Vickers FB5

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Vickers FB5. Gunbus
Vickers FB5. Gunbus
Type: Fighter plane
Design country:

United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Manufacturer:

Vickers

First flight:

July 17, 1914

Commissioning:

February 5, 1915

Number of pieces:

224

The British Vickers FB5 "Gunbus" was the first aircraft in World War I that was designed as a pure fighter aircraft .

History and construction

The FB5 ( F ighting B iplane 5 ) was a two-seat biplane fighter with a pusher propeller . The observer / gunner sat in front of the pilot and operated a 7.7 mm Lewis machine gun.

The basis of the FB5 were the experimental fighter aircraft EFB1 (1913) to EFB5 (1914). The FB5 first flew in July 1914. On February 5, 1915, the No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps the first machines. The No. 11 Squadron RFC became the first fighter unit in history on July 25, 1915. It was stationed in Villers-Bretonneux in France . The pilot Gilbert Stuart Martin Insall of this season achieved the first aerial victory with an FB5 on November 7, 1915 (Insall later also received the Victoria Cross ). The No. 18 Squadron of the RFC was set up as a pure FB5 unit in November 1915.

The FB5 was powered by a 100 hp 9-cylinder Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine. The FB5 had to be taken out of service in 1916 because the Fokker monoplane was far superior to the machine.

A total of 224 FB5s were produced, 119 of them at Vickers , 99 in France and six in Denmark . In 1916 the FB5 was replaced at short notice by the improved Vickers FB9 , but this too was not up to the German hunters. The German pilots often confused the machine with the Airco DH2 or the Royal Aircraft Factory FE2

Countries of operation

DenmarkDenmark Denmark
FranceFrance France
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 2 (pilot and observer)
length 8.28 m
span 11.13 m
height 3.51 m
Wing area 35.5 m²
Takeoff mass 930 kg
drive a 9-cylinder rotary engine Gnome Monosoupape , 100 PS (74 kW)
Top speed 113 km / h
Flight duration 4:30 h
Service ceiling 2743 m
Armament a 7.7 mm Lewis MG

See also

literature

  • CF Andrews, EB Morgan: Vickers Aircraft since 1908. Putnam, London 1988, ISBN 0-85177-815-1 .
  • JM Bruce: The Airplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing). Putnam, London 1982, ISBN 0-370-30084-X .
  • JM Bruce: The Vickers Fighting Biplanes. In: Air International. Vol 47 No 3., September 1994, pp. 166-171.
  • JM Bruce: Vickers' First Fighters. In: Air Enthusiast. No 12, April-July 1980, ISSN  0143-5450 , pp. 54-70.
  • Francis K. Mason: The British Fighter since 1912. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1992, ISBN 1-55750-082-7 .

Web links

Commons : Vickers Gunbus  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files