Royal Aircraft Factory F . E . 2 Between 1911 and 1914 , the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F . E . 2 ( Farman Experimental 2 ) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common " Farman " pusher biplane layout . The third " F . E . 2 " type was operated as a day and night bomber and fighter by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War . Along with the single - seat D . H . 2 pusher biplane and the Nieuport 11 , the F . E . 2 was instrumental in ending the Fokker Scourge that had seen the German Air Service establish a measure of air superiority on the Western Front from the late summer of 1915 to the following spring . Design and development . The Farman Experimental 2 designation refers to three quite distinct designs – all pushers based on the general layout employed by the French aircraft designers , the Farman Brothers – but otherwise completely different aircraft . This " re - use " of the F . E . 2 designation has caused much confusion . F . E . 2 ( 1911 ) . The first F . E . 2 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland at the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1911 . Although it was claimed to be a rebuild of the F . E . 1 , a pusher biplane designed and built by de Havilland before he joined the Factory ' s staff , it was in fact an entirely new aircraft , with construction completed before the F . E . 1 was wrecked in a crash in August 1911 . The new aircraft resembled the final form of the F . E . 1 , with no front elevator , but seated a crew of two in a wood and canvas nacelle , and was powered by a 50 hp ( 37 kW ) Gnome rotary engine . It made its maiden flight on 18 August 1911 , flown by de Havilland . It was fitted with floats in April 1912 , first flying in this form on 12 April 1912 , but was underpowered and its engine was therefore replaced by a 70 hp ( 52 kW ) Gnome , this allowed it to take off carrying a passenger while fitted with floats . Later in the year the F . E . 2 , refitted with a landplane undercarriage , was modified to carry a Maxim machine gun on a flexible mount in the nose . F . E . 2 ( 1913 ) . The second F . E . 2 was officially a rebuild of the first F . E . 2 , and may , indeed have included some components from the earlier aircraft . It was , however , a totally new and much more modern design , larger and heavier than the 1911 aircraft , with the wingspan increased from 33 ft ( 10 . 06 m ) to 42 ft ( 12 . 80 m ) and a new , more streamlined nacelle . Loaded weight rose from 1 , 200 lb ( 545 kg ) to 1 , 865 lb ( 848 kg ) . The new F . E . 2 used the outer wings of the B . E . 2a , with wing warping instead of ailerons for lateral control , and was powered by a 70 hp Renault engine . It was destroyed when it spun into the ground from 500 ft ( 150 m ) on 23 February 1914 , probably because of insufficient fin area . The pilot , R . Kemp , survived the crash , but his passenger was killed . F . E . 2a - h ( 1914 ) . Work started on another totally new design in mid - 1914 , the F . E . 2a , specifically intended as a " fighter " , or machine gun carrier – in the same class as the Vickers FB . 5 " Gunbus " . Apart from the " Farman " layout it bore no direct relationship with either of the two earlier designs . The first production order for 12 aircraft was placed " off the drawing board " ( i . e . prior to first flight ) shortly after the outbreak of the First World War . By this stage , the " pusher " design was becoming obsolete as far as aerodynamic performance was concerned , however it was not possible at this period to fire a machine gun through the propeller of a tractor aircraft and consequently only the pusher configuration offered a clear forward field of fire . The F . E . 2 was a two - seater with the observer in the nose of the nacelle and the pilot sitting above and behind . The observer was armed with a . 303 in Lewis machine gun firing forward on a specially designed , swivelling mount that gave it a wide field of fire . Later , another Lewis was added in front of the pilot ' s cockpit , on a high telescopic mounting so that the pilot could fire forward , over his observer ' s head . In practice , this gun was appropriated by the observers , especially when they discovered that by climbing onto the rim of their cockpits they could fire backwards over the top wing – to some extent overcoming the notorious deficiency of pusher types in rear defence , although even this failed to cover a very large blind spot under the tail . The observer ' s perch was a precarious one , especially when firing the " rear gun " , and he was liable to be thrown out of his cockpit , although his view was excellent in all directions except directly to the rear . The F . E . 