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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 2850.PDF
Austin-built R.E.8, showing the first modification, i.e., slight enlargement of the main fin, achieved by increasing the root chord. THE R.E.8 •v HISTORIC MILITARY AIRCRAFT: No. 8 By J. M. BRUCE, M.A. THEY called it the Harry Tate. That was, of course, inevitable. Even if the R.E.8's official designation had not lent itself so readily to that mutation, its quaint appearance was held by some to be vaguely suggestive of the music-hall mechanics so ably demonstrated by the great contemporary comedian. The Royal Aircraft Factory's R.E. series was distinguished from the B.E., F.E. and S.E. series by two facts: no R.E. machine was produced by pseudo-"reconstruction" of some other aircraft; and the initial letters of the designation were related to no pioneer of aviation, for they never signified anything but "Reconnaissance Experimental." In the years immediately preceding World War 1 it was widely believed that, in warfare, aircraft would be of use only as recon naissance vehicles. From this premise it was argued that for such duties aeroplanes should be as stable as possible, so that the pilot could devote his attention to observation and leave his machine to fly itself. With these requirements in mind, the Royal Aircraft Factory set about the design of a reconnaissance aeroplane in 1912; the machine was the first of the R.E. series, and was accordingly designated R.E.I. As has been related in the history of the B.E.2 series (Flight, April 2nd and 16th, 1954), E. T. Busk joined the staff of the Factory on June 10th of that year. The design of an inherently stable aeroplane was a problem which appealed strongly to Busk. In his work on the R.E.I he collaborated with Leonard Bairstow, who had done a considerable amount of practical work at the National Physical Laboratory, based on the theoretical investigations into the stability of aeroplanes made by F. W. Lanchester and G. H. Bryan. The two R.E.ls which were completed in 1913 differed slightly from each other, but they were of interest in having fuselages constructed of steel tubing at/a time when wood was the almost universal structural medium. Both were single-bay biplanes in winch wing-warping was used for lateral control, and both were powered by the 70 h.p. Renault engine. The first R.E.I, numbered 607, was the better-looking of the *wo. It had a fin and plain rudder, and the mainplanes had a Pronounced stagger. Later in its career it was given a set of new wags which were fitted with ailerons; stagger was reduced and a smaller fin was fitted. The second machine, 608, had a longer fuselage. It had no fin, fn .wa? ntted with a large and very ugly balanced rudder. Busk used this machine for much of his practical work; and at one time K had four fin surfaces mounted above the upper wing. By * ovember 1913 Busk had made the R.E.I an automatically stable a -oplane. •^ne of the series went to France late in August 1914 as one of five spare aeroplanes which were sent to reinforce the squadrons in the field. It was used by No. 2 Squadron. There are indications that one of the R.E.ls was fitted with floats, renamed H.R.E., and flown as a seaplane from Fleet and Frensham Ponds. This, however, may be a confusion with the second of the R.E. series, which was designed to the specification of the Air Department of the Admiralty for the Naval Wing of the R.F.C. The new machine was designated H.R.E.2, and was intended to be a two-seat float seaplane powered by the 100 h.p. twelve-cylinder Renault. It was first flown as a landplane, how ever, in which form it was fitted with a 70 h.p. eight-cylinder Renault. The H.R.E.2 was a two-bay biplane with warping wings and a fin-less tail unit similar to that of the B.E.3; both the tailplane and the elevator were one-piece surfaces, and the oval rudder was mounted above the tailplane. When the floats and the bigger engine were fitted, the vertical tail area was increased by fitting a triangular fin and tall rudder. If the tail of the second R.E.I was ugly, that of the H.R.E.2 was positively hideous and looked thoroughly makeshift. The H.R.E.2 was badly damaged when it failed to rise from Fleet Pond: it struck the shore, wiped off its floats, and overturned. It was rebuilt as a landplane, and ultimately had ailerons for lateral con trol. When war broke out the H.R.E.2 was still on the strength of the R.N.A.S. The R.E.3 airframe was identical in appearance with that of the H.R.E.2 landplane, but the engine was the 120 h.p. Austro- Daimler. The first R.E. type to go into quantity production was the R.E.5. Its production was made financially possible by the decision to transfer responsibility for the development of British lighter-than-air craft to the Navy. The Navy took over the Army's airships, and in exchange a sum of £25,000 was transferred to the War Office from the Admiralty vote. With this money Col. J. E. B. Seely, the Secretary of State for War, ordered twenty-four R.E.Ss. The first R.E.5 appeared early in 1914. In its standard form the type was a rather clumsy-looking two-seat tractor biplane with two-bay wings of equal span; ailerons were fitted, and the engine was the 120 h.p. Austro-Daimler. Some R.E.5s had the first of the Beardmore-built Austro-Daimlers. By the end of March 1914 one of the R.E.5s had been specially modified for high-altitude work. It was a single-seater, and had long strut-braced extensions on the upper wings; the engine drove a two-bladed airscrew instead of the slender four-blader of the standard R.E.5, and the silencer was removed from the exhaust pipe. In this machine Capt. J. H. W. Becke climbed to 17,000ft in June 1914. Most of the R.E.5s saw service in France from September 1914 onwards. The type was used as part of the equipment of R.F.C. Squadrons Nos. 2, 7,12 and 16; and one was used by the R.N.A.S. D
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