Felixstowe F-5L

Aircraft of the U.S. Navy

Development

Entwicklung

The twin-engine F-5L was one of the Felixstowe F series of flying boats developed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, England during the First World War for production in America.

Porte had taken the Curtiss H.12, an original design by the American Glenn Curtiss and developed them into a practical series of flying boats at the Felixstowe station. They then took their F.5 model and further redesigned it with better streamlining, a stronger hull using veneer instead of doped linen and U.S.-built 330 hp (later 400 hp) Liberty 12A engines. The prototype was built and tested in England and the design then taken over by the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, where further modifications were made to suit their production methods under wartime conditions. The American-built version was also known as the Curtiss F-5L.
The F5L was built by the Naval Aircraft Factory (137), Curtiss (60) and Canadian Aeroplanes Limited (30).

Variants

Versionen

Felixstowe F-5L later redesignated PN-5 

Die Felixstowe F-5L wurde später PN-5 genannt.

Redesignated F-6L. Last two Naval Aircraft Factory F-5Ls, modified with revised tail surfaces

Umbenannte F-6L. Letzte beiden F-5L wurden von der Naval Aircraft Factory umgabaut.

Operational history

Einsatzgeschichte

The F-5L entered U.S. Navy service at the end of the war and was the U.S. Navy’s standard patrol aircraft until 1928, when it was replaced by the PN-12.

Die F-5L wurde am Ende des Krieges in den Dienst der U.S. Navy aufgenommen und war das Standard Patrouillenflugzeuge bis 1928 als es von der PN-12 ersetzt wurde.

Drawings

Zeichnungen

F-5L