Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 Explained
The
Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 was a
First World War British single-seat open cockpit equal span
biplane scout aircraft built by Pemberton-Billing Limited, which later became the
Supermarine Aviation Works. Only one P.B.9 was built.
Design and development
The wings had full span spars with the upper and lower wings connected by four pairs of interplane struts.[1] The fuselage had a fixed landing gear with a tail skid. While designed to allow the use of a Gnome 80 hp engine the prototype P.B.9 was powered by a 50 hp (36 kW) Gnome rotary engine taken from the company's prototype P.B.1.[1] Using a set of wings that had been obtained from Radley-England (James Radley and Gordon England)[1] it was designed, built and made its first flight within nine days, though for publicity reasons its designer Noel Pemberton Billing claimed it had taken a week (giving rise to the nickname "Seven Day Bus").[1] It was first flown in August 1914.[2]
Although the aircraft performed well only the prototype was built which was later used by the Royal Naval Air Service as a trainer.
Operators
References
- Book: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
- Book: Mason, Francis K.. The British Fighter since 1912 . 1992 . Naval Institute Press . Annapolis, Maryland, USA . 1-55750-082-7 . Putnam Aviation Series .
- Book: Pegram, Ralph . Beyond the Spitfire - The Unseen Designs of R.J. Mitchell . The History Press . 2016 . Brimscombe Port . Hardback . 9780750965156.
- Book: Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft 1912-58. 1958. Putnam Publishing . London . 379.
Notes and References
- Pegram, page 15.
- Mason 1992, p. 31.
