L-W-F Model H Owl

{{Short description|1920s American biplane}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = Model H Owl | logo = | logo_size = | image = File:LWF model H Owl w people (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = [[Mail plane]] / [[bomber]] | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = [[Lowe, Willard & Fowler Engineering Company|LWF Engineering]] | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = [[United States Army Air Service]] | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = 1920 | retired = 1923 | first_flight = 22 May 1920 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} [[File:LWF model H Owl 1922 (cropped).jpg|thumb|LWF Model H Owl in its later form, with simplified undercarriage and relocated center radiator]]

The '''L-W-F Model H Owl''' was a large American [[twin-boom aircraft|twin-boom]] [[trimotor]] [[biplane]] designed and built by [[Lowe, Willard & Fowler Engineering Company|LWF Engineering]] as a [[mail plane]] in 1920, but after being rejected for that role, the single prototype was sold to the [[United States Army Air Service]] for evaluation as a bomber but failed to secure any orders.<ref name=aerofiles>{{cite web|last1=Eckland|first1=K.O.|title=American airplanes: Lo - Lu|url=http://aerofiles.com/_lo.html|website=aerofiles.com|date=2 September 2008|accessdate=12 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=Ficke>{{cite web|last=Ficke|first=George|title=LWF OWL, 1919|url=http://www.earlyaviators.com/cowl1919.htm|website=The Early Birds of Aviation, Inc|date=14 January 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://archive.org/details/scientificameric1231unse/page/128/mode/2up |title= L-W-F biplane|date=1920-08-07|publisher= Scientific American |access-date=2025-11-18}}</ref>

==Design and development== It had a center [[nacelle]] with room for three crew members suspended on struts between the wings and flanked on either side by similarly braced tail booms. All three fuselages had a [[Liberty L-12]] {{cvt|400|hp}} engine in the nose, and were fabricated from laminated wood in the same manner as had been used in prior LWF [[fuselage]] designs, with three thin layers of wood laid at an angle to each other and separated with fabric. The four bay biplane wings were fitted with [[Aileron|ailerons]] on both upper and lower wings. It had a biplane horizontal stabilizer with three rudders, and ailerons on all four wings. No fin was provided for the center rudder. All controls were given generous aerodynamic counterbalances to reduce control forces. The initial six-wheel undercarriage was later modified to four-wheels,<ref name=aerofiles/> and the radiator for the center engine was moved from in front of the pilot to between the engine and the propeller.

==Operational history== [[File:LWF model H Owl rq AS 64012 in 1919.jpg|thumb|LWF model H Owl A.S.64012 showing off its twin booms and biplane tail with triple rudders.]] The Owl was first flown by [[Ernest Emery Harmon|Ernest Harmon]] from [[Mitchel Field]], on [[Long Island]], New York, on 22 May 1920.<ref name=aerofiles/>

Although built for night air mail service (hence being named Owl), it failed to interest the Post Office.<ref name=Buehlfield>{{cite web |title=L-W-F Model H "OWL" - The Flying Dutchman |url=http://www.buehlfield.info/aircraft-aviators/l-w-f-model-h-owl |website=www.buehlfield.info |accessdate=12 February 2020}}</ref>

Between 1921 and 1922, the United States Army Air Service evaluated it as a bomber at [[Langley Field]] in Virginia<ref name=NASA>Spearman, 1985, p.5</ref><ref name=Buehlfield/> when it was allocated Army Air Service serial number ''64012'',<ref name="Baugher">{{cite web |last1=Baugher |first1=Joe |title=1908-1921 USASC-USAAS Serial Numbers |url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1908-1920.html |website=www.joebaugher.com |accessdate=12 February 2020 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527071521/http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1908-1920.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> however its performance was described as “adequate but not impressive.”<ref name=NASA/><ref name=Buehlfield/> General [[Billy Mitchell]] planned to evaluate the design during the bombing tests to sink the {{USS|New Jersey|BB-16|6}} and the {{USS|Virginia|BB-13|6}} in September 1923, but it does not appear that this actually occurred.<ref name="Maurer">Maurer, 2004, pp.124-126</ref> The sole prototype was scrapped in 1923. Two prototypes of the XNBS-2, a scaled-down twin-engine derivative of the Owl, were ordered in 1923, but this order was cancelled before construction began.

