FBA Type A. The FBA Type A and the similar Type B and C were a family of reconnaissance flying boats produced in France prior to and during World War I.

Development
All three were unequal-span pusher biplane flying boats with a single step hull with ash longerons covered in laminated plywood, divided by bulkheads into eight compartments. The 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.

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  Gnome Monosoupape and the type C using a  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

The earliest examples sold entered service with the Austro-Hungarian Navy and 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  Gnome Omega, initial aircraft from 1913.
Type A (production) - powered by a  Gnome Monosoupape 7 Type A, enlarged production aircraft.
Type B powered by a  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  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 130chFrench Navy nomenclature for the Type C

Operators

Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine

Brazilian Naval Aviation - Two Type B aircraft.

Danish Navy

Aéronautique Maritime

Italian Navy

Portuguese Naval Aviation - Three Type B aircraft.

Imperial Russian Air Service
Imperial Russian Navy

Royal Naval Air Service - 116 aircraft including 20 Type B aircraft.
Gosport Aircraft and Engineering Company

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)

References

Citations

Bibliography

1910s international military reconnaissance aircraft
1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft
FBA aircraft
Flying boats
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Biplanes
1910s French patrol aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1912
Rotary-engined aircraft