... O. T. Gnosspelius designed three hydro-airplanes before WWI ...
Oscar Gnosspelius actually designed
four hydro-aeroplanes before World War One.
A bit more background and bio ...
Major Oscar Theodor Gnosspelius, A.F.R.Ae.S., A.C.G.I. (10 March 1878-17 Feb 1953)
Prior to 1909, Gnosspelius had worked at the Crossfield Brothers boatyard at Arnside on Morecambe Bay. He then returned to Windermere applied the turning and fitting skills learned at Crossfields to aircraft construction. There, he responded enthusiastically to Captain E.W. Wakefield's notion of using sheltered waters as a base of operations for powered aircraft.
On the same day as Gnosspleius' failed attempt to fly his No.1 Hydro monoplane from Windermere, Edward Wakefield succeeded - becoming the first to fly from water in the UK. A number of sources present this 'race' as a rivalry. It was not. This was a close colloration by ardent pioneers (Gnosspleius even being invited to store his No.1 at Wakefield's Hill of Oaks hangar). The two men also shared vital information. [1] However, the closeness of their relationship has also caused some confusion.
Some sources attribute the design of the 1911 Lakes
Waterhen (for Lakes Flying School) to Gnosspleius. But, AFAIK, Gnosspleius had no direct involvement in this Edward Wakefield design. What can be said for sure is that Lakes later asked Gnosspleius to design a 2-seat training aircraft for them. This would emerge in late 1913 as the Lakes Hydro-monoplane pusher. That aircraft was used to train Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) pilots on Windermere after the outbreak of WW1.
In August 1914, Gnosspleius joined the Royal Naval Reserve and was attached to the RNAS. From 1914 to the end of 1916, Gnosspelius was assigned to the Brush Electrical Engineering Company Ltd. at Loughborough (just north Leicester). There he oversaw production of Short Brothers floatplanes for the RNAS (this Loughborough firm completing 20 x Short Type 827s and 190 x Type 184s.) On 27 Dec 1916, Gnosspelius was moved to vehicle-makers Robey & Company Ltd at Lincoln - a firm with a contract to build 20 x Short Type 184 floatplanes (simultaneously, Robey was building Maurice Farman
Longhorn trainers).
In April 1917, Gnosspelius was attached to the Air Board (the wartime predecessor to the Air Ministry) under Lord Cowdray. (Some sources assign this technical work to the Admiralty Air Department and, doubtless, there was overlap.) At war's end, Gnosspelius joined Short Brothers Ltd. at Rochester. Some sources say that he was 'Chief of the Tech. Dept.'. Either way, Gnosspelius was certainly head of Short's Test Department alongside an up-and-coming Arthur Gouge and engineer Jack Lower. In 1923, Gnosspelius paid his employers to construct two examples of the
Gull ultralight to test Gnosspelius' drag-reduced wing theory. Major Gnosspelius left Short Brothers in 1925.
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Oscar Gnosspelius Aircraft Designs
Gnosspelius No.1 - 1910 Hydro Aeroplane float monoplane; x 1
- No.1 : Bleriot XI-style shoulder-wing; open rear fuselage [2]
- No.1 : 1 x 20 hp Alveston (motorcycle?) HO2; span (??) m
- No.1 : 1st tested on broad central float* w/o wings fitted
-- * Made at Borwick & Sons yard; Bowness-on-Windermere
- No.1 : Aircraft refused to fly; development was abandoned
Gnosspelius No.2 - 1911 Hydro Aeroplane float monoplane; x 1
- No.2 : Similar to No.1; shoulder-winged monoplane on floats
- No.2 : 1 x 50 hp Clerget water-cooled 4-cyl inline; span (??) m
-- Tested summer 1911; refused to fly; damaged in Nov 1911
- No.2 : 1912 rebuild; fitted with No.1's float; flew 13 Feb 1912
Gnosspelius Hydro-biplane - 1913 2-seat tractor floatplane; x 1
- Hydro-biplane : Conventional, 3-bay biplane; water rudder
- Hydro-biplane : 1 x 100 hp Green inline 6-cyl.; span (??) m
- Hydro-biplane : Commission by Lt. John Trotter (No.2's pilot)
-- Proved overweight; abandoned after fairly limited flying
- Hydro-biplane : aka 'Gnosspelius-Trotter biplane'
Lakes Hydro-monoplane - 1913 2-seat pusher monoplane; x 1
- Hydro-monoplane: Gnosspelius design for E. W. Wakefield
- Hydro-monoplane: 1 x 80 hp Gnome rotary; span (??) m
- Hydro-monoplane: (Initially) broad central float + outriggers
- Hydro-monoplane: (As mod. for RNAS training) paired floats
- Hydro-monoplane: Pusher-prop between twin-boomed frame
-- Built by Borwick and Sons, of Bowness-on-Windermere
-- aka NAC Hydro-monoplane (after the Northern Aircraft Co.)
Gnosspelius
Gull - 1923 single-seat monoplane ultralight; x 2
-
Gull : 2 x pusher-props chain-driven by a motorcycle engine
-
Gull : 1 x 26 hp 679 cc Blackburne
Tomtit V2; span 11.07 m
-
Gull : Chains drove extension-shafts to trailing edge props
-- Meant to demonstrate Gnosspelius Aerodynamic Pendulum*
-- * Incorp. a step into upper wing surface at max thickness
-- * First as glider; then adapted for lightplane competitions
- Gull: Built by employer, Short Brothers Ltd. at Rochester
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[1] This was not without disagreement. When Wakefield applied to patent the float step concept this was opposed by Bristol in 1912 - backed up by a statutory declaration from Gnosspelius. Obviously there was no hard feelings since Gnosspleius was then hired to design for Wakefield's Lakes Flying Company.
[2] The re-use of No.1's central float on No.2 has caused some to conclude that the latter was simple refurbishment of the former. It wasn't. The two types could be distinguished by their fuselage structures. As
hesham's clipping show, No.1 had a rectangular fuselage frame comprising 6 x bays of wire-braced wood construction. No.2 had a triangular section fuselage from with 12 x bays.
