Hall PH

Last updated
PH
Hall PH-3-1.jpg
Hall PH-3
RolePatrol Flying Boat
ManufacturerHall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation
First flight 1929
Introduction1931
Retired1944
Primary users United States Coast Guard
United States Navy
Number built24
Developed from Naval Aircraft Factory PN

The Hall PH was an American flying boat of the 1930s. It was a twin-engined biplane, developed from the Naval Aircraft Factory PN and could hence trace its lineage back to the Felixstowe flying boats of World War I. The PH was purchased in small numbers by the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard. It remained in service with the Coast Guard until 1944, being used for anti-submarine and search and rescue duties.

Contents

Development and design

In December 1927, the U.S. Navy placed a contract with the Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation of Bristol, Pennsylvania for a developed version of the Naval Aircraft Factory PN-11, [1] which itself could trace a development history back to the Felixstowe F.5 flying boat of World War I. [2] The resultant prototype, the XPH-1, first flew in December 1929. [3]

The XPH-1 had identical wings and a similar metal hull to that of the PN-11, but was fitted with a large single fin and rudder. It was powered by two Wright Cyclone radial engines and accommodated its two pilots side by side in an open cockpit, with cockpits for gunners in the nose and behind the wings. [1]

In 1930 the Navy ordered nine aircraft, designated the PH-1, which were fitted with more powerful engines and a partly enclosed cockpit for the pilots. [4] The Coast Guard later ordered seven PH-2 aircraft, similar to the PH-1 but with armament removed, and seven PH-3 units with armament reinstated and a fully enclosed cockpit for the pilots. [1]

Operational history

Delivery of the PH-1 commenced in October 1931, [1] equipping VP-8 from 1932, operating from the seaplane tender Wright and from bases at Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, and the Panama Canal Zone. It was replaced by the Consolidated PBY-1 Catalina in 1937. [5]

Production of the PH recommenced in June 1936 to meet an order for seven PH-2s for the Coast Guard. [1] These entered service from 1938, being the largest aircraft operated by the Coast Guard at that time. [6] In 1939 the Coast Guard ordered an additional seven PH-3 aircraft; they entered service in 1941. [6]

The Hall flying boats were used by the Coast Guard for search and rescue duties and were fitted with specialized equipment for this role. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into World War II, the remaining PHs were painted in U.S Navy Sea Grey to replace the previous silver paint, armed, and used for anti-submarine patrols (particularly during the Operation Drumbeat U-boat attacks off the East coast of the United States in 1942) as well as continuing search and rescue operations. [6] The Coast Guard continued operating the PH-2 and -3 until 1944. [6]

Variants

XPH-1 prototype in flight. Note the open pilots cockpit. Hall XPH-1 1.jpg
XPH-1 prototype in flight. Note the open pilots cockpit.
XPH-1
Prototype. Two 540 hp (400 kW) Wright R-1750 engines. One built.
PH-1
Production version for U.S. Navy. Partly enclosed cockpit for pilots. Two 620 hp (460 kW) Wright R-1820-86 engines in short-chord Townend ring cowlings. Nine built.
PH-2
Version for U.S Coast Guard. Two 750 hp (560 kW) Wright R-1820F-51 engines. Armament omitted. Seven built.
PH-3
Improved version for Coast Guard. Long Chord NACA cowlings. Revised enclosed canopy. Seven built.

Operators

Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States

Specifications (PH-3)

Data from United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 [7]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin P5M Marlin</span> US Navy/Coast Guard patrol seaplane (1952–1967)

The Martin P5M Marlin, built by the Glenn L. Martin Company of Middle River, Maryland, was a twin piston-engined flying boat that entered service in 1951, and served into the late 1960s with the United States Navy performing naval patrols. It also served with the United States Coast Guard and the French Navy. 285 were produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin PBM Mariner</span> American patrol bomber flying boat

The Martin PBM Mariner was a twin-engine American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with the first example flying on February 18, 1939, and the type entering service in September 1940, with the last of the type being retired in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtiss SOC Seagull</span> Type of aircraft

The Curtiss SOC Seagull was an American single-engined scout observation seaplane, designed by Alexander Solla of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation for the United States Navy. The aircraft served on battleships and cruisers in a seaplane configuration, being launched by catapult and recovered from a sea landing. The wings folded back against the fuselage for storage aboard ship. When based ashore or on carriers the single float was replaced by fixed wheeled landing gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vought FU</span> Type of aircraft

