Kennedy Giant

The Kennedy Giant was a British biplane heavy bomber designed by Kennedy Aeroplanes Ltd. during World War I. The design was an imitation of works by Igor Sikorsky, with whom the owner of Kennedy Aeroplanes Ltd., C. J. H. Mackenzie-Kennedy, had ostensibly worked prior to setting up the company. The plane was a notorious failure; its size meant that construction had to take place in an open field as none of the hangars near Hayes, Middlesex, where the prototype was assembled, were large enough to house it. The plane's four engines were inadequate for the large airframe, and only with the greatest effort lifted off the ground, where it could do nought but fly in a straight line. The design was scrapped following the unimpressive test flight, and the prototype left derelict at Northolt Aerodrome.

References

*Bruce, J M : 1957 : British aeroplanes 1914-18 : Putnam : pages 287-289 Woodman, Harry : 9/1985 : MacKenzie-Kennedy : WW1 Aero No. 106 : pages 5-11 (and correspondence in No 108, 2/1986, pages 18-19)