Franco British Aviation (FBA) Type C

At the end of 1915, after the sinking of the Lusitania by the submarine U-20, there was a surge of interest in anti-submarine aircraft. The prototype of the FBA type C appeared in September 1915. Physically not too different from the earlier Type B, with the rudder with a round leading edge and engine of the Clerget of the performance of 130 hp. Type C was faster than the B type, at the level of the sea mastered the 110 km/h and climbed to a height of 3500 m for 30 minutes. It was built in larger numbers than both the previous models FBA together and served even after the end of the war.

The threat of submarines in the English channel and the North sea was so great that the UK admiralty in November 1915 ordered the first 50 FBA C and in the summer of the following year, another 50. This allowed a massive increase in the number of squadrons of the navy and also bases.

For the French navy, was built 180 machines. But France wasn’t the only user – a large number of machines purchased by Italy. These amounted to some 120 aircraft, with a few more then had to build the Italian company SIAI.

Another user was Russia, which had purchased 20 machines.