The Sage Type 2 was a prototype

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

two-seat fighter aircraft of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. A single-engined

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with an enclosed cabin for its crew, only a single example was built, as more advanced aircraft became available.

Development and design

The long-established woodworking company, Frederick Sage & Co, which specialised in shopfitting, set up an aircraft department in early 1915, hiring the well known

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

and designer,

Eric Gordon England Eric Cecil Gordon England (5 April 1891 – February 1976) AFRAeS, FIMT,Gordon England Ltd. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 5 Feb 1929; pg. 18; Issue 45119. was a British aviator, racing driver and engineer.Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online ...

, to lead the department, and recruiting Clifford Tinson, formerly deputy to

Frank Barnwell Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell OBE AFC FRAeS BSc (23 November 1880 – 2 August 1938) was a Scottish aeronautical engineer. With his elder brother Harold, he built the first successful powered aircraft made in Scotland and later went on to a ca ...

at the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...

early in 1916. Tinson's first design for Sage was a two-seat fighter aircraft, the Sage Type 2. It was a small wood-and-fabric

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most comm ...

(in fact the two-seat Sage was smaller than many single-seaters of the time), with single-bay wings. The pilot and gunner sat in an enclosed, glazed cabin that filled the gap between the fuselage and upper wing. Because of the lack of effective gun synchronising gear to allow a fixed gun to fire through the propeller disc, a hole was cut in the upper wing above the gunners seat, so the gunner could stand with head and shoulders above the wing, giving him a good all-round field of fire for his Lewis gun, including forward over the propeller. The aircraft was powered by a

Gnome Monosoupape The ''Monosoupape'' (French for single-valve), was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company (renamed Gnome et Rhône in 1915). It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated ...

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

driving a four-bladed propeller.Mason 1992, p. 69. The prototype first flew on 10 August 1916, and demonstrated good performance and manoeuvrability,Bruce 1968, p. 69. being easy to fly.''Flight'', 24 July 1919, p. 973. It was wrecked in a crash landing during a test flight at

Cranwell Cranwell is a village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap and is situated approximately north-west from Sleaford and south-east from the city and county tow ...

on 20 September 1916 after the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

post failed.''Flight'', 24 July 1919, pp. 973–974. No further development was carried out, as by this time, effective synchronising gear was available to the British, and the

Sopwith 1½ Strutter The Sopwith Strutter was a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War.Lake 2002, p. 40. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronis ...

was already in service.

Specifications

References

"Milestones" The Sage Machines
. ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can b ...

'', 24 July 1919. pp. 971–975. *Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Bruce, J. M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Volume Two Fighters''. London:Macdonald, 1968. . * Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers''. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, Second edition, 1995. . *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. . {{Sage aircraft 1910s British fighter aircraft Type 2 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1916 Sesquiplanes

Development and design

Specifications

See also

References