File:Norman Thompson N.1B (N37) Admiralty.jpg

English: "The Air Board Specification N.1B called for a high-performance single-engined flying-boat of the fighting scout category. Several companies produced designs in accordance with this specification in the last two years of the war, including Norman Thompson.

The Norman Thompson N.1B, built in early 1917, retained several features of earlier designs, notably the boat-built hull with the characteristic narrow after-part, with the wing-tip floats attached directly to the undersurface of the lower wing, but the usual dorsal fin was replaced by a more normal fin and rudder of generous area, and the machine was smaller than its predecessors. The crew of two were housed in separate open cockpits, and the wings were arranged to fold forward. The machine was powered by a 200 hp Hispano-Suiza pusher engine, driving a four-bladed propeller, a portion of the upper wing trailing edge being cut away to clear the propeller. Armament consisted of a free-mounted 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun.

Launched in September 1917, the N.1B performed well on initial test flights, but on its service trials at RNAS Isle of Grain its performance was not judged to show any great advance on existing types, and it was not adopted."