The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine , usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration . The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its attached cylinders rotated around it as a unit. Its main application was in aviation, although it also saw use in a few early motorcycles and automobiles .
148-499: The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally designed as a racing aircraft. Like similar fast, light aircraft of the period it was used by the RNAS and the RFC as a " scout ", or fast reconnaissance type. It was one of the first single-seaters to be used as a fighter aircraft , although it was not possible to fit it with an effective forward-firing armament until
296-615: A Le Rhône 9C 80 hp rotary engine . The aircraft slowly took form at his home, then in Poughkeepsie, New York , through the early 1980s, when it was completed, then brought to the nearby Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome and flown once there successfully, ending in a slight mishap without injury. The uncovered complete airframe, with engine, is today on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton , UK. The other
444-474: A Lewis machine gun on the left side of the fuselage, almost identical to the manner of the rifles tried on the second Scout B, using a mount that Hawker had designed. When Hawker downed two German aircraft and forced off a third on 25 July 1915 over Passchendaele and Zillebeke he was awarded the first-ever Victoria Cross for the actions of a British single-seat military scout/fighter pilot in aerial combat against an enemy's heavier-than-air aircraft, following
592-503: A guardhouse . Marham was 80 acres (32 ha). Both these Stations are now lost beneath the present RAF Marham . Similarly, Stations at Easton-on-the-Hill and Stamford merged into modern day RAF Wittering although they are in different counties. The Royal Flying Corps Canada was established by the RFC in 1917 to train aircrew in Canada. Air Stations were established in southern Ontario at
740-434: A "nose on" viewpoint, while the crankshaft (which unlike other designs, never "emerged" from the crankcase) and other internal parts spun clockwise at the same speed, so the set was effectively running at 1800 rpm. This was achieved by the use of bevel gearing at the rear of the crankcase, resulting in the eleven-cylindered Siemens-Halske Sh.III , with less drag and less net torque. Used on several late war types, notably
888-706: A German Etrich Taube , which had approached their aerodrome while they were refuelling their Avro 504. Another RFC machine landed nearby and the RFC observer chased the German pilot into nearby woods. After the Great Retreat from Mons, the Corps fell back to the Marne where in September, the RFC again proved its value by identifying von Kluck's First Army's left wheel against the exposed French flank. This information
1036-783: A Naval Wing. By 1914, the Naval Wing had become the Royal Naval Air Service, having gained its independence from the Royal Flying Corps. By November 1914 the Flying Corps had significantly expanded and it was felt necessary to create organizational units which would control collections of squadrons; the term "wing" was reused for these new organizational units. The Military Wing was abolished and its units based in Great Britain were regrouped as
1184-506: A former watchmaker, constructed rotary engines in the 1890s. He was interested in the rotary layout for two main reasons: Balzer produced a 3-cylinder, rotary engined car in 1894, then later became involved in Langley 's Aerodrome attempts, which bankrupted him while he tried to make much larger versions of his engines. Balzer's rotary engine was later converted to static radial operation by Langley's assistant, Charles M. Manly , creating
1332-439: A good deal of practice to acquire the necessary knack. After starting the engine with a known setting that allowed it to idle, the air valve was opened until maximum engine speed was obtained. Throttling a running engine back to reduce revs was possible by closing off the fuel valve to the required position while re-adjusting the fuel/air mixture to suit. This process was also tricky, so that reducing power, especially when landing,
1480-594: A large gyroscope . During level flight the effect was not especially apparent, but when turning the gyroscopic precession became noticeable. Due to the direction of the engine's rotation, left turns required effort and happened relatively slowly, combined with a tendency to nose up, while right turns were almost instantaneous, with a tendency for the nose to drop. In some aircraft, this could be advantageous in situations such as dogfights. The Sopwith Camel suffered to such an extent that it required left rudder for both left and right turns, and could be extremely hazardous if
1628-518: A nine-cylinder 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotary engine when the Gnome Lambda was not used, and moved the oil tank forward to a position in front of the pilot for better weight distribution and more reliable engine operation. The later, relatively "flat"-fronted cowl for the remaining Scout C aircraft still had the small opening of the domed unit, with both cowl designs having a circumferential slot-style cutaway made at mid-cowl depth of about one-sixth
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#17327918886031776-644: A royal warrant establishing the Royal Flying Corps. The Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps a month later on 13 May. The Flying Corps' initial allowed strength was 133 officers, and by the end of that year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes . The RFC originally came under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson , the Director of Military Training, and had separate branches for
1924-405: A single crankshaft, in the same general form as a radial, but there were also rotary boxer engines and even one-cylinder rotaries. Three key factors contributed to the rotary engine's success at the time: Engine designers had always been aware of the many limitations of the rotary engine, so when static style engines became more reliable and gave better specific weights and fuel consumption,
2072-408: A standard Otto cycle engine, with cylinders arranged radially around a central crankshaft just like a conventional radial engine , but instead of having a fixed cylinder block with rotating crankshaft , the crankshaft remains stationary and the entire cylinder block rotates around it. In the most common form, the crankshaft was fixed solidly to the airframe, and the propeller was simply bolted to
2220-564: A tradition. In August 1912, RFC Lieutenant Wilfred Parke RN became the first aviator to be observed to recover from an accidental spin when the Avro G cabin biplane, with which he had just broken a world endurance record, entered a spin at 700 feet above ground level at Larkhill. Four months later, on 11 December 1912, Parke was killed when the Handley Page monoplane in which he was flying from Hendon to Oxford crashed. Aircraft used during
2368-932: A variety of cars such as the RX-series, and in some experimental aviation applications. Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps ( RFC ) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force . During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance . This work gradually led RFC pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in
2516-512: A vast scale', he recommended a new air service be formed that would be on a level with the Army and Royal Navy. The formation of the new service would also make the under-used men and machines of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) available for action on the Western Front and end the inter-service rivalries that at times had adversely affected aircraft procurement. On 1 April 1918, the RFC and
2664-538: Is a reproduction Bristol Scout C, a reproduction of No. 1264, one of the first 24 Scout Cs built for the RNAS, but using the preserved joystick, rudder bar and still-functional Bosch starting magneto from the original No. 1264 aircraft. David and Richard Bremner of the UK, grandchildren of the original pilot of No. 1264, wanted to create an airworthy tribute to their grandfather, RNAS pilot Francis Donald Holden Bremner, in 2002 using
