First World War fighter receives Engineering Heritage Award

The Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a, one of the most successful British fighter planes of the First World War, has received an Engineering Heritage Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The award, which was made on Saturday 19 May, recognised the importance of the SE5a (Scout Experimental 5), in British aviation development and the pivotal role it played in securing the skies over the Western Front.

“This year the RAF is celebrating its 100^thbirthday and we are proud to make this award to the SE5a to recognise the huge contribution the aircraft, its designers and pilots made to the Allied victory in the First World War,” said Paul Lloyd Air Commodore, Chair of the IMechE Aerospace Division and UAS Challenge competition.

The award was given in a ceremony at the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, which is home to the only airworthy SE5 in the UK.

The fighter was designed by Henry Folland, Jon Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, in 1916. The Superintendent of the Factory was Henry Fowler, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway who became President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1927.

<>He had been brought in to improve production at Farnborough and was knighted for his efforts, an SE5a featured in the centre of his coat of arms.

Pilots liked the original SE5 model for its handling qualities and strength but it soon became obvious that the aircraft was underpowered. As a result, it was re-equipped with a more powerful 200 horsepower engine and re-designated the SE5a, making it faster and with a better overall performance at altitude.

The construction of the aircraft included a wing structure that had wire-braced wooden spars, and also the tail-plane incidence could be changed during flight; one of the very early examples of this.

It was known to be a very stable plane, making it a good gun platform, and it also allowed the pilot to fire at enemies above it due to a top wing-mounted Lewis gun, giving it a tactical advantage.

Many of the top Allied pilots flew the aircraft – Albert Ball achieved 17 of his 44 victories flying the SE5 and the SE5a was flown by fellow pilots Billy Bishop, Edward Mannock and James McCudden.

The Shuttleworth Collection’s aircraft was built by Wolseley Motors and issued to No 84 Squadron RAF in France in November 1918. It was in action on 10 November, piloted by Major C E M Pickthorn MC, the squadron commander, when he destroyed a Fokker DVII in the vicinity of Chimay in Belgium.

The SE5a is now in displayed in the colours and markings of 84 Squadron.

Previous winners of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Engineering Heritage Awards include Alan Turing’s Bombe at Bletchley Park, the E-Type Jaguar and Concorde.