M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
W&T: NORMAN THOMPSON No.I biplane
Following the failure of the first machine, Thompson proceeded to design a second landplane which was built during 1913. This was a side by side pusher biplane with the engine in the center of the nacelle, driving the propeller through an extension shaft. The propeller was just behind the crew, whose cockpit was at the extreme rear of the short nacelle. The tail unit was carried on slender steel tube tail booms, and consisted of top and bottom fins and one piece rudder, with a fixed tailplane and divided elevator. The nacelle, which was covered with steel sheet, was mounted above the lower center section on a chassis of steel struts, passing through, or clear of, the lower center section to the nacelle. At the connections to the nacelle there were rubber cord sprung mountings covered by a system under patent No.23744/12. The machine rested on two small diameter wheels with balloon tires, and on the rear end of the central skid.
The engine was a 100hp ABC water-cooled type mounted in the center of the nacelle with the coolant radiator on the nose, and the fuel tank between the engine and the crew, supplying fuel by gravity. The pusher propeller was driven by a long drive shaft passing through the cockpit.
The two bay wings tapered slightly and were rigged with slight dihedral, and carried tapered and curved single acting ailerons hinged behind the trailing edges. These were made of sheet fiber board and were initially fitted to the top wings only, but later were added to the bottom wings as well. The wings were constructed with metal spars and ribs with fabric covering. A series of wires stretched from the root to the tip of each wing, on each surface and the fabric was threaded through these wires. The method of wing construction was covered under patent Nos.21604/1912 and 1909/1913.
The machine was flown by E.R. Whitehouse and J.C. Porte, both RN officers and R.L. Chatteris, managing director of the ABC company, also by Norman Thompson. Although reported to be quite successful, the machine was not rebuilt after Porte overturned it in 1914. The firm had by this time acquired the rights to the Curtiss flying boat from Capt. E.C. Bass, which became their main interest from then on. Later the interpretation of this agreement became the subject of a legal wrangle with the Admiralty.
Power: 100hp ABC eight-cylinder water-cooled vee driving a 8ft 9in diameter three-bladed metal, adjustable-pitch Norman Thompson patented propeller.
Data (Dimensions estimated)
Span 30ft
Chord at root. 4ft 5 in
Gap 5ft 5in
Length 24ft
Height 12ft
Length of nacelle 9ft
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
White and Thompson No. 2
In June, 1912, the partnership of White and Thompson was constituted as a limited company under the title of White and Thompson, Co. Ltd. Their second product was a side-by-side two-seat pusher biplane designed by Norman A. Thompson and constructed during 1913. The 120 h.p. A.B.C. engine was mounted in the centre of the all-steel chassis, and drove a three-bladed propeller through an extension shaft. An unusual feature of the No. 2 was that the ailerons on the upper wings were made of sheet fibre.
The machine was flown in turn by Flt. Lt. E. R. Whitehouse, R.N., Lt. R. L. Charteris, R.F.C., and Lt. J. C. Porte, R.N., and proved to be quite successful, taking off well and flying fairly fast. Norman Thompson flew it also until it was overturned by Lt. Porte early in 1914. Owing to the company's pre-occupation with the Curtiss type of flying-boat for which White and Thompson had secured the exclusive rights in Great Britain, it was decided that the No. 2 was not worth rebuilding.