2 could also carry an external bomb load , and was routinely fitted with a standard air - photography camera . The arrangement was described by Frederick Libby , an American ace who served as an F . E . 2b observer in 1916 : The first production batch was for 12 of the initial F . E . 2a variant , with a large airbrake under the top centre section , and a Green E . 6 engine . The first F . E . 2a made its maiden flight on 26 January 1915 . It was found to be underpowered , and was re - engined with a Beardmore 120 hp ( 89 kW ) liquid - cooled inline engine , as were the other eleven aircraft . The F . E . 2a was quickly followed by the main production model , the F . E . 2b , again powered by a Beardmore , initially the 120 hp version while later F . E . 2bs received the 160 hp ( 119 kW ) Beardmore . The airbrake of the " a " was ineffective in its intended function of reducing the landing run and it was simply omitted . A total of 1 , 939 F . E . 2b / cs were built . The Royal Aircraft Factory itself built only a few , most construction was by private British manufacturers with G & J Weir , Boulton & Paul Ltd and Ransomes , Sims & Jefferies , the main suppliers . The F . E . 2c was an experimental night fighter and bomber variant of the F . E . 2b , the main change being the switching of the pilot and observer positions so that the pilot had the best view for night landings . Two were built in 1916 , with the designation being re - used in 1918 for a similar night bomber version of the F . E . 2b , which was used by 100 Squadron . In the end , the observer - first layout was retained for the standard aircraft . The Royal Aircraft Factory was always primarily a research establishment , and other experiments were carried out using F . E . 2bs , including the testing of a generator - powered searchlight attached between two . 303 inch ( 7 . 7 mm ) Lewis guns , apparently for night fighting duties . The undercarriage of the F . E . 2b / d was particularly well designed – a small nosewheel prevented nose - overs when landing on soft ground , and the effective oleo type shock absorbers were also appreciated by crews landing in rough , makeshift fields . In order to gain a few extra miles an hour some aircraft were fitted with a normal " V " type undercarriages . This was not universally popular , and when a method was devised of removing the nosewheel in the field without disturbing the shock absorbers this became the most common form of the F . E . 2 undercarriage . The " V " undercarriage remained standard for F . E . 2 night bombers . The final production model was the F . E . 2d ( 386 built ) which was powered by a Rolls - Royce Eagle engine with 250 hp ( 186 kW ) . While the more powerful engine made little difference in maximum speed , especially at low altitude , it did improve altitude performance , with an extra 10 mph at 5 , 000 ft . The Rolls - Royce engine also improved payload , so that in addition to the two observer ' s guns , an additional one or two Lewis guns could be mounted to fire forward , operated by the pilot . At least two F . E . 2bs were fitted with RAF 5 engines ( a pusher version of the RAF 4 engine ) in 1916 , but no production followed . The F . E . 2h was an F . E . 2 powered by a Siddeley Puma . The prototype ( " A6545 " ) was converted in February 1918 by Ransomes , Sims & Jefferies in the hope of producing a night fighter with superior performance . When tested at Martlesham Heath , however , it proved to be much slower than expected , reaching instead of the predicted , little better than the F . E . 2b . Despite this , three more aircraft were converted to F . E . 2h standard , these being fitted with a six - pounder ( 57 mm ) Davis gun mounted to fire downwards for ground attack purposes . While the F . E . 2d was replaced by the Bristol Fighter , the older F . E . 2b proved an unexpected success as a light tactical night bomber , and remained a standard type in this role for the rest of the war . Its climb rate and ceiling were too poor for it to make a satisfactory night fighter . Operational history . The F . E . 2a entered service in May 1915 with No . 6 Squadron RFC , which used the F . E . 2 in conjunction with B . E . 2 s and a single Bristol Scout The first squadron to be equipped entirely with the F . E . 2 was 20 Squadron , deploying to France on 23 January 1916 . At this stage it served as a fighter / reconnaissance aircraft – eventually about two / thirds of the F . E . 