List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps explained

This is a list of aircraft used by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) from 13 April 1912, when it was formed from the Air Battalion Royal Engineers, until 1 April 1918 when it was merged with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) to form the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RFC operated in parallel with the RNAS, whose aircraft are listed at List of aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service. For a list of Royal Air Force aircraft see List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force.

Operational aeroplanes

Operational aeroplanes

Aircraft	Role	First flight	Introduced to RFC service
Airco DH.1^[1]	Fighter / General purpose	January 1915	1915
Airco DH.2^[2]	Fighter	July 1915	1915
Airco DH.4^[3]	Light bomber / General purpose	August 1916	January 1917
Airco DH.5^[4]	Fighter	August 1916	May 1917
Airco DH.6^[5]	Trainer	1916	1917
Airco DH.9^[6]	Bomber	July 1917	November 1917
Airco DH.9A^[7]	Light bomber/General purpose	March 1918	Introduced to the RAF in 1918
Armstrong Whitworth F.K.2^[8]	General purpose	1915	1915
Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3^[9]	General purpose / Trainer	1915	1916
Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8^[10]	Bomber / Reconnaissance	May 1916	June 1916
Avro Type E/Es/500^[11]	General purpose	3 March 1912	1912
Avro 504^[12]	Trainer / Fighter	18 September 1913	1913
Blériot XI^[13]	Trainer / Reconnaissance	23 January 1909	1912
Blériot XII^[14]	Sport	21 May 1909	Operated by the Balloon School, not the RFC
Blériot XXI^[15]	Reconnaissance	February 1911	1911
Blériot Parasol Monoplane^[16]	Observation / Trainer / Light bomber	23 January 1909	1912
Breguet Type III^[17]	Experimental	1910	?
Bristol Boxkite^[18]	Trainer	30 July 1910	1911 (for the Air Battalion)
Bristol-Coanda Monoplane^[19]	Trainer	1912	?
Bristol F.2A and F.2B Fighter^[20] ^[21]	Fighter / Reconnaissance	9 September 1916	Late 1916
Bristol Scout^[22]	Reconnaissance / Fighter	23 February 1914	1914
Bristol M.1^[23]	Fighter	14 July 1916	1917
Caudron G.III^[24]	Reconnaissance	Late 1913	?
Curtiss JN-3^[25]	Trainer	?	March 1915^[26]
Curtiss JN-4A^[27]	Trainer	1915	1917
Curtiss JN-4 (Canadian)^[28] ^[29]	Trainer	?	1917
Deperdussin TT^[30]	General purpose	1912	?
Farman HF.20^[31]	Reconnaissance	1913	?
Farman HF.27^[32]	Reconnaissance	?	?
Farman MF.7 Longhorn^[33]	Reconnaissance	1913	?
Farman MF.11 Shorthorn^[34]	Reconnaissance / Bomber	1913	?
FBA Type B^[35]	Reconnaissance (flying boat)	?	?
Grahame-White Type XV^[36]	Trainer	1913	?
Martinsyde S.1^[37]	Fighter	1914	?
Martinsyde G.100 & 102^[38]	Fighter-bomber	1915	mid-1916
Morane-Saulnier G^[39]	Reconnaissance	1912	?
	Reconnaissance	1913	?
Morane-Saulnier BB^[40]	Observation	1915	?
Morane-Saulnier I^[41]	Fighter	March 1916	?
Morane-Saulnier L^[42]	Reconnaissance	August 1913	?
Morane-Saulnier LA^[43]	Reconnaissance	?	?
Morane-Saulnier N^[44]	Fighter	22 July 1914	?
	Fighter	April 1916	?
Morane-Saulnier P^[45]	Reconnaissance	1914	?
Nieuport II.N^[46]	Sport	1910	?
Nieuport IV.G^[47]	Reconnaissance	1911	1911 (for the Air Battalion)
Nieuport 12^[48]	Reconnaissance / Fighter / Trainer	1915	?
Nieuport 16^[49]	Fighter	1916	?
Nieuport 17 & 23^[50]		January 1916	?
Nieuport 20^[51]		1915	?
Nieuport 23bis^[52]		?	?
Nieuport 24 & 24bis^[53]		1917	?
Nieuport 27^[54]		1917	?
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.1^[55]		4 December 1911	?
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2^[56]		1 February 1912	?
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3 & 4^[57]		3 May 1912	1912
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.7^[58]		?	?
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 & 8a^[59]		1913	1914
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12^[60]		28 July 1915	1 August 1916
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2^[61]		February 1914	September 1915
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8^[62]		September 1915	2 August 1916
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.1^[63]	Reconnaissance	July 1913	?
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5^[64]	Reconnaissance / artillery observation	1914	1914
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7^[65]	Light bomber and reconnaissance	1915	1915
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8^[66]		?	?
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2^[67]		?	?
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4a^[68]		?	?
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 & 5a^[69]		?	?
Short School Biplane (S.43 & 44)^[70]		?	?
Short S.62^[71]		?	?
		?	?
Short Type 827^[72]		?	?
Short Bomber^[73]		?	?
Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter^[74]		?	?
		?	?
Sopwith 80 hp Biplane^[75]		?	?
Sopwith Camel^[76]		December 1916	June 1917
Sopwith Dolphin^[77]		May 1917	February 1918
Sopwith Pup^[78]		February 1916	October 1916
Sopwith Salamander^[79]		April 1918	November 1918
Sopwith Snipe^[80]		October 1917	August 1918
Sopwith Tabloid^[81]		?	?
SPAD S.VII^[82]		?	?
SPAD S.XIII^[83]		?	?
Vickers Boxkite (Vickers-Farman)^[84]		?	?
Vickers E.S.1^[85]		?	?
Vickers F.B. 'Gun Carrier'/'Fighting Biplanes'^[86]		?	?
Vickers F.B.5^[87]	Fighter	17 July 1914	November 1914
Vickers F.B.9^[88]		?	?
Vickers F.B.12^[89]		?	?
Vickers F.B.14^[90]		?	?
Vickers F.B.19^[91]		?	?
Voisin III & V^[92]		?	?

Airships

The airship service was disbanded 1 January 1914 and all airships transferred to the RNAS. See List of British airships

• • British Army Airship No.3/Baby/Beta/Beta II No.2A – 1910–
• Delta – 1912–1914
• Epsilon I and Epsilon II –
• Eta 1913–1914^[93]
• Clément-Bayard II Zeta 1910–1910
• Lebaudy Morning Post 1910–1911 ^[94]

Prototypes

• ASL Valkyrie^{[95] [96]}
• Airco DH.3^[97]
• Armstrong Whitworth F.K.7^[98]
• Armstrong Whitworth F.K.9^[99]
• Armstrong Whitworth F.K.10^[100]
• Avro 521^[101]
• Beatty-Wright Biplanes^[102]
• Bristol-Prier Monoplane^[103]
• Bristol TB.8 & G.B.75^[104]
• Bristol S.2A^[105]
• Caproni Ca.1^{[106] [107]}
• Caudron Type C/45 hp ^[108]
• Caudron G.IV^[109]
• Caudron R.XI^[110]
• Cody V biplane^[111]
• Curtiss C-1 Canada^[112]
• Dunne D.8^[113]
• Farman Type Militaire, 1910^[114]
• Flanders F.4^[115]
• Grahame-White Type VII & VIIc^[116]
• Grahame-White Type VIII^[117]
• Grahame-White Pusher Biplane^[118]
• Grahame-White School Biplane^[119]
• Handley Page Type O/400^{[120] [121]}
• Howard Wright biplane^[122]
• Martin-Handasyde Monoplane^[123]
• Martinsyde F.3^{[120] [124]}
• Morane-Saulnier AC^[125]
• Paulhan biplane^[126]
• Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9^[127]
• Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.4^[128]
• Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.9^[129]
• Royal Aircraft Factory N.E.1
• Short Tractor Biplane^[130]
• Sopwith Sparrow^[131]
• Sopwith Triplane^[132]
• SPAD S.XII^[133]
• Vickers F.B.7/7A^[134]
• Vickers F.B.27 Vimy^{[120] [135]}
• Vickers F.B.26 Vampire

