The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 was a British two-seat single-engined general purpose
biplane of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, designed by
John Kenworthy
John Kenworthy B.Sc., F.R.Aes (1883–1940) was an English aviation engineer and aircraft designer.
John Kenworthy appears in the 1901 Census of Darlington, aged 17, living with four sisters, one brother and his parents George and Ellen Kenworth ...
at the
Royal Aircraft Factory
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
in 1913.
[Hare 1990, p. 171.] Small numbers were used by the
Royal Flying Corps over the
Western Front in the first year of the war, with the type being used as a
trainer until 1916.
Development and design
The B.E.8 was the definitive development of the earlier
B.E 3 type, and the last of the B.E. series to be designed with a
rotary engine
The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...
. The main changes were that the fuselage now rested on the lower wing, in the normal way for a tractor biplane, and that the tail unit was changed to the B.E.2 pattern. Three prototypes were built at
Farnborough with a single long cockpit for both crew members. The production aircraft had two separate cockpits and were built by sub-contractors. The improved B.E.8a of 1915 had new B.E.2c type wings, featuring
ailerons instead of
wing warping
Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...
and a revised
tail unit.
Operational history
Both models of the aircraft entered service with the
Royal Flying Corps and a small number served in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in 1914 and early 1915 but most were used by training units.
[Hare, 1990 p. 174]
Variants
;BE.8
:Production aircraft with wing warping.
;BE.8a
:Production aircraft with ailerons.
Operators
;
*
Royal Flying Corps
**
No. 1 Squadron RFC
**
No. 2 Squadron RFC
**
No. 3 Squadron RFC
**
No. 5 Squadron RFC
**
No. 6 Squadron RFC
**
No. 9 Squadron RFC
Specifications (BE.8)
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Angelucci, Enzo. ''The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980''. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. .
* Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London: Putnam, 1957.
* Bruce, J.M. ''The Aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing)'' . London: Putnam, 1982. .
* Hare, Paul R. ''The Royal Aircraft Factory''. London:Putnam, 1990. .
*''The
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft
The ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' was a weekly partwork magazine by Aerospace Publishing (an imprint of Orbis Publishing) which was published in the United Kingdom (and sold in other countries too) during the early 1980s. The magazi ...
'' (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985, p. 2819.
{{Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft
1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft
BE08
Biplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1913
Rotary-engined aircraft