| Terrence I. Murphy, e-mail, 11.02.2012 16:08 The S.E.1 (Santos Experimental) was an experimental aircraft built at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later the Royal Aircraft Factory) in 1911.
The S.E.1 made its first flight, a straight mile in the hands of its designer Geoffrey de Havilland on 11 June 1911. Further fight testing revealed control problems and the area of the front wing /elevator was adjusted to try to bring together the centre of pressure and the hinge line and make the S.E.1 stable in pitch. By the beginning of August the front surface was fixed and carried a conventional trailing edge elevator. An attempt to improve the turning characteristics was made by stripping the side covering of the nacelle to reduce side area. de Havilland continued to fly the S.E.1 until 16 August. On the 18 August the aircraft was flown by someone else for the first time; the rather inexperienced pilot Lt. Theodore J. Ridge, Assistant Superintendent at the factory (who had only been awarded his Pilot's certificate the day before, and was described as "an absolutely indifferent flyer". The combination of the inexperienced pilot and the marginally controllable aircraft proved fatal - the S.E.1 stalled in a turn and spun in, killing Ridge.
No attempt to rebuild the S.E.1 was made, and the design was apparently abandoned, with no attempt to develop it.
General characteristics
• Length: 29 ft (8.84 m)
• Wingspan: 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
• Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
• Wing area: 400 ft² (37.16 m²)
• Loaded weight: 1,200 lb. (544.31 Kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × E.N.V type F, 60 hp (45 kW)
Performance
• Couldn't find any performance figures reply |
