The slightly less well known

[Angry Turnip]

Martinsyde S.1

The Martin-Handasyde Scout 1 was a British biplane aircraft of the early part of the First World War.

It was a single-seat biplane with a 80hp Gnome engine in tractor configuration, it was armed with a forward firing 0.303in (7.7mm) Lewis machine gun. Sixty of the S.1 were built and these were used for about 6 months on the Western Front by the RFC before it was relegated to training. Although initially intended for use in Home Defence operating from the UK, it was found to be inadequate for that too.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martinsyde F.1

The Martinsyde F.1 was a British two-seat biplane fighter from 1917.

The F.1 was designed as a fighter,it was a large tractor biplane powered by a 250 hp Rolls-Royce Mk III piston engine. It had tandem open cockpits with unusual feature of the observer forward and the pilot behind. A rectangular aperture was cut-out of the upper wing above the observer's cockpit which would allow the observer to use a Lewis gun.It was tested flown in July 1917, where it demonstrated good handling but was criticised for the awkward crew arrangement. It was not ordered into production and only one prototype (of two ordered) was built. It continued in use at Farnborough until after the end of the war.

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Miles Hawk

The Miles M.2 Hawk was a 1930s British two-seat light monoplane.

The Hawk was designed in 1933 by F.G. Miles.The Hawk was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with wings designed to be folded. It had an open cockpit for two in tandem. The prototype was powered by a 95 hp ADC Cirrus IIIA engine was built by Philips and Powis Limited (now known as Miles Aircraft) and first flew on 29 March 1933.The aircraft sold well for the time, the price of only 395 pounds and the benefits of a monoplane. A number of one off variants were built, including a cabin monoplane (M.2A), a long-range single-seater (M.2B) and three-seat versions for leisure flying (M.2D).

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Falcon

The Miles M.3 Falcon is a 1930s British three/four-seat cabin monoplane aircraft.

The M.3 Falcon was a clean, single engined low-wing monoplane structurally similar to the earlier Miles M.2F Hawk Major family, but had side-by-side seating for two behind the pilot in a glazed cockpit. It was powered by a 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine. The prototype, G-ACTM, first flew on 12 October 1934.
The first production aircraft  (M.3A Falcon Major) was flown in January 1935. It had a wider fuselage to improve passenger comfort and revised glazing with a forward sloping windscreen. The M.3A was underpowered, so the (M.3B Falcon Six) and later versions were fitted with a 200 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six engine.

Twenty-nine M.3As and M.3Bs were delivered during 1935 and 1936 to private owners, clubs, and commercial operators in Britain and abroad.Pre war, three Falcon Sixes appeared in RAF colours at the (RAE) for trials of a variety of wings and aerodynamic innovations. At the outbreak of the war three aircraft remained civilian as communications aircraft with various companies but, like many civil aircraft, ten others were impressed into service by the RAF, Royal Navy, the RAAF and the Swedish air force. Six Falcons survived the war.

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Nighthawk

The Miles M.7 Nighthawk was a 1930s British training and communications monoplane.

The M.7 Nighthawk was developed from the Miles Falcon Six intended as a training and communications aircraft. The prototype, registered G-ADXA, was first flown in 1935, it was a low-wing monoplane powered by a 200 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six piston engine. The prototype crashed during spinning trials at Woodley Aerodrome in January 1937. Four production aircraft followed.
The design was modified to meet an Air Ministry spec and produced as the M.16 Mentor. In 1944 a Nighthawk fuselage was fitted with the wings from a Mohawk and fitted with a 205 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six Series II engine with a variable pitch airscrew. It was designated the M.7A Nighthawk.The last Nighthawk to remain airworthy was G-AGWT in the early 1960s.

Two aircraft were delivered to the Royal Romanian Air Force in 1936 and one was delivered to the RAF in May 1937 with serial number L6846.

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Monarch

The Miles M.17 Monarch was a British, light, touring aeroplane of the 1930s.

