Pemberton-Billing P.B.9
| P.B.9 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Single-seat Scout |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Pemberton-Billing Limited |
| Designer | |
| Primary user | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | August 1914 |
The Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 was a First World War British single-seat open cockpit equal-span biplane scout aircraft built by Pemberton-Billing Limited, which later became the Supermarine Aviation Works. One P.B.9 was built.
Design and development
[edit]The wings of the Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 had full span spars with the upper and lower wings connected by four pairs of interplane struts.[1] The fuselage had a fixed landing gear with a tail skid. While designed to allow the use of a Gnome 80 hp engine the prototype P.B.9 was powered by a 50 hp (36 kW) Gnome rotary engine taken from the company's prototype machine, the Pemberton-Billing P.B.1.[1]
Using a set of wings that had been obtained from Radley-England (James Radley and Gordon England), the P.B.9 was designed, built and made its first flight within 9 days. For publicity reasons its designer Noel Pemberton Billing claimed it had taken a week, a claim which gave rise to the nickname "Seven Day Bus".[1] It was first flown in August 1914.[2]
Although the aircraft performed well, only the prototype was built. It was later used by the Royal Naval Air Service as a trainer.
Operators
[edit]
Specifications
[edit]Data from Thetford 1958[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 20 ft 0 in (6.1 m)
- Wingspan: 26 ft 0 in (7.93 m)
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnome rotary engine , 50 hp (37 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 78 mph (126 km/h, 68 kn)
- Endurance: 3 hours
- Rate of climb: 500 ft/min (2.5 m/s)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Pegram 2016, p. 15.
- ^ Mason 1992, p. 31.
- ^ Thetford 1958, p. 379.
Sources
[edit]
- Mason, Francis K. (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Putnam Aviation. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-082-3.
- Pegram, Ralph (2016). Beyond the Spitfire: The Unseen Designs of R.J. Mitchell. Cheltenham, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6515-6.
- Thetford, Owen (1958). British Naval Aircraft 1912-58. London: Putnam Publishing.