Royal Aircraft Factory: S.E.4
Note: This is a sub-section of Royal Aircraft Factory
The S.E.4 was a single-seater experimental aircraft and fighter. Powered by 160-hp fourteen-cylinder two-row rotary Gnome and 100-hp Gnome Monosoupape rotary engines and designed by Henry Folland. Possibly the fastest plane of its day. Test flying commenced in June by Norman Spratt.
It was handed over to the Royal Flying Corps and was wrecked on the 12th August when landing but no one was injured. Just the one plane made.
The S.E.4a was a scout plane that was unconnected with the S.E.4. Designed by Henry Folland in late 1914 and powered by a 80-hp Gnome engine the plane first flew on the 25th June 1915 by Frank Widenham Goodden. Three further planes were made with one of them crashing at Hounslow in September 1915 killing Binden Blood.
Sources of Information
- The Royal Aircraft Factory by Paul R. Hare. ISBN 0-85177-843-7