Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = S.E.4 | logo = | logo_size = | image = | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Scout aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United Kingdom | manufacturer = Royal Aircraft Factory | design_group = | designer = Henry Folland | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = Royal Flying Corps | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = 1914 | first_flight = June 1914 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4''' was a single-engined, single seat biplane designed and built at the Royal Aircraft Factory just prior to the start of the First World War. Intended to be as fast as possible, it recorded a speed of 135 mph (217 km/h), which made it the fastest aircraft in the world in 1914, but no production followed and it was soon written off in a crash.

==Development and design== In April 1913, Henry Folland, one of the talented pool of designers assembled at the Royal Aircraft Factory started the design of a high-speed development of the earlier Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2 (designed by Geoffrey de Havilland), the '''S.E.3'''.<ref name="Bruce RFC p468">Bruce 1982, p.468.</ref> The S.E.3 was abandoned in favour of the '''S.E.4''', a more advanced aircraft intended to break the world air speed record.<ref name="Bruce v2 p70">Bruce 1968, p.70.</ref><ref name="Bruce British p443"/>

The S.E.4 was a tractor biplane powered by a closely cowled 14-cylinder, two-row Gnome rotary engine. The aircraft's fuselage was of wooden construction, and was carefully streamlined to reduce drag. Although it has been sometimes claimed to be of monocoque construction,<ref name="Lewis p37">Lewis 1979, p.37.</ref> the fuselage was in fact built around a wooden box girder, with formers fitted around the box girder to give the desired shape and skinned with plywood. The pilot sat in a cockpit under the trailing edge of the upper wing; unusually for the time, a transparent canopy made out of celluloid to fit the cockpit was made, but pilots refused to fly with it fitted and the canopy was never used.<ref name="Bruce v2 p70"/> The aircraft had single-bay wings, of equal span and unstaggered. The wings were braced with a single "{{IPA|ɪ}}" section strut on each side, and were fitted with full span control surfaces on both the upper and lower wings. These could be moved differentially as ailerons or together as camber changing flaps, with the gaps between the wings and control surfaces covered in elastic netting to further reduce drag. The aircraft had a Conventional landing gear, with a tail skid, and the main wheels carried on each side of a leaf spring held on an inverted tripod.<ref name="Bruce British p443">Bruce 1957, p.443.</ref>

==Operational history== The prospective design, although yet to fly, was mentioned at a February 1914 meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society by Brigadier General David Henderson, who said:"If anyone wants to know which country has the fastest aeroplane in the world-it is Great Britain".<ref name="Bruce v2 p69-70">Bruce 1968, pp.69–70.</ref> The S.E.4 was first flown in June 1914, demonstrating performance every bit as good as hoped, with a maximum speed of 135 mph (217 km/h), making it the fastest aircraft in the world.<ref name="Mason fighter p32"/> The novel mounting of the mainwheels proved unstable during taxiing, and was replaced by more conventional V-struts.<ref name="Bruce v2 p71">Bruce 1968, p.71.</ref> The engine was prone to overheating, so the propeller spinner had an opening cut into it and a fan installed inside the spinner to help cool the engine.<ref name="Bruce British p441">Bruce 1957, p.441.</ref>

Although it was praised by its pilots, including John Salmond, later to become Chief of the Air Staff, its landing speed of 52 mph (84 km/h) was considered too fast for operational use, and the engine was still too unreliable, being replaced by a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine. With this engine, speed fell to a less impressive 92 mph (148 km/h).<ref name="Bruce British p443"/>

The S.E.4 was badly damaged in a landing accident on 12 August 1914, with the type being abandoned.<ref name="Bruce v2 p.71-2">Bruce 1968, pp. 71–72.</ref> Although the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4a had a similar designation, it was effectively a completely different aircraft.

==Operators== ;{{UK}} *Royal Flying Corps

==Specifications (160 hp Gnome)== {{Aircraft specs |ref=The British Fighter since 1912<ref name="Mason fighter p32">Mason 1992, p.32</ref> |prime units?=imp  |genhide=

|max speed kmh= |max speed mph=135 |max speed kts= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |endurance=1 hr<ref name="Hare p280">Hare 1990, p. 280.</ref> |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |g limits= |roll rate= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin=1600 |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |more performance=  |armament=*None |avionics= }}

==See also== {{aircontent  |see also= |related=*Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2 *Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4a |similar aircraft= |lists= }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Bruce, J.M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Volume Two Fighters''. London: Macdonald, 1968, {{ISBN|0-356-01473-8}}. *Bruce, J.M. ''The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing)''. London: Putnam, 1982. {{ISBN|0-370-30084-X}}. *Hare, Paul R. ''The Royal Aircraft Factory''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-843-7}}. *Lewis, Peter. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. London: Putnam, Fourth edition, 1979. {{ISBN|0-370-10049-2}}. *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55750-082-7}}.

{{Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft}}

Category:1910s British fighter aircraft SE04 Category:Biplanes Category:Rotary-engined aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1914

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4

Connections

Linked from

Links to (26 total)