed and built by Fairey Aviation for the Royal Naval Air Service

Design and development

Fairey Aviation built a number of Sopwith Baby floatplanes at its Hamble works. A variant of the Sopwith Baby was built by the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd. On 23 October 1916, Sopwith Baby No.8134 was sent to the Fairey works for repair, and the opportunity was taken to rebuild the aircraft to incorporate a number of modifications. The most significant was the Fairey Patent Camber Gear, which was a form of trailing edge flap used to increase lift. On the Fairey-built aircraft, the entire trailing edge of each wing was hinged along the rear spar, lowered by rotating a handwheel in the cockpit. A differential device ensured that the flaps could still be actuated as ailerons; thus, lateral control was maintained. In this modified form, the aircraft was known as the Fairey Hamble Baby. Production Hamble Babies differed in appearance from those built by Sopwith and Blackburn. The planform of wings and tailplane were changed: the wings had increased span and reduced chord, had rounded tips, and the tailplane had a characteristic shape different from the semi-circular outline of the Sopwith original. A new and angular fin, Fairey-designed main floats of new form, and an enlarged tail float were fitted, and the engine cowling was modified.^[2] Parnall also produced Hamble Babies, which had some detail differences from the Fairey produced aircraft. The last 74 aircraft were produced by Parnall as landplanes and known as the Hamble Baby Convert.

Operators

Greece

Hellenic Navy

United Kingdom

Specifications (110 hp Clerget)

Data from The British Fighter since 1912 ^[3]

General characteristics

Crew: One
Length: 23 ft 4 in (7.11 m)
Wingspan: 27 ft 9¼ in (8.47 m)
Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Wing area: 246 ft² (23.5 m²)
Empty weight: 1,386 lb (630 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,946 lb (885 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Clerget rotary engine, 110 hp (82 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 80 kn (92 mph, 148 km/h)
Service ceiling: 7,500 ft (2,290 m)
Wing loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²)
Power/mass: hp/lb (W/kg)
Endurance: 2 hr
Climb to 2,000 ft (610 m): 5 min 30 sec

Armament

Guns: 1 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun
Bombs: 2 × 65 lb (30 kg) bombs

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fairey.

Notes

↑ Taylor 1974, p.66
↑ FLIGHT, 22 November 1957
↑ Mason 1992, p.88-89

Bibliography

Mason, Francis K (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
Taylor, H.A. (1974). Fairey Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-00065-X.

Fairey Aviation Company aircraft

Chronological order	F.2 N.4 N.9 N.10 Hamble Baby Campania III Pintail Flycatcher Fawn Fremantle Ferret Fox Kangourou Firefly Long-range Monoplane Firefly II Fleetwing Hendon Gordon Seal S.9/30 TSR.1 G.4/31 Swordfish Fantôme Battle Seafox P.4/34 Albacore Fulmar Barracuda Firefly (monoplane) Spearfish Gyrodyne Primer Gannet Delta 1 Jet Gyrodyne Delta 2 Ultra-light Helicopter Rotodyne Gannet AEW

Avions Fairey aircraft	Avions Fairey Junior Avions Fairey Belfair Tipsy B Tipsy Nipper Tipsy M Tipsy S.2

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