Martinsyde G.100 и G.102 Elephant
Летом 1915 года компания "Martinsyde" спроектировала вооруженный разведывательный биплан G.100, улучшенный и больший по размерам, чем F.1. Прототип выполнил первый полет в сентябре того же года. Такие размеры понадобились для обеспечения 5-часовой продолжительности ДальшеMore>>>
полета, необходимой для сопровождения разведывательно-рекогносцировочных двухместных машин. Самолет G.100 с мотором Beardmore мощностью 120 л. с. (89 кВт) впервые применили на Западном фронте в начале 1916 года. Эти машины поставляли эскадрильям в небольшом количестве. Во Франции одноместный самолет за свои размеры получил прозвище "Elephant" (слон). Одними G.100 вооружили лишь 27-ю эскадрилью, по ассоциации с прозвищем самолета на ее эмблеме появилось слоновье ухо. В конце 1916 года вслед за самолетом G.100 выпустили улучшенный G.102 с более мощным мотором Beardmore, способным поднимать и увеличенную полезную нагрузку. Благодаря этому самолет нередко использовали в качестве бомбардировщика. Развитием машин G.101/102 стал одноместный истребитель-биплан RG с мотором Rolls-Royce Falcon мощностью 190 л. с. (142 кВт). Первые официальные испытания RS состоялись в начале 1917 года, самолет показал хорошие летные данные, но в серию не пошел из-за дефицита моторов Falcon, приоритет на которые получил другой самолет - Bristol Fighter.
ТАКТИКО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ
Martinsyde G.102
Тип: одноместный истребитель
Силовая установка: один мотор жидкостного охлаждения Beardmore мощностью 160 л. с. (119 кВт)
Летные характеристики: максимальная скорость на высоте 610 м - 167 км/ч; практический потолок 4875 м; продолжительность полета 4 ч 30 мин
Масса: пустого 813 кг; максимальная взлетная 1115 кг
Размеры: размах 11,58 м; длина 8,23 м; высота 2,95 м; площадь крыльев 38,09 м2
Вооружение: два 7,7-мм пулемета Lewis (один стреляющий вперед над верхним крылом и один для обстрела задней полусферы за кабиной), до 118 кг бомб на внешних подвесках
Flight, June 1920
THE MARTINSYDE MACHINES
The G.100 (the "Elephant"). (1915)
The next machine to be designed and built (during the summer of 1915) was a single-seater long-distance scout, fitted with water-cooled Beardmore engines. In some instances the engine was a 120 h.p. and in others a 160. The machine, which was affectionately known in the Service as the "Elephant," is really typical of Martinsyde design, and was supplied to the Government in large quantities. The performances was quite out of the ordinary for those days, the speed being 102 m.p.h. at 6,000 ft., and even at 14,000 ft. the speed was still as high as 90 m.p.h. The climb to 10,000 ft. took 15 minutes only, Which was a performance to be proud of at that time. Although a single-seater, the machine had a large wing area, which enabled her to carry fuel for a 4 1/2 hours' flight, and she was one of the few machines which could successfully carry the large 3 cwt. bombs. It might be mentioned here that "The Elephant" was used with effect against the fortifications of Bagdad and other enemy towns.
Like all Martinsyde products, the G.100 was very strongly built. By way of an instance, it may be recorded that one of them returned safely to its aerodrome with a considerable portion of its centre section destroyed by high-explosives, while on another occasion it is said that the pilot used his machine to ram his opponent. The wing tips and ailerons suffered severely, but the machine returned in safety to the aerodrome.
Всего построили 300 истребителей Martinsyde G.100/102 Elephant. 133 из них поступили в эскадрильи на Западном фронте, 64 - на Ближний Восток, оставшиеся распределили между дислоцированными в Великобритании учебными частями.
The Martinsyde G.100, 160 h.p. Beardmore engine
A Martinsyde G.102 Elephant seen at Brooklands. A6289 was a presentation aircraft, named Mount Lofty, South Australia, and presented to the RFC by Mrs H. Bickford. Designed at the outset as a single seat fighter, it was more effectively employed as a bomber by way of its good loading capability. The author recalls that Elephants floated horribly. The G.102 was powered by the 160 h.p. Beardmore engine.
Elephant A6299 outside the Martinsyde test depot, Brooklands, 1916.
Martinsyde G.100 Elephant
The G.102 higher-powered version of the Martinsyde Elephant which succeeded the G.100.
The first photograph of the single-bay Elephant to emerge was this one, with a young Sydney Camm in the foreground. Camm had joined Martinsyde in 1914 as a woodworker but he was soon promoted to the design office, heralding his rise as one of Britain’s foremost aircraft designers.
The newly-emerged photograph of the single-bay Elephant shows it standing in the Martinsyde hangar at Brooklands with its tail on a trestle. It is only the second image of the obscure machine to come to light.
The G.100 Elephant ‘Baksheejh’, with 30 Squadron, 1917. This ‘aircraft’ was made from spare parts, hence the name (Arabic for 'free') that appeared in lieu of the serial number.
Early gunsights on a Martinsyde Elephant, 1916. The rectangular backsight is at left, partly obscured by the rear centre-section strut.
The Martinsyde G100 Elephant captured by the Turks in Iraq and then recaptured by the British at Tikrit. It has been given Ottoman Air Force markings but retained its RFC serial number. Though listed at the Mosul Aircraft Park it probably served as a decoy at Tikrit aerodrome. Apparently the British tried to drag the Martinsyde G100 away using an armoured car.
Not surprisingly, given the fact that the Martinsyde G100 no longer had any wheels, the British efforts to drag it away resulted in the machine finally collapsing with a broken back!
The initial production version of the Martinsyde Elephant, the G.100.
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