Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=Royal Aircraft Factory BE.8


caption=
type=Two-seat scout biplane
manufacturer=
designer=
first flight=1913
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=Royal Flying Corps
more users=
produced=
number built=approx 70
variants with their own articles=The Royal Aircraft Factory BE.8 was a British two-seat scout biplane designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory.

Development

The BE.8 was the last of the Bleriot Experimental types to be designed with a rotary engine. A conventional 1910s biplane with a fixed tailskid landing gear. It also had a pair of skids mounted forward to prevent the aircraft nosing over on rough ground. Three prototypes were built at Farnborough with a single long cockpit for both crew members. The production aircraft had two separate cockpits and where built by sub-contractors. An improved BE.8a in 1915 had new wings the wing warping replaced by ailerons and a revised tail unit.

Operational history

The aircraft entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and a small number served in France between 1914 and 1915 but most were used by training units.

Variants

;BE.8:Production aircraft with wing warping.;BE.8a:Production aircraft with ailerons.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Flying Corps
**No. 1 Squadron RFC
**No. 2 Squadron RFC
**No. 3 Squadron RFC
**No. 5 Squadron RFC
**No. 6 Squadron RFC
**No. 9 Squadron RFC

pecifications (BE.8a)

aerospecs
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crew=2 (pilot, observer)
capacity=
length m=
length ft=
length in=
span m=11.49
span ft=37
span in=8½
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eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Gnome rotary engine
eng1 kw= 60
eng1 hp= 80
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
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aircontent
see also=
related=
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sequence=
lists=
*List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps

References

* "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft" (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2819