Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9
{{short description|British experimental reconnaissance aircraft}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=B.E.9
|image= RAF B.E.9.jpg
|caption=
|type=Experimental fighter/reconnaissance aircraft
|manufacturer=Royal Aircraft Factory
|designer=
|first_flight=14 August 1915
|introduction=
|retired=
|status=
|primary_user=Royal Flying Corps
|more_users=
|produced=
|number_built=1
|variants=
}}
The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 was a British experimental reconnaissance aircraft of World War I.
Design
The intention of the designers was to combine the high performance of tractor configuration aircraft with a good field of fire for the observer's machine gun, as provided by pushers. It was therefore decided to modify an example of the B.E.2c by adding a small wooden box (which soon gained the nickname "pulpit") in front of the aircraft's propeller, which would accommodate a gunner armed with a Lewis gun on a trainable mount. The normal observer's cockpit of the B.E.2c was removed, allowing the engine (the standard air-cooled RAF 1a of the B.E.2) to be moved rearwards, while the wingspan was increased, and a larger fin was fitted.Hare 1990, pp. 177–178.
A general layout of this kind had various drawbacks - the most obvious being the perilous situation of the gunner - who was liable to injury by the propeller, or to be crushed by the engine in the mildest of crashes. The type was not developed further by the Royal Aircraft Factory (although the French SPAD S.A, of similar concept, saw service) and was soon rendered superfluous by the availability of synchronization gears.
Service testing
The single prototype built (serial 1700) first flew at Farnborough on 14 August 1915. Early testing indicated that performance was little different from the B.E.2c upon which it was based, although the "difficulty" (surely an understatement) in communicating between the pilot and observer, separated by both engine and propeller, was reported.Hare 1990, pp. 178–179. and in September that year the B.E.9 was sent for testing in the field in France by a number of units, including No. 6 Squadron, 8 Squadron and 16 Squadron.Bruce March 1963, p.82. While the B.E.9 carried out a few operational patrols in France, including one encounter with a German Fokker Eindekker, the opinion of those testing it was generally negative, with Major Hugh Dowding, at the time commander of 16 Squadron, stating that the B.E.9 was "...an extremely dangerous machine from the passenger's point of view",Bruce 1982, p. 384. while Hugh Trenchard, head of the RFC in France said that "this type of machine cannot be recommended".Hare 1990, p. 179. It was sent back to the United Kingdom early in 1916. In his memoirs, Lt Duncan Grinnell-Milne recalls his gratitude that initial combat experience with the type proved inconclusive and that it was not ordered into mass production.Grinnell-Milne, 1968 pp. 73-74
Design work had started on the B.E.9a, a more powerful version powered by a 140hp V12 RAF4a engine, but a prototype was never built.{{cite book |last1=Hare |first1=Paul |title=Britain's Forgotten Fighters of the First World War |date=2014 |publisher=Fonthill |location=Stroud UK |isbn=978-1781551974 |pages=150}}
Operators
;{{UK}}
:(prototype tested briefly by:)
Specifications (BE.9)
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=2 (pilot and observer)
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=29
|length in=0
|span m=
|span ft=40
|span in=10+1/2
|height m=
|height ft=11
|height in=5
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|fuel capacity=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=RAF 1a
|eng1 type=air-cooled V-8 engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=90
|eng1 shp=
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=82
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=at sea level
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|time to altitude=4.5 min to {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|more performance=
|guns=1× Lewis gun
|avionics=
}}
See also
References
{{commons category|Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9}}
=Notes=
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite journal |last=Bruce |first=J. M. |title=Aircraft of the 1914-18 War: The B.E.9|journal=Air Pictorial |date=March 1963 |pages=80–83 }}
- {{cite book|last=Bruce|first=J. M.|title=The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing)|year=1982|publisher=Putnam|location=London|isbn=0-370-30084-X}}
- {{cite book|last=Hare|first=Paul R|title=The Royal Aircraft Factory|year=1990|publisher=Putnam|location=London|isbn=0-85177-843-7}}
- {{cite book |last= Grinnell-Milne |first= Duncan William |title=Wind in the Wires | year=1980 |publisher=Ayer Publishing |location=Garden City, NY}}
{{refend}}
{{Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft}}
Category:1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft