Parnall Peto
title: "Parnall Peto" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1920s-british-military-reconnaissance-aircraft", "floatplanes", "parnall-aircraft", "submarine-borne-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "biplanes", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1925"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnall_Peto" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Peto |
| image | Parnall-Peto-N181.jpg |
| type | Submarine-launched naval reconnaissance |
| manufacturer | George Parnall and Company Limited |
| designer | Harold Bolas |
| first_flight | 4 June 1925 |
| introduction | |
| retired | |
| status | |
| primary_user | |
| more_users | |
| produced | |
| number_built | 2 |
| developed_from | |
| variants | |
| :: |
|name = Peto |logo = |image = Parnall-Peto-N181.jpg |caption = |type = Submarine-launched naval reconnaissance |manufacturer = George Parnall and Company Limited |designer = Harold Bolas |first_flight = 4 June 1925 |introduction = |retired = |status = |primary_user = |more_users = |produced = |number_built = 2 |unit cost = |developed_from = |variants =
The Parnall Peto was a small seaplane designed to the British Air Ministry's specification 16/24 in the early 1920s for use as a submarine-carried reconnaissance aircraft.
Design and development
Two examples were designed and built by George Parnall and Company and were given serial numbers N181 and N182. The first prototype, N181, crashed at Gibraltar and was rebuilt as N255 before being lost with the submarine HMS M2 when her hangar flooded. The Peto was one of the most challenging design projects that the Parnall company undertook, because of the very small hangar in which the aircraft had to fit.
Of mixed wood, fabric, aluminium and steel construction, it had unequal span, Warren-braced folding rectangular wings. The first aircraft, N181, was powered by a 128 hp Bristol Lucifer engine and had mahogany plywood "Consuta" type floats. Performance was generally satisfactory but following crash damage, improvements were made and the machine was rebuilt with new wings, metal floats and a 169 hp Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose engine. Tests both on the sea and in the air showed that designer, Harold Bolas, had met the requirements and it was officially judged to be exceptionally good.
The aircraft was launched using a compressed air catapult mounted on the forward casing of the submarine and recovered using a crane.
With the loss of M2, the Royal Navy abandoned submarine-launched aircraft, although most other navies also experimented with the concept in the interwar years.
Aircraft
The two aircraft built were:
;N181 :Prototype which was wrecked at Gibraltar on 11 February 1930 and rebuilt as N255 with improved floats and lost with HMS M2.
;N182 :Which crashed 29 June 1930 at Stokes Bay. It was acquired by F.C.H. Allen and prepared for civil use at Ford aerodrome in Sussex between 1933 and 1934. Issued with civilian Registration G-ACOJ but the project was abandoned.
Specifications
|ref=Wixey, pp.159–160 |prime units?=imp General characteristics
|crew=2 |length ft=22 |length in=6 |length note= |span ft=28 |span in=5 |span note= |height ft=8 |height in=11 |height note= |wing area sqft=174 |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight lb=1300 |empty weight note= |gross weight lb=1950 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose IIIC |eng1 type=5-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine |eng1 hp=135 |eng1 note= |prop blade number=2 |prop name=fixed-pitch propeller |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note= Performance
|max speed mph=113 |max speed note= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed note= |stall speed mph= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed note= |range miles= |range note= |combat range miles= |combat range note= |ferry range miles= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling ft=11300 |ceiling note= |climb rate ftmin=600 |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |lift to drag= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass= |more performance=
Notes
References
References
- Marriott pp.151–7
- Wixey pp.159–60
- Crosby 2009, p. 123
- "Registration Document – G-ACOJ". Civil Aviation Authority.
- Jackson 1974, p. 440
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