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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1913

Single-engine, two-seat, two-bay biplane field reconnaissance aircraft, later flown in the light tactical bombing role

P.Hare Royal Aircraft Factory (Putnam)

B.E.8

   The rotary-engined B.E.8 was designed by John Kenworthy. It broadly followed the layout of his previous designs, the B.E.3 and B.E.4, but its lower wings were attached directly to the fuselage, without the gap of the earlier designs, and the tail surfaces were modelled upon those of the original B.E.2. In common with most of its contemporary stablemates, the B.E.8 had wing-warping for lateral control and undercarriage skids to protect the propeller tips during landing.
   The prototype, which was powered by a 70hp Gnome and had no division between the cockpits, made its first flight on 20 August 1913. It was followed by a second example which had obviously been built concurrently, as it flew less than three weeks later, on 8 September.
   The type was apparently thought to present a viable alternative to the B.E.2, and was adopted for limited production by Vickers, which built eleven, the Coventry Ordnance Works (seven), and the Bristol based British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (six), the initial order being placed with the last-named company a few days before the prototype first flew. Production examples differed from the prototypes in having a decking between the cockpits and a triangular fin identical to that later adopted for the B.E.2c. They were powered by 80hp Gnome rotary engines driving four-bladed propellers. The two prototypes were later converted to production standard and transferred to the RFC, in whose service they bore the serials 423 and 424.
   The first production machine, 365, was delivered for inspection on 10 March 1914 and was retained at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Records indicate that it was eventually tested to destruction.
   Nicknamed The Bloater, the B.E.8 served in small numbers with Nos 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 squadrons of the RFC and at the Central Flying School, and two examples found their way to India. The type saw service on the Western Front in the early days of the war, but was regarded as being somewhat underpowered. Unfortunately it proved to be rather prone to spinning, and as that manoeuvre and the recovery from it were far from universally understood, several machines were lost in crashes. On 18 August 1914 391 crashed at Peronne, killing its observer and badly injuring the pilot, Lt R Smith-Barry. He eventually recovered, although he needed to walk with a stick for the rest of his life, and in 1917 founded and commanded the School of Special Flying at Gosport, in Hampshire.
   The B.E.8 s fuel system appears to have been a source of annoyance and the subject of criticism since, if the need arose to repressurise the tank manually, the hand pump was in the observer's cockpit and the pressure gauge was in the pilot's. Difficulty in communication could result in fuel overflowing, with the obvious fire risk. Although there is no evidence of such a fire actually occurring, the problem clearly reduced the crews' confidence in their mounts.
   In January 1915 an attempt was made to improve the B.E.8's performance by the substitution of a 100hp Monosoupape for the 80hp engine. The conversion was made to 658 but, while it had the desired effect, the 'Mono' was relatively scarce, those available being needed for more potent aeroplanes, so no service B.E.8s were ever thus powered. So, underpowered, yet denied the proven remedy, the remaining B.E.8s had all been withdrawn from front-line service by mid 1915, and finished their careers with training units.

   Powerplant: 80hp Gnome rotary
   Dimensions:
   span 37ft 8in;
   chord 5ft 6in;
   gap 6ft 0in;
   wing area 368 sq ft;
   length 27ft 4 1/2in;
   height 9ft 4in.
   Performance:
   max speed 70mph at sea level;
   climb 10 1/2min to 3,000ft;
   endurance 1 1/2hrs.


B.E.8a

   Making its debut early in 1915, the B.E.8a used the wings and horizontal tail surfaces of the B.E.2c, thereby having ailerons instead of the warping of the earlier model.
   No prototype was produced. Instead, as soon as the drawings were completed, production orders for twenty-one machines each were placed with Vickers and the Coventry Ordnance Works. The 80hp Gnome, as used in the B.E.8, remained the standard engine, although a few machines were fitted with the Clerget 7Z of similar power.
   One example was used to test the experimental 120hp R.A.F.2 radial engine, and another had its undercarriage modified to incorporate skis affixed to the axle inboard of the wheels, but neither installation was adopted for production machines.
   With a perception that was all too rare at that stage in the war, the RFC never regarded the B.E.8a as an operational machine, and the majority served with reserve squadrons and other training units in the UK. It seems to have shared the earlier version's reputation for being easy to spin, and as result a number were fitted in service with the larger fin, with its distinctive curved leading edge, which was the standard fitment for the B.E.2e.

   Powerplant:
   80hp Gnome rotary
   80hp Clerget 7Z
   Dimensions:
   span 37ft 8 1/2in;
   chord 5ft 6in;
   gap 6ft 3in;
   wing area 368sqft;
   length 27ft 4 1/2in;
   height 10ft 3 1/2in.
   Performance:
   max speed 75mph at sea level;

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