question about the R.E.8

Hi,

when I saw a painting of an R.E.8 I noticed there stood the following sentence under the gunners cockpit :

do not fly with less than 160 lbs in the gunners compartment

My question is : why couldn't you fly with less than 160 lbs in the G.C. ???

Growing to become a big freak of British 2-seaters I'd really like to know this.And I saved this question for this occasion because I'm on the edge of becoming a two-seater pilot in the forum.

regards,
Gert-Jan

[Lufbery]

I posted a similar question to the forum and the discussion turned to center of gravity and the problem with having an aft CoG. You can read the thread here:

...broken YABB link...

It's a pretty technical discussion, but I learned a lot. I hope this helps.

Oh, FWIW, here's another thread with some info on the Brisfit and the flight controls located in the observer's cockpit:

...broken YABB link...

Regards,

-Drew

[PeterL]

Gert, the threads Drew points to will go into detail but what it boils down to is this; a two seater will fly without a gunner/observer/passenger but not without a pilot. If the rear cockpit is unoccupied then ballast is required to maintain trim.

As an aside, this is the real reason the BE series persisted with a cockpit configuration the reverse of what is now considered normal and sensible. Despense with the observer and you get an increased war load rather than a trim problem.

Interesting topics Drew.

Thank you for your replies.

[Lufbery]

Interesting topics Drew.

Thank you for your replies.

No problem. As you can tell from my posts, I too have recently become more interested in two-seaters.

Regards,

[Michael]

The National Aviation Museum in Ottawa has a BE2D. No RE-8s unfortunately.

[leo]

How mant RE 8's were lost during the war?

[Graeme]

661 on the Western Front.

Of which, 6 Sqn RFC/RAF lost all too many in relentlessly carrying out contact patrols, photo-recce, artillery shoots, etc. - the hard, unglamourous work that was the real point and contribution to victory of the 1914-18 war in the air, no matter what the scout-flying boys might insist on telling you.

Cheers!

(8;¬)}

Simba.

P.S. I have a collection of 'walkaround' pics of the world's only genuine surviving RE8, taken in May 1999 at IWM Duxford. Anyone interested, drop me a line.