Felixstowe F.3

The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe the successor to the Felixstowe F.2

Design and development
In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was a larger and heavier development of the Felixstowe F.2a, powered by two 320 hp (239 kW) Sunbeam Cossack engines. Large orders followed, with the production aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Eagles. The F.3s larger size gave it greater range and heavier bomb load than the F2, but poorer speed and agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war, including 18 built at Malta Dockyard.

The Felixstowe F.5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F.2 and F.3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but the production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F3, in order to ease production, giving lower performance than either the F.2a or F.3. The Felixstowe F.5 was re-exported to America, and re-engined with Liberty V-12s, becoming the Curtiss F5L.

Operational history
The larger F3, which was less popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F2a, served in the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.

Operators

 * Canadian Air Board
 * Portuguese Navy
 * Portuguese Navy
 * Portuguese Navy
 * Royal Naval Air Service
 * Royal Air Force
 * No. 232 Squadron RAF
 * No. 234 Squadron RAF
 * No. 238 Squadron RAF
 * No. 249 Squadron RAF
 * No. 261 Squadron RAF
 * No. 263 Squadron RAF
 * No. 265 Squadron RAF
 * No. 267 Squadron RAF
 * No. 269 Squadron RAF
 * No. 270 Squadron RAF
 * No. 271 Squadron RAF
 * United States Navy
 * United States Navy
 * United States Navy