Navy’s factory went small with the SA-1

As World War I created a boom in aircraft design and manufacturing in the United States, the Army and the Navy each staked out their turf.

Navy planners were concerned that commercial aircraft builders would be consumed building Army airplanes.

So the Navy inaugurated its own in-house aircraft construction facility, the Naval Aircraft Factory, in Philadelphia in 1917. Early efforts included construction of Curtiss flying boats, considered a must for the seaborne service.

In the brief years before catapults and more powerful scout-observation aircraft shaped the mission for airplanes to be carried by cruisers and battleships, the Naval Aircraft Factory envisioned a squat, triangular cross-section monoplane as a Ships Aircraft (or Ship’s Aircraft), a unique early designator that was soon tossed by the wayside.

The resulting SA-1 was created to explore the ability to take off and land on a battleship.

The SA-1 was diminutive, simple, and open air, with small wheels complementing wooden landing skids. Even after ailerons were the norm, the SA-1 used the earlier style of wing warping for roll control.

Not much has been written about the SA-1, although the original creator of the Of Wings & Things column, Peter M. Bowers, gave his studied engineering critique of the machine many years ago. Pete found the triangular fuselage shape to be good at furnishing rigidity, but he questioned some of the specific load paths designed into the structure of the SA-1.

The SA-1 had skid-like lower longerons that supported a simple axle and two small wheels, lashed in place with rubber cord.

Pete, and at least one other source on the SA-1, compare the 1919 machine to a modern ultralight.

The SA-1 was powered by a three-cylinder Lawrance L-3 engine of nominally 55 horsepower. It spanned 27 feet, 8 inches with its simple wing. Wing spars were lightweight routed spruce. The airplane had a length of 21 feet, 8 inches.

Photos of the open-framed SA-1 show the short-lived roundel style of the U.S. national insignia, instead of a white star on a blue field. The colors were a red outer ring, blue inner ring, and white center.

The use of red-white-and-blue roundels of differing color sequences was an Allied identification expedient during World War I. The British, French, and the Russians used different sequences to identify their aircraft, but the overall effect was to depict the machines as red-white-and-blue Allied aircraft and not black-cross-emblazoned German warplanes.

The United States used a classic white star on a blue field insignia, capped with a red center disc to the star. When Russia pulled out of the war first, their roundel colors were adopted by the U.S. in February 1918, and were not replaced with the star logo until well into the post-war summer of 1919.

The comprehensive serial number lists compiled by Joe Baugher indicate only two SA-1s were built, numbered A5570 and A5571. These were followed by a pair of SA-2s, numbered A5572 and A5573, featuring fabric-covered fuselages and wings of slightly greater span. It has been said the final SA-2 used ailerons instead of wing-warping for control.

With a run of only four aircraft and the onset of better technologies for furnishing ships with their own aircraft, the little wood-and-fabric SA-1s and SA-2s were like a short-lived hobby shop project.

Once they were a gleam in someone’s eye, but soon they were passed by.

Remembering Joe Baugher

Joe Baugher’s name is synonymous with his massive online historical listing of American military aircraft serial numbers and brief related data that aviation historians and enthusiasts refer to constantly.

We used his work to corroborate aspects of the fleeting Naval Aircraft Factory SA-1 and SA-2.

Joe Baugher died in November 2023 at the age of 82. His contributions to aviation history will be remembered and plans are underway to keep his website available and updated.

In some circles, just noting that “Joe Baugher says…” is sufficient to end any question on the veracity of an aircraft’s pedigree.