Aviation in Peace and War

by Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes

At the Military Competitions of 1912, of the eight types—Avro, B.E., Bristol, Cody, Bleriot, Deperdussin, Hanriot, and M. Farman—the first four were British, though only the Avro had a British engine, and the last four French, fitted with French engines. The average horse-power was about 83, the average maximum speed 67, and the minimum 50 miles per hour; the climb to 1,000 feet was effected in 4½ minutes with an average load of 640 lb., which included pilot, fuel for four hours and useful load. The loading per square foot was, for biplanes, about 4½, and, for monoplanes, 6 lb.

On the outbreak of war, and until the end of 1914, of the ten types in use—Avro, B.E., Bristol, Sopwith, Vickers, M. Farman, H. Farman, Caudron, Morane, and Voisin—five were British and five were French and all were fitted with French engines. The average horse-power was still about 83, but the average maximum speed had risen to 74, and the minimum had fallen to 41 miles per hour. The load averaged 609 lb.

A remarkable advance in machine and engine construction is shown by referring to the tables for 1918. At the Armistice of the twelve types—Avro, Bristol Fighter, Sopwith Snipe, S.E. 5a, de Havilland 4 and 9a, Vickers Vimy, Handley Page O/400 and V/1,500, Fairey Seaplane 3c, F. 2 A. and F. 5—all were British and, except the de Havilland 9a, which had an American engine, were fitted with engines of British manufacture. The F. 2 A., and F. 5, were twin-engined, while one, the Handley Page V/1,500, was equipped with four engines. The average horse-power was per engine, 344, and per machine, 516; the average maximum speed 111, and the minimum 53½ miles per hour, the climb to 6,500 feet was carried out in 13 minutes and to 10,000 feet in 24 minutes with an average load, including fuel for 5½ hours, of 2,742 lb. The average ceiling was 15,500 feet; the loading per square foot about 8 lb.

The years following the Armistice have witnessed the conversion of military machines and the development of new designs for commercial purposes. In 1921 there were thirteen types fitted with British engines: Avro, Bristol, de Havilland 4, 16 and 18, Vickers Vimy, Handley Page O/400 and W. 8, B.A.T., Westland, Fairey, Supermarine and Vickers Amphibians. No British machine had a foreign engine. The Vickers Vimy, Handley Page O/400 and W. 8, which had a passenger-carrying capacity of 15, were twin-engined. The average horse-power was per engine, 387, and per machine, 474; the average maximum speed 114, and the minimum 49, miles per hour. With an average load of 2,467 lb., including fuel for 4½ hours, 19 minutes was required for a climb to 10,000 feet. The average loading per square foot was about 13 lb., and the average ceiling 15,793 feet.

Before the war, in addition to the Royal Aircraft Factory, there were only eight firms engaged, on a very small scale, in the manufacture of aircraft in England, and an aero engine industry hardly existed. Until 1916, the greater proportion of our machines, and almost all our engines, were French, and we were very dependent upon France for the replacement of our heavy losses in material. By the end of the war the bulk of our material was of British design and construction, though there was still a certain number of British built engines of French design. One American engine—the Liberty—was also employed. The fact that in October, 1918, the Royal Air Force had 22,171 machines and 37,702 engines on charge, and that during the ten months January to October the output of machines had been 26,685 and of engines 29,561, gives some idea of the enormous growth in production.

In the first few months of the war it was not possible to progress far with new inventions or improvements. Fortunately, our Aircraft Factory had evolved in the B.E. a machine of considerable stability which in this respect compared favourably with German machines, and was well adapted to its work of reconnaissance.

Technical progress during the war often unfortunately involved the loss of valuable lives, as for instance those of Professor Hopkinson and Busk, to both of whom heavy debts of gratitude are owed, but gradually obstacle after obstacle, problem after problem, was successfully tackled by our designers and constructors. With a view to enlarging the field of observation, staggered planes were introduced in the B.E.2c. This machine also proved that it was possible to calculate the degree of stability and thus paved the way for the design of aeroplanes with indifference to stability and increased manœuvrability for fighting purposes, or with great inherent stability for bombing. During 1915 the B.E.2c was used for all purposes, but the extra loading involved by the increasing use of aeroplanes for bombing and fighting caused a decrease in the rate of speed and climb, and our aeroplanes were temporarily inferior in fighting power to the Fokker.

The necessity of preventing the enemy obtaining information soon led to the development of air fighting. At the beginning of the war the sole armament of aeroplanes was the rifle or revolver. The machine gun soon followed, but its use in tractor machines was impracticable on account of the danger of hitting the airscrew. The first "fighters" were therefore two-seater pushers, such as the "Short-horn" Maurice Farmans which, though not designed for fighting, and too slow to chase enemy aircraft, were the first to be fitted with Lewis guns, and F.E.'s, the first machine designed specifically for fighting, with the machine-gun operator in front of the pilot. These "pusher" fighters had an excellent field of view and fire forwards, but suffered from lack of speed and a large "blind" area to the rear. On the other hand, the single-seater tractors were potentially the superior fighters, and in order to protect the blades of the airscrew the French were the first to use deflector blades on them in tractor machines.

Our early single-seater tractors were fitted with a Lewis gun fixed so as to fire over or at the side of the airscrew and actuated by a bowden wire, the most efficient, though not the most numerous, fighting machines at the end of 1915 being the Bristol Scouts.

By the Summer of 1916, however, we had adapted the "synchronizing gear" to our machine guns, enabling them to be fired through the propeller; while aircraft engines developed much greater power and full allowance was made for all equipment carried. From that time the development of our single-seater fighters was steadily progressive. One of the first of these was the Sopwith "Pup," which had a speed of 106½ miles an hour at 6,500 feet, climbed 10,000 feet in just over 14 minutes, and could attain a ceiling of 17,500 feet. In 1917 appeared the Sopwith "Camel," a typical example of this type, which was simple, stable, easily controllable and possessed two guns. It had a speed of 121 miles an hour at 10,000 feet, to which height it could climb in under 10½ minutes, and a ceiling of 23,000 feet. The Martinsyde F.4, embodying further improvements, was not ready in time for active service.