MW Miniature Work

This is the SPAD S.A.2. It definitely qualifies for inclusion on any list of the worst aircraft ever built, given that even when it was obvious that it was a bad idea, it was still ordered into production. It was very unpopular, especially with the poor gunners obliged to sit in the 'pulpit', that strange capsule placed in front of the propeller. Remember, it was a time in which planes were flimsy and flown from grass airfields; it wasn't unusual to go nose over on landing. With this design, the heavy mass of the spinning rotary engine and propeller was inevitably going to go into the crewman who would have no escape.

So, how did the SPAD S.A.2 ever come into being? The answer is that it was a solution to a problem. Aeroplanes were used for observation when the war started, and soon afterwards aviators on both sides decided that they wanted to shoot down the enemy planes being used to observe them. Using rifles was futile, so machine guns were fitted to the second crewman…