The 1910 Ferguson No. 2 monoplane was designed and built by Harry G. Ferguson in Ireland.
Span: 32′
Length: 27′
Speed: 55 mph
Ferguson No. 2 monoplane
Aircraft
Ferguson Monoplane
The exploits of the Wright Brothers fascinated Harry Ferguson and during subsequent years he visited many air shows and exhibitions. Two he attended were Rheims and Blackpool where he took measurements from the aircraft there. On his return to Belfast he persuaded his brother Joe that it would be good for their garage business to build and fly planes.
Throughout 1909 construction took place, with various changes and improvements being made as work progressed, one being the replacement of the original Green engine by an eight cylinder, air cooled 35hp JAP engine.
The day of the first flight attempt arrived and with wings detached and the tail resting in the back of a car the aircraft was towed through the Belfast streets up to Hillsborough Park. First efforts to get off the ground failed due to propeller trouble. It was replaced but again this and bad weather prevented attempts for nearly a week.
Finally, on the 31 December 1909 Ferguson was ready to go. A reporter from the Belfast Telegraph described the scene:
The roar of the eight cylinders was like the sound of a Gatling gun in action. The machine was set against the wind, and all force being developed the splendid pull of the new propeller swept the big aeroplane along as Mr Ferguson advanced the lever. Presently, at the movement of the pedal, the aeroplane rose into the air at a height from nine to twelve feet, amidst the heavy cheers of the onlookers. The poise of the machine was perfect and Mr Ferguson made a splendid flight of 130 yards. Although fierce gusts of wind made the machine wobble a little twice the navigator steadied her by bringing her head to wind, successful initial flight that has ever been attempted upon an aeroplane.
A few unsuccessful attempts, one of which was at Magilligan Sands, the Ferguson monoplane took to the air from Hillsborough. However, while his attempts at Hillsborough and Magilligan are well documented, it is believed that Ferguson tested his plane at the site of what is now Ards Airfield.
Harry Ferguson had thus made the first flight in Ireland and was the first Briton to build and fly his own aeroplane.
The machine was rebuilt and flown in 1911 and 1912.
Allastair Duffin, a Newtownards boatbuilder and woodworker, was building a replica of the Harry Ferguson monoplane commissioned by the BBC. The BBC approached Alastair about with their idea of filming a documentary about Ferguson, which would include flying a replica of the original plane.
There are no original plans and it appears Harry Ferguson marked it out on the floor and said to the men, right, there you are, build it. Plans were drawn up using a model at a museum as its basis. Once completed it is hoped the plane will fly.
Engine: JAP 8-cyl, 35 hp
Wing span: 32 feet
Length: 26 feet
Ferguson, Henry George “Harry”
Harry Ferguson of Belfast, Ireland, after the 1911 airplane experiment, went on to be more famous for the Ferguson and Massey-Fergson tractors.
Ferber 1907 Aeroplane
From 1904-1906, Ferber collaborated with Colonel Charles Renard at Chalais-Meudon. In 1905, he built a larger glider to which he married a 12 hp motor, and on 25 May at Chalais -Meudon he launched it from an overhead cable and made a short powered glide. Although not really a successful airplane, it seems to rank as the first rationally conceived and constructed airplane to fly in Europe.
Ferber, Ferdinand
Ferdinand Ferber (8 Feb 1862 Lyon- 22 September 1909 Boulogne-sur-mere). was one of, if not the, most scientifically minded of the early French Aviators. In many ways, it was he who brought about the great blossoming of French Aviation after 1908. A French Artilleryman, he was one of the first Frenchmen to really begin to understand what the Wrights had produced, following their 1908 demonstrations in France. But that was not the beginning of his aviation.
Born in Lyon in 1862, he joined the Army and became an Artillery Officer
He had studied intensively the works of Lillienthal, and espoused a slow progressive scientific development of the airplane. He began working with gliders in 1899, and progressed them until 1901, without noticeable success. At that time he entered into correspondence with Chanute, and received copies of Wright’s first Chicago lecture. He immediately abandoned the Lillienthal model and went to the Wright controllable model. He began building and testing Wright-type gliders in 1902. However, he did not include wing-warping, so the first Wright-type planes seen in Europe did not offer any control, and prejudiced European attitudes toward Wright fliers for years.