It was a single-engine, three-seat, cabin monoplane with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage.The Monarch was a development of their earlier Whitney Straight, the Monarch had an enlarged fuselage, allowing provision of a third seat in part of what had been the luggage space. Eleven aircraft were built between 1938 and 1939, six of these to British customers, the rest going to export.The aircraft were powered by a 130hp De Havilland Gipsy Major I 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted in-line piston engine.

At the outbreak of WWII five of the British-registered machines were pressed by the Air Ministry; one machine belonging to Rolls-Royce acquired camouflage paint but remained in its owner's service. All but one of these survived the war, though a Dutch-registered aeroplane (PH-ATP) was destroyed in the Luftwaffe raid on Schiphol on 10 May 1940. One aircraft, OY-DIO, was on the Danish register until 9 Sept. 1939 and owned by a Dane named Hagedorn.
The remaining Monarchs led uneventful but useful careers; a number survived into the Sixties. G-AFJU is displayed at the National Museum of Flight at RAF East Fortune near East Linton, Scotland.

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Monitor

The Miles M.33 Monitor was a twin-engined British target tug aircraft.

The Monitor design was submitted as a response for a twin-engined high-speed target tug for the RAF. The specification called for a towing speed of not less than 300 mph, be capable of 90 mph while streaming targets,an endurance of 3–4 hours and - most unusually - be capable of being dismantled and fitted into standard packing crates. Two prototypes were ordered; the first prototype (NF900) first flew on 5 April 1944, and was capable of reaching 360 mph.

The Monitor was a high-winged aircraft with an all-metal fuselage and wooden wings. The aircraft was powered by two 1700 hp Wright Cyclone R-2600-31 radial engines driving Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propellers. It was fitted with a hydraulic winch as the normal windlasses could not be used at speeds of much more than 150 mph, while the Monitor was required to tow targets at double this speed.The original requirement for a target towing aircraft for the RAF was abandoned, and the orders for Monitors was taken over by the Fleet Air Arm, who required an aircraft capable of simulating dive-bombing attacks on warships.

At the end of the war, contracts for 600 Monitors were cancelled, only 20 in total were built.None entered service and all survivors were scrapped in the late 1940`s.

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Messenger

The Miles M.38 Messenger is a British four-seat liaison and private owner aircraft.

The Messenger was designed to meet a British Army requirement for a robust, slow speed, low maintenance air observation post and liaison aircraft.The aircraft designed was a cantilever low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel, powered by the de Havilland Gipsy Major 1D inline engine.The Messenger featured triple fins and rudders in order to maintain sufficient controllability down to the exceptionally low stalling speed of 25 mph.

It`s prototype was converted from a Miles M.28 Mercury and first flew 12 September 1942, test flown by an Aerial Observation Post Squadron it was declared a success, meeting all the army's requirements, however the Ministry of Aircraft Production, having not been consulted, reprimanded George Miles for failing to seek their permission before rebuilding the aircraft and no orders for the Miles M.38 were placed for the aerial observation post type.A year later a small order against Specification 17/43 was placed on behalf of the RAF for the Messenger I to be employed in the VIP transport passenger transport role.

During the war years of the 21 Messengers produced seventeen Messenger 1s survived, and when retired from RAF duties most were converted for civilian use as the Messenger 4A. They were flown by private pilots and business owners.

Post-war production centred on the Messenger 2A for the civilian market, aircraft were being built at Newtownards in Northern Ireland and then flown to Woodley for final fitting out.
After 71 aircraft were built, production ceased in 1948; a single example was assembled, from existing parts, in 1950.Several examples of the type were sold to Australia and others were exported to Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa and Switzerland.Several examples were still flying in the UK and New Zealand.


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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Aerovan

The Miles M.57 Aerovan was a British twin-engined short-range low-cost transport.

