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Salmson 4

French World War I reconnaissance bomber

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 9, 2025
Entity authorityQ17509367 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Salmson 4 AB.2, or SAL-4 AB.2 (AB.2 - Reconnaissance Bomber two-seat) was a two-seat bomber designed and built in France during the closing stages of World War I.

Design and development

A variant of the Salmson 2, the Salmson 4 was essentially an enlarged version with a greater wingspan, three bay wings of greater area, enlarged vertical tail surfaces and detail changes to the engine installation. Twelve aircraft were built for l'Aéronautique Militaire before the end of World War I, all of which were assigned to operational escadrilles in anticipation of widespread deployment following orders for mass production, which were cancelled with the end of the war. They were withdrawn in 1920.

Specifications (SAL-4 AB.2)

Data from Salmson SAL-4General characteristics

Crew: 2

Length: 8.78 m (28 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 15.2 m (49 ft 10 in)

Height: 2.96 m (9 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 49.28 m2 (530.4 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,410 kg (3,109 lb)

Gross weight: 1,935 kg (4,266 lb)

Powerplant: 1 × Salmson 9Zm 9-cyl.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Salmson 4” as french World War I reconnaissance bomber. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Salmson, French and World.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1920—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Salmson, French and World providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Salmson 4”, the useful work is to connect “french World War I reconnaissance bomber” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 9, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q17509367. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1920.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Salmson 4”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Salmson 4 primary sources, Salmson 4 archive and Salmson research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Salmson 4”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Salmson 4” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.