==Variants== ;Model H Owl: biplane mailplane/bomber, one built.<ref name=aerofiles/> ;NBS-2: Scaled down twin-engined version. Order for two cancelled and none built.<ref name=aerofiles/>

==Operators== ;{{US}}: [[United States Army Air Service]]

==Specifications (model H Owl) == [[File:LWF model H Owl 3-view drawing.jpg|thumb|LWF model H Owl 3-view drawing]] {{Aircraft specs |ref=Aircraft Year Book 1921<ref>Manufacturer's Aircraft Association, 1921, p.191</ref> |prime units?=imp |crew=Three  |length ft=53 |length in=9.5 |span ft=106 |span in=8 |span note=(equal span wings)<br /> *'''Wing chord:''' {{cvt|11|ft|0|in}}  |height ft=17 |height in=6 |wing area sqft=2216 |airfoil=USA 6  |empty weight lb=13386 |gross weight lb=21186 |gross weight note=<br/> *'''Useful load:''' {{cvt|7800|lb}} |fuel capacity= |more general=<br /> *'''Undercarriage track:''' {{cvt|0.00|m}}  |eng1 number=3 |eng1 name=[[Liberty L-12]] |eng1 type=V-12 water-cooled piston engines |eng1 hp=400 |prop blade number=2 |prop name=LWF fixed pitch wood propellers |prop dia ft=9 |prop dia in=6  |max speed mph=110 |max speed note=at sea level **{{convert|109|mph|km/h kn|abbr=on}} at {{cvt|6000|ft}} |stall speed mph=56 |range miles=1100 |range note=<ref name=aerofiles/> |ceiling ft=15000 |time to altitude=10 minutes to {{cvt|6000|ft}} |wing loading lb/sqft=10.4 |power/mass= {{cvt|0.057|hp/lb}} |more performance=<br/> *'''Take-off run:''' {{cvt|400|ft|0}} fully loaded<ref name=aerofiles/>  |armament=  }}

==See also== {{aircontent |similar aircraft= *[[Caproni Ca.5]] *[[Grahame-White Ganymede]] *[[Thomas-Morse MB-4]] |lists= *[[Trimotor#List of trimotors|List of Trimotors]] *[[Twin-boom aircraft#List of twin-boom aircraft|List of Twin-boom aircraft]] }}

==References== {{commonscat|LWF Model H Owl}} ===Citations=== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|author=Manufacturer's Aircraft Association|title=Aircraft Year Book 1921|url=https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/THE-1921-AIRCRAFT-YEAR-BOOK.pdf|year=1921|publisher=Small, Maynard|location=Boston|asin=B000KIBI6C|page=191|access-date=2020-03-03|archive-date=2020-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102155414/https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/THE-1921-AIRCRAFT-YEAR-BOOK.pdf|url-status=dead}} *{{cite book |last1=Maurer |first1=Maurer |title=Aviation in the U.S. Army, 1919-1939 |date=10 June 2004 |publisher=Office of Air Force History, U.S. Air Force |location=Washington D.C. |isbn=0-912799-38-2 |pages=124–126}} *{{cite book |last1=Spearman |first1=M. Leroy |title=NASA Technical Memorandum 87611 : Some Comparisons of US and USSR Aircraft Design Developments |url=http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19860006738.pdf |date=December 1985 |publisher=Langley Research Center |location=Hampton, Virginia 23665 |page=5}} {{LWF aircraft}} [[Category:L-W-F aircraft]] [[Category:1920s United States bomber aircraft]] [[Category:Biplanes]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1920]] [[Category:Trimotors]]