The F.E.2b was used primarily by the Royal Flying Corps in WW1, it entered service in May 1915 and first operated in late January 1916, initially the F.E.2b was powered by a 120 hp engine and used as a fighter and reconnaissance platform the "pusher" design allowing a forward firing machine gun, although the later aircraft were fitted with a more powerful 160hp engine the introduction of "interupter-gear" allowing a machine gun to fire through the propeller arc resulted in "tractor" engined single seat fighters becoming the day fighter of choice. Although the F.E.2b became obsolete as a day-fighter it's rugged and reliable design found a new niche as a tactical night bomber and as a home defence night fighter to combat the "Zeppelin" bombing raids becoming an increasing problem over Britain. The main conversion needed for night operations was to paint the aircraft black as pictures above, although successful as a night bomber lack of power resulted in the F.E.2b taking too long to reach interception altitude, trials were initiated using the 250hp Rolls Royce Eagle engine as the F.E.2d the newer single seat "Tractor" fighters proved better in this role, whoever the F.E.2b remained successful as a night bomber until the end of WW1 at which time the aircraft was retired from RFC service. Although the F.E.2 series aircraft were designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory they only built a small number of the aircraft, the vast majority of the 1,939 aircraft built were built by various British contactors and most of
these as day-fighters. Although most F.E.2s were operated by the RFC in WWI a small number were operated by the Australian Flying Corps and the American Expeditionary Force. After WW1 Vickers sold 35 modified F.E.2 aircraft to China as trainers in 1919. Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b Specifications: Crew: Pilot & observer Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m) Wingspan: 47 ft 9 in (14.55 m) Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.85 m) Wing area: 494 ft² (45.9 m²) Empty weight: 2,061 lb (937 kg) Loaded weight: 3,037 lb (1,380 kg) Engine: Single 120 hp (89 kW) or 160 hp (119 kW) Beardmore straight 6 liquid-cooled piston engine Maximum speed: 80 knots (91.5 mph, 147 km/h) Service ceiling: 11,000 ft (3,353 m) Rate of climb: 39 minutes 44 sec to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) Endurance: 3 hours
Armament: One or two .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis guns for observer one front mounted and optionally another firing aft over the top wing One or two .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun could be mounted for the pilot's use in the F.E.2d Bombs: Maximum of 517 lb (235 kg) of bombsb
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