The Aerovan was a twin-engined high-wing monoplane of plastic-bonded plywood construction with some spruce and metal parts. It had fixed tricycle undercarriage, three vertical tail and rudder units, one central and two as tailplane endplates. A large fin area was required by the deep-sided forward fuselage, and a pod and boom fuselage. Two pilots were seated beneath a clear perspex canopy which formed the front dorsal part of the pod, four or five circular windows providing a view for passengers on either side. The Aerovan was capable of lifting a family car, loaded through clamshell rear doors. Designed in 1944, the prototype was built at Miles factory at Woodley, Berkshire and was first flown there on 26 January 1945.

Aerovan production started in 1946 primarily for civil use, although examples were used briefly by the military of Israel and New Zealand. Production ended late in 1947 after 52 aircraft had been built.

Most Mk 3 and 4 Aerovans were used on passenger and freight services, charter work and pleasure flights in the UK and in the Near East. Meridian Air Maps operated Aerovan 4 G-AISF on aerial survey work from October 1955 until it crashed on takeoff from Manchester (Ringway) on 29 April 1957.

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Gemini

The Miles M.65 Gemini was a British twin-engined four-seat touring aircraft from the mid-1940`s.

The Gemini first flew on 26 October 1945.It was a four-seat low-wing cantilever monoplane of plastic-bonded plywood construction. It had twin vertical tail units and was originally powered by 90 hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor engines, the aircraft was put into large scale production straight away and 130 Geminis were sold in the first year. Later variants were fitted with different engines, of 100hp, 145hp and 155hp.

The aircraft was popular with private owners for touring throughout Europe and many were exported to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries. In the late 1940s and early 1950s they were frequently entered in air races.Several aircraft were used as light business transports by commercial firms including Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd, Fairey Aviation and B.K.S Engineering. Other examples were flown by UK independent airlines on light charter work within the U.K. and Europe.
Two examples completed in 1951 by F. G. Miles were fitted with 155 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major III engines and provided with enlarged and heightened fins. These were re-designated the Miles M.75 Aries

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[Angry Turnip]

Miles Sparrowjet

The Miles M.77 Sparrowjet was a twin-engined jet-powered racing aircraft from the early 1950`s.

The Sparrowjet first flew on 14 December 1953.It was a development of the 1935 Sparrowhawk with modifications including a new tail section and front fuselage, fixed, faired-in undercarriage and a large clear canopy. The wing roots were modified to take the Palas engines.

The prototype M.5 Sparrowhawk G-ADNL was modified to M.77 Sparrowjet standard, and first flown on 28 August 1954. It flew for display at Baginton during the Royal Aero Club race in July but had been prevented from racing owing to an air starter fault.It won the SBAC Challenge Cup at Yeadon, West Yorkshire in 1956 and the King's Cup Race in 1957 with a top speed of 228 mph.
The Sparrowjet was severely damaged in a hangar fire at Upavon, Wiltshire in July 1964. In 2004 it was under rebuild in the Bristol area using discarded components from the 1950/53 conversion. The rebuild was still ongoing as of early 2012.

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[Angry Turnip]

Mosscraft MA.2

The Mosscraft MA.2 was a British light two-seat low-winged sporting monoplane of the 1930s.

The Moss M.A.2 was designed and built in 1939 at the Moss Brothers Aircraft Ltd factory in Chorley, England. It was of wooden construction and initially had two open cockpits, but was later converted to a two-seat side-by-side cabin layout.

The first MA.2 G-AFMS was demonstrated at Heathrow in May 1939.It was shipped to Canada, where it became CF-BUB. It was flown over the Rocky Mountains in 1941, being the lowest powered aircraft to do so to date. It was flown to the Canadian east coast and down into the U.S.A. The aircraft was powered by a 90hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor I 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine.

After storage, it was shipped back to the UK in 1947. It was flown in the 1949 Kings Cup Air Race and the 1950 race.It was sold to the Fairwood Flying Group based at Swansea Airport in September 1953, who continued to fly the aircraft until it crashed 10 miles south of Builth Wells, Mid-Wales, on 7 July 1958.A second MA.2 was built prewar, but not completed. It was found at Chorley in 1964.


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[Angry Turnip]

Nieuport Nighthawk

The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British fighter aircraft developed by the Nieuport & General Aircraft company for the RAF towards the end of the First World War.

The Nieuport & General Aircraft Co. Ltd. was formed on 16 November 1916 to produce French Nieuport aircraft under licence.During 1917,Henry Folland was hired as chief designer, the company started to design its own aircraft, with the first type, the Nieuport B.N.1 fighter (the designation signifying British Nieuport) flying early in 1918.
Folland designed the Nighthawk, a wooden two-bay biplane to be powered by a new Dragonfly engine.. An initial order for 150 Nighthawks was placed in August 1918,before prototypes or flight-ready engines were available, with the first prototype,flying in April or May 1919.

By this time, it was clear that the Dragonfly engine had serious problems, being prone to extreme overheating, high fuel consumption and severe vibration.When the engine did operate as planned to, the Nighthawk showed excellent performance, but in September 1919, it was finally recognised that the Dragonfly was unsalvagable and the engine programme was cancelled, although by this time 1,147 engines had been delivered.

In an attempt to work out the problems with the Dragonfly engine, four Nighthawks were also retained by the R.A.E. with trials carried out in 1920–21.Nieuport & General closed down in August 1920, and the rights to the Nighthawk were purchased by the Gloster Aircraft Company, who also hired Folland as chief designer. Gloster proceeded to produce a number of derivatives of the Nighthawk, using stocks of Nighthawk components acquired by the company from the cancelled production run, calling them the Gloster Mars.
The Gloster Nighthawk, or Mars VI, replaced the Dragonfly with either an Armstrong-Siddeley Jaguar or a Bristol Jupiter radial. In 1922, the RAF acquired 29 aircraft converted from Nieuport Nighthawks, powered by both Jaguar and Jupiter engines, while Greece purchased 25 Jaguar powered fighters.

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[Angry Turnip]

Norman Thompson N.T.2B

The Norman Thompson N.T.2B was a British single-engined flying boat trainer of the First World War.

The N.T.2B, was a single-engined pusher biplane, with unequal span two-bay wings and powered by a 160 hp Beardmore engine mounted between the wings driving a four-bladed propeller. The trainee pilot and instructor sat side by side in an enclosed cockpit, fitted with dual controls.Later aircraft were fitted with a 200 hp Sunbeam Arab, which was mounted slightly to starboard of the centreline of the aircraft to overcome the greater torque of the more powerful engine. The Arab, however, proved very unreliable, and the powerplant was changed again, to the 200 hp Hispano-Suiza 8 engine, which was mounted at an angle to overcome a similar torque problem as was noted with the Arab.

The RNAS's and RAF`s needs for the N.T.2B were beyond the capacity of Norman Thompson, so orders were placed with Supermarine and S. E. Saunders,as well as with the parent company.At least 294 had been ordered by the end of the First World War, which brought about large scale cancellations.Delivery delays caused by the engine problems caused a backlog in training flying boat pilots.Seventy-nine were on charge with the RAF on 31 October 1918.At the end of the war, N.T.2Bs were sold to the air forces of Estonia, Peru and Norway.Civil N.T.2Bs were flown in Norway and Canada, where one aircraft remained in use for forestry patrols until 1929.

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[Angry Turnip]

Parnall Panther

The Parnall Panther was a British carrier based spotter and reconnaissance aircraft designed and developed by Parnall and Sons in the latter years of World War I.

The Parnall Panther was designed by Harold Bolas,it was planned to meet the requirements of Admiralty Specification N.2A for a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft capable of operating from aircraft carriers. The first prototype,flew in 1917, with a further five prototypes being produced.The Panther was a wooden, single-bay biplane, which, unusually for the time, was fitted with a birch plywood monocoque fuselage which could be folded for shipboard storage, the fuselage was hinged aft of the observer's cockpit.

