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Failed Designs
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 Overweight and clumsy, the Sopwith Bulldog two-seater biplane was heavily armed with two forward firing machine guns and two independently mounted machine guns in the rear. Only two of them were built during World War I. |
Sopwith Bulldog Country: Great Britain Manufacturer: Sopwith Aviation Company Type: Fighter First Introduced: 1917 Number Built: 2 Engine: Clerget 11B, 200 hp Wing Span: 10.29 m Length: 7 m Height: 2.67 m Empty Weight: 645 kg Gross Weight: 1132 kg Max Speed: 175 km/h Crew: 2 Armament: 4 machine guns |
 The Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.10 was a two-seat quadruplane built for fighting and bombing. Like its predecessor, the F.K.9, it was a poor performer with serious design flaws. Of the fifty aircraft ordered by the Royal Naval Air Service, only eight were delivered. |
Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.10 Country: Great Britain Type: Fighter/Bomber First Introduced: 1916 Number Built: 8 Engine: Clerget 9B, 95kW Wing Span: 8.48 m Length: 6.78 m Height: 3.5 m Empty Weight: 560 kg Gross Weight: 916 kg Max Speed: 153 km/h Endurance: 2.5 hours Crew: 2 Armament: 2 machine guns |
 The creation of C.J.H. MacKenzie-Kennedy, the Kennedy Giant biplane bomber was aptly named. A huge aircraft for its time, it was also a giant design failure. Manufactured in Hayes, England by the Gramophone Company, Ltd., it was constructed out in the open because none of the Northolt Aerodrome hangars were large enough to contain it. Despite its four engines, the Kennedy Giant was so underpowered that once airborne it could do little more than fly in a straight line. |
Kennedy Giant Country: Great Britain Manufacturer: Kennedy Aeroplanes, Ltd. Type: Heavy Bomber First Introduced: 1914 Number Built: 1 Engine: 4 Salmson, 200 hp Wing Span: 142 ft Length: 80 ft Empty Weight: 19,000 lb |
 Unlike other biplane fighters of its day, the Airco D.H.5 featured an unusual wing configuration. By positioning the upper wing toward the rear of the cockpit, designer Geoffrey de Havilland was able to improve the pilot's field of vision. Despite this improvement, at high altitude the D.H.5 was a poor performer due to its underpowered engine. By the end of 1917, it was removed from combat and used as a trainer. |
Airco D.H.5 Country: Great Britain Manufacturer: Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Type: Fighter Entered Service: May 1917 Engine: Le Rhône 9J, rotary, 110 hp Wing Span: 25 ft 8 in 7.82 m Length: 22 ft 6.71 m Height: 9 ft 1½ in 2.78 m Gross Weight: 1,492 lb 677 kg Max Speed: 102 mph 164 km/h Ceiling: 16,000 ft 4,877 m Endurance: 2 hr 45 min Crew: 1 Armament: 1 machine gun |
 The R.E. 7 has been called the most useless airplane ever made, and for some good reasons. Between it's top speed and the speed at which it stalled and spun out of control there was a margin of only twenty miles an hour. It was intended to have a top speed of 80 mph, but it usually managed only 60, and it's stall speed was 48 mph. This made take-offs, landings and manoeuvring in the air very difficult. It came armed with a forward firing machine gun mounted oblique to the aircraft to avoid the propeller. This made it very difficult to hit anything, as the aircraft had to be crabbed to one side when aiming at another plane. The observer could not stand, or turn around like in later aircraft, so a machine gun in the back was nearly ineffective as the observer had to aim it by leaning back and swivelling the gun while looking over his shoulder. |
RAF RE8 Country: Great Britain Manufacturer: Royal Aircraft Factory First Introduced: 1915 Type: Reconnaissance/Bomber Number Built: 250 Engine: Royal Aircraft Factory 4a, 12 cylinder, 150 hp Speed: 82 mph (37 km/h) Ceiling: 6,500 ft (1980 m) Crew: 2 Armament: 4 x Machine guns 1 x 500 lb bomb |
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Original material copyright © 7/8/99 W. Ira Boucher. All Rights Reserved. |
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