Single-engine two-seat observation aircraft & trainer

      

     An estimated 20 Royal Aircraft Factory BE2c observation aircraft were acquired by the Belgian Government by mid-1916, most of them going to the Houtem based N° 6 Squadron commanded by Capt. René Hédo. The BE2c was an improved version of a pre-war British design which was optimized for aerial reconnaissance and was therefore very stable, heavy on the controls but this resulting in poor maneuverability. On top of that with its 90HP RAF 1a engine (an uprated version of the French 60HP air-cooled V-8 Renault) the aircraft was desperately underpowered. Adding to that, the observer/gunner was sitting in the front seat limiting his field of view as an observer and having to shoot his gun over the head of the pilot who also had its forward view extremely limited. The British press noticing these drawbacks and the aircraft’s vulnerability to attacks from German Fokker “Eindeckers”, referred to the BE2c as “Fokker Fodder”

     In an effort to improve all of these shortcomings, about half of the Belgian BE2c’s went through an extensive modification program, which included the replacement of the original powerplant by a 150HP Hispano engine and reversing the seating position of pilot and observer while installing a scarf ring mounted machine gun in the rear position. Later on, an additional forward firing synchronized machine gun was also added.  Unfortunately, all of these improvements could not convince the BE2c crews and already as of July 1917 the first aircraft were replaced with N° 6 Squadron by the RE.8.

     A number of unmodified BE2c’s soldiered on until the end of the war at the pilot training school of Etampes and later on at Juvisy-sur-Orge. (Daniel Brackx)

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