Martinsyde

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Martinsyde

Martin & Handasyde · Martinsyde Ltd

Britain’s third-largest aircraft maker of the First World War built the lumbering Elephant and the Buzzard, one of the fastest fighters of the war, then turned to motorcycles until a fire finished it.

1908Založeno
Defunct 1922Postavení
4Letadlo v záznamu
2Vzdušné síly létající na jeho typech
Photo: Irish Defence Forces from Ireland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
ZeměSpojené královstvíZaloženo1908ZakladateléH. P. Martin, George HandasydeVelitelstvíWoking, SurreyPostaveníDefunct 1922
Příběh

Martinsyde: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Martin and Handasyde

H. P. Martin and George Handasyde went into partnership in 1908. Their first monoplane lifted off the ground before a gale wrecked it, and for years they built monoplanes. It was a biplane, the S.1 scout of 1914, that made them. One S.1 gave rise to one of the war’s strangest stories: Captain Louis Strange fell out of his inverted Martinsyde while changing a Lewis gun drum, hung on to the gun, and climbed back in as the aircraft righted itself.

The Elephant

Renamed Martinsyde Ltd in 1915, the firm became Britain’s third-largest aircraft maker, with flight sheds at Brooklands and a big factory at Woking. Its G.100 and G.102 were so large for single-seaters that pilots called them the Elephant. Too clumsy to dogfight, they found a role as long-range day bombers and reconnaissance aircraft from 1916 to 1917; 271 were built, and No. 27 Squadron flew nothing else.

The Buzzard, the bikes and the fire

Handasyde’s F.4 Buzzard of 1918 reached 142 mph in its F.3 form and was judged a great advance on all existing fighting scouts. Orders for 1,450 followed, then the Armistice cancelled them, and the RAF chose the cheaper Snipe. Martinsyde sold Buzzards abroad and built over 2,000 motorcycles from 1919, until a fire destroyed the Woking factory in 1922 and forced it into liquidation.

Britain’s third-largest aircraft maker of the First World War built the lumbering Elephant and the Buzzard, one of the fastest fighters of the war, then turned to motorcycles until a fire finished it.Martinsyde · verified 2026-10-03
Na první pohled

Martinsyde in numbers

Společnost

Stručně řečeno
Founded 1908

  • Partnership of H. P. Martin and George Handasyde
  • Renamed Martinsyde Ltd, 1915
  • Britain’s third-largest aircraft maker in WWI
  • Liquidated after a factory fire, 1922

Výroba

Nejznámější pro
G.100 Elephant, F.4 Buzzard

  • S.1 scout (60)
  • G.100/G.102 Elephant (271)
  • F.4 Buzzard (fewer than 400)
  • BE.2c and S.E.5a under subcontract
  • Over 2,000 motorcycles

Dnes

Teď
Defunct since 1922

  • Buzzard development continued by the Aircraft Disposal Company
  • Motorcycle rights sold to Bat

Čísla

G.100/G.102 Elephants built
271
Buzzards ordered then cancelled
1,4501918
Motorcycles built
over 2,0001919–1922
Letadlo

Every notable Martinsyde aircraft

Martinsyde F.4 BuzzardFighter · first flight 1918 · fewer than 400 built

Photos: Irish Defence Forces from Ireland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Letadlo Role První let Postavený Postavení Poznámka
Martinsyde S.1 Single-seat scout 60 V důchodu First to France 1 March 1915
Martinsyde G.100 / G.102 Elephant Fighter, day bomber, reconnaissance 1915 271 V důchodu 100 G.100, 171 G.102; 5.5 h endurance
Martinsyde F.3 Bojovník 1917 6 V důchodu Rolls-Royce Falcon; 142 mph
Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard Bojovník 1918 fewer than 400 V důchodu 310 delivered to the RAF; exported to Spain, Finland, USSR
Kdo s nimi létá

Martinsyde aircraft in the world’s air forces

2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Martinsyde types. 0 z nich stále má jeden v provozu.

Letectvo V provozu Dříve létal
Irský letecký sbor Martinsyde Type A Mk II a F.4 Buzzard
Spanish Naval Air Arm Aeronáutica Naval seaplanes and landplanes (Macchi M.18, Supermarine Scarab, Savoia S.16, Dornier Wal, Avro 504K, Martinsyde F.6 and others)
Místa, lidé, rekordy

Where Martinsyde built, who led it, what it achieved

Továrny

  • Brooklands · Weybridge, Surrey — Flight sheds
  • Woking works · Woking, Surrey — Main factory, destroyed by fire in 1922

Lidé

  • George Handasyde · co-founder, designer — Designed the F.3 and F.4 Buzzard
  • H. P. Martin · spoluzakladatel
  • A. A. Fletcher · designer — Designed the G.100 Elephant
  • Louis Strange · RFC pilot — Fell out of an S.1 in combat and climbed back in
Časová osa

Martinsyde, year by year

1908

Martin & Handasyde partnership formed

1914

S.1 scout, the firm’s breakthrough

1915

Renamed Martinsyde Ltd

1915

First S.1 goes to France

1916

G.100 Elephant deliveries to the RFC

1917

F.3 flying at Brooklands

1918

F.4 Buzzard tested

1919

Motorcycle production begins

1922

Woking factory fire; company liquidated

Otázky a odpovědi

Everything people ask about Martinsyde

Why was the Martinsyde G.100 called the Elephant?
Because it was unusually large and unmanoeuvrable for a single-seat fighter.
What was the Martinsyde Buzzard?
A fast single-seat fighter of 1918 with a Hispano-Suiza engine. Large orders were cancelled at the Armistice, and fewer than 400 were built.
Did Martinsyde make motorcycles?
Yes. From 1919 it built more than 2,000 motorcycles, including the Quick Six V-twin.
Why did Martinsyde close?
A fire destroyed its Woking factory in 1922 and the company went into liquidation.

Pokračujte v prohlídce

Around Martinsyde

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Ověřeno 2026-10-03.