Garry’s model is a U.S. Navy Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout advanced trainer. It is in the markings of Navy 19, which was painted Navy Gray and retained Army serial number 44636. It was most likely used for training Marine pilots at the Marine Flying Field in Miami, Florida, or Navy and Marine fighter pilots at Naval Air Station Pensacola during and after World War I.
In 1917, the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation of Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. produced the S-4 rotary-engined “Scout” biplane designed by B. Douglas Thomas, who had previously worked for Sopwith. The aircraft had some Sopwith physical characteristics and, while it did not have the performance required for a fighter plane, it was very suitable for training fighter pilots. After Thomas-Morse incorporated improvements based on flight testing in the summer of 1917, the U.S. Army Signal Corps placed an order for 100 S-4B Scouts, powered by U.S.-built Gnôme 100 hp rotary engines. The U.S. Navy procured ten S-4Bs and an additional six aircraft with floats designated S-5.
Problems with the Gnôme engines and flight-control deficiencies led to further improvements including changes in the control surface geometry, replacement of the cable aileron control system with torque tubes, and installation of 80 hp Le Rhône engines manufactured under license by the Union Switch and Signal Company of Swissvale, Pennsylvania. The War Department placed an order for 400 of these S-4Cs in January 1918. The Navy purchased four S-4Cs and an additional nine aircraft, including 44636, were transferred from the Army and kept their Army serials while in Navy service.
The Tommy was the most widely-used advanced fighter trainer for both the Army and Navy during and after WWI. Many of them were later sold to civilians and were popular as barnstormers, sport airplanes, and in films, where they emulated WWI fighters. Several S-4Cs have survived and at least one, Army Serial 38923 is in flyable condition at the Pioneer Flight Museum, Kingsbury, Texas.
A development of the Tommy, the Thomas-Morse MB-3 Fighter, and the Boeing-built MB-3A, powered by Wright-Hispano in-line engines, served with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps until the late 1920s. The Thomas-Morse Corporation became part of Consolidated Aviation in 1929.
Images
Image 1 is a September 1920 U.S Navy photograph of 44636 in Navy Gray finish. It mounts a Marlin machine gun with coaxial camera. This image is from Swanborough and Bowers, p. 447. It most likely was taken at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where naval aviator training was conducted immediately after WWI.
Image 2 is restored Thomas-Morse S-4C Army Serial 38923 on display at the Pioneer Flight Museum, Kingsbury, Texas. As far as I know, this is the sole remaining flyable Tommy.
Image 3 is a U.S. Navy S4C converted to S-5 configuration by the addition of floats and carrying BuNo A-5858. It is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum, http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=s-4c_scout
Sources:
Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, First Series (A6002 to 9999),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_seria...stseries2.html
Peter Bowers, “The Story of the ‘Tommy’ (Thomas-Morse S-4),” Air Progress, Vol. 15, No.4, August/September 1963, pp. 52-57, 97.
Roy A. Grossnick, United States Naval Aviation, 1910-1995, Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, 1997.
E.R. Johnson, American Military Training Aircraft: Fixed and Rotary-Wing Trainers Since 1916, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2015, pp. 29-30.
---, United States Marine Corps Aircraft Since 1913, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2018, pp. 280-281.
National Naval Aviation Museum, “S-4C,” available at S-4C Scout | National Naval Aviation Museum
Naval Air Station Grosse Isle Virtual Museum, Thomas-Morse S4C “Scout,” available at http://nasgi.net/scout.htm
Bruce Robertson, ed., United States Army and Air Force Fighters 1916-1961, Letchworth, UK: Harleyford Publications, 196 1, pp. 10, 12, 18, 25-26, 146.
Frank Strnad, Aircraft Profile No. 68: The Thomas-Morse Scout, London: Profile Publications Ltd, 1966.
Gordon Swanborough and Peter M Bowers, “Thomas-Morse S-4B, S-4C,” United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968, p.447.
United States Navy History and Heritage Command, “U.S. Navy Aircraft Marking,” available at https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/aircraft-markings.html
Vintage Aviation Historical Foundation, “Thomas Morse Scout,” available at http://pioneerflightmuseum.org/aircraft/tommy.html
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