Thomas-Morse S-4

If ever an aircraft owed it's fame to the movies, this one was it! The handsome little "Tommy-Scout" was never used in combat during World War I, having been employed solely as a trainer in the United States. However, lots of these airplanes became available after the war on the surplus market, and many ended up being used in Hollywood movies of the period, such as The Dawn Patrol, to represent World War I combat types.

Incidentally, this was an original design, it was not a copy of either Nieuport or Sopwith designs. It was reputedly a very good aircraft to fly but, having only an 80-hp engine, was considered inadequate for the combat conditions prevailing during 1917 and 1918.

reply

I have photo of my father, (Willard E. Closs 1899-1977, then of Elizabeth, NJ) taxiing his S-4 (B or C) onto the runway at Teterboro in 1921. I recall him telling me many years ago that at that time he had to taxi across railroad tracks (with a tail skid no less!) to line up for take-off (the tracks are visible in the photo!) He had bought the aircraft as government surplus - still in the wooden crate - for $500, assembled it hiself and flew it for a couple of years, including flying into Lakehurst for an airshow around 1924 and the old US Airmail field at Piscataway, where Englehard Industries is now along I-287. He later sold the creft to someone at Roosevelt Field, LI, NY. He remarked to me years later that he often wondered if this ship was the one acquired by Cole Palin for use at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome. In the late '80's I visited Ithaca, NY where the TM Scouts were built, and with a little research of Sanborn Insurance Maps, found the brick factory where these were built (was Emerson Electric in 1989) and the site of the lumber yard and rail siding where the spruce was shipped in from Washington State and stickered for seasoning.

reply

The "" was the best fighter training airplane produced in the US during World War I. It was called the Tommy. 497 were produced by the Air Service. It had an 80 hp LeRhone rotary engine. It is an American copy of the Sopwith Pup.

reply

This organization owns two S4C's:
www.vintageaviation.org /

reply

I am a librarian, & we have a question concerning this aircraft. Where was the fuel tank located?? Average fuel burned per hour??(realize that wind, etc., are factors). Thanks for any help you can give us.

reply