# Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8

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Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 B.E.8 prototype General information Type Two-seat general purpose biplane Manufacturer Various (designed at Royal Aircraft Factory) Designer John Kenworthy Primary user Royal Flying Corps Number built approx 70 History Introduction date 1914 First flight 1913 Retired 1916

The **Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8** was a British two-seat single-engined general purpose [biplane](/source/Biplane) of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), designed by [John Kenworthy](/source/John_Kenworthy) at the [Royal Aircraft Factory](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Factory) in 1913.[1] Small numbers were used by the [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps) over the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)) in the first year of the war, with the type being used as a [trainer](/source/Training_aircraft) until 1916.

## Development and design

The B.E.8 was the definitive development of the earlier [B.E 3 type](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_B.E.3), and the last of the B.E. series to be designed with a [rotary engine](/source/Rotary_engine). The main changes were that the lower wings were now attached to the fuselage near the lower longerons, rather than running under it, and that the tail unit was changed to the B.E.2 pattern. Three prototypes were built at [Farnborough](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Establishment) with a single long cockpit for both crew members. The production aircraft had two separate cockpits and were built by sub-contractors. The improved **B.E.8a** of 1915 had new B.E.2c type wings, featuring [ailerons](/source/Aileron) instead of [wing warping](/source/Wing_warping) and a revised [tail unit](/source/Empennage).

## Operational history

Both models of the aircraft entered service with the [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps) and a small number served in [France](/source/France) in 1914 and early 1915 but most were used by training units.[2]

## Variants

**BE.8**
- Production aircraft with wing warping.

**BE.8a**
- Production aircraft with ailerons.

## Operators

**[United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom)**

- [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps) - [No. 1 Squadron RFC](/source/No._1_Squadron_RAF) - [No. 2 Squadron RFC](/source/No._2_Squadron_RAF) - [No. 3 Squadron RFC](/source/No._3_Squadron_RAF) - [No. 5 Squadron RFC](/source/No._5_Squadron_RAF) - [No. 6 Squadron RFC](/source/No._6_Squadron_RAF) - [No. 9 Squadron RFC](/source/No._9_Squadron_RAF)

## Specifications (BE.8)

*Data from* The Royal Aircraft Factory[3]

**General characteristics**

- **Crew:** 2

- **Length:** 27 ft 4.5 in (8.344 m)

- **Wingspan:** 37 ft 8 in (11.48 m)

- **Height:** 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)

- **Wing area:** 368 sq ft (34.2 m2)

- **Powerplant:** 1 × [Gnome 7 Lambda](/source/Gnome_7_Lambda) 7-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 80 hp (60 kW)

- **Propellers:** 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

**Performance**

- **Maximum speed:** 70 mph (110 km/h, 61 kn) at sea level

- **Endurance:** 1 hour 30 minutes

- **Time to altitude:** 3,000 ft (914 m) in 10 minutes 30 seconds

**Armament**

- **Guns:** Small arms operated by crew

- **Bombs:** 1× 100 lb (45 kg) bomb

## See also

**Related lists**

- [List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps](/source/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Royal_Flying_Corps)

## References

### Citations

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Royal_Aircraft_Factory_B.E.8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hare_p171_1-0)** Hare 1990, p. 171.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hare, 1990 p. 174

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hare_3-0)** Hare, Paul R. (1990). *The Royal Aircraft Factory* (1st ed.). London: Putnam Aeronautical. pp. 171–175. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0851778437](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0851778437).

### Bibliography

- Angelucci, Enzo. *The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980*. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-517-41021-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-517-41021-4).

- Bruce, J.M. *British Aeroplanes 1914-18*. London: Putnam, 1957.

- Bruce, J.M. *The Aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing)* . London: Putnam, 1982. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-370-30084-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-370-30084-X).

- Hare, Paul R. *The Royal Aircraft Factory*. London:Putnam, 1990. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-85177-843-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85177-843-7).

- *The [Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft](/source/Illustrated_Encyclopedia_of_Aircraft)* (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985, p. 2819.

v t e Royal Aircraft Factory (R.A.F.) 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 Coastal 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/H.R.E.2 H.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 a S.E.5 S.E.6 S.E.7 Tatin Experimental T.E.1 Airships Nulli Secundis Baby/Beta Gamma Delta Eta Nicknames Farnborough Ram Goldfish Harry Tate

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