Plane that ruled the skies over Western Front Haynes manual celebrates 100 years of famous fighter
DURING the Second World War, it was the Spitfire that ruled the skies. But during the First World War, the favoured flying machine of “aces” was the SE5 – and like the mighty Spitfire, it was built in Birmingham.
Biggles may have flown a Sopwith Camel, and the Red Baron favoured a Fokker Triplane.
But it was the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 that proved the ultimate “smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast” crate.
And to mark the 100th anniversary of the demon of the dogfights, Haynes – famed for car manuals – has published its own tribute.
The Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 Manual is a must-have for owners.
Unfortunately, there are no owners out there.
Unfortunately, a manual wasn’t available when those Magnificent Men risked life and limb in aerial battles over the Western Front. Nor were parachutes. The SE5 – a “kite” well ahead of its time – was built by Birmingham’s Austin Motors and Wolseley Motors Limited, along with four other manufacturers.
It first saw action in March 1917 and, in all, 5,265 were built.
Only two complete, original biplanes remain – and one of those is in America.
That stark statistic makes Haynes’ new manual rather redundant – but it’s a magical piece of nostalgia nevertheless.
A Haynes spokesman says: “Remarkably, the story of the SE5 was almost cut short before it began by some of the most astonishing political battles and bitter personal rivalries that were played out in Whitehall and the House of Commons.
“Yet it would go on to become the most effective Allied fighter of the war, not only above the Western Front, but also during the ‘first Blitz’ on London, in the deserts of the Middle East and in the skirmishes around the birth of the Soviet Union.
Manual author Nick Garton adds: “The SE5 was the world’s first truly modern fighting aeroplane.
“It gave British and Commonwealth pilots the means to rewrite their tactics and never again allow such heavy losses as those seen when it first appeared during ‘Bloody April’ in 1917.”
It also spawned many heroes, the most famous “ace” being Major Edward Mannock, a deeply troubled man who was often physically ill with nerves before take-off.
Yet he was most likely the highest scoring Allied pilot of the war, one of only 19 airmen to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War.
Jimmy McCudden and India’s first flying hero Indra Lal Roy also took the cockpit of an SE5.
So what set the machine from the rest?
For a start, it was the first aircraft to be equipped with a pilot-adjustable tail-plane.
It was more robust than the apart rest PICTURES: HAYNES PUBLISHING
The SE5 was the world’s first truly modern fighting aeroplane. It gave British and Commonwealth pilots the means to rewrite their tactics and never again allow such heavy losses at those seen when it first appeared during ‘Bloody April’
and its narrow fuselage allowed the pilot greater visibility.
It was more agile, stable and easier to fly.
The Haynes spokesman says of the manual: “Every aspect of the lives of the people who designed, built and flew the SE5 is revealed, from the women who worked on the factory floor to the riotous lives of pilots in London.
“It is all very far removed from the traditional, romantic notion of silk scarves fluttering and courtly duels in the sky.”
The Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 Owners’ Workshop Manual is priced at £25 and available from www. haynes.co.uk.
Haynes manual author Nick Garton