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I have half a story to tell and hope that someone on the forum can provide the other part.
Vickers Aviation had a licence agreement with Wibault to build their aircraft in the UK and to exploit their metal fabrication patents. At the end of 1928 Vickers acquired Supermarine Aircraft. In early 1930 Supermarine must have been requested to contribute to a proposed Wibault flying boat, it is not clear whether this was to design a hull, aid Wibault to design one, or to comment on Wibault’s work. I have seen four Supermarine blueprints titled Wibault Flying Boat.
1) A full Supermarine drawing dated 21st July 1930. This is for a very large flying boat that matches Wibault flying surfaces to a hull that is near-identical to Supermarine’s intermediate Type 179 ‘Giant’ project, the drawings for which are dated 15th July 1930. Over-wing nacelles for tractor and pusher engines, as in the Type 179. Probably 4 engines. Loaded weight 70,000lbs.
2) A preliminary sketch drawing, undated but no earlier than mid-1931, which suggests (Supermarine calculation) a wing span of ~60m. Completely new hull design that is not Supermarine style. Engines sketched (by Supermarine) as broad-arrow type, so maybe Hispano Suiza 18Sb
3) A drawing, undated, but numbered immediately after 2) above. Base drawing is by Wibault and annotated in French. Titled Type 410Th. New hull with sponsons. Engines are now mounted on the leading, or trailing, edges of the wing (only the thrust axis is shown). No scale but appears to be a wind tunnel model with a hull length of 654mm
4) A drawing, undated, but numbered immediately after 3) above. Base drawing is by Wibault and annotated in French. Titled Type 440Th. New hull, neither sponsons nor wing floats shown. Four engines mounted on the leading edge of the wing, probably radials. Labelled as full scale and is a wind tunnel model with a hull length of 698mm
So from 1930 Wibault were investigating designs for a very large flying boat in the DoX/Supermarine 'Giant' class. Can anyone fill in the gaps in the story from the French side?
Vickers Aviation had a licence agreement with Wibault to build their aircraft in the UK and to exploit their metal fabrication patents. At the end of 1928 Vickers acquired Supermarine Aircraft. In early 1930 Supermarine must have been requested to contribute to a proposed Wibault flying boat, it is not clear whether this was to design a hull, aid Wibault to design one, or to comment on Wibault’s work. I have seen four Supermarine blueprints titled Wibault Flying Boat.
1) A full Supermarine drawing dated 21st July 1930. This is for a very large flying boat that matches Wibault flying surfaces to a hull that is near-identical to Supermarine’s intermediate Type 179 ‘Giant’ project, the drawings for which are dated 15th July 1930. Over-wing nacelles for tractor and pusher engines, as in the Type 179. Probably 4 engines. Loaded weight 70,000lbs.
2) A preliminary sketch drawing, undated but no earlier than mid-1931, which suggests (Supermarine calculation) a wing span of ~60m. Completely new hull design that is not Supermarine style. Engines sketched (by Supermarine) as broad-arrow type, so maybe Hispano Suiza 18Sb
3) A drawing, undated, but numbered immediately after 2) above. Base drawing is by Wibault and annotated in French. Titled Type 410Th. New hull with sponsons. Engines are now mounted on the leading, or trailing, edges of the wing (only the thrust axis is shown). No scale but appears to be a wind tunnel model with a hull length of 654mm
4) A drawing, undated, but numbered immediately after 3) above. Base drawing is by Wibault and annotated in French. Titled Type 440Th. New hull, neither sponsons nor wing floats shown. Four engines mounted on the leading edge of the wing, probably radials. Labelled as full scale and is a wind tunnel model with a hull length of 698mm
So from 1930 Wibault were investigating designs for a very large flying boat in the DoX/Supermarine 'Giant' class. Can anyone fill in the gaps in the story from the French side?