The pilot and observer had individual cockpits in the fuselage, this giving a good view for landing, but restricting access to the pilot's cockpit. Inflatable flotation airbags were fitted beneath the wings to keep the aircraft afloat in the event of ditching into the sea, with a hydrovane fitted in front of the undercarriage in order to stop the aircraft nosing over.

After testing and evaluation, an order for 300 Panthers was placed with Parnall in 1918.However, this was reduced to 150 following the end of the year.The Panther served with Spotter Reconnaissance Flights aboard the aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMS Hermes. While the Panthers handled well in the air, the elderly 230hp Bentley engines proved unreliable, the longitudinal arrestor wires in use aboard British aircraft carriers at the time, was unsatisfactory, resulting in many accidents. Panthers continued in service with the Fleet Air Arm until 1926.


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[Angry Turnip]

Parnall Plover

The Parnall Plover was a British single-seat naval fighter aircraft of the 1920s.

The successful aircraft was to replace the Nieuport Nightjar and be powered by a Bristol Jupiter or Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine capable of being operated from aircraft carriers or as a floatplane. The Plover was a single-bay biplane of wood-and-fabric construction, fitted with full-span flaps and could be fitted with a conventional wheeled undercarriage or floats (with wheels). The first prototype flew in late 1922, powered by a 430 hp Bristol Jupiter. Two more prototypes followed, with the second a floatplane, also powered by a Jupiter and the third a landplane powered by a Jaguar engine.

Six Plovers entered service with 403 and 404 Fleet Fighter Flights of the RAF in 1923, the RN also took six aircraft for evaluation and allowing the type to be tested in service against the Flycatcher and the Nightjar, which both types were planned to replace. The Flycatcher was preferred, being a more popular aircraft to fly as well as being easier to rig, replacing the Plover in 1924.One aircraft was entered on the civil register as G-EBON and was flown in the 1919 King's Cup Air Race, the Plover retired from the race due to fuel flow problems. G-EBON crashed and was destroyed in January 1929.

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[Angry Turnip]

Parnall Elf

The Parnall Elf is a British two seat light touring aircraft of the 1920s.

The Parnall Elf was designed by Harold Bolas, chief designer, it was a biplane of wood and fabric construction with staggered wings set forward on the fuselage as a feature to assist crew escape in an emergency. The wings were braced with 'vee' interplane struts which dispensed with any flying wires and could be folded for ease of hangarage. The main fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage, while a pump raised the fuel to a small tank in the wing centre section where it was then fed to the 120 hp Cirrus Hermes II 4-cylinder air-cooled in-line piston engine,by gravity.

Parnall Elf, G-AAIN, is maintained and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, and may be flown regularly throughout the summer.

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[Angry Turnip]

Port Victoria P.V.7

The Port Victoria P.V.7 Grain Kitten was a prototype British Fighter aircraft from 1917.

It was designed and built by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain.And was a small and light biplane intended to fly off platforms on Royal Navy Destroyers.
It was a very small single bay tractor biplane, of sesquiplane configuration, with its lower wing much smaller than its upper wing. The wings were fitted with ailerons only on the upper wing. It was intended, as was the competing Eastchurch design, to use a 45 hp geared ABC Gnat two-cylinder air-cooled engine. Armament was a single Lewis gun mounted above the upper wing.

Harry Busteed took over command of the Port Victoria Marine Aircraft Experimental Department, taking the designer of the Eastchurch competitor and the part built prototype with him,with the Eastchurch design gained the Port Victoria designation P.V.8. The P.V.7 acquired the name Grain Kitten to distinguish it from the P.V.8, which was named the Eastchurch Kitten.

