World War I British Aerospace Aircraft

Digital images of a Bristol Fighter F.2B, a de Havilland DH-4, and a captured Fokker D.VII in service of the Royal Air Force during World War I as well as a contemporary scans of the 1986 publication British Aerospace and 50 Years of the King's Flight and the Queen's Flight.

British Aerospace played a crucial role in supporting the overall Allied forces in the First World War by manufacturing and supplying a wide range of aircraft. Near the end of the war, the British Royal Air Force (succeeding the Royal Flying Corps in April 1918) prominently used Bristol Fighter F.2B and de Havilland DH-4 aircraft with a limited number of Fokker D.VII aircraft. The Bristol Fighter F.2B was a versatile two-seater aircraft employed for reconnaissance, ground-attack missions, and aerial combat. The de Havilland DH-4 served primarily as a bomber, conducting strategic bombing and close air support operations. The German Fokker D.VII aircraft became one of the most coveted biplane fighters of the war when introduced in May 1918 for its handling advancements and ease-of-operations. While established after World War I, British Aerospace's origins begin in 1910 with the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. In 1959, after operations split creating the Bristol Aircraft and Bristol Aero Engines, they merged with several other major British aircraft companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation. British Aerospace officially formed as a new entity in 1977 through the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act that called for the nationalization and merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, and Scottish Aviation.