Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2

what is it?

Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 ("Farman Experimental 2") designation for three different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and night bomber and fighter by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Along with the single-seat D.H.2 pusher biplane and the Nieuport 11, the F.E.2 was instrumental in ending the Fokker Scourge that had seen the German Air Service establish a measure of air superiority on the Western Front from the late summer of 1915 to the following spring.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 147 km/htop speed
• size 1,378 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,939made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 112 years ago, in 1914.
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.6 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1914-02

introduced

1915

retired

1918

status

retired

number built

1,939

role

fighter/reconnaissance, night bomber

makers

Royal Aircraft Establishment

engines

1× Beardmore

crew

2

length

9.8 m

wingspan

14.6 m

height

3.9 m

max take-off weight

1,378 kg

top speed

147 km/h

range

—

ceiling

3,353 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.