Martinsyde p.1
| Martinsyde p.1 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Fighter aircraft , reconnaissance aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
Summer 1914 |
| Production time: |
1914-1915 |
| Number of pieces: |
61 |
The Martinsyde S.1 was a double decker that was built by Martin & Handasyde (Martinesyde Ltd. from 1915) .
development
The Martinsyde S.1 was developed in the late summer of 1914 and was very similar to the Sopwith Tabloid , which had set some records as a sport aircraft in 1914. Like its competitors - the Tabloid, the SE2 or the Bristol Scout - it was powered by an 80 hp (60 kW) Gnôme Monosoupape rotary engine. The first aircraft were still equipped with a four-wheel undercarriage with two main wheels at the rear and two small support wheels at the front, the latter were not used in the later version.
commitment
61 aircraft were delivered to the Royal Flying Corps from December 1914 to October 1915 and were put into service from early 1915. Squadrons 1, 4, 5 and 6 used them on the Western Front as a reconnaissance and fighter aircraft, and they were equipped with a Lewis machine gun mounted on the upper wing and firing over the propeller .
The S.1 became particularly well-known through the aerial combat adventure of the British fighter pilot Louis A. Strange from Squadron 6 on May 10, 1915 over Flanders : Strange lost control of his aircraft while reloading his machine gun in a battle with a German aviation team and fell out of the Cockpit and held on to the ammunition drum with all his might. While his plane went inverted and then crashed rudderlessly, Strange managed to reach the cockpit and control stick with his feet at the last moment, so that he brought the machine back into flight position, glided into the pilot's seat and the plane landed could bring.
After their retirement on the Western Front from mid-1915, the remaining S.1s were still used for home defense and as training aircraft. Two to four S.1 were stationed in Basra and used by the Australian Half-Squadron 30 under Captain Henry Petre from the end of August 1915 to supply the British-Indian expeditionary force in Mesopotamia on their advance on Baghdad . After its defeat by the Turkish-Arab troops, at least one aircraft ended up in Turkish hands and was used by the Ottoman air force .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 6.40 m |
| height | 2.49 m |
| span | 8.43 m |
| Wing area | 26.01 m² |
| drive | 9-cylinder rotary engine Gnôme Monosoupape , 80 PS (59 kW) |
| Top speed | 140 km / h |
| Armament | 1x .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis MG |
| crew | 1 |
swell
literature
- Bruce, JM: War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters . Macdonald, London 1965
Web links
- Description, photos (Russian)
- Description, color representation (English)
- Description, color representation (English)