1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 ExCC: Official British photographer· Public domain
what is it?
The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 is a British single-seat fighter of the First World War designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It could not escape the drag penalty imposed by its tail structure and was no match for the Albatros fighters of late 1916.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 9.6 m wingspan
base stats
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 111 years ago, in 1915.
- Wingspan of 9.6 m: about 2 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
- 1915-09
- introduced
- 1916
- status
- retired
- number built
- 295
- role
- pusher biplane fighter
- makers
- Royal Aircraft Establishment
- engines
- 1× Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2 / Monosoupape
- length
- 7 m
- wingspan
- 9.6 m
- height
- 2.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 611 kg
- top speed
- 151 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 4,420 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1443293, Wikipedia: Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.