HISTORICAL
SIGNIFICANCE
The
S.E.5a was one of the most important and influential aircraft of the war. The
S.E.5a (Scout Experimental 5a) was designed by H.P. Folland and J. Kenworthy of
the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough. The introduction SE5a with the 200-hp
Hispano-Suiza or Wolseley Viper engine resolved earlier SE5 engine problems and
added nearly 30 mph to the S.E.5a as top speed. The S.E.5a was inherently stable
making it excellent at gunnery. It was also one of the fastest aircraft of the
war, at 138 mph, it was as fast as the the SPAD S.XIII. The S.E.5a was not a great
dog fighter, lacking the agility of the Camel. However, it was much easier to
fly. The S.E.5 had only one synchronized .303-in Vickers machine gun, however
it did have a wing-mounted Lewis gun which enabled the pilot to fire at an enemy
aircraft from below. The S.E.5a entered service in June 1917. Legendary British
ace, James McCudden wrote of the S.E.5a "It was very fine to be in a machine
that was faster than the Huns, and to know that one could run away just as things
got too hot."