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Royal Aircraft Factory B.E. 9


Subdeacon Joe

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Posted

It seemed like a good idea at the time....the Royal Air Force B.E.9 fighter.

 

WWI planes were notorious safety hazards, and in fact this whole list could probably consist of only WWI fighter planes. Heavier-than-air aircraft were undoubtedly new, and so some of the follies could be ascribed to lack of testing or wind tunnel data that is present for modern day engineers. Other fatal or nearly-fatal instances can be ascribed purely to stupidity..

 

One example of this is the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E. 9. Before there were interrupter gears to allow a pilot to shoot through a propeller, aircraft designers were scrambling to find a solution for forward facing machine guns. The designers of the B.E. 9 tried to resolve the issue by mounting a wooden box and machine gun in front of the propeller to be used by a co-pilot.

 

There are a couple of reasons why you've never seen an aircraft designed this way. One issue is that the gunner is unable to communicate with the pilot. One instance where this could be an issue is if the gunner or the pilot saw an enemy aircraft, they would be unable to relay that valuable information to their counterpart.

 

The other (much more ominous) drawback is that the gunner had nothing between him and the propeller. Simply leaning back could be fatal. A more common accident was an arm being sucked into propeller because the gunner was turning his Lewis gun. Sometimes even scarves (it is really cold in front of a plane at high altitude) could catch in the propeller with fatal consequences. Not to mention it probably emotionally scarred the pilot for life as chunks of his aviator friend were blown in his face.

 

Not surprising, the B.E. 9 did not make it far past the prototype stage.

 

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https://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft29782.htm

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