Vickers F.B.11: Difference between revisions

{|{{Infobox Aircraft Begin

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| designer=R.L Howard-Flanders

The '''Vickers F.B.11''' was a prototype [[United Kingdom|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 all-round field of fire. Only a single example was completed.

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 [[airship]]s.<ref name="Bruce British p25">Bruce 1957, p.25.</ref> While the specification did not require high speed, a good field of fire for its guns was essential,<ref name="Mason fighter p67">Mason 1992, p.67.</ref> while the secondary anti-Zeppelin role demanded an endurance of at least seven hours.<ref name="Bruce British p25"/>

Orders were placed for prototypes from [[Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft|Armstrong Whitworth]] (the [[Armstrong Whitworth F.K.6|F.K.6]]), [[Sopwith Aviation Company|Sopwith]] (the [[Sopwith L.R.T.Tr.|L.R.T.Tr.]]) and [[Vickers Limited|Vickers]]. All three designs were driven by the need to provide wide fields of fire in the absence of an effective [[Synchronization gear|synchronisation gear]] that would allow safe firing of guns through the propeller disc.<ref name="Bruce British p25"/>

The Vickers response, the F.B.11, designed by R.L. Howard-Flanders, was a large, single-bay, [[biplane]] of [[Tractor configuration|tractor layout]]. 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.<ref name="Mason fighter p67"/><ref name="complete fighter p577">Green and Swanborough 1994, p.577.</ref> The Eagle engine was mounted in a clean cowling, with the radiator fitted behind the engine in the fuselage.<ref name="Bruce British p672">Bruce 1957, p.572.</ref>

Two prototypes were ordered, with the first flying in September–October 1916,<ref name="Mason fighter p67"/> being tested at [[RNAS Eastchurch]] in November that year.<ref name="Andrews & Morgan p69">Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.69.</ref> It proved to have poor lateral control and performance, and was destroyed in a crash.<ref name="Bruce v3 p100"/> The second prototype was not completed,<ref name="complete fighter p578">Green and Swanborough 1994, p.578.</ref> and as effective synchronising gears were now available (including Vickers own Vickers-Challenger gear), none of the escort fighters were developed further.<ref name="Lewis fighter p99">Lewis 1979, p.99.</ref>

{{aircraft specifications

|plane or copter?=plane<!-- options: plane/copter -->

|jet or prop?=prop<!-- options: jet/prop/both/neither -->

|ref=War Planes of the First World War:Volume Three Fighters <ref name="Bruce v3 p100">Bruce 1969, p.100.</ref><!-- the source(s) for the information -->

|crew=3 (pilot and two gunners)

|capacity= <!-- the number of passengers carried in the case of a commercial aircraft-->

|payload main=

|payload alt=

|payload more=

|length main= 43 ft 0 in

|length alt=13.11 m

|span main=51 ft 0 in

|span alt=15.55 m

|height main=13 ft 8 in

|height alt=4.17 m

|area main= 845 sq ft

|area alt= 78.5 m²

|empty weight main= 3,340 lb

|empty weight alt= 1,518 kg

|loaded weight main= 4,934 lb

|loaded weight alt= 2,243 kg

|useful load main=

|useful load alt=

|max takeoff weight main=

|max takeoff weight alt=

|max takeoff weight more=

|engine (prop)=[[Rolls-Royce Eagle]] III

|type of prop= water-cooled [[V12 engine|V-12]]<!-- meaning the type of propeller driving engines -->

|number of props=1<!-- ditto number of engines-->

|power main= 250 hp

|power alt=187 kW

|power more=

|max speed main= 96 mph

|max speed alt=83 knots, 155 km/h

|max speed more= at 5,000 ft (1,520 m)

|cruise speed main=

|cruise speed alt=

|cruise speed more

|stall speed main=

|stall speed alt=

|stall speed more=

|never exceed speed main=

|never exceed speed alt=

|range main=

|range alt=

|ferry range main=

|ferry range alt=

|ferry range more=

|ceiling main= 11,000 ft

|ceiling alt= 3,350 m

|climb rate main=

|climb rate alt=

|loading main=

|loading alt=

|thrust/weight=

|power/mass main=

|power/mass alt=

|more performance=*'''Endurance:''' 7½ hours

*'''Climb to 5,000 ft (1,520 m):''' 16 min 30 s

*'''Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m)''' 55 min

|bombs=

|rockets=

|missiles=

|hardpoints=

|hardpoint capacity=

|avionics=

{{commonscat|Vickers aircraft}}

* 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

{{wwi-air}}

{{Aviation lists}}

[[Category:British fighter aircraft 1910–1919]]