The Armstrong Whitworth Sissit, also known as the Armstrong Whitworth F.K.1, was a prototype single-engined biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. The first aircraft designed by Armstrong Whitworth, the Sissit was underpowered and only a single example was built.
Development and design In 1913, the British War Office asked the engineering company Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd to manufacture aeroplanes and aircraft engines for the Army, and in response to that request, Armstrong Whitworth set up an aircraft department, hiring the Dutch designer Frederick Koolhoven, formerly chief engineer of British Deperdussin as chief designer.Tapper 1988, pp. 5–6.
Koolhoven's first design for Armstrong Whitworth was a small, single-seat, aircraft intended as a scout aircraft. A single-bay tractor biplane, the Sissit, or F.K.1 was fitted with balanced elevators and no fixed tailplane.Bruce 1957, p. 10.
Although designed for an Gnome 7 Lambda rotary engine, only a Gnome 7 Omega could be obtained. Fitted with this engine, it was first flown by Koolhoven in September 1914,Mason 1992, p. 35. but proved to be underpowered, and was later modified with a fixed tailplane and enlarged ailerons.Bruce 1957, p. 11. As greatly superior single seat scout aircraft such as the Sopwith Tabloid and Bristol Scout were already available, no further development of the Sissit took place.
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References
Bruce, J. M. British Aeroplanes 1914-18. London:Putnam, 1957. Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. . Tapper, Oliver. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1914. London: Putnam, 1988. .