Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.1
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| F.E.1 | |
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| Type | Experimental research aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Geoffrey de Havilland |
| Designed by | Geoffrey de Havilland |
| Maiden flight | September 1910 |
| Primary user | Royal Aircraft Factory |
| Number built | 1 |
| Unit cost | 400 Pounds |
The F.E.1 (Farman Experimental) was the second aircraft built by the pioneer designer Geoffrey de Havilland - he designed and built it in 1910. He used it to teach himself to fly during late 1910. Although it was not built at the Royal Aircraft Factory it became the first aircraft to bear an official Factory designation.
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[edit] Design and Fate
The 45 hp. engine was built for de Havilland by the Iris Motor Company, to de Havilland's own design. Like the Bristol Boxkite and several other contemporary designs, the F.E.1 closely followed the general lines of early Farman aircraft (in turn based on the early Wright machines), with the pilot seated on the lower wing directly in front of the engine, and a fore-elevator.
On de Havilland's appointment as assistant designer and test pilot at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later the Royal Aircraft Factory) in December 1910, the War Office bought the aircraft. De Havilland and several other pilots flew it at Farnborough until it crashed in the summer of 1911 while piloted by Lt. Theodore J. Ridge - who was later killed attempting to fly the S.E.1.
[edit] "Rebuild" as the "F.E.2"
The crashed F.E.1 was "rebuilt" in September 1911 as the F.E.2. This was in fact a new design, incororating few if any actual components of the original (at this stage Farnborough were still not authorised to build aircraft from scratch). The Iris engine was replaced by a 50 hp. Gnome, a two seater nacelle was fitted, and the fore-elevator was replaced with one incorporated into the tail in the conventional manner. In this form many tests were carried out - including the fitting of a machine gun, and seaplane trials - fitted with a single central float.
This F.E.2 had little or no commonality with the F.E.2 of 1913 which was destroyed in a fatal crash when the pilot, R. Kemp lost control while in a dive - and this in turn was a distinctly different design from the F.E.2b fighter of World War I fame - although all three "F.E.2s" had the same general pusher layout.
This double re-use of the F.E.2 designation has caused considerable confusion among aviation historians. To minimise this confusion here, the F.E.2 article refers to the last and best known, (the wartime fighter).
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications (F.E.1 in its original form)
General characteristics
- Length: 40 ft (12.2 m)
- Wingspan: 33 ft (10 m)
- Height: ()
- Wing area: 340 ft² (31.60 m²)
- Loaded weight: 1,100 lb. (500 Kg)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 37 mph (60 km/h)
[edit] References
Lewis, Peter British Aircraft 1809-1914 London, Putnam, 1962
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