The Royal Aircraft Factory N.E.1 was a prototype

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. A single-engined pusher

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, it was a development of the

Royal Aircraft Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

's earlier F.E.9 fighter, but was not successful, only six being built.

Development and design

In 1917, the British

started design of a

development of its F.E.9, the F.E.12. This used the tailbooms, undercarriage and wing centre-sections of the F.E.9, combining them with new, three-bay outer wings and a larger

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

. It was to be armed with a shell firing gun and equipped with two searchlights. The design was revised to produce the N.E.1 (for Night-flying Experimental), with revised wings, new tailbooms and a new, wide track, undercarriage. The first prototype N.E.1 flew on 8 September 1917. It was fitted with a single searchlight in the nose, and with the pilot and gunner sat in tandem, with the pilot seated in front to give a good view. The gunner was to be armed with a 1.59-inch (40-mm) Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II—widely known as the "Vickers-Crayford rocket gun," although it had no

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

-launching capability—or a 1 lb COW gun, and a radio was fitted. It was powered by a 200 hp (149 kW)

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 is a Internal combustion engine cooling, water-cooled V8 engine, V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914 that went on to become the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers ...

engine in a

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

driving a four-bladed propeller. Its three-bay equal span wings were fitted with

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...

s on both upper and lower wings, while the

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

had large horn balances (the amount of control surface forward of the hinge). The first prototype crashed on 14 September 1917, and was rebuilt with a new

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

with the searchlight removed, and the gunner, who was armed with a 1.59-inch (40-mm) Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II, moved ahead of the pilot. A fixed Lewis gun was mounted externally on the starboard side of the fuselage, to be operated by the pilot. It flew in this form on 4 October 1917. Although testing indicated that the N.E.1 was easy to fly and land, and had excellent field of fire for the gunner, the official test report noted "It is doubtful if the performance of this machine is good enough to make it suitable as a night fighter". Despite this, all six prototypes were completed, with the second prototype being sent to No. 78 Squadron, while several of the other aircraft were used for trials.Bruce 1968, p. 65.

Operators

; *

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

** No. 78 Squadron RFC

Specifications

Notes

References

*Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London: Putnam, 1957. *Bruce, J. M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Volume Two Fighters''. London: Macdonald, 1968. . *Lewis, Peter. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. London: Putnam, 1979. . *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1992. . *Williams, Anthony G., and Gustin, Emmanuel. ''Flying Guns: World War I and its Aftermath 1914-32''. Ramsbury, UK: Airlife, 2003. . {{Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft 1910s British fighter aircraft

NE1 NE1, or NE-1, or similar may refer to: * Nebraska Highway 1 * Nebraska's 1st congressional district * New England Interstate Route 1, now U.S. Route 1 * NE1, a postcode district in Newcastle upon Tyne, England; see NE postcode area * National Expre ...

Aircraft first flown in 1917

Development and design

Operators

Specifications

See also

Notes

References