Built by Franco-British Aviation before and during WWI, the FBA Type B was a refined version of the company's Type A reconnaissance seaplane. The design was first prototyped in 1913 as a single-bay biplane with a 50-hp engine. The Type B and C were multi-bay, and had successively more powerful engines.
The design saw service with a variety of European Nations during the war; the UK Royal Naval Air Service alone fielded over 100, including 20 of the Type B design.
All controls are normal. She's from WWI, so you get neither bells nor whistles. Be grateful there's a fuel gauge. You want to know your altitude? Lean over and look down at the water.
Throttle all the way up, and wait for her to get up on step. Rotate at around 50kts (~90kph), and take it easy on the initial climb. Have fun!
[Edit: for the four people who downloaded this before I noticed, I fixed the minor control surface issue!]
Specifications
Spotlights
- Speedhunter 3 months ago
- Bryan5 3 months ago
- Wibbley 2 months ago
- WinsWings 3 months ago
- FatPilotOne 3 months ago
General Characteristics
- Predecessor Seaplane Challenge 2/2024 (CLOSED)
- Created On Android
- Wingspan 36.4ft (11.1m)
- Length 26.1ft (8.0m)
- Height 8.8ft (2.7m)
- Empty Weight 568lbs (257kg)
- Loaded Weight 932lbs (422kg)
Performance
- Horse Power/Weight Ratio 0.085
- Wing Loading 4.0lbs/ft2 (19.7kg/m2)
- Wing Area 230.7ft2 (21.4m2)
- Drag Points 789
Parts
- Number of Parts 350
- Control Surfaces 5
- Performance Cost 2,330
Congratulations, I have posted all the prizes!
This is a really cool aircraft! And the glass for frantic idea is super smart!! You get my upvote
@WinsWings haha, thanks! I appreciate that
this is so much under voted
@Speedhunter That's really kind of you, thanks!
@FatPilotOne Thank you! I saw a cool ornithopter build by @Wibbley a year or so ago that used the glass-as-fabric trick and I thought it looked great.
The engine made of magnets and rotators and using glass for fabric covering imitation are so genious!
Great built!
@EternalDarkness Oh that's a good idea!
This is really good
If you're taking build suggestions, I'd like to see Vickers F.B.9 in your style.
@WinsWings Thank you! I got to see one in a museum in Portugal and I've always thought it was cool.
this is a nice build, I will check it out soon. Good luck with the challenge. Also, love the plane you choose
@EternalDarkness Fixed, thank you for spotting that! Yeah, set opacity at 95%, but it could be even higher. The cockpit is definitely a casualty of the part limit, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Really nice build for its part count. Cockpit could have been a bit more realistic, but it's usable. Maybe a bit more opacity on the wings. Performance are close to how I'd expect the real thing to fly.
By the way, you have a typo in the description. It says "WWII".