Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b Fighting Scout
The FE2b was a pusher fighter, with the gunner seated in front of the pilot, far forward in the nacelle. The F.E.2 was one
of the first aircraft to fly with a machine gun, on July 24, 1912. From 1917 onwards it was used as a bomber. Around 1000 built. F.E. means 'Farman Experimental', 'Farman' being used as generic name for pusher biplanes as they looked vaguely like those designed by the Farman brothers. The advantages of this arrangement were primarily in the lack of a propeller to fire through and a gunner to take a lot of work off of the pilot, as in the related FE8. Some disadvantages became apparent with usage. Anything flying out of the aircraft hit the propeller, sometimes damaging or destroying it. While the engine protected the pilot somewhat from bullets fired from behind, it was easier to destroy the engine. Also, in the event of a nose-down crash, the engine and fuel tended to land on top of the crew, usually killing them. In it's time it was a useful aircraft, even doubling as a pulpit on Sunday mornings.
Technical Details
The FE2b was powered by a 120kW Beardmore rotary engine mounted behind the nacelle. It had a crew of two, with the gunner/bomber sitting in front. It had a maximum speed of 150km/h with a ceiling of 3300m. The gunner had a forward mounted 0.303 Lewis gun on a swivel and a 0.303 Lewis gun facing backwards over the wing to provide some coverage for defence.
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Image From: The Military Aircraft Archive