Vickers E.F.B.1

The Vickers E.F.B.1, called the Destroyer, was an early British military aircraft prototype. The Experimental Fighting Biplane No. 1 was designed in response to a British Admiralty requirement for an aircraft with an offensive role, which made it the first British aircraft specifically designed for a military role. Vickers received a contract for an experimental prototype on 19 November 1912. It was an unequal-span staggered two-bay pusher biplane with the tailplane on booms and a two-man nacelle above the lower wing, built largely of steel and duralumin, with a belt-fed Vickers-Maxim machine gun at the front of the nacelle. The pusher layout let the gun fire forward because gun synchronisation had not yet been developed. It was shown at the Olympia Aero Show in February 1913 but crashed soon afterwards, possibly on its first flight. The design was promising enough to lead to the Vickers E.F.B.2 and eventually to the F.B.5 Gunbus.