Naval Aircraft Factory SA

The Naval Aircraft Factory SA, short for Ship's Airplane, was a tiny shoulder-wing monoplane designed in 1918, the factory's first year of operation, to be launched from a platform erected on a battleship. It was meant to serve as an observer, or spotter, extending the visual range of the ship. The fuselage was an open wooden frame with a metal triangular-section rear portion, the wing was wire braced and controlled in roll by wing warping, and the major sections were designed to be stored aboard ship and assembled quickly. Four prototypes were built in two versions, the SA-1 and the SA-2, and the Navy tested them but placed no orders and left no record of shipboard use.