Thomas-Morse S-4
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The Thomas-Morse S-4 Scout is an American
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 ...
advanced trainer, operated by the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
and the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
. Dubbed the "Tommy" by pilots who flew it, the aircraft became the favorite single-seat training airplane produced in the U.S. during World War I. It had a long and varied career beginning with the S-4B, which first appeared in the summer of 1917.''United States Air Force Museum'' 1975, p. 10.


Design and development

Built by
Thomas-Morse Aircraft The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, until it was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft, Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1929. History Founded in 1910 by English immigrants William T. Thomas and hi ...
in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
in 1917, it was a compact single-seat open-cockpit
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 ...
of equal span and a 100 hp (75 kW)
Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
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 its ...
.Donald 1997, p. 875. The S-4 was designed by Englishman
Benjamin Douglas Thomas Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
(no relation to the company owners),"Thomas."
''Aerofiles.com.'' Retrieved April 8, 2008.
formerly with the
Sopwith Aviation Company The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously ...
, who also assisted with the design of the
Curtiss JN-4 Jenny The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft f ...
. The S-4 made its maiden flight in June 1917 in the hands of Paul D. Wilson. Twelve planes went to the Navy.


Operational history

The S-4B, with a Gnome, a span of (8.22 m), and length of proved more successful, with three prototypes followed by an order of 97 for the Army and 10 for the Navy, while six more were completed with two main and one tail floats as the Navy S-5.Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 472. The S-4B was used by practically every pursuit flying school in the U.S. during 1918. It was supplemented in 1918 by the S-4C, at a cost of US$5400 each. Six prototypes were built, and the Gnome 9B-2 was replaced by the more reliable
Le Rhône 9C The Le Rhône 9C is a nine-cylinder Rotary engine, rotary aircraft engine produced in France by '' Société des Moteurs Le Rhône'' / Gnome et Rhône. Also known as the Le Rhône 80 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, t ...
starting with the fifty-second production aircraft. 461 S-4Cs went to the Army and four S-4Cs with floats went to the Navy. After World War I, many "Tommys" were sold as surplus to civilian flying schools, sportsman pilots, and ex-Army fliers. Many were still being used in the mid-1930s for World War I aviation movies, and several continue to exist in flying condition today. A single aircraft was fitted with new tail and the more powerful Le Rhone 9J rotary engine, becoming the S-4E
aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...
trainer. It was not adopted by the military, and after being fitted with a
Aeromarine The Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company was an early American aircraft manufacturer founded by Inglis M. Upperçu which operated from 1914 to 1930. From 1928 to 1930 it was known as the Aeromarine-Klemm Corporation. History The beginnings of the ...
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, it became
Basil Rowe Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variet ...
‘s racer ''Space-Eater''. About sixty surplus aircraft survived in civil service, most of which were fitted with the
Curtiss OX-5 The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...
.


Operators

; *
United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
*
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...


Surviving aircraft

* 633 – S-4C in storage at
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in
Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland–Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, metropolitan s ...
. It was previously owned by the
Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum is a transportation museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Western Reserve Historical Society's Cleveland History Center in University Circle, and its collection includes about 170 cars. It ...
. * 4328 ''or'' 4367 – S-4B on static display at the
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, New York, adjacent to the town of Rhinebeck (town), New York, Rhinebeck. Founded in 1958, it owns many examples of airworthy aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer ...
in
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. It is possibly the last S-4B produced. * 4366 – S-4B was restored over the course of 15 years by the Ithaca Aviation Heritage Foundation in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
. It is made up of the fuselage of an S-4B, a top wing of a S-4C, and a reproduction bottom wing. Because this unique setup is the same as the setup used by the Tommy in the 1918 film, A Romance of the Air, it is believed to be the exact same plane as the one in the movie. Restoration was completed in 2018, and on September 29, the plane took off from the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport and flew multiple circuits above a large crowd gathered in honor of the Tommy's 100th birthday. It then successfully landed. The pilot was Ken Cassens of Rheinbeck. That makes it the only known example in the world that is in flying condition. Now that the plane has flown once, there are no plans for it to fly again. Instead it will be installed in a permanent exhibit at the Ithaca Heritage Center, being constructed in the new Ithaca Heritage Center, the former Tompkins Trust building on the Ithaca Commons. The plane was previously owned by William N. Thibault, who donated it to the Ithaca Aviation Heritage Foundation. * 38898 – S-4C airworthy at the
Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM) is located in Hood River, Oregon, United States, adjacent to the Ken Jernstedt Airfield, Ken Jernstedt Memorial Airport. WAAAM is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization committed to the prese ...
(WAAAM) in
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. * 38899 – S-4C on static display at the
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in
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. * 38934 – S-4C on static display at the
Cradle of Aviation Museum The Cradle of Aviation Museum is an aerospace museum located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York on Long Island, established to commemorate Long Island's part in the history of aviation. It is located on land once part of ...
in
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. It is equipped with its original Marlin machine gun and is on loan from Paul Kotze. * 38944 – S-4C on static display at the
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in
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. It was restored by students at the Aero Mechanics High School in
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,
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. * 39734 – S-4C on display at
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in
Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino's surroundings ha ...
. * S-4B on static display at the
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in
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. It was obtained in a trade with the Aeroflex Museum in 1979 and was restored by Century Aviation. This aircraft has original S-4B wings mounted on a reproduction B-fuselage, which was fabricated using parts from the prototype S-4. * S-4C on static display at the
National Naval Aviation Museum The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its cur ...
in
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. In 2000, it was reconfigured as an S-5 floatplane with the addition of twin floats. It is painted as Bureau Number A-5858. * S-4C under restoration at the Pioneer Flight Museum in
Kingsbury, Texas Kingsbury is a city in eastern Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. Kingsbury was a Census-designated place in 2010, when the 2010 United States Census, census reported a population of 782. It is part of the San Antonio ...
. * S-4 under restoration Pioneer Flight Museum in Kingsbury, Texas. * S-4 on static display at the
Cradle of Aviation Museum The Cradle of Aviation Museum is an aerospace museum located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York on Long Island, established to commemorate Long Island's part in the history of aviation. It is located on land once part of ...
in
Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...
. It is an uncovered Scout fuselage, possibly from one of the prototypes, fitted with a LeRhone engine and a working gun synchronizer.


Specifications (S-4C, late production)


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Angelucci, Enzo, ''Great Aeroplanes of the World''. London: Hamlyn, 1973. * Angelucci, Enzo. ''The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914–1980''. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. . * Donald, David, ed. ''Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', p. 875, "Thomas Brothers and Thomas-Morse aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997. * Holmes, Tony. ''Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide.'' London: HarperCollins, 2005. . * Strnad, Frank. ''The Thomas Morse Scout.'' London: Profile Publications, 1966. * Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter. ''United States Navy Aircraft since 1911.'' London:Putnam, Second edition, 1976. . *''United States Air Force Museum.'' Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Museum Foundation, 1975. * Wegg, John. ''General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors''. London:Putnam, 1990. .


External links


Aerofiles


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140505003129/http://oldrhinebeck.org/ORA/thomas-morse-s-4b-scout/ Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's Thomas-Morse S-4B page* {{Thomas-Morse aircraft 1910s United States military trainer aircraft Thomas-Morse aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1917