MARTINSIDE ELEPHANT

The Martinsyde Elephant was a British fighter-bomber and long-range fighter from the First World War. The flight of the prototype took place in 1915, and a year later mass production started, in the course of which about 270 aircraft of this type were created. The plane was 8.07 meters long with a wingspan of 11.59 meters. The drive - in the G.100 version - was provided by a single Beardmore engine with a capacity of 120 HP. The deck armament consisted of two 7.7 mm machine guns. The plane could also take on board a load of bombs weighing up to 120 kilograms. The Elephant model was developed as a grassroots initiative by the Martinsyde aviation plant, originally as a single-seat fighter escort. However, due to the very poor performance and poor maneuverability resulting from the large size of the machine, it was during the service used primarily as a fighter-bomber and light bomber. It was also used as a photo reconnaissance plane. In the course of production, two main versions of this aircraft were created: G.100 and G.102, which differed only in the used engine with a power of 120 or 160 HP.