Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
S.E.5a number F904, Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire, England (2009)
Role Single-seat fighter
Manufacturer various (see text)
Designer Henry Folland / John Kenworthy
First flight 22 November 1916
Introduction March 1917
Primary users Royal Flying Corps
United States Army Air Service
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built 5,205[1]


The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War.

The first examples reached the Western Front before the Sopwith Camel. Although it had a much better overall performance than the Camel, problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly the geared-output H-S 8B-powered early versions, meant that there was a chronic shortage of S.E.5s until well into 1918 and fewer squadrons were equipped with the S.E.5 than with the Sopwith fighter. Together with the Camel, the S.E.5 was instrumental in regaining allied air superiority in mid-1917 and maintaining it for the rest of the war, ensuring there was no repetition of "Bloody April" 1917 when losses in the Royal Flying Corps were much heavier than in the Luftstreitkräfte.

Design and development

Wooden frame construction
S.E.5a aircraft of No. 32 Squadron RAF. The wartime censor scratched out the serial numbers but left the squadron markings.
James McCudden's S.E.5a (200 h.p. geared Hispano-Suiza with 4-bladed propellor) of No. 56 Squadron RAF.

The S.E.5 (Scout Experimental 5) was designed by Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden of the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough. It was built around the new 150 hp (112 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8 a V8 engine that, while providing excellent performance, was initially underdeveloped and unreliable. The first of three prototypes flew on 22 November 1916. The first two prototypes were lost in crashes (the first killing the chief test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Major F. W. Goodden on 28 January 1917) due to a weakness in their wing design. The third prototype underwent modification before production commenced; the S.E.5 was known in service as an exceptionally strong aircraft which could be dived at very high speed – the squarer wings also gave much improved lateral control at low airspeeds.

Like the other significant Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft of the war (B.E.2, F.E.2 and R.E.8) the S.E.5 was inherently stable, making it an excellent gunnery platform, but it was also quite manoeverable. It was one of the fastest aircraft of the war at 138 mph (222 km/h), equal at least in speed to the SPAD S.XIII and faster than any standard German type of the period.

While the S.E.5 was not as agile and effective in a tight dogfight as the Camel it was much easier and safer to fly, particularly for novice pilots. The S.E.5 had one synchronised .303-inch Vickers machine gun to the Camel's two, but it also had a wing-mounted Lewis gun on a Foster mounting, which enabled the pilot to fire at an enemy aircraft from below as well as providing two guns firing forward. This was much appreciated by the pilots of the first S.E.5 squadrons as the new hydraulic-link "C.C." synchronising gear for the Vickers was unreliable at first. The Vickers gun was mounted on the forward left dorsal surface of the fuselage with the breech inside the cockpit, at a slight upwards angle. The cockpit was set amidships, making it difficult to see over the long front fuselage, but otherwise visibility was good. Perhaps its greatest advantage over the Camel was its superior performance at altitude, making it a much better match for the Fokker D.VII when that fighter arrived at the front.

S.E.5a

Only 77 original S.E.5 aircraft were built before production settled on the improved S.E.5a. The initial models of the S.E.5a differed from late production examples of the S.E.5 only in the type of engine installed – a geared 200 hp Hispano-Suiza 8b, often turning a large clockwise-rotation four-bladed propeller, replacing the 150 hp H.S. 8A model. In total 5,265 S.E.5s were built by six manufacturers: Austin Motors (1,650), Air Navigation and Engineering Company (560), Curtiss (1), Martinsyde (258), the Royal Aircraft Factory (200), Vickers (2,164) and Wolseley Motors Limited (431).[2] A few were converted to two-seat trainers and there were plans for Curtiss to build 1,000 S.E.5s in the United States but only one was completed before the end of the war. At first, airframe construction outstripped the very limited supply of French-built Hispano-Suiza engines and squadrons earmarked to receive the new fighter had to soldier on with Airco DH 5s and Nieuport 24s until early 1918. The troublesome geared "-8b" model was prone to have serious gear reduction system problems, sometimes with the propeller (and even the entire gearbox on a very few occasions) separating from the engine and airframe in flight, a problem shared with the similarly-powered Sopwith Dolphin.

The introduction of the 200 hp (149 kW) Wolseley Viper, a high-compression, direct-drive version of the Hispano-Suiza 8a made under licence by Wolseley Motors Limited, solved the S.E.5a's engine problems and was adopted as the standard powerplant.

About 38 of the late-production Austin-built S.E.5as were assigned to the American Expeditionary Force, with the 25th Aero Squadron getting its aircraft (mostly armed only with the fuselage-mounted Vickers gun) at the very end of the war.

