View source for Engineering:FBA Type A

{{short description|French WW1 reconnaissance aircraft}}
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{{Infobox aircraft
| name                = FBA Type A, B, and C
| logo                = 
| logo_size           = 
| image               = Ministry of Information First World War Miscellaneous Collection Q33809 (cropped).jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| long_caption        = 
| other_names         = 
| aircraft_type       = Reconnaissance flying boat
| aim                 = 
| outcome             = 
| related             = 
| national_origin     = 
| manufacturer        = FBA
| design_group        = 
| designer            = 
| builder             = 
| issuer              = 
| status              = Retired
| owners              = 
| primary_user        = France Aéronautique Maritime
| more_users          = Royal Naval Air Service
| service             = 
| major_applications  = 
| proposals           = 
| prototypes          = 
| number_built        = ca. 250
| construction_number = 
| civil_registration  = 
| military_serial     = 
| radio_code          = 
| requirement         = 
| aircraft_carried    = 
| flights             = 
| total_hours         = 
| total_distance      = 
| construction_date   = 
| introduction        = 1912
| retired             = 
| first_flight        = 1912
| initiated           = 
| in_service          = 
| last_flight         = 
| expected            = 
| developed_from      = 
| variants            = 
| developed_into      = [[Engineering:FBA Type H|FBA Type H]]
| preservation        = 
| fate                = 
| predecessors        = 
| successors          = 
| concluded           = 
}}

The '''FBA Type A''' and the similar '''Type B''' and '''C''' were a family of reconnaissance [[Engineering:Flying boat|flying boat]]s produced in France prior to and during [[Social:World War I|World War I]].  

==Development==
All three were unequal-span [[Engineering:Pusher configuration|pusher]] [[Engineering:Biplane|biplane]] flying boats with a single step hull with [[Biology:Fraxinus excelsior#Uses|ash]] longerons covered in [[Chemistry:Plywood|laminated plywood]], divided by [[Engineering:Bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] into eight compartments. The [[Engineering:Empennage|empennage]] was carried on an upswept curved extension of the hull made from steel tubing. The pilot and observer sat side by side in the open cockpit.<ref name=Taylor>Taylor, 1989, p.381</ref>

The design originated with patents by Donnet-Lévêque and initially reflected the general configuration of that company's aircraft.
The Type A had a single-bay wing, while the larger Type B and C had two bay wings which otherwise only differed in the engine installed, with the type B using a {{cvt|100|hp|disp=flip}} Gnome Monosoupape and the type C using a {{cvt|130|hp|disp=flip}} Clerget 9B. The RNAS contracted for 20 type B's from Norman Thompson, who was responsible for building flying surfaces for hulls provided from France, which differed most noticeably by having a rectangular all-flying rudder in place of the D-shaped rudder used on French examples. The Type A was the only version with a fin attached to the rudder although some aircraft had a field modification with a fin being added between the hull and the tailplane. The Type H was developed from the Type C but was larger, had a new hull that wasn't attached directly to the tailplane, had an oval rudder and used a Hispano-Suiza 8 stationary engine.

==Operational history==
[[image:RNAS FBA Type B Ministry of Information First World War Miscellaneous Collection Q33780.jpg|thumb|RNAS FBA Type B, which used British-built flying surfaces with a French-built hull]]
The earliest examples sold entered service with the [[Place:Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Navy]] and [[Place:Denmark|Danish Navy]] prior to World War I, but large-scale use began with sales to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) who initially ordered 20 Type B's from Norman-Thompson before receiving additional Type Cs from France. The French Aéronautique Maritime, and Italian Navy followed with orders for Type Bs and Cs in 1915. The FBA flying boats were used for naval patrols and frequently encountered their opposing German and Austro-Hungarian Navy counterparts which led to some being converted to single seaters armed with a machine gun. Three Type Bs were the first aircraft operated by the Portuguese Navy.

==Variants==
;Type A: (1913) - powered by a {{cvt|50|hp|disp=flip}} Gnome Omega, initial aircraft from 1913.
;Type A: (production) - powered by a {{cvt|80|hp|disp=flip}} Gnome Monosoupape 7 Type A, enlarged production aircraft.
;Type B: powered by a {{cvt|100|hp|disp=flip}} Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2. Over 150 built. The 20 Norman-Thompson built Type B for the RNAS had different flying surfaces.
;Type C: powered by a {{cvt|130|hp|disp=flip}} Clerget 9B. 78 built.
;Type 11 HE.2: two-seat elementary flying-boat.
;Type 14 HE.2: Two-seat training flying-boat for the French Navy. 20 built.
;FBA 100ch: French Navy nomenclature for the Type B
;FBA 130ch:French Navy nomenclature for the Type C

==Operators==
[[File:Aviation Officer's School First season 22.jpg|thumb|Beached Imperial Russian Navy FBA Type C]]
[[File:Lisboa em1018 2103651 (26330326018).jpg|thumb|Former Portuguese Navy FBA Type B, at the Maritime Museum, Lisbon]]
;{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}
*''Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine''
;{{BRA}}
*Brazilian Naval Aviation - Two Type B aircraft.
;{{DNK}}
*Danish Navy
;{{FRA}}
*''Aéronautique Maritime''
;{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}}
*Italian Navy
;{{POR}}
*Portuguese Naval Aviation - Three Type B aircraft.
;{{flagcountry|Russian Empire|1914}}
*Imperial Russian Air Service
*Imperial Russian Navy
;{{flagcountry|UKGBI}}
*Royal Naval Air Service - 116 aircraft<ref name=Thetford>Thetford, 1982, p.461</ref> including 20 Type B aircraft.
*Gosport Aircraft and Engineering Company<ref name=Mulder>Mulder, 2015</ref>

==Survivor==
A single example of a type B survives in the Museu de Marinha in Lisbon. This aircraft was reassembled from parts from the Portuguese Navy's first two aircraft. 

==Specifications (Type C)==
[[File:Franco British Aviation (FBA) Type C drawing.jpg|thumb|FBA Type C drawing]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=French aircraft of the First World War,<ref name="Davilla">Davilla, 2002, 259</ref> and The Rand McNally encyclopedia of military aircraft, 1914-1980<ref name=Angelucci>Enzo, 1983, p.88 </ref>
|prime units?=met
|crew=Two, pilot and observer
|length m=9.14
|span m=13.71
|height m=3.05
|wing area sqm=32
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=640
|gross weight kg=907
|max takeoff weight kg=
|fuel capacity=
<!-- Powerplant-->
|eng1 number=1|eng1 name=Clerget 9B|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine|eng1 hp=130
|prop blade number=2|prop name=fixed-pitch pusher propeller
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!-- Performance -->
|max speed kmh=110
|cruise speed kmh=
|stall speed kmh=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed kts=
|range km=320
|endurance=2.75 hours
|ceiling m=
|time to altitude={{cvt|2000|m}} in 25 minutes
|wing loading kg/m2=
<!-- Armament -->
|guns= 1 x {{cvt|7.7|mm}} machine-gun
|bombs= 2 x {{cvt|11|kg}} bombs
}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Davilla |first1=Dr. James J. |last2=Soltan |first2=Arthur M. |title=French aircraft of the First World War |year=2002 |publisher=Flying Machines Press|isbn=1891268090|page=259}}
*{{cite book|last1=Durkota|first1=Alan|last2=Darcey|first2=Thomas|last3=Kulikov |first3=Victor |title= The Imperial Russian Air Service &mdash; Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War I|year=1995|publisher=Flying Machines Press|location=Mountain View, CA |isbn=0963711024}}
*{{cite book|last=Enzo|first=Angelucci|title=The Rand McNally encyclopedia of military aircraft, 1914-1980|date=1983|publisher=Military Press|location=San Diego|isbn=0517410214|page=88}}
*{{cite book|last1=Morareau|first1=Lucien|title=Les Aeronefs de l'Aviation Maritime|publisher=ARDHAN (Association pour la Recherche de Documentation sur l'Histoire de l'Aeronautique Navale|location=Paris, France|year=2002|isbn=2-913344-04-6|pages=44–47}}
*{{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Michael J.H.|title=Jane's encyclopedia of aviation|date=1989|publisher=Portland House|location=London|isbn=0517691868| page=381}}
*{{cite web|last1=Mulder|first1=Rob J M|title=THE BRITISH AIRCRAFT ON THE ELTA OF 1919|url=https://www.europeanairlines.no/the-british-aircraft-on-the-elta-of-1919/|website=European Airlines|publisher=EUROPEAN AIRLINES / ROB MULDER|accessdate=10 February 2017|date=2015}}
*{{cite book|last1=Thetford |first1=Owen|title=British naval aircraft since 1912|date=1982|publisher=Putnam|isbn=0370300211|edition=5th|page=461}}
*{{cite magazine|title=The Franco-British Aviation Co Ltd. |magazine=Flight |date=27 December 1913 |volume=V (No. 52) |issue=261 |page=1405 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%201379.html |accessdate=10 December 2018}}

<!--==External links==-->

{{FBA aircraft}}

[[Category:Flying boats]]
[[Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft]]
[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Rotary-engined aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|FBA Type A}}