Bristol F.2

Bristol F. 2 Story

The Bristol F.2 series of fighter jets served for decades throughout the British Empire, serving during the First and Second World Wars. Although it started out as a reconnaissance aircraft with only two crew members, the system proved to be a viable combat platform.

Biplanes provided the Allies with a reliable answer to the increasing lethality of the type of German army they faced. Ultimately, the F.2 series will be hailed as the best two-seat combat platform in the entire conflict.

Originally, this aircraft was on the drawing board an R.2A scout, taking into account Beardmore 120hp engines and offset but equidistant wings connected by parallel struts. The excess of the Hispano-Suiza's 150 hp engine forced a revision of the original idea and gave rise to the R.2B, a design with a half-wing layout with a lower span shorter than the upper. This particular model has also been further developed to accommodate the Rolls-Royce Falcon engine with a power of approximately 190 hp. The new engine now adds critical performance to the now-renamed F. 2A airframe.

The F.2A was delivered in the first batch of 50 aircraft.

In the configuration, the pilot sits directly behind and under the upper wing, overlooking the long engine compartment. His spotter - or rear gunner - occupies a second cockpit position with one or two of his trainable 7.7mm Lewis machine guns.

The pilot himself operated a single-shot, forward-firing, synchronized Vickers machine gun mounted on the upper fuselage. Bomb loads of up to 240 pounds are possible. The building consists of a wooden structure covered with fabric.

The initial use of the F.2 proved to be poor as pilots were trained to overemphasize providing a better arc of fire for their rear gunners - multiple F.2 flights could work together to create an impenetrable The rear quadrant ruled by their machine guns. This inevitably led to disastrous results.

In one such early instance, six F.2s clashed with six (some sources say five) deadly Albatross D.III fighter jets - as a result, four F.2s were destroyed by enemy fire. The F.2 won't realize its "true" value in dogfights until tactics are modified and pilots are allowed to treat their mounts as single-seat fighters - using the plane's impressive speed and maneuverability as they are in forward fire The main tool is the machine gun - and relies on the tail gunner as an added bonus for the rear defense of the aircraft.

Once human-machine fusion was achieved, the F.2 became one of the most successful fighter designs of the war.

The F. 2B was a further development of the F. 2A - in fact it became the final model of the series. The Model B features a more powerful engine - a water-cooled Rolls-Royce Falcon III inline engine with up to 275 hp. Other minor improvements lead to better crew protection and visibility.

In fact, the model was so successful that it made up the rest of the entire F.2 lineup - far more than the previous A model.

The first flight of the series took place on September 9, 1916, with operational service in February 1917. About 5,300 prototypes were produced, from 1916 to 1932, of this type of use (staggering). Operators range from North to South America, Europe and Australia.

The design of the F. 2 was taken over by Frank Barnwell, with production in Bristol, Armstrong Whitworth and Standard Motors.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes