page_title: Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: English: R.E.8 of No 69 (later No 3) Squadron, Australian Flying Corps preparing to set out on a night bombing operation from Savy near Arras
context_page_description: The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War 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. Although eventually it gave reasonably satisfactory service, it was never an outstanding combat aircraft. Nonetheless, it remained the standard British reconnaissance and artillery observation aircraft from mid-1917 to the end of the war, serving alongside the rather more popular Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8.
  More than 4,000 R.E.8s were eventually produced; these aircraft saw service in a range of different theatres, including Italy, Russia, Palestine and Mesopotamia, as well as the Western Front. The R.E.8 was rapidly withdrawn from service after the end of the conflict, by which time it was regarded as totally obsolete.
context_section_description: The first production aircraft reached 52 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in France in November 1916. The inexperienced pilots of 52 Squadron found their new mounts thoroughly dangerous and several were killed spinning in off a stall while attempting to land; they were grateful to return to the B.E.2e by exchanging aircraft with 34 Squadron in January 1917.  Experienced pilots had fewer problems with the new type and re-equipment of B.E.2 squadrons continued. Pilot's notes for the R.E.8, prepared in the field, drew attention to the fact that it had a higher landing speed than the B.E.2e (hardly surprising, since it was heavier and had almost the same wing area) and that it gave almost no warning of a stall. This seems to have been the source of most complaints about the type's "trickiness".
  The Royal Aircraft Factory conducted spinning tests on the type, concluding that the R.E.8 was quite hard to spin and recovered easily; but the fin was redesigned with slightly increased area to improve spin recovery.  The modification resulted in the production version being no less stable than the B.E.2e; and while this was an advantage for artillery observation and photography it gave the R.E.8 little chance to out-manoeuvre enemy fighters. An even larger fin was fitted to some R.E.8s used as trainers. Some pilots flew the R.E.8 with an empty reserve fuel tank (or even filled the tank with fire extinguisher fluid) to avoid a perceived tendency of R.E.8s to burn on crashing. None of these measures would have made the aircraft any "safer", if the problem was one of poor stalling characteristics. Several pilots who flew the type mentioned that they had no problems but were careful to keep the airspeed well above stalling point.
  R.E.8s began to arrive at the front in numbers just as the period of German air superiority known as "Bloody April" was taking a heavy toll of all types in the RFC; and early service was not auspicious. On 13 April 1917, six R.E.8s from 59 Squadron were sent on a long range photo reconnaissance mission, missed their intended escorts, and were met by the picked fighter pilots of Jasta 11, who shot them all down within five minutes.
  The casualty rate in R.E.8 squadrons became more sustainable as new Allied fighter types regained air superiority and pilot training and tactics improved. Although never a popular aeroplane, it was reasonably satisfactory for the tasks demanded of it and was even regarded with some affection, gaining the rhyming slang nickname "Harry Tate" (after a popular music hall artist of the time). Some crews flew their slow, cumbersome mounts quite aggressively; the German fighter ace Eduard Ritter von Dostler was shot down by an R.E.8 of 7 Squadron, while 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was credited with 50 air victories in 12 months of operations. Lts Pithey and Rhodes of 12 Squadron were the most successful R.E.8 crew in air-to-air combat, being credited with twelve victories.
  Although supplemented by other types, the R.E.8 remained the standard RFC artillery observation, air photography and general short range reconnaissance aircraft for the remainder of the war, equipping 18 RFC squadrons in 1917 and 19 squadrons in 1918. Belgium was the only country other than Britain and the Dominions to operate the R.E.8 during the First World War, receiving 22 in July 1917. At least some of the Belgian examples were fitted with Hispano-Suiza engines, in a SPAD type cowling, rather than the S.E.5a type cowling of the R.E.8a.
  It was hoped to be able to replace the R.E.8 with a version of the Bristol Fighter powered by the Sunbeam Arab engine but the combination proved unsuccessful and few "Arab Bristols" were ever built. A few R.E.8 squadrons were issued with one or two standard (Falcon engined) F.2bs in the last weeks of the war. By November 1918, the R.E.8 was regarded as totally obsolete and surviving examples were quickly retired after the Armistice. Nor was the type popular with the private owners who purchased surplus RAF aircraft after the war and no R.E.8s came onto the civil register.
caption: Preparing for a night take off
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