S.E.5b

Nose of the S.E.5B being inspected

The S.E.5b was a variant of the S.E.5 with a streamlined nose and upper and lower wings of different span and chord. The single example, a converted S.E.5a, first flew in early April 1918. It had a spinner on the propeller and a retractable under-slung radiator. The S.E.5b was not a true sesquiplane – as the lower wing had two spars. Its performance was little better than the S.E.5a – the increased drag from the large upper wing seems to have cancelled out any benefit from the better streamlined nose. The S.E.5b was not considered for production; probably it was always intended mainly as a research aeroplane. In January 1919 it was tested with standard S.E.5a wings and in this form survived as a research aircraft into the early twenties.

Operational history

Albert Ball in S.E.5 with original windscreen and seating position
Ball in modified S.E.5 with a more conventional seating position and smaller windscreen but lacking leather padding.

The S.E.5 entered service with No. 56 Squadron RFC in March 1917, although the squadron did not deploy to the Western Front until the following month. Everyone was suspicious of the large "greenhouse" windscreens fitted to the first production models. These were designed to protect the pilot in his unusually high seating position, which was in turn intended to improve vision over the upper wing. The squadron did not fly its first patrol with the S.E.5 until 22 April,[3] by which time, on the insistence of Major Blomfield, 56 squadron's commanding officer,[4] all aircraft had been fitted with small rectangular screens of conventional design. The problem of the high seating position was solved by simply lowering it, pilots in any case preferring a more conventional (and comfortable) seating position. No complaints seem to have been made about the view from the cockpit, in fact this was often cited as one of the strong points of the type.

While pilots, some of whom were initially disappointed with the S.E.5, quickly came to appreciate its strength and fine flying qualities, it was universally held to be underpowered, and the more powerful S.E.5a began to replace the S.E.5 in June.

At this time 56 Squadron was still the only unit flying the new fighter; in fact it was the only operational unit to be fully equipped with the initial 150 hp S.E.5 – all other S.E.5 squadrons officially used the 200 hp S.E.5a from the outset – although a few S.E.5s were issued to other squadrons due to an acute shortage of the S.E.5a. This shortage resulted in a very slow initial buildup of new S.E.5a squadrons, and lasted well into 1918. Once the Wolseley Viper-powered model became plentiful many more units re-equipped, until by the end of the war the type was employed by 21 British Empire squadrons as well as two U.S. units. Many of the top Allied aces flew this fighter, including Billy Bishop, Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, Edward Mannock and James McCudden. Legendary British ace Albert Ball was initially disparaging of the S.E.5, but in the end claimed 11 of his 44 victories flying it. McCudden wrote of the S.E.5 "It was very fine to be in a machine that was faster than the Huns, and to know that one could run away just as things got too hot."[5]

Sholto Douglas who commanded No. 84 Squadron RFC which was initially equipped with the S.E.5a, listed the type's qualities as:

Some S.E.5s remained in RAF service after the Armistice, but began to be withdrawn soon afterwards. The type continued in service for a time in Australia and Canada, and in 1921 a Viper-engined S.E.5a was taken to Japan by the British Aviation Mission to the Imperial Japanese Navy.[6]

A number of machines found roles in civilian flying after the war. The first use of skywriting for advertising was on 30 May 1922, when Cyril Turner, a former RAF officer, spelt out "London Daily Mail" in black smoke from an S.E.5a at the Epsom Derby.[7] Others were used for air racing; an example won the Morris Cup race in 1927.[8]

Variants

S.E.5
First production version. Single-seat fighter biplane, powered by a 150 hp (112 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8a piston engine.
S.E.5a
Improved production version, powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8b V-8 or 200 hp (149 kW) Wolseley Viper piston engine.
S.E.5b
Experimental prototype, with sequiplane wings, streamlined nose and retractable radiator.
Eberhart S.E.5e
S.E.5a assembled from spare parts by American company Eberhart Aeroplane, 180 hp Wright-Hispano E engine and plywood-covered fuselages, about 60 built.[9]

Operators

 Argentina
 Australia
 Canada
 Chile
 Ireland
 Poland
 South Africa
 United Kingdom
 United States

Survivors and reproductions

The Shuttleworth Collection's SE5a at Farnborough 1962, then painted as D7000 ...
... and almost 52 years on as F-904 at Old Warden

An original flying S.E.5a may be seen in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, England, UK. This aircraft was originally serial F904 of No. 84 Squadron RAF, then flew as G-EBIA from September 1923 to February 1932. It was restored and passed to the Shuttleworth Collection. Re-registered as G-EBIA, it was first painted as D7000, then as F904.

An original S.E.5e may be seen in the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio, USA. The museum acquired the S.E.5e through a donation by the estate of Lt. Col. William C. Lambert, USAF Ret,. a First World War ace with 21.5 victories. Lambert flew the S.E.5a as an American member of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force. The Air Force Museum Foundation also helped buy the aircraft. It is painted to represent an S.E.5e of the 18th Headquarters Squadron, Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., in 1925.[11]

Two full-scale replica S.E.5a aircraft were built by Miles Aircraft in 1965 for use in film making and were transferred to the Irish civil aircraft register in 1967 while the two were employed in flying scenes. Both were destroyed in crashes in Ireland during 1970.

