Wight Seaplane Explained

The Wight Seaplane was a British twin-float seaplane produced by J Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). It was also known as the Admiralty Type 840.

Design and development

Designed by Howard T Wright and built by the aircraft department of the shipbuilding company J Samuel White & Company Limited, the Wight Seaplane was a slightly smaller version (61 ft (18.59 m) span) of the Wight Pusher Seaplane. The aircraft was a conventional two-float seaplane with tandem open cockpits and a nose-mounted 225 hp (168 kW) Sunbeam engine. Fifty-two aircraft were built and delivered, and an extra 20 were produced as spares production being undertaken by Portholme Aviation and William Beardmore & Co., Ltd.^[1]

Operational history

The Wight Seaplane served with the RNAS at Dundee Felixstowe, Scapa Flow and Gibraltar, being used for anti-submarine patrols between 1915 and 1917.^[2]

Operators

• Royal Navy
  • Royal Naval Air Service

References

• Book: Mackay, Chales Edward. Beardmore Aviation: The Story of a Scottish Industrial Giant's Aviation Activities. 2012. A Mackay. 978-0957344303.

Book:

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)

. Orbis Publishing.

Notes and References

1. Book: Mason, Francis K . The British Bomber since 1914 . Putnam Aeronautical Books . London . 1994 . 0-85177-861-5.
2. Book: Thetford, Owen . British Naval Aircraft since 1912 . Putnam Aeronautical Books . London . 1982 . 0-370-30480-2. 455.