what is it?
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.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.1 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 112 years ago, in 1914.
- Wingspan of 11.1 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
- 1914-07-17
- introduced
- 1914
- retired
- 1916
- status
- retired
- number built
- 207
- role
- fighter
- makers
- Vickers Limited
- engines
- 1× Gnome Monosoupape / Monosoupape
- length
- 8.3 m
- wingspan
- 11.1 m
- height
- 3.4 m
- max take-off weight
- 930 kg
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 2,743 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1067915, Wikipedia: Vickers F.B.5 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.