AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 06 / 135

Plate 06 of 135 · Great War · Fighter-reconnaissance and night bomber

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b

F.E.2b, painted as A6526, a Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b of the Royal Flying Corps: the two-seat pusher biplane of 1915–18, with the observer and his elevated Lewis gun in the nose of a short nacelle, the pilot behind him, a 160 hp Beardmore six-cylinder engine and four-bladed propeller behind the crew, an open tail-boom framework, the simple V-strut undercarriage and a 112 lb bomb under the nacelle; shown as the RAF Museum’s reproduction at Hendon, built round an original Garrett-made nacelle frame and completed by Retrotec in 2009, in the dark khaki night-bomber finish of the real A6526 of 148, 58 and 102 Squadrons: dark khaki dope overall, a black nacelle and engine bay, varnished spruce struts and booms, roundels on the lower wings, and the serial ‘A6526’ in off-white on an unstriped rudder; the roundels on top of the upper wing, which no photograph shows, follow RFC practice.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as A6526, a Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b of the Royal Flying Corps: the two-seat pusher biplane of 1915–18, with the observer and his elevated Lewis gun in the nose of a short nacelle, the pilot behind him, a 160 hp Beardmore six-cylinder engine and four-bladed propeller behind the crew, an open tail-boom framework, the simple V-strut undercarriage and a 112 lb bomb under the nacelle; shown as the RAF Museum’s reproduction at Hendon, built round an original Garrett-made nacelle frame and completed by Retrotec in 2009, in the dark khaki night-bomber finish of the real A6526 of 148, 58 and 102 Squadrons: dark khaki dope overall, a black nacelle and engine bay, varnished spruce struts and booms, roundels on the lower wings, and the serial ‘A6526’ in off-white on an unstriped rudder; the roundels on top of the upper wing, which no photograph shows, follow RFC practice. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.2 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the F.E.2b modelled here.

History

The F.E.2b

The F.E.2b was a Farnborough design, worked up from Geoffrey de Havilland’s pre-war Farman Experimental pusher. Like the Vickers Gunbus it put the engine behind the crew, so that the observer in the nose had a clear field of fire without a gun firing through the propeller. The pilot sat behind and above him, and the tail was carried on an open framework of booms. Most were built by contractors rather than at Farnborough, among them Boulton & Paul, Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, G. & J. Weir and Richard Garrett & Sons.

F.E.2bs reached France in the autumn of 1915, and in 1916 they helped to end the dominance of the Fokker monoplanes. The observer had a Lewis gun in the nose and often a second on a tall pillar between the cockpits, which he fired backwards over the upper wing standing on his seat, with no harness. The first engines were 120 hp Beardmores, and later machines had the 160 hp version.

By 1917 faster single-seat fighters had made it too vulnerable by day. It then became the RFC’s standard night bomber, starting with No. 100 Squadron in April 1917, and carried on bombing railways, airfields and billets behind the German lines until the Armistice. Home Defence squadrons also flew it against Zeppelins. About 1,900 F.E.2bs were built.

This airframe

F.E.2b A6526

A6526The airframe modelled

The RAF Museum’s F.E.2b is a reproduction built round a genuine nacelle frame, made by Richard Garrett & Sons of Leiston but never finished. From 1986 John McKenzie built new wings, tail and undercarriage for it, and a 160 hp Beardmore was restored in New Zealand. Retrotec completed, painted and assembled the aircraft in 2008–09, and it was unveiled at Hendon on 1 July 2009. Since 2014 it has hung in the Grahame-White Factory. It wears the serial of a real F.E.2b, A6526, which flew as a night bomber with Nos. 148, 58 and 102 Squadrons. The model shows its dark khaki night-bomber finish, black nacelle, varnished struts and booms, an elevated Lewis gun on the nose mount, bomb racks under the lower wings and a 112 lb bomb under the nacelle. No photograph shows the top of the upper wing, so the roundels there follow RFC practice.

See it at Royal Air Force Museum London

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the F.E.2b in one UK collection. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 135 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.