what is it?
The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 is a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War that was designed and produced at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was also built under contract by Austin Motors, Daimler, Standard Motors, Siddeley-Deasy and the Coventry Ordnance Works. Intended as a replacement for the vulnerable B.E.2, the R.E.8 was widely regarded as more difficult to fly and gained a reputation in the Royal Flying Corps for being "unsafe" that was never entirely dispelled.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 13 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 110 years ago, in 1916.
- Wingspan of 13 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
- 1916-06-17
- introduced
- 1916
- retired
- 1918
- status
- retired
- number built
- 4,180
- role
- reconnaissance, bomber
- makers
- Royal Aircraft Establishment
- engines
- 1× Royal Aircraft Factory RAF 4a / RAF 4a
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.5 m
- wingspan
- 13 m
- height
- 3.5 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,301 kg
- top speed
- 166 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 4,115 m
- wings
- biplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1970679, Wikipedia: Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.