SPAD S.A-4
Imperial Russian Air Service, 1916
(Wings of the Great War WW15101)
- Engine: One 110 h.p. Le Rhone 9 J rotary
- Span: 31 ft 4 in
- Length: 23 ft 11 in
- Height: 8 ft 6 in
- Weight: 1,563 lb loaded
- Crew: One
- Max Speed: 81 mph at 6,560 ft
- Service Ceiling: 10,800 ft
- Duration: 2 hr
- Armament: One Lewis MG
- Notes: The SPAD S.A was a French two-seat tractor biplane first flown in 1915. It was used by France and Russia in the early stages of the First World War in the fighter and reconnaissance roles. The aircraft was designed to carry an observer in a streamlined nacelle ahead of the propeller. This configuration was an attempt to combine the advantages of the tractor and the pusher types, giving the observer a clear field of view to the front and sides without the drag penalty of the typical pusher. The S.A had a short and inauspicious career in the French Aviation Militaire, and it was quickly replaced in service by less dangerous aircraft. The Russian Air Service, because of a general shortage of equipment, was obliged to keep its aircraft somewhat longer.
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