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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1913

P.Hare Royal Aircraft Factory (Putnam)

R.E.2

   A two-seat reconnaissance aeroplane, the R.E.2 clearly had roots in the R.E.1 and the B.E. series. It had two-bay wings with moderate forward stagger, lateral control being achieved by warping. The low-aspect-ratio rudder was aerodynamically balanced, and bore a marked resemblance to that of the B.E.3. There was no fin and, since there was no need to make allowance for the high-mounted rudder, the elevator was in one piece. Power was provided by a 70hp Renault engine, and the original undercarriage was similar to that of the R.E.1.
   The R.E.2 made its initial flight on 1 July 1913 and, following satisfactory trials, it was converted into a seaplane - or 'hydro-aeroplane' in contemporary parlance - by replacing the wheels with floats and fitting an additional small float, incorporating a water rudder, under the tail. These floats differed from those hitherto fitted to Factory aeroplanes in having stepped undersides designed to help break the adhesion of the water, and represented one of the earliest uses of this type of float. In this form the machine was known as the H.R.E.2 (Hydro-Reconnaissance Experimental). To offset the additional forward keel area created by the floats, a triangular fin was added, together with an unbalanced B.E.2-type rudder, this being mounted unusually high to keep it clear of the water and to avoid the need to modify the existing elevator.
   The H.R.E.2 appears to have been underpowered, as no take-off is recorded. Its engine was replaced by a 100hp Renault before tests were resumed on Fleet Pond at the western end of Laffan's Plain. Unfortunately it again failed to rise, ran into the bank, and turned over on to its back with consequent damage to the floats and rudder. No further attempts to fly it from water appear to have been made, and during repair it was converted back to its wheeled undercarriage, the modified vertical tail and the 100hp engine being retained. In this form it reverted to the designation R.E.2, and was handed over to the Admiralty to replace an Avro biplane which had previously been equipped with floats by Commander Oliver Schwann RN, and which, following an accident, had ended up at Farnborough for repair. The fate of the Avro is not recorded, and so tenuous is its connection with its replacement that even O'Gorman seems to have become confused as to which machine was meant to fill that role. On at least one occasion he refers, in his private diary, to the R.E.3 as being in lieu of 'Schwann's Avro'.
   The R.E.2 served with the RFC's naval wing (later the RNAS), and was given the serial 17.
   At some time about November 1914 it was returned to the Factory and fitted with new wings incorporating ailerons, as designed for the R.E.5. It crashed on 10 February 1915 and was not repaired.

   Powerplant:
   70hp Renault V-8;
   100hp Renault V-12
   Dimensions:
   span 45ft 3 1/2in;
   chord 6ft 0in;
   gap 6ft 3 1/2in;
   length 32ft 3in;
   height 12ft 2in;
   stagger 1ft 7in;
   dihedral 2°;
   incidence 4 1/2°;
   wing area 498 sqft.
   Performance:
   max speed
   (70hp) 60mph at sea level;
   (100hp) 75mph at sea level;
   climb 5min to 3,000ft;
   endurance: 4 1/2hrs.


R.E.3

   Completed in November 1913, the R.E.3 was very similar to the penultimate version of the R.E.2, having warping wings, a wheeled undercarriage, a one-piece elevator, and vertical tail surfaces identical to those of its predecessor. The major difference was in the forward fuselage, which was deepened to accommodate the extra height of the 120hp six-cylinder Austro-Daimler engine.
   Although O'Gorman, in his private diary, once identified it as the replacement for Schwann's Avro seaplane, this was almost certainly a confused reference, to the R.E.2, for the R.E.3 was clearly intended as a two-seat reconnaissance aeroplane for Army use, paving the way to the R.E.5.
   Its career was cut short when, on 27 September 1914, it suffered engine failure and crashed while flying over Farnborough Common, fortunately without injury to its pilot, E T Busk. Already superseded by the R.E.5, it was deemed to have served its purpose and was not repaired.

   Powerplant: 120hp six-cylinder Austro-Daimler
   Dimensions:
   span 45ft 3 1/2in;
   chord 6ft 0in;
   gap 6ft 3 1/2in;
   length 32ft 3in;
   height 12ft 2in;
   wing area 498 sq ft.


R.E.4

   The R.E.4 was designed to descend steeply so that it could land in fields surrounded by trees, for reconnaissance on active service. It is referred to in O'Gorman's diary as his 'out of field machine'.
   It would presumably have been a continuation of the R.E.2/R.E.3 series, being a two-seater with unequal-span wings, powered by a 120hp Austro-Daimler.
   No drawings survive, and there is no evidence that it was built.


R.E.6

   This 1914 design was for a three-seat biplane powered by a 250hp engine and fitted with a float undercarriage, possibly similar to that of the H.R.E.2. The project was abandoned before the design had been completed, and only a handful of component drawings survive.

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Описание:

  • P.Hare Royal Aircraft Factory (Putnam)
  • M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
  • P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
  • J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)
  • O.Thetford British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Putnam)