Full scale replica S.E.5a built by Miles Aircraft in 1965 and used in films

Another four original airframes are statically displayed at: the Science Museum, London, UK; Royal Air Force Museum, London, UK; South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg, South Africa; and the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia.

Three reproductions (designated SE5a-1) were built by The Vintage Aviator Limited in New Zealand and these fly from Hood Aerodrome, Masterton.

Another SE5a project was started in the UK in the 1980s by John Tetley and "Bill" Sneesby. This machine was rebuilt around a number of original components believed to be from G-EAXW (F5259). The original drawings were referred to throughout the rebuild. In 1995 the aircraft was transferred to The Memorial Flight (based at La Ferte Alais, in France) to be completed and flown. The restoration was completed and the aircraft was painted in the colours of Lt. H. J. "Hank" Burden of 56 Squadron as of April 1918. The aircraft has now returned from France and is stored at an unknown location in the U.K.

A full-scale reproduction, finished in the colors of F8010, one of the 38 Austin Motor Company-built S.E. 5as given to the U.S. Army Air Service as the last S.E.5a flown by Lt. Joseph E. "Child Yank" Boudwin (a former wingman of 84 Squadron RAF's ace pilot Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor), while serving with the USAS' 25th Aero Squadron during the last week of active air combat before the Armistice, is on static display at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, New York, built by volunteers from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. This volunteer group consisted of veteran WWII pilots and was headed by Mr Doug Douglas. The Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum donated the SE5a to the Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum in 2000.

The Seattle Museum of Flight displays the reproduction SE.5a that Florida craftsman Bobby Strahlman and his partners completed for collector Doug Champlin in 1989. The SE.5 was displayed at his Mesa, Arizona fighter museum until the collection went to Seattle in 2003.

Specifications (S.E.5a)

Data from [12][13]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Notable pilots of the S.E.5

Fictional portrayals

The 1971 film Zeppelin makes reference to the use of the S.E. 5 as a weapon to defend against the German Zeppelins that were attacking Britain during the First World War. The film, however, is set in the fall of 1915, a full year-and-a-half before the S.E. 5 entered squadron service. The dogfight scene near the film's conclusion features S.E. 5a replicas.

References

Notes

    Citations

    1. ↑ "RAF SE 5 – SE 5A." Austin Memories. Retrieved: 26 July 2009.
    2. ↑ "S.E.5A." British Aircraft Directory. Retrieved: 11 April 2010.
    3. ↑ Bruce 1953, p. 87.
    4. ↑ Cheesman 1960, p. 56.
    5. ↑ McCudden 2000 (1919), p. 168.
    6. ↑ Bruce, John McIntosh (1957), British Aeroplanes, 1914-18, London: Putnam, p. 454
    7. ↑ McWhirter, Norris and Alan (Editors) (1975), New Guinness Book of Records: 22nd edition, Guinness World Records Limited, p. 89, ISBN 0900424265
    8. ↑ "A Private Owner's Successful Debut" (pdf), Flight XIX (963), 8 June 1927: 380
    9. ↑ Hare 1990, p. 297.
    10. ↑ Kopański 2001, pp. 51–53.
    11. ↑ "Eberhart SE-5E." National Museum of the United States Air Force, 18 June 2009. Retrieved: 19 August 2011.
    12. ↑ Blake, Arthur. "Colours in the Sky, Part II – THE S.E. 5a." South African National Museum of Military History. Retrieved: 26 July 2009.
    13. ↑ "SE.5A History." The Vintage Aviator. Retrieved: 26 July 2009.

    Bibliography

    • Bruce, J.M. "The S.E.5: Historic Military Aircraft No. 5". Flight, 17 July 1953. pp. 85–89, 93.
    • Bruce, J.M. "The S.E.5A". Aircraft in Profile, Volume 1/Part1. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965 (Revised 4th edition 1975). ISBN 0-85383-410-5.
    • Cheesman. Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Letchworth:Harleyford, 1960
    • Franks, Norman L.R. SE 5/5a Aces of World War 1. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publications, 2007. ISBN 1-84603-180-X.
    • Hare, Paul R. "Mount of Aces - The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a". Stroud, UK: Fonthill Media, 2013. ISBN 978-1-78155-115-8
    • Hare, Paul R. The Royal Aircraft Factory. London:Putnam, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-843-7.
    • Kopański, Tomasz Jan. Samoloty brytyjskie w lotnictwie polskim 1918–1930 (British Aircraft in the Polish Air Force 1918–1930)(in Polish). Warsaw: Bellona, 2001. ISBN 83-11-09315-6.
    • McCudden, James Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps London:Greenhill, 2000 (reprint of 1919 edition) ISBN 1-85367-406-0
    • Sturtivant, Ray ISO and Gordon Page. The SE5 File. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0-85130-246-7.

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