The AD Flying Boat was designed by the British Admiralty's

Air Department The Air Department of the British Admiralty later succeeded briefly by the Air Section followed by the Air Division was established prior to World War I by Winston Churchill to administer the Royal Naval Air Service. History In 1908, the Bri ...

to serve as a

patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles ...

that could operate in conjunction with

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

warships. Intended for use during the First World War, production of the aircraft was terminated as the end of the war came into sight, and the type saw little operational use. A number were repurchased after the end of the war by Supermarine Aviation and rebuilt as civil transports, becoming known as the

Supermarine Channel The Supermarine Channel (originally the Supermarine Channel Type) was a modified version of the AD Flying Boat, purchased by Supermarine from the British Air Ministry and modified for the civil market with the intention of beginning regular a ...

Design and development

Designed in 1915 by the British

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

designer

Linton Hope Linton Chorley Hope FRAes (18 April 1863 – 20 December 1920) was a sailor from Great Britain, who represented his country at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Meulan, France. With Lorne Currie as helmsman and fellow crewmembers John Gretton and Al ...

,Bruce 1957, p.3. the aircraft was of conventional

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

flying-boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged aircraft, fixed-winged seaplane with a hull (watercraft), hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a ...

configuration, and also featured a biplane

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals ...

with twin

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

s. The pilot and observer sat in tandem in the nose, with the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

and

pusher propeller In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

mounted behind them, between the wings. The wings could be folded forwards to facilitate shipboard stowage. Two prototypes were constructed in 1916 by Pemberton-Billing Ltd (later to become Supermarine Aviation Works). The first prototype was intended to be powered by a 150 hp (112 kW) Sunbeam Nubian engine, but as this was not ready to use, a

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza 8 ...

was substituted.Bruce 1957, p.4 The aircraft performed poorly both on the water and in the air, demonstrating severe fore and

aft "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

vibration during take-off, while subject to excessive yaw during flight. After these problems were solved by producing revised versions of the hull, and the fin and rudder, the AD Flying Boat was able to be ordered into production.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.23.London 2003, p.20-23. A total of 80 aircraft were ordered, and 27 machines were built.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.355. Examples were tested with

Sunbeam Arab The Sunbeam Arab was a British First World War era aero engine. Design and development By 1916 the demand for aero-engines was placing huge demands on manufacturing. To help ease the pressure the War Office standardised on engines of about ; ...

and Wolseley Python engines.

Supermarine Channel

Following the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

, Supermarine purchased 19 of these AD Flying Boats to modify them for the civil market as the

. The Channel I was powered with a

Beardmore 160 hp The Beardmore 160 hp is a British six-cylinder, water-cooled aero engine that first ran in 1916, it was built by Arrol-Johnston and Crossley Motors for William Beardmore and Company as a development of the Beardmore 120 hp, itself a lic ...

engines, and the Channel II was fitted with a

Armstrong Siddeley Puma The Siddeley Puma was a British aero engine developed towards the end of World War I and produced by Siddeley-Deasy. The first engines left the production lines of Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in August 1917, production continued until December 1 ...

engine. The reconfigured flying-boats provided accommodation for a pilot and three passengers in three open cockpits.

Operators

Military operators

; *

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

- One aircraft. *

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the Wa ...

acquired one Channel with modified hull (similar to the

Supermarine Seal II The Supermarine Seal II was a British flying boat developed by Supermarine after it secured a British Air Ministry order for a prototype three-seater fleet spotter amphibian. The prototype, which had to be capable of landing on Royal Air F ...

) in 1922.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.40. ; *

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

purchased three Channels. ; *

Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service ( no, Marinens flyvevesen) was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force. History The RNNAS was established on 1 June 1912,Official Norwegian Defence ...

purchased four Beardmore engined Channels in 1920, acquiring a further ex-civil aircraft. One remained in service until 1928.Andrews and Morgan 1987, pp.35-36. ; *

Royal Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

purchased a single Channel in 1921, it being destroyed during testing. ; *

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

operated AD Flying Boat.

Civil operators

; * Det Norske Luftfartsrederi, Channel Mk INerdrum 1986, p.30.

Specifications (AD Flying Boat)

References

Sources

* * * * {{Authority control Flying Boat 1910s British patrol aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Flying boats Supermarine aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1916