What is this structure and aircraft? It is Real Photograph number 188.
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
3
-
9$\begingroup$ What is "Real Photograph"? Is it actually a proper noun? What does it refer to? $\endgroup$– Peter MortensenCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 15:35
-
9$\begingroup$ These were photographs issued by the Real Photographs Company of Liverpool, all with their number printed in the negative, and usually with their address details printed or stamped on the reverse. $\endgroup$– TigerCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 17:23
-
3$\begingroup$ I'm almost certain I've seen this in a blooper reel. It falls off the end and then we get funny music $\endgroup$– RichardCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 21:45
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
3
Judging by the “FB” on the tail, the aircraft is most probably a Franco-British Aviation FBA 17 designed by Louis Schrek.
More info here: https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,54251.msg590104.html#msg590104
answered Mar 8, 2022 at 17:28
-
$\begingroup$ Possibly a more valid aircraft ID than mine. Fin-rudder shape don't seem quite right, but fuselage is better. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 8, 2022 at 17:38
-
3$\begingroup$ @ZeissIkon - Mike’s first picture looks like it could be that exact airplane right down to the color scheme on the tail. Vstab shape looks like exact match to me. $\endgroup$– JimCommented Mar 8, 2022 at 20:27
-
$\begingroup$ I'm wi8th @Jim but the white vertical stripe in the photo in the Q does funny things to the apparent shape $\endgroup$– Chris HCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 9:25
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
9
That looks like a fixed test article representing an early version of the catapults used to launch flying boats and float planes (like the Kingfisher) from battleships before carriers were integrated into the fleets.
See this article for (one of) the last iterations of this kind of catapult.
Aircraft launched this way were recovered by landing alongside and winching back aboard. Once the jet era began, no competitive fighter aircraft could be launched with this small a catapult (nor did any exist with floats or as flying boats -- there were a couple such designs, but they went nowhere), and aircraft carriers had much stronger catapults mounted in the flight deck (a practice that continues to the present), obsoleting this launching method and indeed launching fixed-wing aircraft from non-carrier ships until VTOL jets became common.
The aircraft on the cradle looks very much like an (Aeromarine 40) (I now believe this is correctly the FBA 17 as given in the other answer). Correct tail shape, wing type, extended trailing edge ailerons, and inline or V engine. That would date this photo after the Armstice, likely during the early 1920s.
Note that the aircraft shown on the catapult is essentially a late WWI design -- fabric and wires on a wood or steel tube frame, the hull a little sturdier than the wings in terms of covering. Even if designed to be armed, aircraft from that period always look fragile compared to even the biplane fighters of the 1930s.
answered Mar 8, 2022 at 16:37
-
$\begingroup$ Many thanks to all of you for your time in answering this. Much appreciated. $\endgroup$– TigerCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 10:38
-
2$\begingroup$ I think, @ZeissIkon, that you could stop at "which universally looked too frail". Period. End of story. It's always amazing that those pieces of balsa wood & tissue paper managed to fly! ;) $\endgroup$– FreeManCommented Mar 9, 2022 at 18:17
-
1$\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman It is most definitely not a fighter plane. Battleship placed aircraft were used for search mission, and directing fire from the battleship. They had some self defense capabilities against enemy aircraft, but if encountering enemy aircraft their best defense was to find a cloud to hide in. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 10, 2022 at 9:38
-
1$\begingroup$ Regarding the part that states "before carriers were integrated into the fleets", carrier aircraft did not displace the battleship mounted search aircraft in all fleets. For example, the Japanese maintained them through WW2, and they proved very helpful for battleships operating separate from carriers. (One might even argue that they enabled such operations in the presence of air power.) $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 10, 2022 at 9:42
-
1$\begingroup$ @AkiKorhonen It would probably be more correct to say "before the obsolescence of battleships and cruisers". But by the time the jet era was well established, of course, non-carrier ships had started to carry helicopters. $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 10, 2022 at 12:03