WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

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A coloured photo postcard showing the U.S. Army's ' Indian Powerplus ' motorcycle's 2-wheeled towed machine gun carrier mounted with a Browning Colt .30-60 calibre machine gun and it's dismounted gunners.

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As we saw in an earlier post which showed the ' Indian Powerplus ' motorcycle being used by the Canadian Winnipeg Police Force, ' Indian ' motorcycles were used extensively by American Police Forces.

The attached 1918 photograph, shows a New York Police Department's ' Indian Powerplus ' 1000 cc V-Twin motorcycle combination fitted with a tripod mounted .30-06 Browning Colt machine gun, other NYPD ' Indian ' motorcyles are also shown in this photograph.

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An interesting photograph showing Browning's Colt .30-06 calibre machine gun mounted on an experimental prototype ' Indian Powerplus ' 1000 cc V-twin sidecar combination.

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An R.C.M.P. ( Royal Canadian Mounted Police ) ' Indian Powerplus ' motorcycle combination with a Lewis Gun mounted above the motorcycle's front wheel, the passenger in the sidecar appears to be armed with a ' Lanchester ' sub-machine gun.

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Another interesting American Police ' Indian Powerplus ' motorcycle with a sidecar combination, armed with a ' Thompson ' sub-machine gun fixed to an unusual circular mount.

Also of note, the ' Indian ' logo on the sidecar door.

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A 1913 coloured photo postcard showing the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycle factory at Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

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Another WW1 era photo postcard showing the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycle factory at Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

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A worker at the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycle factory at Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A., assembling V-Twin ' Indian ' motorcycle engines.

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Workers at the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycle factory at Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A., assembling V-Twin ' Indian ' motorcycle engines.

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This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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A worker at the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycle factory at Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A., working on an ' Indian ' motorcycle frame.

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This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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This 1916 photograph, shows a typical American WW1 era ' Indian ' motorcycle dealership.

The dealership of Carriker & Crowl Motorcycles, was at 37 Plaza Square, Orange, California, U.S.A., and in addition to selling ' Indian ' motorcycles, they also sold bicycles, which was not unusual at that time. Outside the dealership was a display of ' Indian Powerplus ' 1000 cc V-Twin motorcycles, this particular ' Indian ' motorcycle dealership was owned by a J. Carriker and L. C. Crowl.

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This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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A series of 4 photographs, showing a beautifully restored American market 1916 ' Indian Powerplus ' 1000 cc V-Twin motorcycle sidecar combination.

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2

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3

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4

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An interesting variation of the ' Indian Powerplus ' motorcycle combination, a ' Fire Engine ' complete with fire fighting equipment.

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Before moving to a new topic, and to close out the posts on the Hendee Manufacturing Company's ' Indian ' motorcycles, here is one of their rarer models the 1906 ' Indian Tri-Car ', a 3-wheeler motorcycle with a passenger chair somewhat precariously attached to the front of the vehicle.

This early model was known as a ' Camel Back ', due to the hump shaped petrol tank fitted over the rear wheel.

The following 3 photographs show a very rare 1906 ' Camel Back ' Indian Tri-Car, which sold at auction for $100,000.

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This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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2

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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3

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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Two young men enjoying a ride on a later version of the ' Indian Tri-Car ', of note is the particularly large single headlamp fitted to the front of the vehicle.

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Martinsyde Ltd.

In the previous ' Indian Motorcycle ' topic's post #4983 we had seen the ' Martinsyde G100 ', the make of aircraft in which motorcycle racing champion Oliver Cyril Godfrey was killed in action whilst flying with the R.F.C., and there is a very interesting link between Martinsyde aircraft, Brooklands ( where Oliver C. Godfrey raced many times ) and motorcycle manufacturing.

The Martinsyde story starts in 1908, when Scotsman, George Harris Handasyde went into a business partnership with German, Helmuth Paul Martin, to found an aircraft engineering company ' Martin and Handasyde ' based at Hendon Aerodrome in North London.

It was from Hendon Aerodrome in 1909, that H. P. Martin and G. H. Handasyde attempted to become the first to make an aeroplane flight from Hendon in their monoplane, which they had constructed in the ballroom of a local hotel, unfortunately, Martin and Handasyde were unable to get their aircraft airborne.

Martin and Handasyde moved their aircraft manufacturing company to Brooklands in Surrey, and in 1912 renamed their aircraft company ' Martinsyde Ltd ', they also opened a new larger factory at nearby Woking in Surrey.

