| The final aircraft built at Farnborough against contracts
for 74 S.E.5s placed in 1917 was used early the following
year for an experimental programme aimed at improving
the performance and fighting ability of the type. Fitted
with a 200hp Hispano-Suiza 8B engine and armed
with the Lewis and Vickers gun combination of the
standard S.E.5a, it had new single-bay wings of unequal
span and chord. In addition, a retractable radiator
was provided in the forward fuselage, and a large, shallow,
propeller spinner was fitted, to combine with a re-profiled cowling and give better streamlining of the
fuselage. The head-fairing behind the cockpit was also
improved. Tests in 1918 revealed little performance
gain or handling benefit, with the extra drag of the big
upper wing offsetting gains from the more streamlined
fuselage. Standard S.E.5a wings were fitted to the
S.E.5b in 1919, as well as a modified horizontal tail, for
comparative testing at Martlesham Heath, and this aircraft
made an appearance at the RAF Pageant at Hendon
in 1920.
WEIGHTS |
Take-off weight | 885 kg | 1951 lb |
DIMENSIONS |
Wingspan | 9.32 m | 31 ft 7 in |
Length | 6.35 m | 21 ft 10 in |
Height | 2.89 m | 10 ft 6 in |
Wing area | 25.83 m2 | 278.03 sq ft |
Roger Markman, e-mail, 02.05.2012 13:22 I am a member of the Manchester Aviation Art Society. I have just written an article for the society's magazine about the SE5b and I am writing to ask for your permission to us this photograph as illustration for the article. Full credit will be given to you for this. Yours faithfully...........Roger Markman reply |
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