S.1
Role Single-seat scout
Manufacturer Martin-Handasyde
Introduction 1914
Primary user Royal Flying Corps
Number built 60

The Martin-Handasyde Scout 1 was a British biplane aircraft of the early part of the First World War built by Martin-Handasyde Limited.

Design and development

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It was a single-seat biplane with a Gnome engine in tractor configuration. An unusual feature was the undercarriage where two small nose wheels were mounted on the forward tips of the skids, ahead of the two main wheels, giving it a practical but cumbersome appearance.[1]

Operational service

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This section focuses too much on specific examples without explaining their importance to its main subject. Please help improve this article by citing reliable, secondary sources that evaluate and synthesize these or similar examples within a broader context. (January 2017)

Sixty of the S.1 were built and these were used for about 6 months on the Western Front by the Royal Flying Corps before it was relegated to training. Although initially intended for use in Home Defence operating from the UK, it was found to be inadequate for that too. It was reported to be unstable, and it was the aircraft Captain Louis Strange was flying in a combat with a German two-seater, when one of the oddest incidents of WW1 took place. He was changing a drum on his overhead Lewis gun, when the aircraft turned over - and he fell out. However, he held on with one hand to the spade grip of the gun, and somehow managed to hook one leg into the cockpit, then the other. The plane righted itself, and he fell back in, breaking the seat. The German crew, convinced they saw their opponent fall out, claimed a kill, and were (so it was said by the ace, Bruno Loerzer, who was based in the area), ribbed afterwards, when no wreckage was found. ('The Friendless Sky' - A McKee)

Operators

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 Australia
 United Kingdom

Specification

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Data from War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters. [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

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Related lists

References

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Notes
  1. ^ Hare, Paul (2014). Britain's Forgotten Fighters of the First World War. Stroud UK: Fonthill. p. 58. ISBN 978-1781551974.
  2. ^ Bruce 1965, p. 146.
  3. ^ Angelucci 1983, p. 22.
Bibliography
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