Vickers F.B.19
| Vickers F.B.19 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Single-seat scout |
| Manufacturer | Vickers |
| Designer | G H Challenger |
| First flight | August 1916 |
| Introduction | 1916 |
| Primary users |
Royal Flying Corps Russia/USSR |
| Number built | 62 |
The Vickers F.B.19 was a British single-seat fighting scout of the First World War, developed from the Barnwell Bullet prototype, and sometimes known as the Vickers Bullet. It served with the Royal Flying Corps and the Imperial Russian Air Service, and was subsequently adopted by the Red Air Force during the Russian Civil War.
The F.B.19 was designed by G. H. Challenger, and first flew in August 1916. It was a single-engine, single-bay, equal-span biplane, slightly smaller than either the Sopwith Camel or Nieuport 17, with a proportionally large engine fairing and tall fuselage giving it a relatively stubby appearance. It was armed with one synchronised 7.7mm Vickers machine gun, mounted unusually on the left-hand side of the fuselage, to facilitate the installation of the Vickers-Challenger synchroniser gear, also designed by Challenger.
The 100-hp Gnome Monosoupape engine gave a relatively slow speed, and the relatively low cockpit position, placed behind a wide rotary engine and between unstaggered wings, severely limited visibility for the pilot. The clearest view was sometimes said to be upwards, through a transparent section in the upper wing. Modifications were introduced, including a more powerful 110-hp (82-kW) Le Rhône or Clerget engine and staggered mainplanes, culminating in the Mk II design.
The plane's relative success on the Eastern Front appears to have been due in part to the fitting of a more powerful engine in Russia.
Around sixty-five F.B.19s were built. Six early production examples were sent to France in late 1916 for operational evaluation, but they were found unsuitable for the fighting conditions then evolving. Twelve examples of the Mk II were sent to the Middle East, five in Palestine and seven in Macedonia, but they were not popular and no squadron was fully equipped with the type. A few were also used as trainers and for air defense over London, but the type had effectively been retired before the end of 1917.
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