Surviving restored aircraft and reproductions are on display at several museums, including the Imperial War Museum, Duxford; the RAF Museum, Hendon; the Canada Aviation Museum, Ottawa; the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Paris; the Militaire Luchtvaartmuseum, Soesterberg, Netherlands; United States Army Aviation Museum and the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Norway. 2 had already served in the RFC for two years prior to the outbreak of the Great War, and were among the aircraft that arrived with the British Expeditionary Force in France during 1914. Other minor modifications were made over the following weeks: the undercarriage wheels were moved back 12 in (30.4 cm), the wings (which originally had no dihedral), were re-rigged to have 1° dihedral, and the propeller was cut down in an attempt to increase the engine speed. [35], In the absence of any official policy regarding armament, more aggressive crews improvised their own. The interceptor version of the B.E.2c was flown as a single-seater with an auxiliary fuel tank on the centre of gravity, in the position of the observer's seat. [3] A sprung tailskid was fitted and the wings were protected by semicircular skids beneath the lower wings. description Object description. Lewis, Cecil. These reports largely cleared both Factory management and the RFC commanders responsible for ordering the B.E.2, but Mervyn O'Gorman was effectively dismissed as supervisor of the Factory by a "sideways promotion", while many of the most talented individuals amongst the factory's designers and engineers followed de Havilland into private industry. Designed to be a stable reconnaissance platform it was a perfectly capable military aircraft until the arrival of the Fokker E.I, when its built-in stability and lack … The c began to be superseded by the final version, the B.E.2e in 1916. [7] The Renault proved a much more satisfactory powerplant than the Wolseley fitted to B.E.1, and performance was further improved when a 70 hp (52 kW) model was fitted in May that year. 59.000+ plastic modelers use us. It was heavier than the "c" and had a reduced performance, climb in particular suffering in comparison with the "c". [13] It first flew on 1 February 1912, again with de Havilland as the test pilot. These necessitated a revised fuel system, and the "d" usually featured a large gravity tank under the centre section. Subsequent Royal Aircraft Factory type designations are inconsistent and confusing. be2a (fuselage development, experimental landing gear configurations) be2b (fuselage changes) Unable to cope with such a primitive fighter as the Fokker E.I, it was virtually helpless against the newer German fighters of 1916-17. The first of three prototypes flew on 22 November 1916. [20] This won the pilot, Captain William Leefe Robinson, a Victoria Cross and cash prizes totalling £3,500 put up by a number of individuals. The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. [5] The layout of these aircraft came to be seen as conventional, but when it first appeared this was not the case. The numbers allocated to early Royal Aircraft Factory prototypes are more properly regarded as constructor's numbers than as type designations. The surviving examples continued in use for submarine spotting and as trainers for the rest of the war. Otherwise identical to the "c" variant it had full controls in the front cockpit. The man had a shattered ankle, and the 45-minute flight in the observer's seat spared him an agonizing multi-day journey by camel. Among other projected weapons intended to attack airships from above, including Ranken darts and small incendiary bombs, was the Fiery Grapnel. [6] 8416, of the RNAS, powered by a 90-hp Curtiss OX-5 engine, on the ground, c.1916. A streamlined cowling to the sump was also fitted to later models, while a cut-out in the rear of the centre section marginally improved the observer's field of fire, as well as giving the pilot a better view forward over the wing. Lee, the pilot of the only aircraft to arrive safely, wrote in a letter to his wife: Fortunately the B.E.2e was by this time already being rapidly replaced on the Western Front by later types, but this was from several points of view more than a year too late. The remit of the Balloon Factory was research into aircraft design and the design and construction of aircraft was not officially s… The tailplane was also completely new, and a triangular fin was fitted to the rudder. Later aircraft added decking between the pilot's and observer's seats. [6] Following its first public appearance in early January 1912, aviation publication Flight commented that: "everything one could see of the machine was of singular interest".[7][4]. O'Gorman got around this restriction by using the factory's responsibility for the repair and maintenance of aircraft belonging to the Royal Flying Corps; existing aircraft that needed major repairs were nominally reconstructed but often actually transformed into new designs, which generally retained few original elements apart from the engine. About 3,500 were built. The stability of the type was however achieved at the expense of heavy controls, making rapid manoeuvring difficult. Believed to be the first RAF aircraft to land in France in 1914 in support of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) the BE2a was the subject of a number of experiments and was markedly different to the BE1 and BE2. Developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory, the grapnel consisted of a two-inch long hollow steel shaft packed with an explosive charge and fitted with a sharp four-sided nose and metal plates that acted as fins; this would have been attached to a winch-mounted cable and carried by a single B.E.2. The interceptor version of the B.E.2c was flown as a single-seater, outfitted with an auxiliary fuel tank on the centre of gravity in the position of the observer's seat. [1] On its first public appearance Flight wrote that "everything one could see of the machine was of singular interest".