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Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9

B.E.9
Type	Armed reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Royal Aircraft Factory
Primary user	Royal Flying Corps
Number built	1

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 (Blériot Experimental) was a British prototype reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. The intention of the designers was to provide the B.E.2 then in service with a forward field of fire. This was achieved by adding a small wooden box (which soon gained the nickname "pulpit") in front of the aircraft's propeller, which would accommodate a gunner armed with a Lewis gun on a trainable mount. This design had the unfortunate outcome of drawing anything loose on the gunner (including his limbs when swinging the gun around to track enemy aircraft) into the propeller blades. Needless to say, this concept was not developed further and was soon rendered superfluous by the invention of the interrupter gear. Only a single prototype was built (serial 6800), but it was tested in the field by No. 16 Squadron RFC. In his memoirs, Lt Duncan Grinnell-Milne recalls his gratitude that initial combat experience with the type proved inconclusive and that the type was not therefore ordered into mass production.

Contents 1 Operators 2 Specifications () 3 References 4 See also

Operators

 United Kingdom

• Royal Flying Corps
  • No. 16 Squadron RFC

Specifications ()

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot and observer)
• Length: 29 ft ()
• Wingspan: 40 ft 10 in ()
• Height: 11 ft 5 in ()
• Powerplant: 1× RAF 1a V-8 engine, 90 hp ()

Performance

• Maximum speed: 82 mph at sea level
• Rate of climb: 4.5 min to 1,000 ft ()

Armament Lewis gun

References

• Grinnell-Milne, Duncan William (1980). Wind in the Wires. Garden City, NY: Ayer Publishing. 
• Air Pictorial March 1963

See also

Comparable aircraft SPAD A.2 - SPAD A.4

v • d • e Royal Aircraft Factory designed aircraft Armoured Experimental A.E.1 · A.E.2 · A.E.3 Blériot Experimental B.E.1 · B.E.2 · B.E.3 · B.E.4 · B.E.5 · B.E.6 · B.E.7 · B.E.8 · B.E.9 · B.E.10 · B.E.11 · B.E.12 Blériot Scout B.S.1 · B.S.2 Curtiss Experimental C.E.1 Farman Experimental Fighting Experimental F.E.1 · F.E.2 · F.E.3 · F.E.4 · F.E.6 · F.E.7 · F.E.8 · F.E.9 · F.E.10 · F.E.11 · F.E.12 Night Experimental N.E.1 Reconnaissance Experimental R.E.1 · R.E.2 · R.E.3 · R.E.5 · R.E.7 · R.E.8 · R.E.9 Santos Experimental Scout Experimental S.E.1 · S.E.2 · S.E.3 · S.E.4 · S.E.5 · S.E.6 · S.E.7 Tatin Experimental T.E.1

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