https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_F.B.5
The Vickers F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5) (known as the "Gunbus") was a British
two-seat pusher military biplane of the First World War. Armed with a single
.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun operated by the observer in the front of the nacelle,
it was the first aircraft purpose-built for air-to-air combat to see service,
making it the world's first operational fighter aircraft.
Vickers began experimenting with the concept of an armed warplane designed to
destroy other aircraft in 1912. The first resulting aircraft was the "Destroyer"
(later designated Vickers E.F.B.1) which was shown at the Olympia Aero Show in
February 1913, but crashed on its maiden flight. This aircraft was of the
"Farman" pusher layout, to avoid the problem of firing through a tractor
propeller, and was armed with a single belt-fed Vickers gun. The E.F.B.1 was the
first in a line of Vickers' "Experimental Fighting Biplanes", of which the F.B.5
was the most famous, and the first to be built in quantity.
While the "Destroyer" was a failure, Vickers continued to pursue the development
of armed pusher biplanes, and their designer Archibald Low drew up a new design,
the Vickers Type 18, or Vickers E.F.B.2. This was a two-bay biplane powered by a
single 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder rotary engine; the aircraft
had a steel tube structure, with fabric-covered wings and tail, and a
duralumin-covered nacelle with large celluloid windows in the sides. The
unequal-span wings were unstaggered, with lateral control by wing warping, while
the aircraft had a large semi-circular tailplane. Armament remained a single
Vickers gun mounted in the nose of the nacelle, with limited movement possible,
and a very poor view for the gunner. The E.F.B.2 made its first flight at
Brooklands on 26 November 1913. It was soon followed by the E.F.B.3, powered by
a similar engine, but using ailerons instead of wing warping, and with
equal-span wings, while the nacelle omitted the large windows fitted to the
E.F.B.2.
Role
Fighter
Manufacturer
Vickers Limited
Designer
Archibald Low
First flight
17 July 1914
Introduction
5 February 1915
Retired
1916
Primary users
Royal Flying Corps
Number built
224
The first F.B.5 was delivered to No. 6 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC)
at Netheravon in November 1914. On 25 December the first use of the F.B.5 in
action took place, when F.B.5 No. 664 took off from Joyce Green airfield to
engage a German Taube monoplane, hitting the Taube (and possibly causing its
loss) with incendiary bullets from a carbine after the Lewis gun jammed.
Eighteen days later, the same flight crew, Second Lieutenants M. R. Chidson and
D. C. W. Sanders, flying the first F.B.5 in France, No. 1621, were forced to
land behind German lines, and the new plane fell into enemy hands.
The F.B.5 began to be seen on the Western Front when the first examples reached
No.2 Squadron RFC on 5 February 1915. The type served in ones and twos with
several other units before No. 11 Squadron RFC became the world's first fighter
squadron when, fully equipped with the F.B.5, it deployed to Villers-Bretonneux,
France on 25 July 1915. Second Lieutenant G.S.M. Insall of 11 Squadron won the
Victoria Cross for an action on 7 November 1915 in which he destroyed a German
aircraft while flying a Gunbus. No. 18 Squadron RFC, which deployed to France in
November 1915, also operated the F.B.5 exclusively.
By the end of 1915, the aircraft was outclassed by the Fokker Eindecker.
Examples of the improved Vickers F.B.9 were sent to France, pending sufficient
supplies of the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b, but the active career of the
Gunbus was soon over. The remaining examples were mostly used as trainers.
Specifications (Vickers F.B.5)
General characteristics
Crew: Two, pilot & observer/gunner
Length: 27 ft 2 in (8.28 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Height: 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)
Wing area: 382 ft2 (35.5 m2)
Empty weight: 1,220 lb (555 kg)
Loaded weight: 2,050 lb (930 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 70 mph (61 kn, 113 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,520 m)
Range: 250 mi (217 nmi, 403 km)
Service ceiling: 9,000 ft (2,743 m)
Wing loading: 5.4 lb/ft2 (26 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.05 hp/lb (0.08 kW/kg)
Endurance 4 hours 30 minutes
Climb to 5,000 ft (1,520 m): 16 min
Armament
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