The aeroplane in the photo, is it the first or second built?

Maybe the Sopwith B1? RR Hawk appears too small for such a lump.

My Missus - who is much better at aircraft recognition than I am reckons you really need to know your onions (ahem) to ID this a/c manufacturer :)

Funnily enough I lived (for 4 years) very close to the factory where this a/c was built and the landing ground which was used for flying.
Not a major name in a/c manufacturing but they built hundreds of a/c on sub-contracts during ww1.

I believe it was the first i.e. the prototype.

Not the Sopwith B1. Freon the information I have it was powered by a 75 h.p. RR Hawk.

A lot of useful information there longer ron.

I believe it is the Sage type 3a.
Has to be!

You have it sablatnic it is the Sage Type 3.

Frederick Sage & Company was a British shop fitting company based in London with an extensive practice in Europe, South Africa, and South America. During both world wars it built and designed aircraft and after the Second World War it executed much of the woodwork for the rebuilt House of Commons. The Sage Type 3 was designed in 1916 at the request of the Air Department of the Admiralty for a trainer. The main requirements were for a robust aircraft with a low landing speed.The Sage Type 3 was completed in Jan 1917, as a two-bay biplane powered by the 75 h.p. Rolls-Royce Hawk. Six experimental machines were ordered, and there was the prospect of substantial production to follow.The prototype, N. 5280, first flew on January 5th, 1917. The performance of the Type 3 was rather poor, even for a trainer.
J M Bruce in his book “British Aeroplanes 1914 – 1918” states; “The prototype underwent some modification and was fitted with smaller vertical tail surfaces; the all-up weight was reduced somewhat and the maximum speed was increased by 4 m.p.h. In its modified form the machine was known as the Type 3b, and the original form was retrospectively re-designated Type 3a.”

Only two aircraft were built.

That was a good challenge MReyn - it even taxed my missus a little :)

I think MReyn deserves a prize for that one.....................

Built in Sage's Peterborough factory, according to Bruce Robertson's BMAS book. Navy serials N5280 to N5309 were allocated to the order for 30 Sage N.3 aircraft, but only the first in the sequence was used.

The factory was at what is now Windsor Ave/Frederick Drive/Sages Lane,Walton, Peterborough,right by the Rlwy lines - it had its own sidings.

Nice challenge. Although I'm no longer a player, I visit you regularly. Being from Peterborough I should have recognised Sage's. Some time ago I found a book telling its aeronautical history, which I bought but now cannot find. I think it was "Plane to Plane" by Martyn Chorlton. After building Avro 504 and parts of Horsas they turned their hand to Aeroncas after the war. The factory was close to Westwood airfield, just across the railway lines from Sage's Lane.

Laurence

Thanks, that was fun!
Found this photo too, on Twitter:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6c8520fa9a.jpg
Sage type 3

Found this for the next challenge - shouldn't last long. There are lots and lots of photos of thing on the web.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d563ae352d.jpg

Ah - a quadcopter if I recall.

Is this the Lowe-Wylde Planette?

Ah - pre-quadcopter then. I was trying to be cryptic but yours was a bit more direct.

You are right, the B.A.C. Planetta!

Thanks for that..
As I understand it, Charles Herbert Lowe-Wylde's BAC VII two-seater was developed into the BAC VII Mk. 2 and during the summer of 1932, C H Lowe-Wylde converted two of these into single-seat powered gliders by fitting a 600 cc Douglas Sprite engine on a pylon above the wing and driving a pusher propeller.
This aircraft was known as the Lowe-Wylde Planette and it was first demonstrated at Hanworth on November 27th, 1932. Two further machines were converted in the same manner by December 27th that year. The designer now referred to the machine as the Drone. Sadly It was while flying one of these at Maidstone on May 13th, 1933, that the 32- year-old C H Lowe-Wylde was killed

I found the following photograph of C H Lowe-Wylde on the net. I believe it is the guy in the challenge image.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1870ad453d.jpg