The Vought FU was a biplane fighter aircraft of the United States Navy in service during the late 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe F5L</span> Type of aircraft

The twin-engine F5L was one of the Felixstowe F series of flying boats developed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, England, during the First World War for production in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe F.2</span> Type of aircraft

The Felixstowe F.2 was a 1917 British flying boat class designed and developed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe during the First World War adapting a larger version of his superior Felixstowe F.1 hull design married with the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat. The Felixstowe hull had superior water contacting attributes and became a key base technology in most seaplane designs thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felixstowe F.5</span> Type of aircraft

The Felixstowe F.5 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtiss Model H</span> American 1914 long range flying boat

The Curtiss Model H was a family of classes of early long-range flying boats, the first two of which were developed directly on commission in the United States in response to the £10,000 prize challenge issued in 1913 by the London newspaper, the Daily Mail, for the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic. As the first aircraft having transatlantic range and cargo-carrying capacity, it became the grandfather development leading to early international commercial air travel, and by extension, to the modern world of commercial aviation. The last widely produced class, the Model H-12, was retrospectively designated Model 6 by Curtiss' company in the 1930s, and various classes have variants with suffixed letters indicating differences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated P2Y</span> 1929 maritime patrol flying boat by Consolidated Aircraft

The Consolidated P2Y was an American flying boat maritime patrol aircraft. The plane was a parasol monoplane with a fabric-covered wing and aluminum hull. The aircraft was also made by Martin as the P3M, due to an open production contract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Thompson N.T.4</span> Type of aircraft

The Norman Thompson N.T.4 was a twin-engined British flying boat of the First World War. Although less well known than similar Curtiss and Felixstowe flying boats, 50 were ordered for Britain's Royal Naval Air Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Aircraft Factory PN</span> Type of aircraft

The Naval Aircraft Factory PN was a series of open cockpit American flying boats of the 1920s and 1930s. A development of the Felixstowe F5L flying boat of the First World War, variants of the PN were built for the United States Navy by Douglas, Keystone and Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtiss HS</span> American single engine patrol flying boat (1917–1928)

The Curtiss HS was a single-engined patrol flying boat built for the United States Navy during World War I. Large numbers were built from 1917 to 1919, with the type being used to carry out anti-submarine patrols from bases in France from June 1918. It remained in use with the US Navy until 1928, and was also widely used as a civil passenger and utility aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin T3M</span> Type of aircraft

The Martin T3M was an American torpedo bomber of the 1920s. A single-engined three-seat biplane, it became a standard torpedo bomber of the U.S. Navy, operating from both land bases and from aircraft carriers from 1926 to 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fokker T.IV</span> Type of aircraft

The Fokker T.IV was a Dutch torpedo bomber/maritime reconnaissance floatplane of the 1920s and 1930s. First flying in 1927, it served with the Dutch Naval Aviation Service in the Dutch East Indies until the remaining aircraft were destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berliner-Joyce OJ</span> Type of aircraft

The Berliner-Joyce OJ was an American biplane observation floatplane developed by the Berliner-Joyce Aircraft for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiro H1H</span> Japanese flying boat

The Hiro H1H was a 1920s Japanese bomber or reconnaissance biplane flying boat developed from the Felixstowe F.5 by the Hiro Naval Arsenal for the Imperial Japanese Navy. The aircraft were built by Hiro, the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and Aichi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas XP3D</span> Type of aircraft

The Douglas XP3D was a prototype American patrol flying boat of the 1930s. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane, the P3D was produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company to equip the US Navy's Patrol squadrons, but despite meeting the Navy's requirements, the rival Consolidated PBY was preferred owing to a lower price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiro H2H</span> Japanese flying boat

The Hiro H2H, or "Navy Type 89 Flying boat", was a Japanese patrol flying boat of the 1930s. Designed and built by the Hiro Naval Arsenal, it was a twin-engined biplane that was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikorsky XP2S</span> Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky XP2S was an American biplane patrol flying boat developed for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loening XS2L</span> Type of aircraft

The Loening XS2L was an American biplane scout amphibian developed by Keystone-Loening, for the United States Navy during the early 1930s.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 254
  2. Donald 1995, p. 186
  3. Green 1962, p. 175
  4. Roberts 2000, p. 677
  5. Roberts 2000, p. 116
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hall PH US Coast Guard. Retrieved 13 March 2008
  7. Swanborough & Bowers 1976, p. 255
  8. Donald 1995, p. 187
Bibliography