Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8

Designed under the direction of John Kenworthy, the F.E.8 was the first single-seat fighter evolved as such at Farnborough, where the first of two prototypes was flown on 15 October 1915. Of pusher configuration to allow an uninterrupted forward field of fire for the 7.7mm Lewis gun, the F.E.8 was a two-bay equi-span biplane with a short fuselage nacelle to accommodate the gun, the pilot and a 100hp Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder rotary engine, and four slender booms to carry the cruciform tail unit. Construction of the nacelle was of welded steel-tube with aluminium sheet covering; the wings and tail unit used conventional wooden spars and ribs with fabric covering. Trials with the second prototype in France in late 1915 led to a change in the gun installation, which was mounted within the nacelle nose and could be moved through a limited range by means of a control in the cockpit. Production F.E.8s, which began to appear in May and June 1916 from the factories of Darracq Motor Engineering at Fulham and Vickers at Weybridge, had a more practical gun mounting on the nose immediately ahead of the cockpit. Production totalled 220 by Darracq and 50 by Vickers. Service use by RFC squadrons in France began in August 1916, and, although soon obsolescent, the F.E.8 remained in service for a year, becoming the last single-seater of pusher configuration in general use. Trial installations of the 110hp Le Rhone and 110hp Clerget engines were made, but the Monosoupape remained the standard fit.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1280 x 860)