[2]. [23] Relatively large orders were placed for the new version, with deliveries of production aircraft starting in December 1914. [49], This was not an isolated victory; five more German airships were destroyed by Home Defence B.E.2c interceptors between October and December 1916. It first flew on 1 February 1912, again with de Havilland as the test pilot. stood for Blériot Experimental, and was used for aircraft of tractor configuration. The aircraft's poor performance against the Fokker and the failure to improve the aircraft or replace it caused great controversy in England, with Noel Pemberton Billing attacking the B.E.2c and the Royal Aircraft Factory in the House of Commons on 21 March 1916, claiming that RFC pilots in France were being "rather murdered than killed". Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5-Wikipedia [39], This agitation prompted the setting up of two enquiries; one into the management of the Royal Aircraft Factory, and another into the high command of the Royal Flying Corps, the latter of which being headed by a judge. TVAL has also built several airworthy reproductions including c and f models, two of which are currently in the UK on loan to the WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust, and a BE.12. The airship campaign faltered - this rate of attrition could not be sustained, especially in combination with quite high non-combat losses. [9], The aircraft's tail surfaces consisted of a half-oval horizontal stabiliser with a split elevator mounted above the upper longerons and an ovoid rudder hinged to the sternpost; there was no fixed vertical fin. The B.E.9 and the B.E.12 were variants designed to give the B.E.2 an effective forward-firing armament - the B.E.12 (a single seater) went into production and squadron service, but was not a great success. Both aircraft were two-bay tractor biplanes with low-dihedral parallel-chord unstaggered wings with rounded ends, using wing warping for roll control. Although by now obsolete, it had to remain on the front line while suitable replacements were designed, tested and brought into service. [52], A number of B.E.2 fuselages were employed as makeshift gondolas for the hastily designed SS class "blimps", which were introduced into service by the Royal Naval Air Service for anti-submarine duties during March 1915. B.E.2b which followed had revised cockpit coamings, affording better protection to the crew. Most B.E.2ds were used as trainers, but a few supplied to Belgium were used operationally. It was piloted by Captain H. N. Wrigley, accompanied by Sergeant A. W. Murphy. 2 had already served in the RFC for two years prior to the outbreak of war, and were among the aircraft that arrived with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914. On the night of 2–3 September 1916, a single B.E.2c was credited with the downing of SL 11, the first German airship to be shot down over Britain after over a year of night raids. The Royal aircraft Factory B.E.2-page contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated to this aircraft. The tail surfaces consisted of a half-oval horizontal stabiliser with a split elevator mounted above the upper longerons and an ovoid rudder hinged to the sternpost. [53], From 1917 onwards, the B.E.2 was generally withdrawn from both the front line and night fighter use. Some B.E.2bs ordered were completed as B.E.2cs, and others had some B.E.2c modifications, such as sump cowlings and "V" undercarriages. It featured revised cockpit coamings, which afforded better protection from the elements, along with revised controls to both the elevator and rudder. An exact breakdown between the different models has never been produced, if only because so many B.E.2s were completed as later models than originally ordered. B.E.2f serial A1325 has been restored to airworthiness by The Vintage Aviator Ltd in New Zealand,[22] with a B.E.2f reproduction and two reproduction B.E.2cs also well underway by the same firm. Misidentified as a B.E.2c fighter flown by a Canadian who had destroyed a German airship, it was sent to Canada as a war trophy in 1919. Unfortunately, in this case the stability was coupled with "heavy" controls and relatively poor manoeuvrability. Some of the Belgian B.E.2cs were similarly modified, while at least one was fitted with a Scarff ring over the rear cockpit. 2 was built in 1915 by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company Limited and served with No. On later machines, the fin was enlarged to reduce the aircraft's tendency to swing on take-off and to improve spin recovery.[25]. This variant was again distinguished by completely new wings, braced by a single pair of interplane struts per side (as a "single-bay" biplane), and a set of shorter wingspan lower wing panels. This was considered desirable to allow the crew's full attention to be devoted to reconnaissance duties. 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