The Beardmore W.B.1 was a British single-engine bomber biplane of World War I developed by Beardmore.^[1]

Development and design[edit]

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 engined 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.^[2] It was powered by a 230 hp (172 kW) BHP engine and first flew in early 1917.^[3]

The W.B.1 was delivered to the RNAS at Cranwell for evaluation on 8 June 1917.^[4] 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.^[3]

Specifications[edit]

Data from Mason, The British Bomber since 1912 ^[3]

General characteristics

• 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 Galloway 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

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Lewis, Peter (1980). The British Bomber since 1912 (Third ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-30265-6.
• Mason, Francis K. (1994). The British Bomber since 1912. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
• Owers, Colin (2023). Beardmore Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 69. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-69-0.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London: Studio Editions.