Thomas-Morse S-4B

The S4-B models were equipped with 100 HP Gnome rotary engines. This example is the last of the 100 S-4B’s manufactured, and like some other S4-Bs, it was later fitted with an 80 Le Rhone engine in place of the Gnome. The S-4C model had a shorter wingspan, smaller ailerons and elevators, and was factory-equipped with the more reliable 80 hp Le Rhone. All totaled, 497 S-4B and C models were produced by the Thomas-Morse Corporation in Ithaca, New York.

This Thomas Morse was manufactured in 1917-18 and was used by the Signal Corps for pilot training. Frank Sharpless of Neenah, WI purchased the aircraft following the war, and in 1921 sold it to Roland Jack who stored the aircraft in his hayloft in Hortonville, WI. In 1952, Dwight Woodward, a WWI aviation enthusiast heard news of the airplane and purchased it from Mr. Jack for $500.00. Mr. Woodward restored and flew it for United Press and Movietone News cameras at Truax Air Force Base in celebration of Armed Forces Day. It was also the subject of a Champion Spark Plug advertisement in 1957. When Mr. Woodward passed away in 1957, his wife loaned the aircraft to the United States Air Force Museum, where it remained from 1963 to 1973. It was then acquired from the Woodward estate by Cole Palen, who flew it at Old Rhinebeck for several years before it was retired to the museum, around 1980.

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