Supermarine Baby

The Supermarine Baby was a British flying boat fighter aircraft of the First World War designed and built by the Supermarine Aviation Works. Although only one was built, it formed the basis for the later Sea King fighter and Sea Lion I racer.

Design and development
The Baby was designed to meet an Admiralty requirement for a single seat floatplane or flying boat fighter, capable of operating from the Royal Navy's seaplane carriers, demanding a speed of 110 mph (177 km/h) and a ceiling of 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Supermarine received an order for three aircraft, while orders were also placed for prototypes from Westland (the Westland N.1B) and Blackburn (the Blackburn N.1B)

The aircraft was a single engined pusher biplane, with folding, single-bay wings and a T-tail. It had a streamlined wooden hull with the pilot's cockpit located in the nose. The first prototype, serial number N59 flew in February 1918, powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8 engine. It was later fitted with a Sunbeam Arab of similar power. By this time, however, the Royal Naval Air Service was operating Sopwith Pup landplanes from flying off platforms aboard ships, and the success of the Pup (and later the Sopwith Camel) lead to the abandonment of the N.1B programme. The second prototype was delivered as spare parts to support testing of the first prototype, while the third was not completed.

Despite the Baby's abandonment, it formed the basis for the Supermarine Sea Lion I racing aircraft, which flew in the 1919 Schneider Trophy, and the Supermarine Sea King fighter.