Britian - 1914 RAF R.E.5

Something for the Aerial Backseat Driver

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 - 1914

Early Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft were surprisingly modern looking for the era in which they were built. They were not the flashiest bird in the sky but they got the job done. The project started with a line drawing I had found and a few photographs. The colors are best guess, but it gets the idea across. I promise to post something more colorful soon.

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 was a British two-seat reconnaissance and artillery observation biplane designed and built by the Royal Aircraft Factory for the Royal Flying Corps.

The R.E.5 was designed as a reconnaissance biplane using the experience of earlier R.E. series aircraft. It was a two-bay equal-span biplane with a fixed tail skid landing gear, with the wheels supported on skids and powered by a nose-mounted 120 hp (89 kW) Austro-Daimler engine driving a four-bladed propeller. The aircraft had two open cockpits with the observer/gunner in the forward cockpit under the upper wing and the pilot aft. The larger more capable Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7 was a further development of the design. Some modified single-seat high altitude aircraft were built with extended-span (57 ft 2.66 in or 17.43 m) upper wings supported by a pair of outward-leaning struts. Other R.E.5s were used for experimentation with air-brakes and for test flying the Royal Aircraft Factory 4 engine.

References

1. Rickard, J (16 April 2009), Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 , "http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE5.html"
2. From Wikipedia Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_R.E.5"
3. Bruce, J.M. (1957). "British Aeroplanes 1914-18". London: Putnam, pp.417-421.
4. Bruce, J.M. (1992). "The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps" (Second ed.). London: Putnam pp.445-51. ISBN 0 85177 854 2.
5. Lewis, Peter (1974). "The British Bomber since 1914" (Second ed.). London: Putnam, p.35, pp.402-403. ISBN 0 370 10040 9.
6. Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). "Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation". London: Studio Editions.
7. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft" (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. pp. 2820.