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)

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