Felixstowe Porte Baby

The Porte Baby was designed by John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe where the prototype was also built; ten more were made by May, Harden and May of Southampton.The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1777 Between November 1915 and 1918 it was the largest flying boat built and flown in the United Kingdom.

The aircraft was an unequal-span, three-bay biplane of wood-and-fabric construction, the hull being mounted below the lower wing. The engines, normally three Rolls-Royce Eagles, (but sometimes with a 260 hp Green as the centre, pusher engine) were mounted between the wings; two in tractor configuration and the central one in pusher.

The two pilots were in an enclosed cockpit, the three gunners had open stations armed with machine guns.Bruce 2 December 1955, p.845.

The incongruously-named Baby was used to prove the concept of a larger aircraft carrying aloft and launching a lighter aircraft – in this case a Bristol Scout – taking off carrying the Bristol and successfully releasing it on 17 May 1916, a technique which came to be known variously as 'composite' or 'parasitic'.

The production Porte Babies were used to fly patrols over the North Sea from Felixstowe, RNAS Killingholme, Houton Bay, Orkney and Catfirth, Shetland.{{cite web|title=The First Seaplanes at Catfirth|url=http://www.crashsiteorkney.com/page36.htm|website=Aviation Research Group Orkney & Shetland|publisher=Aviation Research Group of Orkney & Shetland.|access-date=24 August 2015|date=2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813053311/http://crashsiteorkney.com/page36.htm|archive-date=13 August 2015|df=dmy-all}} Its slow speed and large size, however, made it vulnerable to fighter attack, and after one aircraft was almost destroyed by German aircraft, being forced down and having to taxi back from off the Dutch coast to England, the Portes were kept from patrolling areas where they could encounter enemy aircraft. The Porte Baby remained in service during October 1918.

;{{UK}}

• Royal Naval Air Service
• Royal Air Force

File:Felixstowe Porte Baby rear left view.jpg

{{Aircraft specs

|prime units?=imp

|ref= The Felixstowe Flying-Boats: Historic Military Aircraft No. 11 Part 3 Bruce 23 December 1955, p.932.

|crew= 5

|length ft= 63

|length in= 0

|length m= 19.21

|span ft= 124

|span m= 37.8

|height ft= 25

|height in= 0

|height m= 7.62

|wing area sqft= 2,364

|wing area sqm= 219.7

|empty weight lb= 14,700

|empty weight kg= 6,682

|gross weight lb= 18,600

|gross weight kg= 8,455

|eng1 name=Rolls-Royce Eagle VII

|eng1 type= V12 inline piston

|eng1 number=3

|eng1 hp= 345

|eng1 kw= 257

|max speed mph= 87.5

|max speed kts= 76

|max speed kmh= 141

|max speed note=at 2,000 ft (610 m)

|ceiling ft= 8,000

|ceiling m= 2,440

|time to altitude=25 min 5 s to 6,500 ft (1,980 m)

|guns= 3 × Lewis guns (1 in nose, 2 amidships)

}}

{{aircontent

|related=* Curtiss Model H{{cite journal|last1=Owers|first1=Colin|title=The Porte Baby|journal=Cross & Cockade International|date=2015|page=46|url=http://www.crossandcockade.com/uploads/Porte_Baby.pdf|accessdate=24 August 2015}}

• Curtiss Model T{{cite journal|last1=Owers|first1=Colin|title=Curtiss Model T|journal=Cross & Cockade International|date=2017|page=48|url=https://www.crossandcockade.com/uploads/CurtissT.pdf|accessdate=6 November 2019}}
• Felixstowe Fury (Porte Super-Baby)

|similar aircraft=

|sequence=

|lists=

|see also=

• Parasite aircraft
• Short Mayo Composite

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{citation |first= Bruce |last=J.M. |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201723.html |title=The Felixstowe Flying-Boats (Historic Military Aircraft No. 11 Part 1) |work=Flight |date=2 December 1955 |pages=842–846 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145240/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201723.html |archive-date=7 November 2018 }}
• {{citation |first= Bruce |last=J.M. |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201772.html |title=The Felixstowe Flying-Boats (Historic Military Aircraft No. 11 Part 2) |work=Flight |date=16 December 1955 |pages=895–898 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160803235921/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201772.html |archive-date=3 August 2016}}
• {{citation |first= Bruce |last=J.M. |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201806.html |title=The Felixstowe Flying-Boats (Historic Military Aircraft No. 11 Part 3) |magazine=Flight |date=23 December 1955 |pages=929–932 |volume=68 |issue=2448 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032142/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201806.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165345/http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=846 Porte Baby]: British Aircraft Directory

{{Commons category|Felixstowe Porte Baby}}

• {{YouTube|ul_bwwvEib8|Photographs taken at Felixstowe and Lowerstoft (sic) air stations 1914–18}} including Porte Baby aircraft at RNAS Felixstowe.
• [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008189 Sons of Our Empire]: Film of the Royal Naval Air Service at Felixstowe, including a Porte Baby being hauled up a slipway, 1916.
• [https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-porte-flying-boat-1917-online Porte Flying Boat]: Film of Porte Baby (9801) at RNAS Felixstowe and in flight, released 1917.
• [https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/flying-boats-over-the-northern-isles/ Flying boats over the Northern Isles]: Article including the Porte Baby.

{{Seaplane Experimental Station aircraft }}

Category:1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft

Category:Flying boats

Porte Baby

Category:Three-engined push-pull aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1915

Category:Three-engined piston aircraft