One of their first designs was the Martinsyde ' Dragonfly ' monoplane, and with the outbreak of WW1, there followed the Martinsyde F1, the ubiquitous Martinsyde G100 ' Elephant ' and the high speed Martinsyde ' Buzzard ' fighter biplane. By the end of WW1, Martinsyde Ltd., were one of Britain's largest aircraft manufacturing companies.

Following the end of WW1, and the downturn in aircraft production, Martinsyde made the decision, which may have been influenced by their having been based at Brooklands, to move into motorcycle manufacturing, and in 1919, Martinsyde produced their first motorcycles, the Martinsyde 677 cc V-twin.

Although Martinsyde continued to manufacture both aircraft and motorcycles, in 1923 Martinsyde went into liquidation.

In 1939 George Handasyde retired, and he died in Scotland in 1958, aged 81 years.

The attached photograph, the first in a series of ' Martinsyde ' photographs I shall be posting, shows a Martinsyde ' Dragonfly ' monoplane on the airfield at Hendon Aerodrome.

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With the outbreak of WW1, Martinsyde began to design and develop aircraft for the War Office, the first of which was the ' Martinsyde F.1 ' a two-seater fighter tractor biplane the designs for which were produced in late 1915.

The Martinsyde F.1 was powered by a 250 hp Rolls-Royce Mk III engine, which gave the F.1 a maximum speed of 109 mph.

The F.1's Observer/gunner sat in the forward cockpit in front of the Pilot, and stood to fire a 7.7 mm Lewis gun mounted on the upper wing section.

Two prototype F.1 aircraft were built for testing by the Royal Flying Corps, Serial Numbered A3933 and A3934.

It is known that A3933 was first tested at Upavon in June/July 1917 and was used on Home Defence patrols out of Orfordness in August 1917 and from Rochford in September 1917.

Due to the F.1's lengthy development and testing process, and although it appears to have been successful, with the rapid wartime design and development of military aircraft, the Martinsyde F.1 was already obsolete and apart from the two prototypes A3933 and A3944, no other Martinsyde F.1s were manufactured.

The last known whereabouts of A3933 was at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough in March 1919, where it was being used for aircraft development tests.

The Martinsyde F.1 had a wingspan of 45 ft 6 ins - Length of 29 ft 1 in - Height 9 ft 6 ins and a take-off weight of 3261 lbs with a Service Ceiling of 16,500 feet, and a max speed of 109 mph.

The attached photograph shows Martinsyde F.1 Serial Number A3933 during initial test flights.

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Martinsyde F.1 Serial Number A3933, one of only two F.1s manufactured.

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Martinsyde's first two wartime aircraft, the F.1 and the F.2, were prototypes manufactured for testing and evaluation by the Royal Flying Corps, and it was their development and testing by the R.F.C., which ultimately led to Martinsyde producing their most successful aircraft, the Martinsyde G100 ' Elephant ' fighter bomber.

The Martinsyde F.2 of which only one was ever manufactured, had a more advanced design that it's predecessor the F.1, and was faster, being powered by a 200 hp Hispano-Suiza 8-cylinder water-cooled engine giving the F.2 a maximum speed of 120 mph.

The F.2's armaments were also more advanced, consisting of 1 x front-firing synchronized 7.7 mm Vickers Gun mounted forward of the Pilot's front cockpit, and a Lewis gun mounted on a ' Scarff Ring ' fitted to the Observer/Gunner's rear cockpit.

The Martinsyde F.2 began flight tests with the R.F.C. in May 1917, during which it was found that although the F.2's Pilot was seated in the front cockpit, the Pilot's field of vision was extremely restricted, and as a result, no further F.2 aircraft were produced.

No doubt, the F.2's many positive features were subsequently incorporated into the designs for the successful Martinsyde G100 aircraft which followed.

With only one Martinsyde F.2 ever being manufactured, photographs of this aircraft are extremely rare.

Attached is a photograph giving a nice side-view of the Martinsyde F.2 which shows the front mounted synchronized Vickers machine gun, and also the Scarff Ring mounted rear cockpit Lewis gun.

The Martinsyde F.2 had a wingspan of 32 ft - Length 25 ft - Height 8 ft 2 ins - Maximum speed 120 mph.

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IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

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A 1916 Martinsyde Ltd. advertisement showing their ' Brooklands ' address.

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