The P.V.7 first flew on 22 June 1917, powered by a 35 hp ungeared Gnat engine, as the geared engine was unavailable.It proved to be tail heavy in the air and difficult to control on the ground, with its sesquiplane layout and high lift wings being considered unsuitable for such a small aircraft. The Gnat engine proved to be extremely unreliable,it was prone to cutting out so test flights had to remain within gliding distance of an airfield.
When the P.V.8 first flew in September, it proved superior, although it had similar problems with the 35 hp Gnat. The P.V.7 was rebuilt with new wings of conventional aerofoil section, a modified tail and a new undercarriage. The low power and unreliability of the Gnat,prevented either aircraft being suitable for the intended use, and the P.V.7 was not flown again after it was rebuilt.

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[Angry Turnip]

Reid and Sigrist R.S.1

The Reid and Sigrist R.S. 1 was a British twin-engined, three-seat advanced trainer developed in 1939.

Reid and Sigrist in Desford, Leicester, United Kingdom, were an important instrument manufacturer in the interwar era, they formed an aviation division in 1937.Their first aircraft was a twin-engined advanced trainer powered by a pair of de Havilland Gipsy Six II 205 hp,engines.Although a conventional mid-wing "taildragger" design with mainly wooden construction, the fuselage/wing surfaces had plywood covering, and the cockpit featured a sliding canopy for the three-seat configuration, that was popular at the time for training. An alternate light bomber configuration was also proposed with a pilot and radio operator/navigator in the front compartment and a rear-facing gunner position behind equipped with a single machine gun.

The prototype, registered as G-AEOD on 9 October 1936, had its first flight in 1939.The R.S.1 named whimsically "Snargasher" by the factory workers during its construction made its first public appearance at the Royal Aeronautical Society on 15 May 1939 with its COA issued on 3 June 1939.Further development of the type was suspended as the company became a wartime engineering and production concern,with Bolton-Paul Defiant and Hawker Hurricane assembly and repair contracts.The aircraft retained its civil registration but flew in camouflage until the sole prototype was broken up in 1944.

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[Angry Turnip]

Rollason Druine Turbulent

The Druine D.31 Turbulent is a French single-seat ultralight Homebuilt aircraft designed by Roger Druine.

The D.31 Turbulent was designed to be amateur-built and is a single-seat ultra-light aircraft with cantilever low-wing and fixed tailwheel landing gear. Designed to be powered by a 30hp (1200cc) Volkswagen or similar engine.The fuselage and wings use wood construction with fabric covering.

Rollason Aircraft & Engines Limited produced 26 factory-built D.31 aircraft in the UK and three D.31A models with strengthened wing spar in order to get a full British certificate of Airworthiness.
Five Turbulents are operated by the Tiger Club in the Tiger Club Display Team for formation flying displays in the UK, since 1959. In 1960, Rollason Turbulent G-APNZ was flown by the Duke of Edinburgh, making the Turbulent the first and only single-seat aircraft to have been flown by a member of the royal family.

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[Angry Turnip]

Rollason Druine Condor

The Druine D.60 Condor is a light aircraft designed by Roger Druine in France in the 1950s.

The Condor was subsequently made in quantity in the UK by Rollason Aircraft & Engines.The first Condor F-WBIX first flew in 1956,it was an evolution of the Druine Turbi, but featured an extensively revised fuselage allowing the pilot and instructor to sit side by side under a full canopy.

With a number of refinements to the design, Rollason Aircraft and Engines undertook series production at Croydon Airport from 1961 as the Rollason Condor,they were powered by a 100hp Rolls-Royce Continental 0-200A air-cooled flat-four engine. As Croydon had closed for flying in 1959, all aircraft were transported to Redhill, where they were reassembled and test flown.In 1973, Rollasons ceased all aircraft work at Croydon and moved to Shoreham where a single Condor was completed. A number of unfinished fuselages were sold off for possible completion as amateur-built aircraft.

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[Angry Turnip]

Rollason Beta

The Rollason Beta was a British midget racing monoplane.

The Beta was designed by the Luton Group (technicians employed by the British Aircraft Corporation at Luton) in a competition to design a racing aircraft, the Rollason Midget Racer Design Competition 1964.

