what is it?
The Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard was developed as a powerful and fast biplane fighter for the Royal Air Force (RAF), but the end of the First World War led to the abandonment of large-scale production. Fewer than 400 were eventually produced, with many exported.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 108 years ago, in 1918.
- Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1918
- retired
- 1940
- status
- retired
- number built
- 370
- role
- biplane fighter
- makers
- Martinsyde
- engines
- 1× Hispano-Suiza 8Fb
- length
- 7.8 m
- wingspan
- 10 m
- height
- 2.7 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,088 kg
- top speed
- 235 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 7,315 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3175299, Wikipedia: Martinsyde Buzzard (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.