page_title: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2
section_title: Specifications (B.E.2c – RAF 1a engine)
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 / Specifications (B.E.2c – RAF 1a engine)
caption_attribution_description: English: R.A.F. BE.2C British two seat first world war artillery spotting aircraft
context_page_description: The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most production aircraft were constructed under contract by various private companies, both established aircraft manufacturers and firms that had not previously built aircraft. Around 3,500 were manufactured in all.
  Early versions of the B.E.2 entered squadron service with the Royal Flying Corps in 1912; the type continued to serve throughout the First World War. It was initially used as a front-line reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber; modified as a single-seater it proved effective as a night fighter, destroying several German airships.
  By late 1915, the B.E.2 was proving inadequate in defending itself against German fighters such as the then-new Fokker Eindecker, leading to increased losses during the period known as the Fokker Scourge. Although by now obsolete, it had to remain on the front line while suitable replacements were designed, tested and brought into service.
context_section_description: Data from British Aeroplanes 1914–18, The B.E.2, 2a and 2b
  General characteristics
  Length: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
  Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)
  Height: 11 ft 1.5 in (3.391 m)
  Wing area: 371 sq ft (34.5 m²)
  Empty weight: 1,370 lb (621 kg)
  Gross weight: 2,350 lb (1,066 kg)
  Powerplant: 1 × RAF 1a V-8 air-cooled piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)
  Propellers: 4-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller
  Performance
  Maximum speed: 72 mph (116 km/h, 63 kn) at 6,500 ft (1,981 m)
  Endurance: 3 hours 15 minutes
  Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
  Time to altitude: 
  3,500 ft (1,067 m) in 6 minutes 30 seconds
  10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 45 minutes 15 seconds
  Armament
  Guns: Normally 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun for observer
  Bombs: 224 lb (100 kg) of bombs
  (With full bomb load usually flown as a single-seater, without machine gun)
caption: R.A.F. B.E.2c drawing
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