It is a fully aerobatic wooden low-wing monoplane with a cantilever tailplane with a single fin and rudder, powered by a Continental engine of between 65 and 100hp. It has a fixed-tailwheel landing gear and an enclosed cockpit for the pilot. The original prototype Luton Beta was not completed,but the design was built commercially by Rollason Aircraft and Engines who made 4 aircraft at Redhill between 1967 and 1971. Plans were also available for homebuild versions; although 55 sets of drawings had been sold by early 1974, five aircraft have been registered but just three aircraft are known to have been completed, all in the UK.

The first Rollason-built Beta registered G-ATLY was written off in a fatal aerial collison with a Tiger Moth at Nottingham on 29 September 1973.

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[Angry Turnip]

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.1

The S.E.1 (Santos Experimental) was an experimental aircraft built at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later the Royal Aircraft Factory) in 1911.

The S.E.1 made its first flight,in the hands of its designer Geoffrey de Havilland on 11 June 1911. Further flight testing revealed control problems and the area of the front wing/elevator was adjusted to try to make the S.E.1 stable in pitch. By the beginning of August the front surface was fixed and carried a conventional trailing edge elevator. An attempt to improve the turning characteristics was made by stripping the side covering of the nacelle to reduce side area.

De Havilland continued to fly the S.E.1 until 16 August. On 18 August the aircraft was flown by the inexperienced pilot Lt. Theodore J. Ridge, assistant superintendent at the factory (who had only been awarded his pilot's certificate the day before, and was described as "an absolutely indifferent flyer").Both de Havilland and a factory engineer warned him against flying it. The combination of the inexperienced pilot and the marginally controllable aircraft proved fatal – while landing, with the engine off, he made a sharp turn; the S.E.1 stalled and spun in, killing Ridge.No attempt to rebuild the S.E.1 was made, and the design was apparently abandoned with just a single example being completed.

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[Angry Turnip]

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3 was a single-engined rotary engined biplane from 1912.

In December 1911, the Royal Aircraft Factory started work of a new biplane of similar layout to its B.E.1 and B.E.2, but powered by a rotary engine to compare with the water-cooled and air-cooled V8 engine powered B.E.1 and B.E.2.First to fly was the B.E.3, powered by a 50 hp Gnome Omega engine, on 3 May 1912. Testing was successful, and the aircraft was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) on 13 May 1912.The B.E.4, also initially powered by a 50 hp Gnome,it flew on 24 June that year, and was delivered to the RFC on 8 August. It was re-engined with a 70 hp Gnome in September 1912. At least two, and possibly three more similar aircraft powered by 50 hp Gnomes were built in early 1913 by private contractors.

The B.E.3 and B.E.4, allocated the serial numbers 203 and 204 became part of the inventory of No. 3 Squadron RFC, with the B.E.3, nicknamed "Goldfish", being used for various trials, including air-to-ground signalling with both radio and lights.Two more aircraft were delivered to the Central Flying School in December 1912, while serial number 303, which may have been similar, was delivered to No. 4 Squadron in January 1913, although wrecked in a crash in February that year.

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[Angry Turnip]

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 was a British two-seat reconnaissance and artillery observation biplane from 1914.

It was a two-bay equal-span biplane with a fixed tailskid landing gear, with the wheels supported on skids and powered by a nose-mounted 120 hp Austro-Daimler engine driving a four-bladed propeller. The aircraft had two open cockpits with the observer/gunner in the forward cockpit under the upper wing and the pilot behind.Some modified single-seat high altitude aircraft were built with extended-span upper wings.Other R.E.5s were used for experimentation with airbrakes and for test flying the Royal Aircraft Factory 4 engine.

Six R.E.5s deployed to France in September 1914, partly equipping No. 2 Squadron RFC, with further examples operated by other squadrons, with no unit being completely equipped with the R.E.5. In total, eleven R.E.5s were sent to France, with a further nine being used by training units.

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