The F.2B two-seat fighter-reconnaissance aircraft differed from the F.2A in having a revised centre fuselage to provide improved pilot view, an enlarged fuel tank, increased ammunition capacity for the synchronised Vickers gun and a modified lower wing affording a small increase in gross area. New horizontal tail surfaces of greater span and increased aspect ratio were introduced, and after the first 150 F.2Bs had been delivered with the 190hp Rolls-Royce engine - by this time designated Falcon I - the 220hp Falcon II was adopted, this being succeeded in turn by the 275hp Falcon III which powered the majority of the F.2Bs built. F.2B deliveries began on 13 April 1917, and the success of this type led to the decision to re-equip all RFC fighter-reconnaissance squadrons with F.2Bs. Production continued, in the event, until September 1919, by which time a total number of 4,747 had been completed, 3,126 of these by the parent company. Of the final batch, 153 were delivered with the 200hp Sunbeam Arab engine and 18 with the 230hp Siddeley Puma. When the RAF was re-established on a peacetime footing, the F.2B was adopted as standard for the army co-operation role and reinstated in production for this task as the Mk II, others being refurbished to similar standards. Fifty structurally revised aircraft delivered in 1926 were designated as Mk Ills, all surviving aircraft of this mark being converted in 1928 as Mk IVs.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1280 x 872)