2812-957: The 6th Wing had been created and in November 1915 a 7th Wing and 8th Wing had also been stood up. Additional wings continued to be created throughout World War I in line with the incessant demands for air units. The last RFC wing to be created was the 54th Wing in March 1918, just prior to the creation of the RAF. Following the creation of brigades, wings took on specialised functions. Corps wings undertook artillery observation and ground liaison duties, with one squadron detached to each army corps. Army wings were responsible for air superiority, bombing and strategic reconnaissance. United Kingdom based forces were organised into home defence and training wings. By March 1918, wings controlled as many as nine squadrons. Following Sir David Henderson's return from France to
2960-530: The Administrative Wing . The RFC squadrons in France were grouped under the newly established 1st Wing and the 2nd Wing . The 1st Wing was assigned to the support of the 1st Army whilst the 2nd Wing supported the 2nd Army . As the Flying Corps grew, so did the number of wings. The 3rd Wing was established on 1 March 1915 and on 15 April the 5th Wing came into existence. By August that year
3108-788: The Airco DH.2 single-seat Pusher configuration fighter. A small number of Bristol Scouts were sent to the Middle East (in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Palestine ) in 1916. Others served in Macedonia and with the RNAS in the Eastern Mediterranean. The last known Bristol Scout in military service was the former RNAS Scout D No. 8978 in Australia , which was based at Point Cook , near Melbourne , as late as October 1926. Once
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#17327918886033256-622: The Bristol X.3 seaplane, a project which had been designed by a separate secret design department headed by Barnwell. The design was initially given the works number SN.183, inherited from a cancelled design for the Italian government undertaken by Henri Coanda , the half-finished fuselage of which remained in the workshops and the drawings for the aircraft bore this number. The design was an equal-span single-bay biplane with staggered parallel-chord wings with raked wingtips and ailerons fitted to
3404-535: The Clerget and Le Rhône companies used conventional pushrod-operated valves in the cylinder head, but used the same principle of drawing the fuel mixture through the crankshaft, with the Le Rhônes having prominent copper intake tubes running from the crankcase to the top of each cylinder to admit the intake charge. The 80 hp (60 kW) seven-cylinder Gnome was the standard at the outbreak of World War I, as
3552-488: The Committee of Imperial Defence established a sub-committee to examine the question of military aviation in November 1911. On 28 February 1912 the sub-committee reported its findings which recommended that a flying corps be formed and that it consist of a naval wing, a military wing, a central flying school and an aircraft factory. The recommendations of the committee were accepted and on 13 April 1912 King George V signed
3700-569: The Powerwheel , a wheel with a rotating one-cylinder engine , clutch and drum brake inside the hub, but it never entered production. Besides the configuration of cylinders moving around a fixed crankshaft, several different engine designs are also called rotary engines . The most notable pistonless rotary engine , the Wankel rotary engine has been used by NSU in the Ro80 car, by Mazda in
3848-564: The Siemens-Schuckert D.IV fighter, the new engine's low running speed, coupled with large, coarse pitched propellers that sometimes had four blades (as the SSW D.IV used), gave types powered by it outstanding rates of climb, with some examples of the late production Sh.IIIa powerplant even said to be delivering as much as 240 hp. One new rotary powered aircraft, Fokker's own D.VIII , was designed at least in part to provide some use for
3996-424: The 3-cylinder, then very shortly thereafter 5-cylinder rotary engines later in 1906, as another early American automaker utilizing rotary engines expressly manufactured for automotive use. Emil Berliner sponsored its development of the 5-cylinder Adams-Farwell rotary engine design concept as a lightweight power unit for his unsuccessful helicopter experiments. Adams-Farwell engines later powered fixed-wing aircraft in
4144-408: The 80 hp Gnome Lambda seven cylinder rotary engine, curiously the rotary engine choice the Royal Naval Air Service favored. Following the initial run of 36 Scout C airframes, later Scout C production batches, consisting of 50 aircraft built for the RNAS and 75 for the RFC, changed the cowl to a flat-fronted shorter-depth version able to house either the Gnome Lambda rotary, or the alternate choice of
4292-468: The Army and the Navy. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C R Samson commanded the Naval Wing. The Royal Navy , however, with priorities different from those of the Army and wishing to retain greater control over its aircraft, formally separated its branch and renamed it the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 July 1914, although a combined central flying school was retained. The RFC's motto
4440-454: The Battle of Aubers Ridge. Operations from balloons thereafter continued throughout the war. Highly hazardous in operation, a balloon could only be expected to last a fortnight before damage or destruction. Results were also highly dependent on the expertise of the observer and was subject to the weather conditions. To keep the balloon out of the range of artillery fire, it was necessary to locate
4588-511: The Bristol Scouts were no longer required for frontline service they were reallocated to training units, although many were retained by senior officers as personal "runabouts". No. 5570 survived the war and went into private ownership, eventually being scrapped in 1933. The single prototype aircraft. Two manufactured, identical to the modified Scout A except for having half-hoop-style underwing skids and an enlarged rudder. Similar to
Bristol Scout - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-447: The British Army's highly detailed 1:10,000 scale maps introduced in mid-1915. Such were advances in aerial photography that the entire Somme Offensive of July–November 1916 was based on the RFC's air-shot photographs. One of the initial and most important uses of RFC aircraft was observing artillery fire behind the enemy front line at targets that could not be seen by ground observers. The fall of shot of artillery fire were easy enough for
4884-519: The British military on 14 May 1914 at Farnborough , when, flown by Busteed, the aircraft achieved an airspeed of 97.5 mph (157 km/h), with a stalling speed of 40 mph (64 km/h) The aircraft was then entered for the 1914 Aerial Derby but did not take part because the weather on the day of the race was so poor that Bristol did not wish to risk the aircraft. By this time two more examples (works nos. 229 and 230) were under construction and
5032-548: The Calthrop Guardian Angel parachute (1916 model) was officially adopted just as the war ended. By this time parachutes had been used by balloonists for three years. On 17 August 1917, South African General Jan Smuts presented a report to the War Council on the future of air power . Because of its potential for the 'devastation of enemy lands and the destruction of industrial and populous centres on
5180-585: The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), constructed one of the first practical single-lift rotor machines with their TsAGI 1-EA single rotor helicopter, powered by two Soviet-designed and built M-2 rotary engines, themselves up-rated copies of the Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine of World War I. The TsAGI 1-EA set an unofficial altitude record of 605 meters (1,985 ft) with Cheremukhin piloting it on 14 August 1932 on
5328-641: The French coast to the Bay of the Somme and followed the river to Amiens . When the BEF moved forward to Maubeuge the RFC accompanied them. On 19 August the Corps undertook its first action of the war, with two of its aircraft performing aerial reconnaissance . The mission was not a great success; to save weight each aircraft carried a pilot only instead of the usual pilot and observer. Because of this, and poor weather, both of