• Wright Model H^{[136] [137]}

Unmanned aerial vehicles

• British unmanned aerial vehicles of World War I

List of weapons of the Royal Flying Corps

Bombs

• Cooper bombs
• Ranken darts

Rockets

• Le Prieur rocket - Incendiary air-to-air rockets

Machine guns

• 0.303-inch (7.7-mm) Lewis gun
• 0.303-inch (7.7-mm) Vickers machine gun

References

Bibliography

• Book: Bain, Gordon. De Havilland: A Pictorial Tribute. London. AirLife. 1992. 1-85648-243-X.
• Book: Barnes, C. H.. Bristol Aircraft Since 1910. London. Putnam. 1964. 0-370-00015-3.
• Book: Bruce, J. M.. British Aeroplanes 1914-18. London. Putnam. 1957.
• Book: Bruce, J. M.. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing). London. Putnam. 1982. 0-370-30084-X.
• Book: Davis, Mick. Sopwith Aircraft. Crowood Press. Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK. 1999. 1-86126217-5.
• Book: Driver, Hugh. The Birth of Military Aviation: Britain 1903-1914. The Boydel Press for the Royal Historical Society. Woodbridge. 1997. 0-86193234-X.
• Book: Goodall, Michael H.. Albert Tagg. British Aeroplanes Before the Great War. Schiffer Publishing. 2000. 0764312073.
• Book: Hare, Paul R.. The Royal Aircraft Factory. Putnam. London. 1990. 0-85177-843-7.
• Book: Castle, Ian . British Airships 1905-30. Osprey Publishing. 2009. 9781472800664.
• Book: Jackson, A. J.. Avro Aircraft since 1908. Putnam Publishing. London. 1965 . 65-17460.
• Book: Jackson, A. J.. De Havilland Aircraft since 1909. Putnam Publishing. London. third. 1987. 0-85177-802-X.
• Book: Knight, Brian. Nieuports in RNAS, RFC and RAF Service. Cross & Cockade International. London, UK. 2011. 978-0955573439.
• Book: Sanger, Ray. Nieuport Aircraft of World War One. Crowood Press. Wiltshire. 2002. 978-1861264473.
• Book: Whale, George. British Airships: Past Present and Future . Bastian Books . 2008. Toronto, Canada. 124. 978-0-554-30772-5.
• Book: Mowethorpe, Ces. Battlebags British Airships of the First World War. 1995. Alan Sutton Publishing. Gloucestershire, UK. 0-7509-0989-7.

