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Subject Item

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Vickers F.B.5

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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. The F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5) was a double seat, biplane fighter. The gunner was sitting in front of the pilot and used a 7.7 mm Lewis machine gun. The F.B.5 was ba sed on experimental fighter aircraft; from the E.F.B.1 (1913) to the E.F.B.5 (1914). The First flight of the F.B.5 was in July 1914. On 5th February 1915 the first aircraft were delivered to the No.5 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. The No.11 Squadron became on 25th July 1915, the first fighter squadron of history. It was based in Villers-Bretonneux in France. The pilot Gilbert Stuart Martin Insall of this squadron achieved on 7th November 1915, the first victory with an F.B.5. The No.18 squadron of the RFC was founded in November 1915 as a squadron using only F.B.5.

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2050.0

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at 5,000 ft

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1

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8.28 m

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1112.52

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0.08

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15360.0

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3.35 m

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1915-02-05

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9

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5.4

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217

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828.0400000000001

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75.0

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382.0

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100.0

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335.28000000000003

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11.13 m

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250.0

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n56:

n73:

70.0

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n63:

n75:

0.05

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9000.0

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1220.0

n13:

930.0

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35.5

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1914-07-17

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61

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prop

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26

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555.0

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plane

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2,743 m

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1916

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Two, pilot & observer/gunner

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* 1 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) drum-fed Lewis gun in observer's cockpit

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224

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Vickers Aircraft since 1908

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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 9-cylinder rotary engine with 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. The belt feed proved problematic for a flexible machine gun, and the weapon installed was changed to the lighter, handier, drum-fed .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun. The F.B.5 first flew on 17 July 1914. It was powered by a single 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape 9-cylinder rotary engine driving a two-bladed propeller, and was of simple, clean, and conventional design compared with its predecessors. In total, 224 F.B.5s were produced, 119 in Britain by Vickers, 99 in France and 6 in Denmark. The F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5) was a double seat, biplane fighter. The gunner was sitting in front of the pilot and used a 7.7 mm Lewis machine gun. The F.B.5 was ba sed on experimental fighter aircraft; from the E.F.B.1 (1913) to the E.F.B.5 (1914). The First flight of the F.B.5 was in July 1914. On 5th February 1915 the first aircraft were delivered to the No.5 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. The No.11 Squadron became on 25th July 1915, the first fighter squadron of history. It was based in Villers-Bretonneux in France. The pilot Gilbert Stuart Martin Insall of this squadron achieved on 7th November 1915, the first victory with an F.B.5. The No.18 squadron of the RFC was founded in November 1915 as a squadron using only F.B.5. The F.B.5 was powered by a rotary radial engine Gnome Monosoupape with a power of 100 horsepower. The F.B.5 was retired from service in 1916, because the Fokker-Eindecker was much more advanced. All in all 224 F.B.5 were produced, 119 by Vickers, 99 in France and six were built in Denmark. In 1916 it was replaced by the more advanced Vickers F.B.9; however it was inferior to the German fighters as well.