The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-08-09
AMERICA BEeINS
THE PRODUCTION Of
4 NEW A|R TERRO R
by FREDERICK M. kERBY.)
NJ. E. A. Staff Correspondent. Passed
by the United States Censor.


Buffalo, n. Y. Aug. s.-American
production Of new. fast and thor
oughly up-to-date model of fighting
plane, that has been tested on the
battle fronts and found to beatNany-
thing the Germans have produced, has
begun.
This is the new "S. Els" type, whose
production by the Curtiss Aeroplane
Works here has been ordered by the
Aircraft Production Board to take the
place of the Inflated Bristol that was
found to be useless and scrapped.
The S. E.-5 is battle plane, and has
passed the experimental stage. Its
production will be rushed through on
the basis of what is in fact Chinese
copy"
This model is a British plane, per-
fected by Major General Branckner,
head of the equipment division of the
British war ministry, and Sir Henry
Fowler, the man who reorganized the
Royal Aircraft factory of England.
The Royal Aircraft factory is the
mother of the S. E.-5. 1t has given ex-
ceptional service, and an exceptional
account of itself on the fighting front.
Abroad it was equipped with the Rolls
Royce and the Sunbeam motor. Here
it will take the Liberty.
This type of fighting plane was con-
structed to take a high-powered motor
like the Liberty-435 horsepower. IN
this respect it differs from the Bristol,
which proved a failure when powered
with the Liberty because it was de-
signed TO take an engine of only 125
horsepower.
The S. Els was designed in ad-
vance of the production of a motor of
435 horsepower. But the liberty mo-
tor was designed in time to use with
such a model.
In the same way the British Royal
Aircraft factory is now at work on
still newer fighting plane, to be
fitted with a motor of as yet unknown
horsepower, but which must be as high
as 500. Nobody has yet designed such
a motor: and perhaps it cannot be
produced, but England proposes to
have type Of plane that can use it.
The S. Els was developed in the
same way in advance of the designing
and perfection of the Liberty motor.
The Curtiss plant departments,
which were devoted to the Bristol ex-
pertinent. have all been cleaned out;
all the "small-part" factories are busy
ouI parts oI WOOuN ana
metal for the new S. Els. The first
part of the assembly work-that of fhe
fuse1age-wifl begin in a few days;
the beginning OF complete plane as
sembly in about two weeks, and in a
month. quantity production viii be
well under way.
|. All that the plant needs to do is to
copy part for part and Screw for screw
the model already set up. No expert
mental work will be done at all-the
factory job is mere reproduction in
quantity.
It may be expected. therefore, that
the output of battleplanes of this type
will be going overseas within a reason
ably short time. to supplement the
supply OF d. H. fighting planes already
being turned out by other plants.
What is more important, this new
type is known to be the equal or bet
ter than any fighting plane the Huns
have so far produced And its pro-
duction will be additional to all other
aircraft production. since it will use
merely the equipment and worlmen
who were engaged on the experimental
production of the abandoned Bristol,
of which only % completed machines
were ever produced.