Beardmore WB.I

In 1916, G. Tilghman Richards, the newly appointed chief designer of the aviation department of the Scottish shipbuilder William Beardmore, designed his first aircraft for Beardmore, the W.B.1.

This was to be a single engine bomber for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), which was intended to carry out long gliding attacks to achieve surprise.

It was a three bay biplane with long span high aspect ratio wings, which were highly staggered.

It was powered by a 230 hp (172 kW) BHP engine and first flew in early 1917.

The W.B.1 was delivered to the RNAS at Cranwell for evaluation on 8 June 1917.

By this time however, the larger and more capable Handley Page O/100 was in production and the W.B.1 was rejected by the RNAS.

Specifications

Crew

1

Length

32 ft 10 in (10.01 m)

Wingspan

61 ft 6 in (18.75 m)

Height

14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)

Wing area

796 sq ft (74.0 m2)

Empty weight

3,410 lb (1,550 kg)

Gross weight

5,600 lb (2,545 kg)

Powerplant

1 × Sunbeam or Beardmore Adriatic,

230 hp (172 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed

91 mph (147 km/h, 79 kn)

Endurance

7.3 hours

Armament

One .303 in Lewis gun on rear cockpit

660 lb (300 kg) bombs.