Ö 6 - Bristol Fighter F.2B (1926-1934)

Page 1(1)

  


The Bristol Fighter is of many regarded as the best two-seat combat aircraft of WWI. It was from the beginning (1916) intended as a reconnaissance aircraft. It is an equal-span biplane of fabric covered wooden construction. Most of the over 5.000 aircraft manufactured were of the F.2B variant, which successively were upgraded with more and more powerful engines and other improvements.
 
The F.2B first went into action over the Western Front in April 1917 and eventually proved remarkably successful. Many aircraft were also built after the war.
 
One Bristol Fighter Bristol with a Jupiter 425 hp engine participated in the International Aviation Fair ILUG (Internationella Luftfartsutställningen i Göteborg) in Gothenburg 1923. This aircraft, with the civil registration G-EBHG, was purchased by the Army Aviation Company. The plane was fitted with skis and was flown in November to Kiruna, a mining town north of the Arctic Circle, for evaluation in tough winter conditions together with an other British aircraft, an Armstrong Witworth Siskin IIA.
 
Firsthand the engines rather than the aircraft that were to be tested. The Bristol Jupiter engine of the F.2B was a 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine of 425 hp. The nine cylinders were divided into three sections where each section was fed from the same carburettor. This was regarded as an advantage when starting the engine in cold conditions. The competitor, the Siskin, was powered by an Armstrong Siddeley engine without this arrangement.
 
After the completion of the tests, the F.2B was flown (on 6,5 hours including intermediate landings) back to Malmen, reaching warmer latitudes!
 
This odd aircraft was transferred to the newborn Air Force in 1926. It was classified as an advanced trainer and got the designation Ö 6 and the Air Force number 1300. It was based at Wing F 1 at Västerås, where it was used for training and target flying. The aircraft was pleasant to fly and was popular among the pilots. In 1932 it was re-based to Wing F 3 at Malmen and re-numbered 3667. It was officially written off in 1934 due to wear and tear. It was sold in 1935 and transferred to the civil register as SE-AEE. Next year, the aircraft crashed and its story was over.
Photo from 1928.
 
Length: 7,92 m. Span: 11,96 m. MTOW: 1.400 kg. Max. speed: 210 km/h.
 		  

 

 

 

Military Aviation in Sweden - main page
© Lars Henriksson

Updated 2010-07-11