Vickers F.B.5 Country: UK Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Vickers Limited Service: 1914 - 1916 First Flight: July 1914 Production: 224

The Vickers F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5) (known as the Gunbus) was a British two-seat pusher military biplane of the First World War. Armed with a single Lewis gun operated by the observer in the front of the nacelle, it was the first aircraft purpose-built for air-to-air combat to see service, making it the first operational fighter aircraft in the world. The F.B.5 first flew in July 1914. It was powered by a single 100-hp Gnome Monosoupape 9-cylinder rotary engine driving a two-bladed propeller, and was of simple, clean, and conventional design compared with its predecessors. In total 224 F.B.5s were produced, 119 in Britain by Vickers, 99 in France and 6 in Denmark. The first F.B.5 was delivered to No. 6 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) at Netheravon in November 1914. On 25 December 1914, the first use of the F.B.5 in action took place, when a F.B.5 took off from Joyce Green airfield to engage a German Taube monoplane, hitting the Taube (and possibly causing its loss) with incendiary bullets from a carbine after the Lewis gun jammed. The F.B.5 proved to be inadequate for its intended role. Although its forward firing machine gun was a great advantage, the fighter did not have the speed or rate of climb to pursue. By the end of 1915 it was outclassed. Some examples of the improved Vickers F.B.9 were sent to France, but the F.B.5 was soon withdrawn. The remaining examples were mostly used as trainers.

General characteristics