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S-4C Scout
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Photo:
Robert Deering 10/18/2012 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
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The
Thomas-Morse Scout became the favorite single-seat training
airplane for U.S. pilots during World War I. The Scout first
appeared with an order for 100 S-4Bs in the summer of 1917.
The U.S. Army Air Service later purchased nearly 500 of a
slightly modified version, the S-4C Scout,
known to a generation of pilots as the "Tommy."
Though the Army was the recipient of most of the production aircraft, the Navy procured fourteen examples for use as combat trainers. In addition, Thomas-Morse delivered six S-5s, seaplane versions of the S-4B, to the Navy in 1917 for use as a primary trainer. They flew mainly from Dinner Key near NAS Miami, Florida, their ungainly wooden floats having to be emptied of water by sailors on the ground after each flight.
Though the
trusty "Tommy" disappeared from military airfields in the
years following World War I, it remained in the public eye
on the big screen, flying combat sequences in such Hollywood
war movies as Hell's Angels and
Dawn Patrol.
The Navy
Museum's example of the Thomas-Morse S-4C was acquired in
1984. It is painted in the markings of Bureau Number A-5858,
one of four examples procured by the Navy for fighter pilot
training following the end of World War I. In 2000, a pair
of twin floats was added in place of conventional landing
gear, thus depicting the Thomas-Morse S-5 seaplane
(converted from the S-4B) that was used in limited numbers
by the Navy as a primary trainer during the Great War. |
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%20(I6X4).jpg) Photo: Robert Deering 4/18/2015 National Museum of Naval Aviation NAS Pensacola (NPA) Pensacola, Florida |
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