Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2

S.E.2
The S.E.2 in its final form, at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough
Role	Scout aircraft
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Royal Aircraft Factory
Designer	Geoffrey de Havilland (B.S.1)
First flight	March 1913
Introduction	1914
Retired	1915
Primary user	Royal Flying Corps
Number built	1

The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2 (Scout Experimental) was an early British single-seat scout aircraft. Designed and built at the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1912–13 as the B.S.1, the prototype was rebuilt several times before serving with the Royal Flying Corps over the Western Front in the early months of the First World War.

In 1912, a team at the Royal Aircraft Factory, led by Geoffrey de Havilland, started design of a single seat scout, or fast reconnaissance aircraft, the first aircraft in the world specifically designed for this role. The design was a small tractor biplane, and was named the B.S.1 (standing for Blériot Scout) after Louis Blériot, a pioneer of tractor configuration aircraft. It had a wooden monocoque circular section fuselage, and single-bay wings. Lateral control was by wing warping, while the aircraft was initially fitted with a small rudder without a fixed fin (a scaled down version of that fitted to the B.E.3), and a one-piece elevator. It was powered by a two-row, 14-cylinder Gnome rotary engine rated at 100 hp (75 kW).

The B.S.1 was first flown by Geoffrey de Havilland early in 1913, demonstrating excellent performance, with a maximum speed of 91.7 mph (147.6 km/h), a stalling speed of 51 mph (82 km/h) and a rate of climb of 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s), despite the engine only delivering about 82 hp (61 kW) instead of the promised 100 hp. De Havilland was not satisfied with the control afforded by the small rudder and designed a larger replacement, but on 27 March 1913, before the new rudder could be installed, he crashed the B.S.1, breaking his jaw and badly damaging the aircraft.

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