|
The Vickers F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5) (known as the "Gunbus") was a British two-seat pusher military biplane of the First World War. Armed with a single .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun operated by the observer in the front of the nacelle, it was the first aircraft purpose-built for air-to-air combat to see service, making it the world's first operational fighter aircraft. ==Design and development== Vickers began experimenting with the concept of an armed warplane designed to destroy other aircraft in 1912. The first resulting aircraft was the "Destroyer" (later designated Vickers E.F.B.1) which was shown at the Olympia Aero Show in February 1913, but crashed on its maiden flight.〔Andrews and Morgan 1988, pp. 43–44.〕 This aircraft was of the "Farman" pusher layout, to avoid the problem of firing through a tractor propeller, and was armed with a single belt-fed Vickers gun.〔''Flight'' 22 February 1913, pp. 224–225.〕 The E.F.B.1 was the first in a line of Vickers' "Experimental Fighting Biplanes", of which the F.B.5 was the most famous - and the first to be built in quantity. While the "Destroyer" was a failure, Vickers continued to pursue the development of armed pusher biplanes, and their designer Archibald Low drew up a new design, the Vickers Type 18, or Vickers E.F.B.2. This was a two-bay biplane powered by a single 80 hp (60 kW) Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder rotary engine with a steel tube structure, with fabric covered wings and tail, and a duralumin covered nacelle with large celluloid windows in the sides. The unequal-span wings were unstaggered, with lateral control by wing warping, while the aircraft had a large semi-circular tailplane. Armament remained a single Vickers gun mounted in the nose of the nacelle, with limited movement possible, and a very poor view for the gunner.〔Mason 1992, p.17〕〔Bruce 1980, p. 55.〕〔 The E.F.B.2 made its first flight at Brooklands on 26 November 1913.〔 It was soon followed by the E.F.B.3, powered by a similar engine, but using ailerons instead of wing warping, and with equal-span wings, while the nacelle omitted the large windows fitted to the E.F.B.2.〔Bruce 1980, p. 56.〕〔Mason 1992, pp. 20–21.〕 The belt feed proved problematic for a flexible machine gun, and the weapon installed was changed to the lighter, handier, drum-fed .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun. The F.B.5 first flew on 17 July 1914. It was powered by a single 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder rotary engine driving a two-bladed propeller, and was of simple, clean, and conventional design compared with its predecessors. In total, 224 F.B.5s were produced, 119 in Britain by Vickers, 99 in France and six in Denmark. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vickers F.B.5」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|