The Bristol F.2b was a two-seat tractor biplane fighter-reconnaissance aircraft which was to prove to be one of the greatest aircraft of the war and beyond. The original F.2b’s were powered by the Rolls Royce Falcon but there were not enough to go round so a redesign was adapted, mainly of the engine cowling, to house the larger Sunbeam Arab engine making the front of the aircraft more-square as opposed to the original oval design.

The Rolls Royce F.2bs were introduced in March 1917 and along with its counterparts, SE.5, Camel and DH.4, regained air superiority over the Western Front. However, many setbacks meant that the Sunbeam F.2bs did not appear until mid-1918 and due to its underperformance was used for reconnaissance purposes only.

The type was armed with one synchronised Vickers .303 in the nose, firing through a hole in the radiator front, and single or twin Lewis machine gun on a Scarff ring above the observer’s cockpit. Eight 25lb under wing bombs could be fitted also.

One design feature was a floating lower wing which was supported under the fuselage as opposed to across it.

The Sunbeam F.2bs were retired immediately after the war ended but the Rolls-Royce F.2bs were adopted as the main aircraft of the RAF and remained in service until 1932.