Vickers F.B.24

The Vickers F.B.24 was a British two-seat fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War, of which only a few prototypes were built. Vickers Limited had designed several aircraft around the unreliable 150 hp Hart radial engine, including the F.B.12 pusher and the tractor F.B.16, and the F.B.24 was the third. When the Hart was abandoned before the first prototype was finished in December 1916, the Hispano-Suiza 8 was chosen instead. The first two prototypes used a 150 hp Hispano-Suiza and were converted to 200 hp to become the F.B.24D, a two-bay biplane in which the pilot and observer sat close together in open cockpits but the pilot had a very poor view. Later versions raised the fuselage to improve the view, and the F.B.24C used a 275 hp Lorraine-Dietrich V8 and was tested by the French, who found its climb not as good as Vickers claimed. The Bristol F.2 Fighter was preferred and the type was not adopted.