The first aircraft designed by Armstrong Whitworth, the Sissit was underpowered and only a single example was built.
In 1913, the British War Office asked the engineering company Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd to manufacture aeroplanes and aircraft engines for the Army, and in response to that request, Armstrong Whitworth set up an aircraft department, hiring the Dutch designer Frederick Koolhoven, formerly chief engineer of British Deperdussin as chief designer.
A single-bay tractor biplane, the Sissit, or F.K.1[3] was fitted with balanced elevators and no fixed tailplane.
Fitted with this engine, it was first flown by Koolhoven in September 1914,[5] but proved to be underpowered, and was later modified with a fixed tailplane and enlarged ailerons.
[5] Data from British Aeroplanes 1914-18[7]General characteristics Performance Armament