The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-08-23
NEW AIR TERROR
AMERICAN PRODUCT

Buffalo, N. Y, Aug. 4.-Americap
production of a new, fast, and thor
oughly up todate model of fighting
plane, that has been tested on the
battle fronts and found to beat any
thing the Germans have produced, has
begun.
.. This is the new rs. E.-5" type
whose production by the Curtiss Aero
plane works here has been ordered
by the aircraft production board to
take the place of the ill-fated "Bris-
tol" that was found to be useless and
scrapped.
The S. E.-5 is a battle plane and
has passed the experimental stage. Its
production viii be rushed through on
the basis of what is in fact "Chinese
copy.
This model is a British plane, per-
fected by Major General Brackner,
head of the equipment division of the
British war ministry, and Sir Henry
Flower, the man who reorganized the
Royal Aircraft factory of England.
The Royal Aircraft factory is the
mother of 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 high-powered mo-
tor like the Liberty-(4S5 horse
power). In this respect it differs from
the Bristol which proved failure
when powered with the Liberty, be-
cause it was designed to take an en-
CINE of only 125 horsepower.
The S. E.-5 was designed in ad-
vance of the production of motor of
435 horsepower. But the Liberty mo-
tor was designed in time to use with
such model.
In the same way the British Roya
Aircraft factory is now at work on
still newer fighting plane, to be
fitted with a motor of as yet un-
known horsepower, but which must
be as high as 500. Nobody has yet
designed such a motor; and perhaps
it cannot be produced, but England
purposes to have a type of plane
that can use it.
The S. E.-5 was developed in the
same way in advance Of the design
ing and perfection Of the Liberty.
The Curtiss plant departments,
which were devoted to the Britol ex-
pertinent, have all been cleaned out,
all the "small-part" factories are
busy grinding out small parts Of
wood and metal for the new S. E.-5.
The first part of the assembly work
: that of the fuselage-will begin
in a few days; the beginning of
complete plane assembly in about
two weeks, and in month, quanti-
ty production will 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
experimental work will be done at
all-the factory job is mere repro
duction in quantity.
It may be expected, therefore,
that the output of battleplanes OF
this type will be going overseas with
in reasonably short time, to sup
plement 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
workmen who were engaged on the
experimental production of the
abandoned Bristol, of which only %
completed machines were ever pro-
duced.