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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0874.PDF
A very early Vickers-built B.E.2. 1 I iff :ff*^ ~d^ A standard B.E.2A. MS™£wSW-r-V: S* .,• Experimental B.E.2A with o/eo undercarriage and non-standard struts. 394 THE B.E.2 SERIES . FLIGHT B.E.2A with fins above centre section, large screen, and revised tail. generalize about early B.E.2s, for true standardization had not arrived in 1912, and the type existed in more than one form. The earliest B.E.2s had wings of unequal span: there was no decking between the seats, but a small cowling was fitted behind the engine and gave some protection to the observer, who occupied the forward seat. Later B.E.2s had wings of equal span, and a short decking was fitted between the seats. There was, however, no cowling behind the engine, and a streamlined gravity tank was mounted high up between the front centre-section struts: the main fuel tank was under the observer's seat. The top decking abaft the pilot's seat was shorter by one bay than that fitted to the B.E.I. The Renault engine was the standard power plant, but B.E.2 No. 205 had at one time an experimental installation of a 60 h.p. E.N.V. A B.E.2 made its mark in British aviation history in August 1912. On the 12th of that month Geoffrey de Havilland broke the British altitude record by climbing to 10,560ft in a B.E.2 with Major F. H. Sykes as his passenger: the climb took some 45 minutes. During the month this same B.E.2 was flown hors concours at the Military Trials, and again Geoffrey de Havilland was the pilot. Since it was an official design it was not allowed to compete, but it performed some of the tests to obtain comparative data. Its performance showed that it was by far the best all-round aeroplane at the trials, which were officially won by S. F. Cody's ponderous biplane. For tunately for the early R.F.C. pilots, the Cody did not go into production, whereas the B.E.2 did. Detail development proceeded, and the B.E.2A soon ap peared, with decking behind the engine and a revised fuel system. The basic airframe remained unchanged. The fabric- covered fuselage had four wooden longerons with wooden spacers, the whole being cross-braced in the customary fashion: a rounded top decking was fitted behind the pilot's seat. The undercarriage had two long parallel skids which projected in front of the airscrew; the axle was bound to the skids by rubber cord, and longitudinal movement of the axle was prevented by radius rods. The wings had wooden spars, ribs, and riblets: these last-named components were about half the chord of the wings in length. Two bays of interplane struts were fitted on each side, and there was no stagger. The tailplane was a large, low-aspect-ratio surface of roughly semi circular plan-form, made in one piece and mounted directly on top of the upper longerons. In their day, the early B.E.s gave good service with the R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. The B.E.2A is perhaps best remembered for Capt. C. A. H. Longcroft's magnificent flight of about 650 miles in B.E.2A No. 218 of No. 2 Squadron, R.F.C., made on November 22nd, 1913. This B.E. had an extra fuel tank fitted in the front cockpit, which was faired over: the installation was devised by First Class Air Mechanic H. C. S. Bullock. On this machine Capt. Longcroft flew non-stop from Mont rose to Portsmouth and back again to Famborough, the whole journey being accomplished in 7 hr 20 min. History was made by B.E.2A No. 347, also of No. 2 Squadron, when, at 8.20 a.m. on August 13th, 1914, it landed near Amiens: it was the first British aeroplane to land on the Continent after the outbreak of war. The pilot was Lt. H. D. Harvey-Kelly, who had left Dover at 6.25 a.m. (Harvey-Kelly was shot down and killed by Kurt Wolff on April 29th, 1917.) Squadrons No. 2 and 4 went to France on August 13th, 1914, equipped throughout with B.E.2As and 2Bs, and nine additional machines of the type were taken over by the Air craft Park, which landed at Boulogne five days later. The Eastchurch Squadron of the R.N.A.S. did not go to France until August 27th: its equipment was a motley collection of two Sopwith biplanes; two Bleriot monoplanes; one Henri Farman; one Bristol T.B.8; the Short, No. 42, converted to a landplane; and three B.E.S. One of these B.E.S was faithful No. 50. Built by Messrs. Hewlett and Blondeau, this machine was delivered to the R.N.A.S. at Eastchurch in January 1914, and there formed part of the equipment of the unit commanded by W/C. C. R- Samson. Samson himself flew No. 50 a great deal, and re garded it as his own machine. This B.E.2A flew in the 1914 Naval Review at Spithead, and when war broke out it went to France and Belgium, where it did good work. At about that
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