The small company “Beardmore” manufactured Sopwith aircraft under license, including the Pup fighter. When the fleet command issued an order for a deck-based fighter with folding wings, Beardmore decided to develop such an aircraft based on the Pup fighter, which was already in use on aircraft carriers.
Development and Origins
The aircraft received the designation Beardmore WB.III. Its prototype was the last of a batch of Pup aircraft at the Beardmore factory in Dalmuir and differed from the standard Pup with an elongated fuselage, modified for the installation of float landing gear. It also featured a main landing gear that folded towards the underside of the fuselage, and new struts and supports.
Design Characteristics
The new aircraft was a wooden, two-bay biplane. Its wings had a smaller span but a greater chord. To provide rigidity to the biplane structure when folding the wings backward, additional struts were installed, and the lower wing featured a center section.
On the first prototype, for convenient storage in the hangar, folding landing gear was equipped. Due to its narrow track, safety skids were placed on the lower wing. Subsequently, conventional landing gear with wheels or light skis was installed, though the safety skids remained.
The prototype was approved for shipboard operation on February 7, 1917, and 100 production machines were ordered.
Variants and Operational Service
The aircraft went into production under the designation S.B.3F (Ship-board Folding). The S.B.3D (Dropping) variant was equipped with jettisonable landing gear and inflatable floats for forced water landings. A Lewis machine gun was installed on the center section of the upper wing.
One hundred fighters were manufactured, but only 36 of them were used by the fleet on the aircraft carriers Furious, Nairana, and Pegasus.
Technical Specifications
| Modification | S.B.3D |
| Wingspan, m | 7. 62 |
| Length, m | 6.16 |
| Height, m | 2. 46 |
| Wing area, m2 | 22. 57 |
| Empty weight | 407 |
| Normal takeoff weight | 585 |
| Engine type | 1 Piston engine Clerget |
| Power, hp | 1 x 110 |
| Maximum speed, km/h | 1 65 |
| Cruising speed, km/h | 1 2 8 |
| Flight endurance, h.min | 2.45 |
| Service ceiling, m | 3800 |
| Crew, crew members | 1 |
| Armament: | 1 synchronized 7.7-mm Vickers machine gun |
Image and diagram gallery of the Beardmore WB.III (SB.3)
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