In 1904, Archdeacon supported the construction of a powered Wright type flier, which was flown without much success at Berck-sur-Mer by Ferber (along with Gabriel Voisin, interestingly). In late 1904, Ferber again tried to build a glider, but this time added more control devices, and tested his system in a tethered mode using a slide down a cable. His new glider more or less set the configuration for future European development of biplanes.
In 1904 he made the first flight of a heavier than air machine in Europe when he took his mechanic for a short hop at Chalais Meudon.
From 1904-1906, he collaborated with Colonel Charles Renard at Chalais-Meudon. In 1905, he built a larger glider to which he married a 12 hp motor, and on 25 May at Chalais -Meudon he launched it from an overhead cable and made a short powered glide. Although not really a successful airplane, it seems to rank as the first rationally conceived and constructed airplane to fly in Europe. He subsequently built two other machines, and made flights on them in 1908.
In 1907 he left the Army and joined the Antoinette Company, where he was allowed to continue his experimentation and aircraft design. His greatest impact on the French aviation scene was not so much due to any particular aircraft, but to his continued emphasis on experimentation, followed by revision, followed by more experimentation. He continued to experiment when most of the others had given up. He introduced Chanute to the French aviation community, and influenced Archdeacon and Voisin.
He earned his pilot’s license (#5b) from the AeroClub of France on 7 January 1909, flying a Voisin. In early 1909, he undertook the task of organising an airfield at Juvisy/Porte-Aviation, and opened the second civilian school for pilot training. During the Rheims exhibition in 1909, he competed under the name of “De Rue”. Following that, he won several minor competitions, also under the name of “De Rue”.
22 September 1909 Captain Ferber was killed at Boulougne during a taxiing accident.
“Bolougne, Sept. 22. – Capt. Ferber, an officer of the French army, was killed near here this morning while testing an aeroplane. While in the air the machine turned completely over and then dashed to the ground. Capt. Ferber was crushed to death by the motor.
After a short flight the captain attempted to alight. A wing of the machine touched the ground and the aeroplane turned a somersault and crashed to the earth.”
Fenton Cheel
A two-seat light aircraft designed by J.B.Fenton in 1930. Construction was started at Stanmor, UK, in 1931, registered G-ABHZ c/n F.Mk.1, it was not finished.
Felixstowe F.5
The Felixstowe F.5 is a four-seater seaplane of British maritime reconnaissance aircraft developed at the end of the First World War. Designed to combine the same payload and the operating range of the Felixstowe F.3 with qualities of handiness and the performances of the Felixstowe F.2a.
The last aircraft designed by John C. Door, the prototype, N90, first flew in May 1918, the aircraft met expectations, the hull supporting maritime conditions of the North Sea, and production was launched.
To accelerate production and for economic reasons, The F.5 adopted many elements already built for the F.3. Preserving practically only the hull of the prototype, with the aerofoil and the engines of the F.3, the craft had performances lower than the prototype, the F.2a, and even than the F.3.
53 Felixstowe F.5 were built:
Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe: 1 prototype
Shorts Bros 23.
Dick, Kerr & Co: 2.
Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company: 17.
Gosport Aviation: 10.
F.5 entered service only after the First World War ended, and replaced in the RAF the Felixstowe F.2a, F.3 and Curtiss H-16 . It became the standard aircraft of the RAF until the commissioning of the Supermarine Southampton in 1925. Nine squadrons were in the RAF equipped with the F.5.
The U.S. Navy was interested in Felixstowe F.5 but wished that the craft be produced in the United States and tailored to their needs. Parts were delivered to Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, in March 1918, and work began immediately. The Rolls-Royce Eagle were replaced by Liberty. The F5L the prototype made its first flight July 15, 1918. Often wrongly called Curtiss F.5L, 227 were built:
Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia: 137 [A3559/3692].
