Vickers F.B.11
{{Short description|Prototype British three-seat escort fighter of the First World War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=F.B.11 | image=Vickers F.B.11.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Escort fighter | national origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer=Vickers Limited | designer=R. L Howard-Flanders | first flight=1916 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | number built=1 | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Vickers F.B.11 was a prototype British three-seat escort fighter of the First World War. A large single-engined biplane, it carried one gunner in a nacelle mounted on the upper wing to give an allround field of fire. Only a single example was completed.
Development and design
In early 1916, the British War Office drew up a specification for a multi-seat escort fighter to be powered by one of the new Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, intended to protect formations of bombers from German fighters such as the Fokker E.I, with an additional role of destroying enemy airships.Bruce 1957, p. 25. While the specification did not require high speed, a good field of fire for its guns was essential,Mason 1992, p. 67. while the secondary anti-Zeppelin role demanded an endurance of at least seven hours.
Orders were placed for prototypes from Armstrong Whitworth (the F.K.6), Sopwith (the L.R.T.Tr.) and Vickers. All three designs were driven by the need to provide wide fields of fire in the absence of an effective synchronisation gear that would allow safe firing of guns through the propeller disc.
The Vickers response, the F.B.11, designed by R. L. Howard-Flanders, was a large, single-bay, biplane of tractor layout. The pilot and one gunner sat in separate but closely spaced cockpits under the trailing edge of the upper wing, while a second gunner sat in a nacelle, or "fighting top", attached to, and extending forward of the upper wing.Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 577. The Eagle engine was mounted in a clean cowling, with the radiator fitted behind the engine in the fuselage.Bruce 1957, p. 572.
Two prototypes were ordered, with the first flying in September–October 1916, being tested at RNAS Eastchurch in November that year.Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 69. It proved to have poor lateral control and performance, and was destroyed in a crash.Bruce 1969, p. 100. The second prototype was not completed,Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 578. and as effective synchronising gears were now available (including Vickers' own Vickers-Challenger gear), none of the escort fighters were developed further.Lewis 1979, p. 99.
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=War Planes of the First World War:Volume Three Fighters
|prime units?=imp
|crew=three (pilot and two gunners)
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=43
|length in=0
|span m=
|span ft=51
|span in=0
|height m=
|height ft=13
|height in=8
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=845
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=3340
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=4934
|gross weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Rolls-Royce Eagle III
|eng1 type=water-cooled V-12
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=250
|power original=
|more power=
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=96
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=at {{convert|5000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|endurance=7.5 hr
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=11000
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|time to altitude=
- 16 min to {{convert|5000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
- 55 min to {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|more performance=
|guns= 1× .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun in nacelle, 1× Lewis gun in rear gunners cockpit
}}
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{commons category|Vickers F.B.11}}
{{refbegin}}
- Andrews, C. F., and Morgan, E. B. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam, 1988. {{ISBN|0-85177-815-1}}.
- Bruce, J. M. British Aeroplanes 1914-18. London: Putnam, 1957.
- Bruce, J. M. War Planes of the First World War: Volume Three Fighters. London: Macdonald, 1969. {{ISBN|0-356-01490-8}}.
- Green, William, and Swanborough, Gordon. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8317-3939-8}}.
- Lewis, Peter. The British Fighter since 1912. London: Putnam, Fourth edition, 1979. {{ISBN|0-370-10049-2}}.
- Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-55750-082-7}}
{{refend}}
{{Vickers aircraft}}
Category:1910s British fighter aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1916