5476-564: The Gnome Lambda, and it quickly found itself being used in a large number of aircraft designs. It was so good that it was licensed by a number of companies, including the German Motorenfabrik Oberursel firm who designed the original Gnom engine. Oberursel was later purchased by Fokker , whose 80 hp Gnome Lambda copy was known as the Oberursel U.0. It was not at all uncommon for French Gnôme Lambdas, as used in
5624-488: The HQ, and three Landing Grounds, one per each flight . Stations tended to be named after the local railway station, to simplify the administration of rail travel warrants. Typically a training airfield consisted of a 2,000 feet (610 m) grass square. There were three pairs plus one single hangar, constructed of wood or brick, 180 feet (55 m) x 100 feet (30 m) in size. There were up to 12 canvas Bessonneau hangars as
5772-583: The NZ Warbirds Associations annual airshows and open days. An additional full size replica aircraft is a reproduction of Scout D No. A1742 at the Aerospace Bristol museum at the former Filton Aerodrome . Data from Bristol Aircraft since 1910 General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Rotary engine This type of engine
5920-587: The Oberursel factory's backlog of otherwise redundant 110 hp (82 kW) Ur.II engines, themselves clones of the Le Rhône 9J rotary. Because of the Allied blockade of shipping, the Germans were increasingly unable to obtain the castor oil necessary to properly lubricate their rotary engines. Substitutes were never entirely satisfactory - causing increased running temperatures and reduced engine life. By
6068-467: The RFC's last Scout Cs, No. 5303 but since this seemed to have also required the use of the Morane Type N's immense "casserole" spinner, which almost totally blocked cooling air from reaching the engine, the deflecting-wedge method was not pursued further with Bristol Scouts. An RNAS Scout was the first landplane to be flown from a ship, when Flt. Lt. H. F. Towler flew No. 1255 from the flying deck of
Bristol Scout - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-470: The RNAS were amalgamated to form a new service, the Royal Air Force (RAF), under the control of the new Air Ministry . After starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, by the start of 1919 the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel in some 150 squadrons. With the growing recognition of the potential for aircraft as a cost-effective method of reconnaissance and artillery observation,
6364-434: The Royal Flying Corps consisted of a number of squadrons . When the Royal Flying Corps was established it was intended to be a joint service. Owing to the rivalry between the British Army and Royal Navy, new terminology was thought necessary in order to avoid marking the Corps out as having a particularly Army or Navy ethos. Accordingly, the Corps was originally split into two wings: a Military Wing (i.e. an army wing) and
6512-555: The Royal Flying Corps in France was never titled as a division, by March 1916 it comprised several brigades and its commander (Trenchard) had received a promotion to major-general, giving it in effect divisional status. Finally, the air raids on London and the south-east of England led to the creation of the London Air Defence Area in August 1917 under the command of Ashmore who was promoted to major-general. Two of
6660-643: The Scout D version were produced, with 80 of these being ordered by the RNAS and the other 130 being ordered by the Royal Flying Corps. Two notable reproductions and a single replica of the Bristol Scout have been built for flight – Leo Opdycke, the founder of the World War I AERO quarterly publication, started building a reproduction Scout D in 1962 in New York State, meant to be powered with
6808-663: The U.III of the same power rating. While an example of the Double Lambda went on to power one of the Deperdussin Monocoque racing aircraft to a world-record speed of nearly 204 km/h (126 mph) in September 1913, the Oberursel U.III is only known to have been fitted into a few German production military aircraft, the Fokker E.IV fighter monoplane and Fokker D.III fighter biplane, both of whose failures to become successful combat types were partially due to
6956-652: The US after 1910. It has also been asserted that the Gnôme design was derived from the Adams-Farwell, since an Adams-Farwell car is reported to have been demonstrated to the French Army in 1904. In contrast to the later Gnôme engines, and much like the later Clerget 9B and Bentley BR1 aviation rotaries, the Adams-Farwell rotaries had conventional exhaust and inlet valves mounted in the cylinder heads. The Gnome engine
7104-535: The War Office in August 1915, he submitted a scheme to the Army Council which was intended to expand the command structure of the Flying Corps. The Corps' wings would be grouped in pairs to form brigades and the commander of each brigade would hold the temporary rank of brigadier-general . The scheme met with Lord Kitchener 's approval and although some staff officers opposed it, the scheme was adopted. In
7252-400: The abandonment of the idea and no Vickers-armed Bristol Scouts were used in operations. None of the RFC or RNAS squadrons operating the Bristol Scout were exclusively equipped with this aircraft and by the end of the summer of 1916, no new Bristol Scout aircraft were being supplied to the British squadrons of either service, the early fighter squadrons in RFC service being equipped instead with
7400-614: The administration section of the squadron. Each flight contained on average between six and ten pilots (and a corresponding number of observers, if applicable) with a senior sergeant and thirty-six other ranks (as fitters, riggers, metalsmiths, armourers, etc.). The average squadron also had on complement an equipment officer, armaments officer (each with five other ranks) and a transport officer, in charge of twenty-two other ranks. The squadron transport establishment typically included one car, five light tenders, seven heavy tenders, two repair lorries, eight motorcycles and eight trailers. Wings in
7548-622: The adoption of a continually offensive stance operationally in efforts to pin the enemy back led to many brave fighting exploits and high casualties – over 700 in 1916, the rate worsening thereafter, until the RFC's nadir in April 1917 which was dubbed ' Bloody April '. This aggressive, if costly, doctrine did however provide the Army General Staff with vital and up-to-date intelligence on German positions and numbers through continual photographic and observational reconnaissance throughout
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#17327918886037696-510: The aircraft could not receive. Originally only a special Wireless Flight attached to No. 4 Squadron RFC had the wireless equipment. Eventually this flight was expanded into No. 9 Squadron under Major Hugh Dowding . However, in early 1915 the Sterling lightweight wireless became available and was widely used. In 1915 each corps in the BEF was assigned a RFC squadron solely for artillery observation and reconnaissance duties. The transmitter filled
7844-608: The aircraft in the English Channel on the return leg; while in France, only one of the two fuel tanks had been filled by mistake. Carbury managed to land alongside a ship and escaped but the aircraft was lost. Numbers 229 and 230, later designated the Scout B when Frank Barnwell retrospectively gave type numbers to early Bristol aircraft, were identical to the modified Scout A, except for having half-hoop-style underwing skids, what appear to be six stiffening ribs positioned around
7992-419: The aircraft, constructed from wood, wire and fabric, were liable to weather damage. Other airfield buildings were typically wooden or Nissen huts . Landing Grounds were often L-shaped, usually arrived at by removing a hedge boundary between two fields, and thereby allowing landing runs in two directions of 400–500 metres (1,300–1,600 ft). Typically they would be manned by only two or three airmen, whose job
8140-469: The airman reported the position of the ranging round using the clock code, the battery adjusted their firing data and fired again, and the process was repeated until the pilot observed an on-target or close round. The battery commander then decided how much to fire at the target. The results were mixed. Observing artillery fire, even from above, requires training and skill. Within artillery units, ground observers received mentoring to develop their skill, which
8288-482: The arming of the second Scout B, RFC number 648, with two rifles, one each side, aimed outwards and forwards to clear the propeller arc. Two of the Royal Flying Corps' early Bristol Scout C aircraft, numbers 1609 and 1611, flown by Captain Lanoe Hawker with No. 6 Squadron RFC , were each, in their turn – as 1609 was written off from combat damage, 1611 received its gun mount hardware as its replacement—armed with
8436-404: The artifacts of their grandfather's original. Research started in 2002, with construction of the airframe starting in 2008. The first flight of the reproduction, powered likewise to Opdycke's earlier reproduction project with a Le Rhône 9C rotary, occurred on 9 July 2015, with a visit to the area around Gallipoli where their grandfather's aircraft was based from December 1915 to August 1916 to fly
8584-455: The balloons some distance away from the front line or area of military operations. However, the stable platform offered by a kite-balloon made it more suitable for the cameras of the day than an aircraft. For the first half of the war, as with the land armies deployed, the French air force vastly outnumbered the RFC, and accordingly did more of the fighting. Despite the primitive aircraft, aggressive leadership by RFC commander Hugh Trenchard and
8732-473: The battery they were colocated with. This led to concerns as to who had responsibility for them and in November 1916 squadron commanders had to be reminded "that it is their duty to keep in close touch with the operators attached to their command, and to make all necessary arrangements for supplying them with blankets, clothing, pay, etc" (Letter from Headquarters, 2nd Brigade RFC dated 18 November 1916 – Public Records Office AIR/1/864) The wireless operators' work
8880-549: The blip switch is useful while landing, as it provides a more reliable, quicker way to initiate power if needed, rather than risk a sudden engine stall, or the failure of a windmilling engine to restart at the worst possible moment. Félix Millet showed a 5-cylinder rotary engine built into a bicycle wheel at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. Millet had patented the engine in 1888, so must be considered
9028-445: The bottom of the basically circular cowling on most rotary engines to be cut away, or fitted with drainage slots. By 1918 a Clerget handbook advised maintaining all necessary control by using the fuel and air controls, and starting and stopping the engine by turning the fuel on and off. The recommended landing procedure involved shutting off the fuel using the fuel lever, while leaving the blip switch on. The windmilling propeller made
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#17327918886039176-588: The building of headquarters/administration offices, mess buildings, fuel and weapon stores, wireless huts and other support structures as well as the aircraft hangarage and repair facilities. Narborough and Marham both started off as Night Landing Grounds a few miles apart. One was an RNAS Station, the other RFC. Narborough grew to be the largest aerodrome in Britain at 908 acres (367 ha) with 30 acres (12 ha) of buildings including seven large hangars, seven motorised transport (MT) garages, five workshops, two coal yards, two Sergeants' Messes, three dope sheds and
9324-420: The circumference, to the lowest perimeter of the cowl to increase the cooling effect, and to allow any unburned fuel/oil mix to drain away. A total of some 161 Scout C airframes were produced for the British military as a whole, with the transition to the Scout D standard taking place in a gradual progression of feature changes. The last, and most numerous production version, the Scout D , gradually came about as
9472-535: The cockpit normally used by the observer and a trailing wire antenna was used which had to be reeled in prior to landing. The RFC's wireless experiments under Major Herbert Musgrave, included research into how wireless telegraphy could be used by military aircraft. However, the most important officers in wireless development were Lieutenants Donald Lewis and Baron James in the RFC HQ wireless unit formed in France in September 1914. They developed both equipment and procedures in operational sorties. An important development
9620-441: The conduct of operations. Fired at constantly by friend and foe, and not hesitating to fly in every kind of weather, they have remained undaunted throughout. Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have succeeded in destroying five of the enemy's machines." Early in the war RFC aircraft were not systematically marked with any national insignia . At a squadron level, Union Flag markings in various styles were often painted on
9768-432: The conspicuous white circle of the "day" marking. Later in September, 1914, during the First Battle of the Aisne , the RFC made use of wireless telegraphy to assist with artillery targeting and took aerial photographs for the first time. From 16,000 feet a photographic plate could cover some 2 by 3 miles (3.2 km × 4.8 km) of front line in sharp detail. In 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel JTC Moore-Brabrazon designed
9916-443: The coupe-switch was depressed, allowing it to cut out all spark voltage to all nine cylinders, at evenly spaced intervals to achieve the multiple levels of power reduction. The airworthy reproduction Fokker D.VIII parasol monoplane fighter at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, uniquely powered with a Gnome 9N, often demonstrates the use of its Gnome 9N's four-level output capability in both ground runs and in flight. Rotary engines produced by
10064-435: The cowl, much like that of Scout B but made without the external stiffening ribs instead. The newer cowl was sometimes modified with a blister on the starboard lower side for more efficient exhaust-gas scavenging, as it was meant to house the eventual choice of the more powerful, nine-cylinder 100 hp Gnôme Monosoupape B2 rotary engine in later production batches, to improve the Scout D's performance. Some 210 examples of
10212-658: The crankshaft, but it rotated in the opposite direction to the cylinder block, thereby largely cancelling out negative effects. This proved too complicated for reliable operation and Redrup changed the design to a static radial engine, which was later tried in the experimental Vickers F.B.12b and F.B.16 aircraft, unfortunately without success. As the war progressed, aircraft designers demanded ever-increasing amounts of power. Inline engines were able to meet this demand by improving their upper rev limits, which meant more power. Improvements in valve timing, ignition systems, and lightweight materials made these higher revs possible, and by
10360-425: The crucial observation of the 1st German Army's approach towards the flank of the British Expeditionary Force. This allowed the BEF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sir John French to realign his front and save his army around Mons. Next day, the RFC found itself fighting in the Battle of Mons and two days after that, gained its first air victory. On 25 August, Lt C. W. Wilson and Lt C. E. C. Rabagliati forced down
10508-407: The days of the rotary engine were numbered. The late World War I Bentley BR2 was the largest and most powerful rotary engine; it reached a point beyond which this type of engine could not be further developed, and it was the last of its kind to be adopted into RAF service. It is often asserted that rotary engines had no throttle and hence power could only be reduced by intermittently cutting
10656-556: The deck of Vindex and attacked Zeppelin L 17 with Ranken Darts. None of the darts did any damage to the Zeppelin, and since Freeman's aircraft could not land on the Vindex and was too far from land for a safe return, he had to ditch his Scout C after the attack. In March 1916, RFC Scout C No.5313 was fitted with a Vickers machine gun , synchronised to fire through the propeller by the awkward Vickers-Challenger synchronising gear ,
10804-441: The desired setting (usually full open) and then adjust the fuel/air mixture to suit using a separate "fine adjustment" lever that controlled the air supply valve (in the manner of a manual choke control). Due to the rotary engine's large rotational inertia, it was possible to adjust the appropriate fuel/air mixture by trial and error without stalling it, although this varied between different types of engine, and in any case it required
10952-502: The earlier VC awards to William Rhodes-Moorhouse (flying a B.E.2 two-seat observation biplane) and Reginald Warneford (flying against an enemy Zeppelin) in April and June 1915 respectively. Some of the 24 initial production Scout Cs for the RNAS, were armed with one (or occasionally two) Lewis machine guns, sometimes with the Lewis gun mounted on top of the upper wing centre section in
11100-532: The earliest examples of the Bristol Scout biplane, to meet German versions, powering Fokker E.I Eindeckers in combat, from the latter half of 1915 on. The only attempts to produce twin-row rotary engines in any volume were undertaken by Gnome, with their Double Lambda fourteen-cylinder 160 hp design, and with the German Oberursel firm's early World War I clone of the Double Lambda design,
11248-524: The early post-war years, the 1914-origin Avro 504 K, had a universal mounting to allow the use of several different types of low powered rotary, of which there was a large surplus supply. Similarly, the Swedish FVM Ö1 Tummelisa advanced training aircraft, fitted with a Le-Rhone-Thulin 90 hp (67 kW) rotary engine, served until the mid thirties. Designers had to balance the cheapness of war-surplus engines against their poor fuel efficiency and
11396-456: The elevators constructed entirely of steel tube. The first flight was made at Larkhill on 23 February 1914 by Busteed and it was then exhibited at the March 1914 Aero Show at Olympia in London. After more flying at Larkhill the prototype, later referred to as the Scout A , was returned to the factory at Filton and fitted with larger wings, increasing the chord by six inches (15 cm) and
11544-518: The end of March 1918, the Royal Flying Corps comprised some 150 squadrons. The composition of an RFC squadron varied depending on its designated role, although the commanding officer was usually a major (in a largely non-operational role), with the squadron 'flights' (annotated A, B, C etc.) the basic tactical and operational unit, each commanded by a captain. A 'recording officer' (of captain/lieutenant rank) would act as intelligence officer and adjutant, commanding two or three NCOs and ten other ranks in
11692-414: The end of the war the average engine had increased from 1,200 rpm to 2,000 rpm. The rotary was not able to do the same due to the drag of the rotating cylinders through the air. For instance, if an early-war model of 1,200 rpm increased its revs to only 1,400, the drag on the cylinders increased 36%, as air drag increases with the square of velocity. At lower rpm, drag could simply be ignored, but as
11840-487: The engine continue to spin without delivering any power as the aircraft descended. It was important to leave the ignition on to allow the spark plugs to continue to spark and keep them from oiling up, so that the engine could (if all went well) be restarted simply by re-opening the fuel valve. Pilots were advised to not use an ignition cut out switch, as it would eventually damage the engine. Pilots of surviving or reproduction aircraft fitted with rotary engines still find that
11988-483: The engine cowl's exterior circumferential surface (also made with a larger circular front opening for engine cooling when compared to the Scout A) and an enlarged rudder. Completed shortly after the outbreak of war in August 1914, they were requisitioned by the War Office. Given Royal Flying Corps serial numbers 644 and 648, one was allocated to No. 3 Squadron and the other to No. 5 Squadron for evaluation. Number 644
12136-414: The engine was typically run at full throttle, and also because the valve timing was often less than ideal. Oil consumption was also very high. Due to primitive carburetion and absence of a true sump , the lubricating oil was added to the fuel/air mixture. This made engine fumes heavy with smoke from partially burnt oil. Castor oil was the lubricant of choice, as its lubrication properties were unaffected by
12284-482: The field, most brigades were assigned to the army. Initially a brigade consisted of an army wing and corps wing; beginning in November 1916 a balloon wing was added to control the observation balloon companies. Logistics support was provided by an army aircraft park, aircraft ammunition column and reserve lorry park. All operating locations were officially called "Royal Flying Corps Station name ". A typical Squadron may have been based at four Stations – an Aerodrome for
12432-411: The first British-designed gun synchronizers became available later in 1916, by which time the Scout was obsolescent. Single-seat fighters continued to be called "scouts" in British usage into the early 1920s. The Bristol Scout was designed in the second half of 1913 by Frank Barnwell and Harry Busteed , Bristol's chief test pilot, who thought of building a small high-performance biplane while testing
12580-452: The first practical aerial camera. These semi-automatic cameras became a high priority for the Corps and photo-reconnaissance aircraft were soon operational in numbers with the RFC. The camera was usually fixed to the side of the fuselage, or operated through a hole in the floor. The increasing need for surveys of the western front and its approaches, made extensive aerial photography essential. Aerial photographs were exclusively used in compiling
12728-642: The first three RFC squadrons were formed from the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers: No. 1 Company (a balloon company) becoming No. 1 Squadron, RFC , and No. 2 Company (a 'heavier-than-air' company) becoming No. 3 Squadron, RFC . A second heavier-than-air squadron, No. 2 Squadron, RFC , was also formed on the same day. No. 4 Squadron, RFC was formed from No. 2 Sqn in August 1912, and No. 5 Squadron, RFC from No. 3 Sqn in July 1913. By
12876-642: The following locations: The RFC was also responsible for the manning and operation of observation balloons on the Western front . When the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrived in France in August 1914, it had no observation balloons and it was not until April 1915 that the first balloon company was on strength, albeit on loan from the French Aérostiers. The first British unit arrived 8 May 1915, and commenced operations during
13024-422: The front of the crankcase . This difference also has much impact on design (lubrication, ignition, fuel admission, cooling, etc.) and functioning (see below). The Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris has on display a special, "sectioned" working model of an engine with seven radially disposed cylinders. It alternates between rotary and radial modes to demonstrate the difference between the internal motions of
13172-410: The fuel (and lubricating oil) was taken into the cylinders already mixed with air - as in a normal four-stroke engine. Although a conventional carburetor, with the ability to keep the fuel/air ratio constant over a range of throttle openings, was precluded by the spinning crankcase; it was possible to adjust the air supply through a separate flap valve or "bloctube". The pilot needed to set the throttle to
13320-465: The ground or a signalling lamp to give visual confirmation that the signals had been received. The wireless communication was one way as no receiver was mounted in the aircraft and the ground station could not transmit. Details from: "Henry Tabor's 1916 War Diary" . By May 1916, 306 aircraft and 542 ground stations were equipped with wireless. An unusual mission for the RFC was the delivery of spies behind enemy lines. The first mission took place on
13468-406: The ground. The Royal Engineers' Air Battalion had pioneered experiments with wireless telegraphy in airships and aircraft before the RFC was created. Unfortunately the early transmitters weighed 75 pounds and filled a seat in the cockpit. This meant that the pilot had to fly the aircraft, navigate, observe the fall of the shells and transmit the results by morse code by himself. Also, the wireless in
13616-453: The ignition using a "blip" switch . This was only true of the "Monosoupape" (single valve) type, which took most of the air into the cylinder through the exhaust valve, which remained open for a portion of the downstroke of the piston. Thus the mixture of fuel and air in the cylinder could not be controlled via the crankcase intake. The "throttle" (fuel valve) of a monosoupape provided only a limited degree of speed regulation, as opening it made
13764-552: The inertia problem of rotary engines. As early as 1906 Charles Benjamin Redrup had demonstrated to the Royal Flying Corps at Hendon a 'Reactionless' engine in which the crankshaft rotated in one direction and the cylinder block in the opposite direction, each one driving a propeller. A later development of this was the 1914 reactionless 'Hart' engine designed by Redrup in which there was only one propeller connected to
13912-480: The interests of better cooling, and the world's first production rotary engine, the 7-cylinder, air-cooled 50 hp (37 kW) " Omega " was shown at the 1908 Paris automobile show. The first Gnome Omega built still exists, and is now in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum . The Seguins used the highest strength material available - recently developed nickel steel alloy - and kept
14060-604: The inventor Roger Ravaud fitted one to his Aéroscaphe , a combination hydrofoil /aircraft, which he entered in the motor boat and aviation contests at Monaco. Henry Farman 's use of the Gnome at the famous Rheims aircraft meet that year brought it to prominence, when he won the Grand Prix for the greatest non-stop distance flown—180 kilometres (110 mi)—and also set a world record for endurance flight. The very first successful seaplane flight, of Henri Fabre 's Le Canard ,
14208-667: The loss of the Naval Wing into account, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of wings consisting of two or more squadrons. These wings were commanded by lieutenant-colonels. In October 1915 the Corps had undergone further expansion which justified the creation of brigades , each commanded by a brigadier-general . Further expansion led to the creation of divisions , with the Training Division being established in August 1917 and RFC Middle East being raised to divisional status in December 1917. Additionally, although
14356-525: The manner of the Nieuport 11 ; more common was a very dubious choice of placement by some RNAS pilots, in mounting the Lewis gun on the forward fuselage of their Scout Cs, just as if it were a synchronized weapon, firing directly forward and through the propeller arc, an action likely to result in serious damage to the propeller. The type of bullet-deflecting wedges that Roland Garros had tried on his Morane-Saulnier Type N monoplane were also tried on one of
14504-405: The mixture too rich, while closing it made it too lean (in either case quickly stalling the engine, or damaging the cylinders). Early models featured a pioneering form of variable valve timing in an attempt to give greater control, but this caused the valves to burn and therefore it was abandoned. The only way of running a Monosoupape engine smoothly at reduced revs was with a switch that changed
14652-438: The morning of 13 September 1915 and was not a success. The plane crashed, the pilot and spy were badly injured and they were both captured (two years later the pilot, Captain T.W. Mulcahy-Morgan escaped and returned to England). Later missions were more successful. In addition to delivering the spies the RFC was also responsible for keeping them supplied with the carrier pigeons that were used to send reports back to base. In 1916,
14800-438: The normal firing sequence so that each cylinder fired only once per two or three engine revolutions, but the engine remained more or less in balance. As with excessive use of the "blip" switch: running the engine on such a setting for too long resulted in large quantities of unburned fuel and oil in the exhaust, and gathering in the lower cowling, where it was a notorious fire hazard. Most rotaries had normal inlet valves, so that
14948-404: The notable Manly–Balzer engine . The famous De Dion-Bouton company produced an experimental 4-cylinder rotary engine in 1899. Though intended for aviation use, it was not fitted to any aircraft. The Adams-Farwell firm's automobiles, with the firm's first rolling prototypes using 3-cylinder rotary engines designed by Fay Oliver Farwell in 1898, led to production Adams-Farwell cars with first
15096-503: The only gear available to the RFC at that time. Six other Scouts, late Scout Cs and early Scout Ds, were also fitted with the same combination. Types using this gear (including the B.E.12 , the R.E.8 and the Vickers F.B.19 ) all had the gun mounted on the port side of the fuselage. The attempt to use the gear for synchronising a centrally mounted gun on the Bristol Scout failed and tests, which continued at least until May 1916, resulted in
15244-523: The operating expense of their total-loss lubrication system, and by the mid-1920s, rotaries had been more or less completely displaced even in British service, largely by the new generation of air-cooled "stationary" radials such as the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar and Bristol Jupiter . Experiments with the concept of the rotary engine continued. The first version of the 1921 Michel engine , an unusual opposed-piston cam engine , used
15392-699: The pilot applied full power at the top of a loop at low airspeeds. Trainee Camel pilots were warned to attempt their first hard right turns only at altitudes above 1,000 ft (300 m). The Camel's most famous German foe, the Fokker Dr.I triplane , also used a rotary engine, usually the Oberursel Ur.II clone of the French-built Le Rhone 9J 110 hp powerplant. Even before the First World War, attempts were made to overcome
15540-471: The pilot to see, providing he was looking in the right place at the right time; apart from this the problem was communicating corrections to the battery. Development of procedures had been the responsibility of No 3 Squadron and the Royal Artillery in 1912–13. These methods usually depended on the pilot being tasked to observe the fire against a specific target and report the fall of shot relative to
15688-476: The pilots lost their way and only one was able to complete his task. On 22 August 1914, the first British aircraft was lost to German fire. The crew – pilot Second Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall and observer Lt. Charles George Gordon Bayly, of 5 Squadron – flying an Avro 504 over Belgium, were killed by infantry fire. Also on 22 August 1914, Captain L E O Charlton (observer) and his pilot, Lieutenant Vivian Hugh Nicholas Wadham, made
15836-542: The pioneer of the internal combustion rotary engine. A machine powered by his engine took part in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race of 1895 and the system was put into production by Darracq and Company London in 1900. Lawrence Hargrave first developed a rotary engine in 1889 using compressed air, intending to use it in powered flight. Materials weight and lack of quality machining prevented it becoming an effective power unit. Stephen M. Balzer of New York,
15984-470: The poor quality of the German powerplant, which was prone to wearing out after only a few hours of combat flight. The favourable power-to-weight ratio of the rotaries was their greatest advantage. While larger, heavier aircraft relied almost exclusively on conventional in-line engines, many fighter aircraft designers preferred rotaries right up to the end of the war. Rotaries had a number of disadvantages, notably very high fuel consumption, partially because
16132-519: The power of its twinned M-2 rotary engines. Although rotary engines were mostly used in aircraft, a few cars and motorcycles were built with rotary engines. Perhaps the first was the Millet motorcycle of 1892. A famous motorcycle, winning many races, was the Megola , which had a rotary engine inside the front wheel. Another motorcycle with a rotary engine was Charles Redrup 's 1912 Redrup Radial , which
16280-402: The presence of the fuel, and its gum-forming tendency was irrelevant in a total-loss lubrication system. An unfortunate side-effect was that World War I pilots inhaled and swallowed a considerable amount of the oil during flight, leading to persistent diarrhoea . Flying clothing worn by rotary engine pilots was routinely soaked with oil. The rotating mass of the engine also made it, in effect,
16428-416: The previous Scout B. These early Scout Cs, in a total run of 36 aircraft — twelve for the Royal Flying Corps, and 24 for the RNAS — also had their main oil tank moved to a position directly behind the pilot's shoulders, requiring a raised rear dorsal fairing immediately behind the pilot's seat to accommodate it. These aircraft used a small-central opening, "dome-fronted" cowl that were only intended for use with
16576-514: The principle of a rotary engine, in that its "cylinder block" rotated. This was soon replaced by a version with the same cylinders and cam, but with stationary cylinders and the cam track rotating in lieu of a crankshaft. A later version abandoned the cam altogether and used three coupled crankshafts. By 1930 the Soviet helicopter pioneers, Boris N. Yuriev and Alexei M. Cheremukhin, both employed by Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut (TsAGI,
16724-572: The prototype was sold to Lord Carbery for £400 without its engine. Carbery fitted it with an 80 hp Le Rhône 9C nine-cylinder rotary and entered it in the London–Manchester race held on 20 June but damaged the aircraft when landing at Castle Bromwich and had to withdraw. After repairs, including a modification of the undercarriage to widen the track , Carbury entered it in the London–Paris–London race held on 11 July but had to ditch
16872-452: The rear section fabric covered. It was powered by an 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome Lambda rotary engine enclosed in a cowling that had no open frontal area, although the bottom was cut away to allow cooling air to get to the engine. It had a rectangular balanced rudder with no fixed fin and split elevators attached to a non-lifting horizontal stabiliser. The fixed horizontal tail surfaces were outlined in steel tube with wooden ribs and
17020-718: The reproduction where their grandfather's original Scout C flew against the Central Powers. A Bristol Scout D replica flys with the NZ Warbirds Association based at Ardmore Airport, Auckland, New Zealand. This particular machine was built in California by Herb Harkey in the 1990’s and was completed in 1997. It has original period components such as cockpit instruments and an authentic 80hp Le’Rhone engine. It arrived in NZ in 2018 and displays regularly at
17168-423: The result of a series of further improvements to the Scout C design. One of the earliest changes appeared on seventeen of the 75 naval Scout Cs with an increase in the wing dihedral angle from 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 ° to 3° and other aircraft in the 75 aircraft naval production run introduced a larger-span set of horizontal tail surfaces and a broadened- chord rudder, shorter-span ailerons and a large front opening for
17316-448: The rev count rose, the rotary was putting more and more power into spinning the engine, with less remaining to provide useful thrust through the propeller. One clever attempt to rescue the design, in a similar manner to Redrup's British "reactionless" engine concept, was made by Siemens . The crankcase (with the propeller still fastened directly to the front of it) and cylinders spun counterclockwise at 900 rpm, as seen externally from
17464-502: The roundel was applied to the fuselage sides as well as the wings. To minimise the likelihood of "friendly" attack, the rudders of RFC aircraft were painted to match the French, with the blue, white and red stripes – going from the forward (rudder hingeline) to aft (trailing edge) – of the French tricolour . Later in the war, a "night roundel" was adopted for night flying aircraft (especially Handley Page O/400 heavy bombers), which omitted
17612-431: The safety factor of a dual ignition system, and was the last known rotary engine design to use such a cylinder head valving format. The 9N also featured an unusual ignition setup that allowed output values of one-half, one-quarter and one-eighth power levels to be achieved through use of the coupe-switch and a special five-position rotary switch that selected which of the trio of alternate power levels would be selected when
17760-399: The seaplane carrier HMS Vindex on 3 November 1915. As an attempted defence against German airships , some RNAS Scout Ds were equipped with Ranken Darts , a flechette with 1 lb (0.45 kg) of explosive per projectile, released from a pair of vertical cylindrical containers under the pilot's seat, each containing 24 darts. On 2 August 1916, Flt. Lt. C. T. Freeman flew a Scout from
17908-409: The span from 22 ft (6.71 m) to 24 ft 7 in (7.49 m). These were rigged with an increased dihedral of 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 °. Other changes included a larger rudder, a new open-fronted cowling with six external stiffening ribs distributed in symmetrically uneven angles around the cowl's sides (especially when seen from "nose-on") and fabric panel-covered wheels. It was evaluated by
18056-435: The target, the battery adjusted their aim, fired and the process was repeated until the target was effectively engaged. One early communication method was for the flier to write a note and drop it to the ground where it could be recovered but various visual signalling methods were also used. This meant the pilots had to observe the battery to see when it fired and see if it had laid out a visual signal using white marker panels on
18204-617: The time the war ended, the rotary engine had become obsolete, and it disappeared from use quite quickly. The British Royal Air Force probably used rotary engines for longer than most other operators. The RAF's standard post-war fighter, the Sopwith Snipe , used the Bentley BR2 rotary as the most powerful (at some 230 hp (170 kW)) rotary engine ever built by the Allies of World War I . The standard RAF training aircraft of
18352-492: The top decking in front of the cockpit had a deeper curve and the aluminium covering of the fuselage sides extended only as far as the forward centre-section struts, aft of which the decking was plywood. The period of service of the Bristol Scout (1914–1916) marked the genesis of the fighter aircraft as a distinct type and many of the earliest attempts to arm British tractor configuration aircraft with forward-firing guns were tested in action using Bristol Scouts. These began with
18500-401: The two types of engine. Like "fixed" radial engines, rotaries were generally built with an odd number of cylinders (usually 5, 7 or 9), so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order could be maintained, to provide smooth running. Rotary engines with an even number of cylinders were mostly of the "two row" type. Most rotary engines were arranged with the cylinders pointing outwards from
18648-506: The upper and lower wings, which were rigged with about half a degree of dihedral , making them look almost straight when viewed from the front. The wing section was one designed by Coanda which had been used for the wings of the Bristol Coanda Biplanes . The rectangular-section fuselage was an orthodox wire-braced wooden structure constructed from ash and spruce, with the forward section covered with aluminium sheeting and
18796-419: The use of wireless communication at Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915. Aerial photography was attempted during 1914, but again only became effective the next year. By 1918, photographic images could be taken from 15,000 feet and were interpreted by over 3,000 personnel. Parachutes were not available to pilots of heavier-than-air craft in the RFC – nor were they used by the RAF during the First World War – although
18944-464: The valve tappet rollers, a system later abandoned due to valves burning. The weight of the Monosoupape was slightly less than the earlier two-valve engines, and it used less lubricating oil. The 100 hp Monosoupape was built with 9 cylinders, and developed its rated power at 1,200 rpm. The later 160 hp nine-cylinder Gnome 9N rotary engine used the Monosoupape valve design while adding
19092-417: The war by the RFC included: On its inception in 1912 the Royal Flying Corps consisted of a Military and a Naval Wing, with the Military Wing consisting of three squadrons each commanded by a major. The Naval Wing, with fewer pilots and aircraft than the Military Wing, did not organise itself into squadrons until 1914; it separated from the RFC that same year. By November 1914 the Royal Flying Corps, even taking
19240-514: The war included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements , the bombing of German military airfields and later the strategic bombing of German industrial and transport facilities. At the start of World War I the RFC, commanded by Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson , consisted of five squadrons – one observation balloon squadron (RFC No 1 Squadron) and four aeroplane squadrons. These were first used for aerial spotting on 13 September 1914 but only became efficient when they perfected
19388-591: The war. At the start of the war, numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 Squadrons were equipped with aeroplanes. No. 1 Squadron had been equipped with balloons but all these were transferred to the Naval Wing in 1913; thereafter No. 1 Squadron reorganised itself as an 'aircraft park' for the British Expeditionary Force. The RFC's first casualties were before the Corps even arrived in France: Lt Robert R. Skene and Air Mechanic Ray Barlow were killed on 12 August 1914 when their (probably overloaded) plane crashed at Netheravon on
19536-552: The way to rendezvous with the rest of the RFC near Dover . Skene had been the first Englishman to perform a loop in an aeroplane. On 13 August 1914, 2, 3, and 4 squadrons, comprising 60 machines, departed from Dover for the British Expeditionary Force in France and 5 Squadron joined them a few days later. The aircraft took a route across the English Channel from Dover to Boulogne , then followed
19684-478: The weight down by machining components from solid metal, using the best American and German machine tools to create the engine's components; the cylinder wall of a 50 hp Gnome was only 1.5 mm (0.059 inches) thick, while the connecting rods were milled with deep central channels to reduce weight. While somewhat low powered in terms of units of power per litre, its power-to-weight ratio was an outstanding 1 hp (0.75 kW) per kg. The following year, 1909,
19832-540: The wings (and sometimes the fuselage sides and/or rudder). However, there was a danger of the large red St George's Cross being mistaken for the German Eisernes Kreuz (iron cross) marking, and so of RFC aircraft being fired upon by friendly ground forces. By late 1915, therefore, the RFC had adopted a modified version of the French cockade (or roundel ) marking, with the colours reversed (the blue circle outermost). In contrast to usual French practice,
19980-523: Was Per ardua ad astra ("Through adversity to the stars"). This remains the motto of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other Commonwealth air forces. The RFC's first fatal crash was on 5 July 1912 near Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain ; Captain Eustace B. Loraine and his observer, Staff Sergeant R.H.V. Wilson, flying from Larkhill Aerodrome , were killed. An order was issued after the crash stating "Flying will continue this evening as usual", thus beginning
20128-516: Was a three-cylinder 303 cc rotary engine fitted to a number of motorcycles by Redrup. In 1904 the Barry engine , also designed by Redrup, was built in Wales: a rotating 2-cylinder boxer engine weighing 6.5 kg was mounted inside a motorcycle frame. The early-1920s German Megola motorcycle used a five-cylinder rotary engine within its front wheel design. In the 1940s Cyril Pullin developed
20276-467: Was credited as the first engine able to run for ten hours between overhauls. In 1913 the Seguin brothers introduced the new Monosoupape ("single valve") series, which replaced inlet valves in the pistons by using a single valve in each cylinder head, which doubled as inlet and exhaust valve. The engine speed was controlled by varying the opening time and extent of the exhaust valves using levers acting on
20424-490: Was damaged beyond repair on 12 November 1914 in a crash landing. Impressed by the performance of the aircraft, the War Office ordered twelve examples on 5 November and the Admiralty ordered a further 24 on 7 November. The production aircraft, later called the Scout C , differed from their predecessors mainly in constructional detail, although the cowling was replaced by one with a small frontal opening and no stiffening ribs,
20572-409: Was joined by his brother Laurent who designed a rotary engine specifically for aircraft use, using Gnom engine cylinders. The brothers' first experimental engine is said to have been a 5-cylinder model that developed 34 hp (25 kW), and was a radial rather than rotary engine, but no photographs survive of the five-cylinder experimental model. The Seguin brothers then turned to rotary engines in
20720-604: Was not available to RFC aircrew. There were undoubtedly some very skilled artillery observers in the RFC, but there were many who were not and there was a tendency for ' optimism bias ' – reporting rounds as being on target when they were not. The procedures were also time-consuming. The ground stations were generally attached to heavy artillery units, such as Royal Garrison Artillery Siege Batteries, and were manned by RFC wireless operators, such as Henry Tabor. These wireless operators had to fend for themselves as their squadrons were situated some distance away and they were not posted to
20868-441: Was often accomplished instead by intermittently cutting the ignition using the blip switch. Cutting cylinders using ignition switches had the drawback of letting fuel continue to pass through the engine, oiling up the spark plugs and making smooth restarting problematic. Also, the raw oil-fuel mix could collect in the cowling. As this could cause a serious fire when the switch was released, it became common practice for part or all of
21016-399: Was often carried out under heavy artillery fire in makeshift dug-outs. The artillery batteries were important targets and antennas were a lot less robust than the guns, hence prone to damage requiring immediate repair. As well as taking down and interpreting the numerous signals coming in from the aircraft, the operator had to communicate back to the aircraft by means of cloth strips laid out on
21164-428: Was powered by a Gnome Omega on March 28, 1910, near Marseille . Production of Gnome rotaries increased rapidly, with some 4,000 being produced before World War I, and Gnome also produced a two-row version (the 100 h.p. Double Omega), the larger 80 hp Gnome Lambda and the 160 hp two-row Double Lambda. By the standards of other engines of the period, the Gnome was considered not particularly temperamental, and
21312-732: Was significant as the First Army's manoeuvre allowed French forces to make an effective counter-attack at the Battle of the Marne . Sir John French 's (the British Expeditionary Force commander) first official dispatch on 7 September included the following: "I wish particularly to bring to your Lordships' notice the admirable work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David Henderson. Their skill, energy, and perseverance has been beyond all praise. They have furnished me with most complete and accurate information, which has been of incalculable value in
21460-517: Was the Zone Call procedure in 1915. By this time maps were 'squared' and a target location could be reported from the air using alphanumeric characters transmitted in Morse code. Batteries were allocated a Zone, typically a quarter of a mapsheet, and it was the duty of the RFC signallers on the ground beside the battery command post to pick out calls for fire in their battery's Zone. Once ranging started
21608-587: Was the work of the three Seguin brothers, Louis, Laurent and Augustin. They were talented engineers and the grandsons of famous French engineer Marc Seguin . In 1906 the eldest brother, Louis, had formed the Société des Moteurs Gnome to build stationary engines for industrial use, having licensed production of the Gnom single-cylinder stationary engine from Motorenfabrik Oberursel —who, in turn, built licensed Gnome engines for German aircraft during World War I. Louis
21756-739: Was to guard the fuel stores and assist any aircraft which had occasion to land. Accommodation for airmen and pilots was often in tents, especially on the Western Front. Officers would be billeted to local country houses , or commandeered châteaux when posted abroad, if suitable accommodation had not been built on the Station. Landing Grounds were categorised according to their lighting and day or night capabilities: Stations that were heavily used or militarily important grew by compulsorily purchasing extra land, changing designations as necessary. Aerodromes would often grow into sprawling sites, due to
21904-399: Was widely used as an alternative to conventional inline engines ( straight or V ) during World War I and the years immediately preceding that conflict. It has been described as "a very efficient solution to the problems of power output, weight, and reliability". By the early 1920s, the inherent limitations of this type of engine had rendered it obsolete. A rotary engine is essentially
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