Curtiss Airplanes & Motors , Buffalo 60 [A4281/4340].
Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd., Toronto: 30 [A3333/3362].
The F.5L remained in service in the U.S. Navy until replaced in 1928 by the PN-12, used for coastal patrols or missions of coastal artillery adjustment.
Between 1920 and 1921, the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company subsidiary Aeromarine Airways, used 8 F.5L surplus from the U.S. Navy. Equipped for the transport of 10 passengers, these were sometimes called Navy Cruiser and were used in November 1920, between Key West , Florida and Havana , Cuba . One of these seaplanes, from the 1st November 1920, flew the first international air mail service on behalf of the U.S. Post Office. Aeromarine Airways also flew the seasonal services Miami – Bimini – Nassau , New York City – Atlantic City and Cleveland – Detroit from July 14, 1922. These were named Santa Maria / Wolverine, Pinta, Niña, Columbus, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Buckeye and Mendoza. The latter is famous for having flown over New York with 27 people on board in May 1922.
In 1920, Shorts Bros. export some F.5 to Japan, which then bought a license. The arsenal of Yokosuka to build 10, Aichi 40 and arsenal Hiro 10 before developing in 1927 from F.5 Hiro Type 15 (Hiro H1H).
In 1919, NAF built two F.5L [A4036/4037] with a significantly larger surface modified empennage. This tail will be adopted retroactively on F.5L in service.
In March 1919 Naval Aircraft Factory dispatched to New York City a F.5L specially designed for display. An aeronautical exhibition was organized by the Association of Manufacturers and the cell Aeronefs exposure would allow the public to understand how construtction device. So it was a cutaway that should not fly, but he was still a seral number [A-3882]. Transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1920, he became well cumbersome when it was decided ten years later to renovate the building that housed. The Smithsonian therefore proposed to return to the U.S. Navy, and this proposal was accepted, but the Smithsonian finally kept the hull, a wing float, a propeller and a bomb. The U.S. Navy had shelled the rest is all that remains today of the family seaplane designed by John C. Door , with the front part of an unidentified aircraft maintained by the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum of Flixton, in Great Britain .
Felixstowe F.5
Engines: 2 x Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII, 345 hp
Wingspan: 31.6 m
Length: 15.0 m
Height: 5.7 m
Wing area: 131 sq.m
Empty weight: 4136 kg
Loaded weight: 5765 kg
Maximum Speed: 142 km / h
Ceiling: 2070 m
Range: 840 km
Armament: 4 Lewis 7.7 mm
Bombload: 418 kg
Crew: 4
F-5-L
Engines: Two 400-horsepower Liberty 12A
Wingspan: 31.6 m (103 ft 9 in)
Length: 15 m (49 ft 4 in)
Height: 5.7 m (18 ft 9 in)
Weight: Empty, 3,955 kg (8,720 lb)
Gross, 6,169 kg (13,600 lb)
Felixstowe F.3
Porte designed the F.3, a slightly enlarged variant of the F.2, which was put into production. The F.3 soon proved to be inferior in many respects to the F.2, but by the time this was realized full scale production was well under way and could not be halted. This accent on F.3 production inadvertently prevented full importance being given to Porte’s final biplane flying boat design, the F.5.
Span: 31 m (102 ft) (upper), 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in) (lower)
Length: 15 m (49 ft 3in)
Height: 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in)
Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph) at 609.5 m (2000 ft).
Feigl & Rotter Feiro
Louis Rotter designed light aircraft in the 1920s, the 110 hp Le Rhone-engined Feiro I all-wood four-seater being the first post-First World War civil aircraft to be built in Hungary. Produced subsequently the improved Feiro Daru and the lightweight Feiro Dongo side-by-side two-seater.
Feigl & Rotter
Louis Rotter designed light aircraft in the 1920s, the 110 hp Le Rhone-engined Feiro I all-wood four-seater being the first post-First World War civil aircraft to be built in Hungary. Produced subsequently the improved Feiro Daru and the lightweight Feiro Dongo side-by-side two-seater.
