M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
MARTIN & HANDASYDE aircraft (Helmuth Paul Martin and George Harris Handasyde)
From the beginning of their association in 1908 the partners built monoplanes and, for certain, from the second aircraft onwards, these owed much in their design to the Antoinette. Both partners names were used originally and were actually painted under the wings of No.3, but for convenience the name was later contracted to the more manageable 'Martinsyde'.
Martin was a director of the carburetor makers, Trier and Martin, and although a statement in the aviation Press, The Aero 28 June 1910 (p.512), denied the aviation connection with that company, the stand at Olympia in March 1911 was listed in that name. Trier and Martin were based at Trinity Works, New Church Rd., Camberwell, London SE and, until the partners became established at Brooklands in 1911, some of the early work took place there. At Brooklands the No.2 aircraft was housed in the original shed used by Paulhan's aircraft, but the new sheds were being built and soon Shed No. 12 in Swallow Lane was available and a second, No.29 adjacent to the Byfleet Banking in 1911. In 1914 two big hangars with curved roofs were built behind the Flying Village. In March 1915 large premises in Oriental Rd., Woking became the manufacturing center throughout the war period. The company went into receivership in November 1920.
It was just prior to the war in 1914 that the first Martinsyde biplane, a tractor type, was designed, which was the first type to be produced in quantity during the early part of the war.
MARTIN-HANDASYDE monoplane No.1
Little information on this aircraft remains, but photographs show the general configuration. The aircraft was a tractor monoplane built in 1908-1909 with a triangular section open fuselage structure with the wing mounted on the top longerons. In its original form the chassis consisted of a single trailing wheel, centrally mounted, and outriggers. The wing had extended areas towards the tips, presumably for warping control. A Beeston-Humber car engine, although a water-cooled type, was arranged to run without a radiator by use of an exposed condensing header tank.
At a later stage major changes were made. The undercarriage became a more usual cross axle type with possibly rubber cord springing in the vertical members and a single curved skid supported at the fuselage nose. The overhung trailing edge of the wing was removed. The tail surfaces were now of elongated triangular shape, similar to those of an Antoinette.
The photograph of the first version shows the machine housed in a shed, later the assembled aircraft was in the ballroom of the Old Welsh Harp Inn. It was tested in a field nearby at Edgware, where the propeller disintegrated and tore the engine from its mountings. Thereafter repairs took place and the machine was moved to Handley Page's ground at Barking Creek. Martin just succeeded in lifting the machine off the ground and the partners were sufficiently encouraged to enter a meeting at Halifax. The machine was damaged on the train and finally wrecked in a gale which blew down the tent in which it was housed. The engine and parts were salvaged.
Power: 29hp Beeston-Humber four-cylinder inline car engine (12-14hp rated) driving a three-bladed propeller.
Data
Span 22ft
Root chord 5ft 6in
Tip chord 3ft
Weight 580 lb
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Martin-Handasyde No. 1
George H. Handasyde, a native of Edinburgh, started his career in a drawing-office in the same city, working later with the Maldevic Motor Carriage Company, the Leith shipping firm of Ramage and Ferguson and with the engineers Bertrams of Edinburgh. In 1906 he designed his first vehicle - a motor car - and then moved South to London, where during 1908, as an experienced automobile engineer, he formed a partnership with H. P. Martin, of Trier and Martin, the manufacturers of carburettors, to design and construct aeroplanes. Their first product was a single-seat tractor monoplane which was built in a derelict ball-room near the Old Welsh Harp at Hendon. A four-cylinder Beeston Humber 10-12 h.p. car engine tuned to give 22 h.p. was installed, together with a three-bladed propeller. Upon completion, the machine was taken for testing into a nearby field, but, on running-up, the propeller disintegrated and the engine tore itself away from the nose. The aircraft was not considered worth developing, and was thereupon abandoned. Span, 22 ft. Weight loaded, 580 lb.