FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0931.PDF
17 July 1953 87 bat tactic favoured by Capt. Albert Ball, V.C. Both guns were in clined upwards in relation to the line of flight, the Vickers having the greater angle. The S.E.5 was one of the first fighting aircraft to be fitted with the Constantinesco synchronizing gear for the Vickers gun. At first this gear was not properly understood and gave a good deal of trouble : many pilots shot their own airscrews off, and others found that their Vickers gun would not fire at all. Once the C.C. gear, as it was called, had outgrown its initial troubles it was very successful, but many German pilots owed their lives to the gear's defection in its early days. No. 56 Squadron, R.F.C., was the first unit to be equipped with S.E.5S, and received its first machine on March 13th, 1917. By April 5th the squadron's establishment of 12 S.E.s was completed, and it went overseas two days later. The first production S.E.s had a curious transparent hood over the cockpit, which was promptly named "the greenhouse" by the pilots. This canopy was probably developed from experiments which had been carried out on A.4561 with transparent side extensions of its windscreen (by which time the machine had acquired L-shaped exhausts with rear outlet), but, whatever its origin, the cockpit cover was greatly disliked, for it interfered seriously with forward visibility, and constituted a danger in the event of a crash. Major R. G. Blomfield, then CO. of No. 56 Squadron, was alarmed at this impairment of his pilots' fighting efficiency and promptly grounded the entire unit after its arrival in France until a simpler form of windscreen could be devised and fitted. The resulting small flat Triplex windscreen became standard on S.E.5S. The squadron's first patrol was made on April 22nd, 1917, when five S.E.5S patrolled the line Lievin-Croisilles. Ball was leading, and attacked an Albatros two-seater which fled, nose down, for the sanctuary of the German lines. The patrol was unable to give chase, for it had been expressly ordered that no S.E.5 was t0 cross the lines. On the following day the S.E.s were used over the lines for the first time, and Ball opened No. 56's scoring by shooting down a German two-seater near Tilloy and a green Albatros scout over Cambrai. Ball was flying a Nieuport scout when he shot down the two-seater, for he did not at first like the S.E., which was not quite so responsive as the lighter Nieuport. On April 26th, 1917, he had a narrow escape from death in the fighting in which, flying an S.E.5, he scored his 13th and 14th definite victories. He was saved only by the speed and double volume of fire of the S.E., and he thereupon became reconciled to the machine, and used his Nieuport only once again over the lines before his death on May 7th, 1917. No. 56 Squadron had a brief period on Home Defence duties from June 21st to July 5th, 1917, when it was withdrawn to Bekes- bourne as a counter-measure to the German air raids on London. During the period no attacks were made on the capital, and the squadron rejoined the B.E.F. Up to this time, No. 56 was the only squadron equipped with the S.E.5, but during the month of July No. 60 Squadron began to replace its Nieuports with S.E.s. A little earlier, in June, No. 56 received the first of the S.E.5AS, and was completely re-equipped with the new type by the end of August, 1917. The performance of the S.E.5 on active service had been closely watched, and operational requirements soon suggested a number of necessary modifications. A more powerful version of the Hispano-Suiza engine became available : it delivered 200 h.p. and had a reduction gear to drive the airscrew. The first installa tion of a 200 h.p. geared Hispano-Suiza was made in the second prototype S.E.5. The engine drove a two-bladed airscrew and was fitted with short exhaust manifolds. Photographs of this aeroplane show that it had the original longer-span wings, but disclose no serial number. It seems probable, however, that it would be A.4562, for A.4563 existed with a different installation of the 200- h.p. Hispano-Suiza. This last S.E. had L-shaped exh.tusts, full- length radiator shutters, and the shorter span wings : the engine drove a four-bladed airscrew. The use of radiator shutters was dictated by the increased altitude at which the S.E. could fly and fight when fitted with the more powerful engine. Production machines with the 200 h.p. engine were re-designated S.E.5A. The forward portion cf the fuselage was slightly deeper than that of the S.E.5, and a streamlined headrest was built integral with the after top-decking. This headrest was frequently removed in service by pilots who wanted the best possible rearwards view. The top of the radiator cowUng was semi-circular, its sides were slightly rounded, and fairings were usually fined to each end of the projecting rocker housings. The long exhaust pipes eventually became standard fittings, but some early S.E.5AS had short pipes somewhat similar to those of the Sopwith Dolphin. The shape of the cockpit varied considerably, some machines having slightly bulged sides; and the S.E.5AS with geared Hispanos usually had four-bladed airscrews. Early experiences with the higher-powered Hispano-Suiza engines were not happy, and production failures late in 1917 placed the supply of British aircraft, particularly S.E.5AS, in jeopardy. As early as May 7th, 1917, Sir William Weir, then Controller of B.S.2 (S.E.2). S.E.2A. S.E.4A. First prototype of the S.E.5.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
