The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fastest aircraft of the war, while being both stable and relatively manoeuvrable.

The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5/5a, rival of the Sopwith Camel for the title of the most successful British fighter of the First World War, was designed by H. P. Folland, J. Kenworthy and Major F. W. Goodden.

The SE5a was considered by many pilots to be the best British single-seat fighter of World War One. Designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, the first production aircraft had the 150hp Hispano-Suiza fitted and were designated SE5. The later SE5a had the 200 or 220hp Hispani-Suiza or 200hp Wolseley Viper engine.

2018年6月4日 · One of the most successful aircraft used by the British in World War I (1814-1918), the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 entered service in early 1917. A reliable, stable gun platform, the type soon became the favored aircraft of many notable British aces.

2017年10月30日 · Regarded by many as the best British fighter of World War 1, the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a was less nimble than its frontline contemporary, the Sopwith Camel, but could out-dive and out-climb its `rival’, sustain more combat damage and yet remain intact despite performing high-g manoeuvres.

It was designed by H. P. Folland, J. Kenworthy and Major F. W. Goodden of the Royal Aircraft Factory. The prototype S.E.5, A4561, appeared in December 1916, powered by the new 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine with a car-type radiator and short exhaust pipes.

Together with the Camel, the S.E. 5 was the most famous British scout aeroplane of the Great War, and it was unquestionably the best design from the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was just as easy to handle as the Camel was difficult, having inherited many of the “automatic stability” characteristics of the other Factory products.

Designed by H P Folland in 1916, and built at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, the SE.5a was a single-seat biplane ‘fighting scout’ powered by a Hispano-Suiza derived water-cooled V8 engine, usually a 200 hp Wolseley Viper. It could climb to 10,000 feet in 11 minutes 20 seconds and it had a service ceiling of 20,000 feet.

Armed with a synchronised 0.303" Vickers machine gun to shoot through the propeller arc and a 0.303" Lewis machine gun 'Foster mounted' on the top wing, the pilot could fire from below an enemy aircraft as well as with two guns firing forward.

RAF SE5 'Greenhouse' In early 1917 a new fighter took to the skies over Farnborough . . this was to win fame as the SE5/5a. The first British fighter to be armed with two guns (a vickers and a LEwis), the SE5 also used the remarkable Hispano-Suiza engine.