Vickers E.F.B.1

Vickers

Industry	Aircraft manufacturing
Founded	1911
Headquarters	United Kingdom

The Vickers E.F.B.1, also known as the 'Destroyer', was an early British military aircraft prototype. While it did not achieve operational success, its design was deemed significant enough to warrant further development, leading to a series of similar prototypes. This progression ultimately culminated in the creation of the Vickers F.B.5 "Gunbus", which became widely utilized during World War I.

Design

The Experimental Fighting Biplane No. 1 (E.F.B.1) was developed in response to a specification from the British Admiralty calling for an aircraft intended primarily for offensive combat roles. It holds the distinction of being the first British aircraft purpose-built for military use. Vickers received a contract to produce a prototype on 19 November 1912.

The aircraft featured a two-bay biplane configuration with staggered wings of unequal span, arranged in a pusher layout. The tailplane was supported by booms extending behind the wings, while the two-man crew was seated within a nacelle positioned above the lower wing, with the engine located behind them. This pusher arrangement was selected to accommodate a forward-firing weapon, as synchronization gear technology had not yet been developed. The structure incorporated considerable metalwork; steel was used for the tail booms and wing spars, and the nacelle was constructed from steel tubing covered with sheet duralumin.

Control of lateral movement was achieved through wing warping. To reduce structural fatigue caused by warping stresses, the rear wing spar was divided into three parts, with hinged outer sections connected to a central section, and wing ribs loosely fitted onto the spars.

Armament consisted of a single belt-fed 0.303 Vickers-Maxim machine gun, mounted at the front of the nacelle on a flexible mount.

The E.F.B.1 was displayed at the Aero Show held at Olympia in February 1913 but crashed shortly thereafter, possibly during its initial flight attempt. Despite this setback, the design demonstrated sufficient potential to prompt development of a successor, the Vickers E.F.B.2. This lineage eventually resulted in the production of the Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus.

Comparable aircraft

• Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.3
• Grahame-White Type VI

References

• Mason F.K. The British Fighter Since 1912 London: Putnam, 1992. ISBN 0-85177-852-6