SPAD S.A

The SPAD S.A, also called the S.A.L., was a French two-seat tractor biplane that first flew in 1915 and was used by France and Russia in the early stages of the First World War as a fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. Its distinctive feature was a streamlined nacelle, called the pulpit, mounted ahead of the propeller to carry the observer and a machine gun, giving a clear field of fire at a time when synchronising gear was not yet available. Louis Béchereau designed it as the first aircraft built by SPAD after the company reorganised from Deperdussin, and it appeared in four main versions, the S.A-1 to S.A-4, built in small numbers, with about 42 delivered to France and 57 to the Imperial Russian Air Service. The pulpit vibrated badly and the arrangement was unpopular, but the experience led directly to the successful SPAD S.VII.