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Thomas Brothers T-2

military biplane model by Thomas Brothers

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 8, 2025
Entity authorityQ7787944 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Thomas Brothers T-2 was an American-built biplane which served with the Royal Navy.

Built by Thomas-Morse Aircraft in Bath, New York, in 1914, it was the creation of Benjamin D. Thomas (later the company's chief designer), based on his Curtiss JN-4 (which it resembles), and used the 90 hp (67 kW) Austro-Daimler.

Twenty-four aircraft, in two batches, were provided to the Royal Naval Air Service, the Austro-Daimler being replaced by a similar-horsepower Curtiss OX-5

An additional fifteen, differing in being fitted with floats in place of wheels, a 100 hp (75 kW) Thomas among other engines in place of the OX-5, and three-bay wings spanning 44 ft (13.41 m), were sold to the United States Navy as the SH-4. at US$7,575 each.

Operators

United Kingdom

Royal Naval Air Service: 24 examples

United States

United States Navy: 15 examples designated SH-4

Specifications (T-2)

Data from General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors General characteristics

Crew: 2

Length: 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)

Wing area: 350 sq ft (33 m2)

Empty weight: 1,075 lb (488 kg)

Gross weight: 1,972 lb (894 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OX-5 water-cooled V8 engine, 90 hp (67 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 83 mph (134 km/h, 72 kn)

Time to altitude: 10 min to 3,800 ft (1,200 m)

See also

Related lists

List of military aircraft of the United States

References

Notes

Bibliography

Donald, David, ed. Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, p. 875, "Thomas Brothers and Thomas-Morse aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997.

Wegg, John. General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Thomas Brothers T-2” is military biplane model by Thomas Brothers. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thomas, Brothers and military, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1914, 1997—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Thomas, Brothers and military is the immediate research focus.
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This entry incorporates text from “Thomas Brothers T-2” 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.