Notes and References

1. Bruce, 1982, pp. 38–40.
2. Bruce, 1982, pp. 41–46.
3. Bruce, 1982, pp. 49–61.
4. Bruce, 1982, pp. 61–66.
5. Bruce, 1982, pp. 66–71.
6. Bruce, 1982, pp. 72–78.
7. Bruce, 1982, pp. 78–83.
8. Bruce, 1982, pp. 90–93.
9. Bruce, 1982, pp. 93–99.
10. Bruce, 1982, pp. 100–105.
11. Bruce, 1982, pp. 110–112.
12. Bruce, 1982, pp. 112–120.
13. Bruce, 1982, pp. 128–132.
14. Bruce, 1982, pp. 133–135.
15. Bruce, 1982, pp. 135–137.
16. Bruce, 1982, pp. 138–141.
17. Bruce, 1982, pp. 142–147.
18. Bruce, 1982, pp. 148–151.
19. Bruce, 1982, pp. 153–156.
20. Bruce, 1982, pp. 169–174.
21. Bruce, 1982, pp. 174–180.
22. Bruce, 1982, pp. 161–167.
23. Bruce, 1982, pp. 180–184.
24. Bruce, 1982, pp. 191–194.
25. Bruce, 1982, pp. 201–204.
26. Web site: Curtiss J / JN.
27. Bruce, 1982, pp. 209–211.
28. Operated by the RFC Canada.
29. Bruce, 1982, pp. 211–215.
30. Bruce, 1982, pp. 215–220.
31. Bruce, 1982, pp. 229–234.
32. Bruce, 1982, pp. 234–238.
33. Bruce, 1982, pp. 238–241.
34. Bruce, 1982, pp. 241–247.
35. Bruce, 1982, pp. 247–249.
36. Bruce, 1982, pp. 259–261.
37. Bruce, 1982, pp. 272–276.
38. Bruce, 1982, pp. 276–280.
39. Bruce, 1982, pp. 285–289.
40. Bruce, 1982, pp. 303–306.
41. Bruce, 1982, pp. 301–303.
42. Bruce, 1982, pp. 289–292.
43. Bruce, 1982, pp. 292–296.
44. Bruce, 1982, pp. 296–303.
45. Bruce, 1982, pp. 306–312.
46. Bruce, 1982, pp. 318–319.
47. Bruce, 1982, pp. 315–319.
48. Bruce, 1982, pp. 320–325.
49. Bruce, 1982, pp. 326–328.
50. Bruce, 1982, pp. 328–333.
51. Bruce, 1982, pp. 323–325.
52. Knight, 2011, p.149
53. Bruce, 1982, pp. 334–336.
54. Bruce, 1982, pp. 337–338.
55. Bruce, 1982, pp. 341–344.
56. Bruce, 1982, pp. 344–370.
57. Bruce, 1982, pp. 370–375.
58. Bruce, 1982, pp. 375–376.
59. Bruce, 1982, pp. 377–381.
60. Bruce, 1982, pp. 385–397.
61. Bruce, 1982, pp. 397–426.
62. Bruce, 1982, pp. 431–436.
63. Bruce, 1982, pp. 440–444.
64. Bruce, 1982, pp. 445–451.
65. Bruce, 1982, pp. 451–458.
66. Bruce, 1982, pp. 458–464.
67. Bruce, 1982, pp. 464–468.
68. Bruce, 1982, pp. 468–471.
69. Bruce, 1982, pp. 471–481.
70. Bruce, 1982, pp. 482–483.
71. Bruce, 1982, pp. 486–487.
72. Bruce, 1982, pp. 487–488.
73. Bruce, 1982, pp. 489–490.
74. Bruce, 1982, pp. 499–509.
75. Bruce, 1982, pp. 491–493.
76. Bruce, 1982, pp. 522–535.
77. Bruce, 1982, pp. 535–544.
78. Bruce, 1982, pp. 512–519.
79. Bruce, 1982, pp. 550–552.
80. Bruce, 1982, pp. 544–549.
81. Bruce, 1982, pp. 493–498.
82. Bruce, 1982, pp. 553–558.
83. Bruce, 1982, pp. 561–564.
84. Bruce, 1982, pp. 564–565.
85. Bruce, 1982, pp. 576–581.
86. Bruce, 1982, pp. 566–568.
87. Bruce, 1982, pp. 569–573.
88. Bruce, 1982, pp. 582–584.
89. Bruce, 1982, pp. 585–590.
90. Bruce, 1982, pp. 590–596.
91. Bruce, 1982, pp. 597–601.
92. Bruce, 1982, pp. 606–610.
93. http://www.airshipmanual.net/c-i-gbr-08.html D'Orcy's Airship Manual - Royal Aircraft Factory (formerly Army Balloon Factory), Farnborough
94. Ian, 2009, pp.
95. No serial assigned, donated aircraft probably not flown by the RFC.
96. Bruce, 1982, pp. 35–37.
97. Bruce, 1982, pp. 46–49.
98. Bruce, 1982, pp. 100–101.
99. Bruce, 1982, pp. 106–108.
100. Bruce, 1982, pp. 106–109.
101. Bruce, 1982, pp. 120–122.
102. Bruce, 1982, pp. 123–128.
103. Bruce, 1982, pp. 151–153.
104. Bruce, 1982, pp. 156–160.
105. Bruce, 1982, pp. 168–169.
106. Abandoned en route during delivery flight, no serial assigned.
107. Bruce, 1982, pp. 185–189.
108. Bruce, 1982, pp. 189–191.
109. Bruce, 1982, pp. 194–196.
110. Bruce, 1982, pp. 196–198.
111. Bruce, 1982, pp. 198–200.
112. Bruce, 1982, pp. 204–220.
113. Bruce, 1982, pp. 221–223.
114. Bruce, 1982, pp. 223–226.
115. Bruce, 1982, pp. 249–251.
116. Bruce, 1982, pp. 254–256.
117. Bruce, 1982, pp. 256–258.
118. Bruce, 1982, pp. 258–259.
119. Bruce, 1982, pp. 252–253.
120. Ordered by the RFC but delivered to the Royal Air Force.
121. Bruce, 1982, pp. 261–268.
122. Bruce, 1982, pp. 269–270.
123. Bruce, 1982, pp. 271–272.
124. Bruce, 1982, pp. 280–285.
125. Bruce, 1982, pp. 312–314.
126. Bruce, 1982, pp. 338–341.
127. Bruce, 1982, pp. 381–385.
128. Bruce, 1982, pp. 426–430.
129. Bruce, 1982, pp. 436–440.
130. Bruce, 1982, pp. 484–485.
131. Bruce, 1982, pp. 509–512.
132. Bruce, 1982, pp. 519–523.
133. Bruce, 1982, pp. 559–560.
134. Bruce, 1982, pp. 574–576.
135. Bruce, 1982, pp. 602–605.
136. Bruce, 1982, pp. 614–616.
137. No serial assigned, previous model B out of service before 1912.