Martinsyde G.100 & G.102

The Martinsyde G.100 and G.102 were two British fighter/bomber airplanes from the early World War I that gained the nickname of "Elephant" due to their big size and lack of maneouvrability.
It was a design that, for the time, was very big, specially for a single-seater. It was a two bay equal span staggered biplane that was designed by A.A. Fletcher and manufactured by the Martinsyde Company. The first prototype made it to the skies in autumn 1915 powered by a 120hp Austro-Daimler engine.
The initial production version, however, was powered by a 120hp six-cylinder Beardmore engine and was armed with a single Lewis 0.303in mounted on the upper wings. Later an additional Lewis was added mounted in brackets to the port side of the fuselage in order to keep the tail of the airplane defended.
It was gradually replaced by the G.102 that was similar in design but it was powered by a 160hp Beardmore engine.
Initially it was intended to serve as a single-seat escort fighter, but due to its size it was reclassified as a day bomber. It was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps in mid 1916 with a total of 270 machines serving there. They served in France and the Middle East, however only one squadron, the No. 27 RFC was fully equipped with the G.100.
It wasn't very successful as a fighter due to its poor maneouvrability, however, it proved to be useful in the bomber role as it could carry a load of 260lb (120kg) of bombs under the main fuselage. It successfully performed that role from the mid 1916 until late 1917, specially in the Middle East Campaign where it also was used as a reconnaissance airplane given its stability and endurance (it could perform flights of five-and-a-half-hours)

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_G.100
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Avro 504K - Oceanian users

Now it's time for the Oceanian or ANZAC users of the Avro 504K.

The first contact of Australian pilots with the 504K was in England as the pilots of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) belonging to the No. 5, 6, 7 and 8 training squadrons used them for their formation.
After the armistice and the end of the Great War, some of them were exported to Australia where they served with the newly created Royal Australian Air Force at Point Cook, home base of the Flying Training School. They arrived in Australia in 1922, and some of them were built locally under license by the Australian Aircraft and Engineering in Sidney, New South Wales. These locally manufactured machines were only 20pounds heavier than the original ones. Either way, they were replaced in the military service in 1928 when the Flying Training School bouth some De Havilland Cirrus Moth trainers to replace them.

The Avro 504K also served with the Permanent New Zealand Air Force, more exactly with the Kohimarama Flying School, in Auckland. As it's based in a very bad quality black & white photo, the colours should be considered as speculative. Apparently it beared the civilian registration G-NZAB.

Sources:
1. https://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series1/A3.htm
2. http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Walsh%20Bros%20Avro.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_504

Sopwith Pup - Foreign Users

Note: This post is just a re-arrangement of our first one, the Sopwith Pup in order to cope with the new national -and historical tags - As the drawings aren't new, we haven't announced it through twitter.

The users contained in this post are:

• Australia: The Sopwith Pup equipped the Australian No.5, No.6 and No.8 Training Squadrons and they also equipped the No.1 Flying training School RAAF in the post-war years.
• Belgium: It seems that the Belgian 5éme Escadrille de Chasse employed at least one Sopwith Pup during the World War I.
• Greece: During the First World War some Pups were used by the Hellenic Army Air Service.
• Netherlands: Apparently Netherlands used some airplanes that had crashed inside their borders during the First World War.
• Japan: The Imperial Japanese Air Force used the Pup, both with the army and the navy, where it's known that some of them served aboard the Yamashiro Battleship.
• Romania: Apparently some Pups served with Romania during the First World War.
• Russian Empire: It seems that some Pups were sold to the Imperial Russian air corps.
• Russian SFSR: When the revolution started, with the subsequent civil war, the Bolsheviks employed some captured ex-white Pups.
• USA: It's claimed that the US Navy used some Pups.

Airco DH.5

We keep going with our second aircraft this year. This time it's the turn for the Airco DH.5

The Airco DH.5 was British biplane fighter of the First World War designed specifically to replace the already obsolete Airco DH.2. It was one of the first designs to feature a Constantinesco synchroniser which allowed the machine-gun to fire effectively through the propeller. It was also one of the earliest to feature such unusual wing configuration with the upper-wing placed back from the lower one. It was unpopular and unsatisfactory because it was already inferior to other fighters already in service (specially the RAF SE.5a) and was gradually replaced.

