Vickers E.F.B.7

In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the British pioneer aircraft designer Howard Flanders was hired by Vickers Limited as an aircraft designer, with his first job to design a fighting aircraft to carry a Vickers 1 pounder (37 mm) cannon.Bruce 1969, p. 81. (This was not the well-known pom-pom, but a smaller and lighter long recoil cannon firing less powerful ammunition).Williams and Gustin 2003, pp. 86–88. Flanders produced a twin-engined development of his earlier Flanders B.2 single-engined biplane, the E.F.B.7 (Experimental Fighting Biplane No.7).

The E.F.B.7 was a two-bay biplane with a steel-tube structure with plywood and fabric covering. It had un-staggered wings, with the upper wings of much greater (i.e. 22 ft [6.7 m]) span than the lower ones. It was powered by two tractor Gnome Monosoupape rotary engines mounted between the wings. The gunner sat in a large cockpit in the nose of the aircraft, with a rotating mount for the cannon and an armoured floor claimed to be bulletproof, while the pilot sat in a cockpit behind the wings, so that the pilot and gunner could not communicate.Mason 1992, p. 43.Bruce 1969, pp. 81–82.

The E.F.B.7 first flew in August 1915, being passed to the Central Flying School for testing. Sometime early in its career, it was fitted with large cowlings to catch oil from the engines.Bruce 1969, p. 82. An order for a further twelve aircraft was placed on 20 August 1915, which were to have a modified fuselage, allowing the pilot to sit closer to the gunner and owing to a shortage of Monosoupapes, powered by two 80 hp (60 kW) Renault 80 hp air-cooled V8 engines. The first prototype was modified to this form, becoming the E.F.B.7A. Performance with these less powerful engines was much poorer and the production orders were cancelled on 16 February 1916 before any more were completed.Bruce 1969, pp. 84–85.

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Vickers Aircraft since 1908Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 104.

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|crew=Two

|capacity=

|length m=

|length ft=36

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|span m=

|upper span ft=59

|upper span in=9

|lower span ft=37

|lower span in=6

|height m=

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|height in=

|wing area sqm=

|wing area sqft=640

|wing area note=

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|empty weight kg=

|empty weight lb=2136

|empty weight note=

|gross weight kg=3196

|gross weight lb=

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|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=Gnome Monosoupape

|eng1 type=rotary engine

|eng1 kw=

|eng1 hp=100

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|max speed kmh=

|max speed mph=75

|max speed kts=

|max speed note=at {{convert|5000|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|cruise speed kmh=

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|endurance=2.5 hr

|ceiling m=

|ceiling ft=9000

|climb rate ms=

|climb rate ftmin=

|time to altitude=18 min to {{convert|9000|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|more performance=

|guns= 1× Vickers 1-lbr gun

}}

{{aircontent

|see also=

|related=*Flanders B.2

|similar aircraft=*Vickers E.F.B.8

• Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.4

|lists=

}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Vickers E.F.B.7}}

{{refbegin}}

• Andrews, C. F., and Morgan, E.B. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam, Second edition, 1988. {{ISBN|0-85177-815-1}}.
• Bruce, J. M. War Planes of the First World War: Volume Three, Fighters. London: Macdonald, 1969. {{ISBN|0-356-01490-8}}.
• Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55750-082-7}}.
• Williams, Anthony G., and Gustin, Emmanuel. Flying Guns: World War I and its Aftermath 1914–32. Ramsbury, UK: Airlife, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84037-396-2}}.

{{refend}}

{{Vickers aircraft}}

Category:1910s British fighter aircraft

E.F.B.7

Category:Rotary-engined aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1915

Category:Sesquiplanes

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear

Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft