Martinsyde

Martinsyde Ltd
legal form	Limited
founding	1908
resolution	1922
Reason for dissolution	insolvency
Seat	Woking + Brooklands ( Surrey ), United Kingdom
management	HP Martin, George Handasyde
Branch	Airplane manufacturer, motorcycle manufacturer

Martinsyde was a British manufacturer of airplanes and motorcycles . The company was based in Woking and Brooklands from 1908 to 1922 .

history

The company was founded in 1908 as a partnership between HP Martin and George Handasyde under the name Martin & Handasyde . The first monoplane was built in 1908–1909 and managed to take off from the ground before being destroyed in a storm. The two built successor models, mainly monoplane. One of their double-deckers , the S.1 , ensured that Martin & Handasyde developed into a successful aircraft manufacturer in 1914.

In 1915, the two founders named the company in Martinsyde Ltd around and became the third largest aircraft manufacturer of the United Kingdom in the First World War . They had aircraft hangars in Brooklands and a large factory in nearby Woking.

Planes

Martin-Handasyde No.4B Dragonfly (1911) in Brooklands

Martin & Handasyde and the successor company Martinsyde manufactured the following aircraft types :

• Martin-Handasyde No.3 - sport airplane, 1910
• Martinsyde S.1 - single seater, 1914
• Martinsyde G100 and G102 "Elephant" - from 1915
• Martinsyde RG
• Martinsyde F.1
• Martinsyde F.2
• Martinsyde F.3 - Airplane for private use with Rolls-Royce Falcon engine, due to the lack of engines only a small number were built.
• Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - fighter aircraft, the F.3 with Hispano-Suiza engine
• Martinsyde Semiquaver - racing aircraft

A number of remaining Buzzard aircraft were later fitted with a new engine, the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar , by the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC) and sold as Martinsyde ADC.1 in 1924 . ADC also made further developments of the F.4: two ADC Nimbuses were created as prototypes . The company also built the BE2c and SE5a as subcontractors.

motorcycles

Martinsyde Model C, 498 cm³ (1922)

Martinsyde began building motorcycles in 1919. They had acquired the rights to the engine designs from Howard Newman , which included a 350 cc single cylinder and a 677 cc V 2 with unusual counter control (in this case with hanging exhaust valves and upright intake valves).

The 677 cc engine was built into a parallelogram frame with Brampton forks. Martinsyde first had to solve some problems with the components before the new range of models - initially under the trade name Martinsyde-Newman - could be brought onto the market. Newman, who later also took part in the design and manufacture of the Ivy motorcycles , left Martinsyde. The V2-engine motorcycle had a manual three-speed transmission built under license from AJS . Martinsyde engines were very flexible and became particularly popular for off-road competitions, where the single cylinder engines soon gained a reputation for great reliability. Such competitions were z. B. held in Brooklands, where the Martinsyde racing team won a team award in 1922. The machines were also used on the Scottish six-day voyage.

Martinsyde motorcycles were available with a sidecar and in 1920 the Martinsyde 680 was followed by the 500 model and in 1921 a sports version. In 1922 Martinsyde produced a 738 cc sports model with a V2 engine called Quick Six , which made 22 bhp (16.2 kW) and reached a top speed of 128 km / h. The engine still had the "reverse counter-control" with side inlet valves and hanging outlet valves, but Ricardo cylinders, precisely balanced flywheels, all moving parts in lightweight design, all around machined bumpers made of nickel steel and a three-speed gearbox with narrow gear steps. Martinsyde tried new designs, such as leaf springs as valve springs, but in 1922 the factory in Woking was destroyed by fire, so that the company went bankrupt . Around 2000 motorcycles had been made since 1919. The rights to build motorcycles were acquired by the Bat Motor Manufacturing Company, which then built a number of two-cylinder motorcycles in 1924 and 1925 and then ceased production.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} 1922 Martinsyde Quick Six . RealClassic.co.uk. ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 27, 2014. 
2. ↑ Michael H. Goodall, Albert E. Tagg: British Aircraft Before the Great War . P. 187
3. ^ A New Sports V-Twin in Motor Cycle , May 11, 1922. p. 599.

Web links

Commons : Martinsyde  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Martinsyde Ltd Production List . Airport-Data.com