Airco DH . 2 The Airco DH . 2 was a single - seat biplane " pusher " aircraft which operated as a fighter during the First World War . It was the second pusher design by Geoffrey de Havilland for Airco , based on his earlier DH . 1 two - seater . The DH . 2 was the first effectively armed British single - seat fighter and enabled Royal Flying Corps ( RFC ) pilots to counter the " Fokker Scourge " that had given the Germans the advantage in the air in late 1915 . Until the British developed an interrupter gear to match the German system , pushers such as the DH . 2 and the F . E . 2b carried the burden of fighting and escort duties . Design and development . Early air combat over the Western Front indicated the need for a single seat fighter with forward firing armament . As no reliable interrupter gear was available to the British , Geoffrey de Havilland designed the DH . 2 as a smaller , single seat development of the earlier two seat DH . 1 pusher design . The D . H . 2 first flew in July 1915 . The D . H . 2 was armed with a single . 303 in ( 7 . 7 mm ) Lewis gun which was originally able to be positioned on one of three flexible mountings in the cockpit , with the pilot transferring the gun between mountings in flight at the same time as flying the aircraft . Once pilots learned that the best method of achieving a kill was to aim the aircraft rather than the gun , the machine gun was fixed in the forward - facing centre mount , although this was initially banned by higher authorities until a clip which fixed the gun in place but could be released if required was approved . Major Lanoe Hawker devised the clip . He also improved the gunsights , adding a ring sight and an " aiming off model " that helped the gunner allow for leading a target . The majority of DH . 2s were fitted with the 100 hp ( 75 kW ) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine , but later models received the 110 hp ( 82 kW ) Le Rhône 9J . A total of 453 D . H . 2s were produced by Airco . Operational service . After evaluation at Hendon on 22 June 1915 , the first DH . 2 arrived in France for operational trials with No . 5 RFC Squadron but was shot down and its pilot killed ( although the DH . 2 was recovered and repaired by the Germans ) . No . 24 Squadron RFC , the first squadron equipped with the DH . 2 and the first complete squadron entirely equipped with single - seat fighters in the RFC , arrived in France in February 1916 . The DH . 2 ultimately equipped seven fighter squadrons on the Western Front and quickly proved more than a match for the Fokker Eindecker . DH . 2s were also heavily engaged during the Battle of the Somme , No . 24 Squadron alone engaging in 774 combats and destroying 44 enemy machines . The DH . 2 had sensitive controls and at a time when service training for pilots in the RFC was very poor it initially had a high accident rate , gaining the nickname " The Spinning Incinerator " , but as familiarity with the type increased , it was recognised as very manoeverable and relatively easy to fly . The rear mounted rotary engine made the DH . 2 easy to stall , but also made it highly maneuverable . The arrival at the front of more powerful German tractor biplane fighters such as the Halberstadt D . II and the Albatros D . I , which appeared in September 1916 , meant that the DH . 2 was outclassed in turn . It remained in first line service in France , however , until No . 24 and No . 32 Squadron RFC completed re - equipment with Airco DH . 5 s in June 1917 , and a few remained in service on the Macedonian front and in campaign in Palestine until late autumn of that year . By this time the type was totally obsolete as a fighter , although it was used as an advanced trainer into 1918 . DH . 2s were progressively retired and at war ' s end no surviving airframes were retained . In 1970 , Walter M . Redfern from Seattle , Washington built a replica DH . 2 powered by a Kinner 125 - 150 hp engine and subsequently , Redfern sold plans to home builders . Currently a number of the DH . 2 replicas are flying worldwide . DH . 2 aces . Distinguished pilots of the DH . 2 included Victoria Cross winner Lanoe Hawker ( eight victories ) , who was the first commander of No . 24 Squadron and Alan Wilkinson . The commander of No . 32 Squadron , Lionel Rees won the Victoria Cross flying the D . H . 2 for single handedly attacking a formation of 10 German two - seaters on 1 July 1916 , destroying two . James McCudden became an ace in DH . 2s to start his career as the British Empire ' s fourth ranking ace of the war . German ace and tactician Oswald Boelcke was killed during a dogfight with No . 24 Squadron DH . 2s due to a collision with one of his own wingmen , Erwin Böhme . Fourteen aces scored five or more aerial victories using the DH . 2 ; many went on to further success in later types also .