On July 25 1915 the first squadron of any air arm created specifically as a fighter unit, and equipped exclusively with a single type, arrived in France. The unit was No.11 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the aeroplane was the Vickers Fighting Biplane No.5. In pre-war days, the pusher was dubbed the 'Gun Bus', an unofficial soubriquet it has borne ever since, and it remains one of the immortals of WWI aviation history. The Victoria Cross was awarded to just 19 airmen in The Great War, one of these went to 2nd Lieutenant Gilbert Insall, a FB5 pilot of No.11 Squadron, for an action on November 7 1915 when with his observer/gunner Air Mechanic T H Donald he brought down an Aviatik. Following their attack the FB5 crew themselves were brought down by ground fire over German-held territory, Insall making a good landing, after which they were subjected to heavy shellfire until darkness fell. The airmen managed to repair the FB5's holed fuel tank and at dawn flew back to their airfield at Bertangles. Donald wa s awarded a DCM. This is the first ever monograph to be published on the Vickers FB5, a pictorial tribute which is long overdue...
Название: Vickers FB5 (Windsock Datafile 56)
Издательство: Albatros Productions Limited
Год издания: 1996
Автор: J. M. Bruce
ISBN: 0948414758
Язык: английский
Страниц: 40 pages
Формат: PDF
Размер: 46.5 МБ
Скачать бесплатно / free download
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