On July 20th, 1917, a young pilot named Billy Bishop stepped into the cockpit of a British SE 5a combat aircraft. It was the first one that his squadron had received. Bishop, then well along in his race to become one of the leading aces of the First World War, had been chosen as the first pilot to get an SE 5a. Before, Billy had flown Nieuports and Sopwith Camels. Now, he had a better air machine in which to do battle.
The SE 5a could not climb quite as fast as the Nieuport and was certainly less nimble. But, it was structurally sounder, noticeably faster in level flight, and made for a more stable gun platform which boasted not one but two guns: a drum-fed Lewis over the upper wing and a synchronized belt-fed Vickers on the left side of the engine cowling. With a maximum speed of 119 miles per hour at 6,500 feet, the SE could outrun the dreaded German standard fighter, the Albatros D-III.
Billy had trouble with his SE right from the start. Writing home to his wife, Margaret Eaton Bishop, he reported, “Tonight we did our first jobs on SE 5s and my gun was the only one that fired, and it shot a hole in my propeller, and it will take days to get a new one, so I am thoroughly fed up with life tonight.” Still, the SE 5a was a far cry from the Nieuport, giving some idea of how quickly aircraft technology was changing.
Billy Bishop and his SE 5a are back these days in a promotional picture touting Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award winning film The Aviator. There it is with Leonardo DiCaprio in the pilot’s seat. You can just make out the words on the side of the plane; Major William Avery Bishop, Victoria Cross. The plane in the picture is actually a replica of the SE 5a that belongs to the Great War Flying Museum in Brampton. You can see it in the film or at the museum.
Originally aired September 25th 2016
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