The AD Navyplane was designed by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

's Air Department as a

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

for use during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Performance of the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

was so disappointing that plans to produce it were cancelled almost immediately. The Navyplane was designed by the Admiralty's Harold Bolas with the assistance of R.J. Mitchell of

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three cons ...

. It was a pusher

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

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 ...

with the pilot and observer being seated ahead of the wings in a streamlined lightweight

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

mounted in the gap between the upper and lower sets of wings. A Smith Static

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

and a

pusher propeller In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, whic ...

were installed behind them.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.25. Two examples were ordered in 1916 for the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

(RNAS).Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.26. Serial numbers were allocated for seven Navyplanes (9095-'96, N.1070-'74) but just one prototype (9095) was completed.Bruce 1957, p.9. Tests of this Supermarine-built prototype commenced in August

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

(flown by Lieutenant-Commander

John Seddon John Seddon is a United Kingdom, British occupational psychologist and author specializing in organizational change within the service industry. He is the founder and managing director of Vanguard, a Consulting firm, consultancy firm establishe ...

) but proved seriously underpowered and unsatisfactory. The engine was replaced with an AR.1

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

(which was later redesignated the BR.1 for Bentley Rotary 1) and retested in May 1917. However, even without a military load and observer, the Navyplane's performance still proved to be poor,Mason 1994, p.65. and the design was abandoned on 27 August 1917, with no second prototype being produced. Supermarine attempted to design an improved version to replace the Short 184, the design, the Supermarine Patrol Seaplane, being powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Sunbeam engine. While contracts for six aircraft were placed, work was abandoned before a prototype was built, the Short 184 proving adequate in the patrol role.

Specifications (AD Navyplane)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Andrews, C. F., and Morgan, E. B. ''Supermarine Aircraft since 1914''. London:Putnam, 1987, . *Bruce, J.M . ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber since 1914''. London:Putnam, 1994. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ad Navyplane Navyplane 1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Flying boats Supermarine aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1916 Rotary-engined aircraft

Specifications (AD Navyplane)

See also

References