Royal Aircraft Factory R . E . 8 The Royal Aircraft Factory R . E . 8 was a British two - seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed by John Kenworthy at the Royal Aircraft Factory . 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 . In spite of this , the R . E . 8 served as the standard British reconnaissance and artillery spotting aircraft from mid - 1917 to the end of the war , serving alongside the rather more popular Armstrong Whitworth F . K . 8 . Over 4 , 000 R . E . 8s were eventually produced and they served in most theatres including Italy , Russia , Palestine and Mesopotamia , as well as the Western Front . Design and development . The first of two prototype R . E . 8s ( Reconnaissance Experimental 8 ) flew on 17 June 1916 . Design of the new type had begun in late 1915 , so that it was conceptually at least almost contemporary with the B . E . 12 and the B . E . 2e . The installation of the 150 hp ( 112 kW ) Royal Aircraft Factory 4 a air - cooled 12 - cylinder inline engine closely resembled that of the B . E . 12 , with the same large air scoop and similar vertically mounted exhausts protruding over the upper wing to carry the fumes clear of the crew . The only real difference was that the engine was slightly raked back , to improve take off and landing characteristics . The single bay , unequal span wings were identical to those of the B . E . 2e , although the span ( and thus the wing area ) was increased slightly by the use of a wider upper centre section , and lower stub wings to match . The tailplane was also the same as the B . E . 2e . The entirely new parts of the design were confined to the fuselage aft of the engine firewall , and the vertical fin and rudder . The new type was intended from the beginning to replace the B . E . 2 , which was already attracting widespread criticism , and an attempt was made to address each of the earlier type ’ s main failings . The more powerful motor was intended to improve the feeble speed and climb of the B . E . 2 , and in particular to allow a better payload . This permitted the type to operate as a true two - seater – since the observer no longer had to be left at home when bombs or a full fuel load were carried , there was no need for his seat to be at the centre of gravity – as a result he could now be seated behind the pilot , in the proper position to operate a defensive machine gun . It was also possible to allow for a pilot ’ s gun . The new wings had already proved themselves on the B . E . 2e – maintaining the stability of the B . E . 2c while providing rather better manoeuvrability , although the long extensions on the upper wing looked as if they might collapse if the aircraft was dived too sharply , which did not improve the trust in which they were held by some pilots . The new tail , as originally fitted , had a much smaller fin , which it was hoped would improve rudder control and allow the new type to turn more easily without seriously affecting stability . In July the second of two prototypes was sent to France for service trials , which were successful , aircrew being generally quite favourably impressed , and by September production was well underway . The Vickers - Challenger interrupter gear and the Scarff ring were both still in short supply , being required for the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and other types , and a few early R . E . 8s were built with a pillar mounting for the observer ’ s gun as an interim measure . An alternative to the pilot ’ s synchronised Vickers had been designed , consisting of a fixed Lewis gun with deflector plates fitted to the propeller , although this was never actually used – a Vickers gun for the pilot being mounted on the port side of the fuselage in a similar position to that on the B . E . 12 , at first synchronised by the Vickers - Challenger gear - and then by the improved Constantinesco hydraulic gear . Photographs of this armament installation make it clear that the cocking handle of the Vickers gun was in easy reach of the pilot , and that a normal Aldis sight was mounted in the pilot ' s windscreen , giving the lie to statements that the forward firing gun could not be sighted properly due to its position . To make the R . E . 8 less tiring to fly the pilot ’ s controls included a wheel to adjust the tailplane incidence in flight , and a form of primitive rudder trim ( applied to the rudder bar itself ! ) was provided to alleviate the constant pressure necessary to counteract the torque of the propeller . Very basic flight controls were installed in the observer ' s cockpit – these folded out of the way when not in use . They were connected to the elevators , rudder , and throttle , " but not to the ailerons " , and were plainly intended to give observers a chance to make a forced landing if the pilot was killed or incapacitated rather than to offer true dual control . Although much better than the B . E . 2 in this regard , the R . E . 8 was still underpowered ; and a model re - engined with the Hispano - Suiza engine was projected from quite an early stage , being officially designated the R . E . 8a . The cowling designed for the liquid cooled engine closely resembled that of the B . E . 12b and the S . E . 5a . Supplies of Hispano - Suiza engines , more urgently required for other types , never permitted production of the R . E . 8a , although a prototype was built and tested in December 1916 . Plans to mount Rolls - Royce aero engines , such as the Falcon , never eventuated for similar reasons . These power plants were in chronically short supply , and were reserved for other types such as the D . H . 4 and the Bristol Fighter . A total of 4 , 077 R . E . 8s were produced with a further 353 on order cancelled at the end of the war . As well as the Royal Aircraft Factory , several private companies built R . E . 8s , including Austin Motors , Daimler , Standard Motors , Siddeley - Deasy and the Coventry Ordnance Works . Operational history . The first production aircraft reached No . 52 Squadron RFC in France in November 1916 . The inexperienced pilots of No . 52 found their new mounts thoroughly dangerous – several of them were killed spinning in off a stall while attempting to land – and 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 , nonetheless , the vertical fin area was redesigned with slightly increased area to improve spin recovery . This modification resulted in the production version being no less stable than the B . E . 2e , and while this was an advantage for artillery spotting and photography , it gave the R . E . 8 little chance of out - manoeuvring enemy fighters . A still 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 made the aircraft any " safer " , if , as seems likely , the problem was basically 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 , unsurprisingly , not auspicious . On 13 April 1917 , six R . E . 8s from No . 59 Squadron RFC 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 dropped as new Allied fighter types regained air superiority , and as a result of improved pilot training and tactics . 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 No . 7 Squadron RFC , while No . 3 Squadron AFC was credited with 50 air victories in 12 months of operations . Lts Pithey and Rhodes of No . 12 Squadron RFC 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 RFC ’ s standard artillery spotting , air photography , and general short range reconnaissance aircraft for the remainder of the war – equipping 18 Royal Flying Corps squadrons in 1917 and 19 squadrons in 1918 . Belgium was the only country other than Britain ( and its 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 – but 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 highly problematic , and few " Arab Bristols " had been completed by the end of the war . 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 completely 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 . Survivors . Only two R . E . 8s survive from World War One . The restoration of R . E . 8 " F3556 " at the Imperial War Museum Duxford was completed in 2004 . This aircraft , built by Daimler , had arrived in France on Armistice Day . It is currently displayed suspended from the roof of the AirSpace hangar at Duxford . The other surviving R . E . 8 is in Brussels , Belgium and is one of the few examples to be fitted with a Hispano - Suiza engine and a revised set of cowlings . In addition , the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon has a full size replia RE . 8 , which was built by The Vintage Aviator Ltd ( TVAL ) in New Zealand in 2011 . It is fitted with a " new build " RAF 4a engine and was successfully test flown at Masterton , NZ , on January 1 , 2012 , with the registration ZK - TVC . Crated and shipped to England , it was reassembled at The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Airfield in June 2012 and under took a number of flights painted as ' A3930 ' of No . 9 Squadron Royal Flying Corps , before being sent by road to Hendon in November 2012 . It is now on static display in the Grahame - White Factory .