2s were built as fighters ( 816 ) and one third as bombers ( 395 ) . The F . E . 2b and F . E . 2d variants remained in day operations well into 1917 while the " b " continued as a standard night bomber until August 1918 . At its peak , the F . E . 2b equipped 16 RFC squadrons in France and six Home Defence squadrons in England . On 18 June 1916 , German flying ace Max Immelmann was killed in combat with F . E . 2bs of No . 25 Squadron RFC . The squadron claimed the kill , but the German version of the encounter is either that Immelmann ' s Fokker Eindecker broke up after his synchroniser gear failed and he shot off his own propeller , or that he was hit by friendly fire from German anti - aircraft guns . In any case , by this time the F . E . 2b were at least encountering the German monoplane fighters on more or less even terms , and the so - called " Fokker scourge " was effectively over . By autumn 1916 , the arrival of more modern German fighters such as the Albatros D . I and Halberstadt D . II meant that even the F . E . 2d was outperformed and , by April 1917 , it had been withdrawn from offensive patrols . Despite its obsolescence in 1917 , the F . E . 2 was still well liked by its crews for its strength and good flight characteristics and it still occasionally proved a difficult opponent for even the best German aces . Rittmeister Baron von Richthofen was badly wounded in the head during combat with F . E . 2d aircraft in June 1917 – the Red Baron , like most German pilots of the period , classed the F . E . 2 as a " Vickers " type , confusing it with the earlier Vickers F . B . 5 . In combat with single - seater fighters , the pilots of F . E . 2b and F . E . 2d fighters would form what is probably the first use of what later became known as a Lufbery circle ( defensive circle ) . In the case of the F . E . 2 , the intention was that the gunner of each aircraft could cover the blind spot under the tail of his neighbour , and several gunners could fire on any enemy attacking the group . On occasion formations of F . E . 2s fought their way back from far over the lines , while under heavy attack from German fighters , using this tactic . Although outclassed as a day fighter , the F . E . 2 proved very suitable for use at night , and was used both as a night fighter in home defence squadrons on anti - Zeppelin patrols and as a light tactical night bomber . It was first used as a night bomber in November 1916 , with the first dedicated F . E . 2b night bomber squadrons being formed in February 1917 . F . E . 2bs continued to be heavily used as night bombers in eight bomber squadrons until the end of the First World War , with up to 860 being converted to , or built as , bombers . Service as a night fighter was less successful , owing to the type ' s poor climb and ceiling . F . E . 2bs were experimentally fitted with flotation bags for operation over water , and were also used to conduct anti - submarine patrols operating out of the Isle of Grain at the mouth of the Thames River . A total of 35 aircraft derived from the F . E . 2 were sold to China in 1919 by Vickers as Vickers Instructional Machines ( VIM ) , to be used as advanced trainers , having a redesigned nacelle fitted with dual controls and powered by a Rolls - Royce Eagle VIII engine . Notable appearances in popular fiction . Derek Robinson ' s novel " War Story " is about a fictional Hornet Squadron flying the F . E . 2b , and later the F . E . 2d , giving an account of flying the fighter in the months leading up to the Battle of the Somme . Robert Radcliffe ' s novel " Across the Blood - Red Skies " is narrated by an F . E . 2 pilot , and offers an insight into the skills required to fly the aeroplane . William Stanley ' s novel " One Spring in Picardy " is the story of a night bomber FE2b squadron in France in the spring of 1918 . Captain W . E . Johns ' character Biggles starts his operational career in the fictional 169 squadron , flying the F . E . 2b . Reproductions . Two reproductions of the F . E . 2b , one to full airworthiness standards and fitted with a genuine Beardmore engine , have been manufactured by The Vintage Aviator Ltd of New Zealand . United States Royal Aircraft Factory F . E . 2 aces . During its widespread service , four dozen aces used the FE . 2 as their mount . Notable aces flying the FE . 2 included : F . E . 2b pilot aces F . E . 2d pilot aces Ace ' s honours were not reserved solely for FE . 2 pilots . Though slightly in the minority in the listings , a score of observers that manned the guns also became aces . The more notable among them are listed below : F . E . 2b observer aces F . E . 2d observer aces