Opponent Airplane Types

Airco D.H.2

A Fighter by Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Engine: 1 Gnome Monosoupape-rotary engine of 75 kW (100hp) (and later a 82 kW Rhône rotary)

Armament: 1 7.62 mm Lewis machinegun with 47-rounds discs)

Forming the equipment of the first British single-seat fighter squadron, the D.H.2 was introduced in 1916 as a sturdy biplane to counter the Fokker E-series. A pusher configuration was selected as the UK lacked a gun interrupter gear; the original mounting allowed elevation of the gun, but this was soon turned into a f...

Airco D.H.4

A Bomber by Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Engine: 1 water-cooled 12 -cylindre Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII 280 kW (375 hp)

Armament: 2 7.7 mm Vickers machine-guns + 2 7.7 mm Lewis machine-guns + 209 kg bombs

The D.H.4, one of the most successful aircraft of the First World War, was specially developed as a bomber. After its maiden flight in August 1916, it was fitted with a Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, which improved its flight performance. Approximately 6,300 units were built, more than two-thirds of which were in the United...

Airco D.H.5

A Fighter by Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

Engine: 1 Le Rhône 9 82 kW (110 hp)

Armament: 1 x 7.7 mm machine gun + 4 x 11.3 kg bombs

The D.H.2 had offered its pilot an excellent field of vision, and in designing the D.H.5 as its replacement with a tractor engine and interrupted gun, de Havilland chose backward stagger of the wings to give the pilot equally good fields of vision. In other respects the D.H.5 was thoroughly conventional, with a wire-br...

B.E.12

A General aircraft by Royal Aircraft Factory.

B.E.2c

A Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Engine: Air-cooled 8 cylinder RAF 1a inline engine 67 kW (90 hp)

Armament: 1 7.7 mm MG and 100 kg bombs

B.E.2d

A Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber by Royal Aircraft Factory.

B.E.2e

A Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber by Royal Aircraft Factory.

B.E.2f

A Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber by Royal Aircraft Factory.

B.E.2g

A Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Bristol F.2a

A Dual Fighter by Bristol Airplane Company.

Bristol F.2b Fighter

A Fighter by Bristol Airplane Company.

Engine: 1 x 12-cylindre Rolls-Royce Falcon III line-engine 205 kW (275 p)

Armament: 3 x 7.7 mm machine-guns + 108 kg bombs

In the period after the First World War, when the Royal Air Force was reducing its fleet, the Bristol F.2B Fighter was one of the most important British fighter aircraft for many years. After RAF pilots had suffered heavy losses during the war with the older F.2A, new, more successful mission procedures were developed...

F.E.2b

A Fighter by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Engine: Liquid-cooled Beardmore inline 119.3 kW (160 hp)

Armament: 1 or 2 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns and an external bomb load of 235 kg)

F.E.2d

Royal Aircraft Factory

F.E.8.

A Fighter by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Engine: 1 Gnome Monosoupape-rotary engine of 75 kW (100hp) (and later a 82 kW Rhône rotary)

Armament: 1 7.7 mm machinegun

F.K.8

A Reconnaissance airplane by Armstrong Whitworth.

Engine: 120/160 hp Beardmore

Armament: 1 Vickers/1 Lewis

Martinsyde G.100

A Bomber by Martinsyde.

Nieuport 17

A Fighter by Nieuport.

Engine: 1 Le Rhône rotary engine (Type 17) with 89 kW (119 HP) or 1 Clerget (Type 17bis) with 97 kW (130 hp)

Armament: 1 7.7 mm Vickers or Lewis machinegun

The Nieuport Type 17 was its manufacturer's most important model and one of the most important fighter planes of the Allies in World War I. As the culmination of Nieuport's development of fighter scouts, it was so successful that it was adopted by most of the Allies, including Russia and the United States. Many top pil...

Nieuport 23

Nieuport

R.E.8

A Observation airplane by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Engine: Air-cooled 12 cylinder V-engine RAF 4a 112kW (150hp)

Armament: 2 or 3 7.7 mm MG's and maximum 116 kg bombs (2x51kg or 4x29kg or 8x9kg)

S.E.5a

A Observation airplane by Royal Aircraft Factory.

Engine: 1 x Hispano-Suiza V-8 149 kW

Armament: 1 x 7.7 mm Vickers machine-gun + 1 x 7.7 Lewis machine-gun + 4 x 18.6 kg bombs

The S.E.5a was one of the best observation aircraft of the First World War. It was designed by H.P. Folland at the Royal Aircraft Factory in Farnborough. After overcoming a few teething problems, the best British pilots achieved great success with it. Despite its angular shape, the well-proportioned S.E.5a was extremel...

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter

A Fighter/Bomber by Sopwith Aviation Company.

Engine: 1 Clerget 99.7 kW (130hp)

Armament: 2 x 7.7 mm machineguns

believed to have been thus nicknamed for the fact that its cabane struts appeared to be interplane struts cut in half, the 1 1/2 Strutter was the first British aeroplane fitted with an interrupted gun, complemented by a trainable gun in the rear cockpit. First flown in December 1915 with an 82 kW (110 hp) Clerget rotar...

Sopwith Dolphin

A Fighter by Sopwith Aviation Company.

Engine: 1 x Hispano-Suiza V-8 149 kW (200 hp)

Armament: 3 or 4 x 7.7 mm machine-guns + 4 x 11.3 kg bombs

Unlike earlier Sopwith fighters the Dolphin was powered by a static engine, and the deep fuselage virtually filled the gap between the backward-staggered wings so that the pilot sat with his head protruding through a gap in the upper-wing centre section for superb fields of vision in the upper hemisphere. The prototype...

Sopwith F.1 Camel

A Fighter by Sopwith Aviation Company.

Engine: 1 x Clerget 9-cylindre air-cooled piston engine 97 kW (131 hp)

Armament: 2 x 7.7 mm Vickers machine-guns + 4 x 11.35 kg bombs

In terms of aircraft destroyed (1294) the Camel was the best British fighter of World War I, and 5490 examples were built. The type was derived conceptually from the Pup, and began to enter service in mid-1917. The nickname Camel resulted from the forward-fuselage hump over the two machine-guns. Power was provided by a...

Sopwith Pup

A Fighter by Sopwith Aviation Company.

Engine: 1 Le Rhône rotary engine 60kW (80 hp)

Armament: 1 7.7 mm Vickers machinegun and max 11.3 kg Cooper-bombs