Captain Geoffrey De Havilland wanted to combine the excellent forward visibility of a pusher type aircraft with the superior performance of a tractor style biplane. The final result was a rather conventional fighter but with the upper wing pushed backwards in order to achieve a better visibility. As the pilot was placed forward from the center of gravity, the fuel tank was placed behind the cockpit below the oil tank. An auxiliary gravity fuel tank was placed over the top wing.

Even if the type was inferior to other British fighters already serving at the frontlines of the era (like the Sopwith Camel, the RAF SE.5a or even the Sopwith Pup) it was manufactured by Airco, British Caudron, Darracq and March, Jones & Cribb companies up to a total of 552 airplanes.

As we already said, this airplane was very unpopular. It plagued with false rumours about it being highly unmaneouvrable. However it was true that it tended to stall when flying higher than 3000m and, while it was very maneouvrable, it tended to loose altitude in combat quickly. The configuration of the upper wing created a blind spot at the back, from where the majority of the attacks came from. But, on the other hand, it was very robust ,it performed well at low altittudes and it had an excellent forward field of view, which made the type an excellent ground attack airplane as it was seen in the Battle of Cambrai.

As historical distinction, it's remarkable to note that it was the first airplane to equip the 2nd Australian Squadron until it was replaced by the RAF SE.5a.
By early 1918 the type was already replaced from the frontlines and, due to it's high unpopularity it quickly vanished from the RFC.

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 - British Users, Part fourth, Fifth Entry

This is the final entry dedicated to this excellent fighter.

The RAF SE.5a excelled as a fighter. Although initially had some problems with the Hispano-Suiza engine which delayed it's practical entry into the war until well into 1918. Together with the Sopwith Camel it regained the air superiority in mid 1917 and kept it for the rest of the war.

Various versions were made:

• SE.5: Single seat fighter biplane, powered by 8a Hispano-Suiza engine. Few examples manufactured.
• SE.5a: Single seat fighter biplane. Improved and main production version. The problematic Hispano-Suiza 8a replaced by a more trustable Hispano-Suiza 8b V-8 engine and in some cases by a Wolseley Viper piston engine. Built under license in Texas by the Austin aircraft company.
• SE.5b: Experimental semi-sesquiplane version. Featuring an streamlined nose and retractable radiator. We couldn't find nor blueprints neither good photos of it.
• Eberhart SE.5e: Version made out of spare parts by the Eberhart airplane company. Powered by a Wright-Hispano E engine and featured plywood-covered fuselages. Check this post to see it.

The squadrons covered in this entry are:

• No.92 Squadron, RFC
• No.2 Squadron, AFC
• No.24 Squadron, RFC
• No.84 Squadron, RFC
• No.60 Squadron, RFC
• No.56 Squadron, RAF

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 - Foreign Users

We keep drawing. This time it's the turn for the airplane that, arguably, was the best airplane of the whole Great War.

The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter of the first world war.
Given that we are covering the foreign users of this airplane, we are going to center on the S.E.5a model.
The S.E.5a model was an improved version of the initial S.E.5 model. It was powered by a 200hp Hispano-Suiza 8b engine and some of them were powered by a 200hp Wolseley Viper.

It was license built in the USA by the Austin Motor Company and also by Ebehart Aeroplane company.

The countries covered in this entry are:

• Argentina: The Argentine Naval Aviation bought some of them as late as 1927 and used them as advanced trainers.
• Australia: Some SE5a were given to Australia as part of the imperial gift after the end of the Great War and they constituted the backbone of the very early Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). They served until 1929 when they were replaced by the Bristol Bulldog.
• Canada: The Canadian Air Force employed SE.5a together with Sopwith Dolphin in the No.1 fighter squadron. However, as we couldn't fin graphical info, both the colours and registrations are speculative.
• Chile: The Chilean Military Aviation Service bought some SE.5a in 1924 to equip the newly formed 1st Aviation Company.
• Ireland: Apparently one SE.5a served in the Irish Air Corps during the Irish Civil War. It operated from the Fermoy aerodrome, in southern Ireland and was destroyed due to an engine failure. We couldn't find graphical evidence, so the drawing must be considered as speculative.
• Japan: The British Aviation Mission on Japan took one Viper-engined SE.5a to Japan after the armistice in order to serve in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. We couldn't find any graphical info about that airplane so it must be considered as speculative.
• Poland: The Polish Air Force bought at least one ex-RFC from the United Kingdom and was used in the Polish-Soviet war.