John Rickard <j...@rickard.karoo.co.uk>

This week we post part four of our series on Operation Downfall, the
planned invasion of Japan, add a picture gallery devoted to the de
Havilland Mosquito and continue our series on British aircraft of the
First World War with the R.E. series and the B.E.8 to B.E.12.

SECOND WORLD WAR

Part four of our series on Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of
Japan, looks at the Allied plans for Operations Olympic and Coronet.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_downfall4.html

This week we open a picture gallery devoted to the de Havilland
Mosquito
http://www.historyofwar.org/pictures_Mosquito.html

ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY R.E. SERIES

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.1 was a refined version of the B.E.2,
originally designed to be light enough to carry armour plating without
reducing its performance but that was actually used as a test bed for
experiments in stability
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE1.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory H.R.E.2 was a floatplane biplane with some
similarity to the B.E.2, developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory in
1913-14.

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.3 was a two-seat reconnaissance
aircraft similar to the R.E.2 with its floats removed but with a more
powerful Austro-Daimler engine.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE3.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.4 was a design for an aircraft capable
of operating from small fields surrounded by high trees.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE4.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 was the first aircraft in the
Factory's Reconnaissance Experiment series to enter production,
although only in small numbers.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE5.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory H.R.E.6 was a design for a three-seat
floatplane biplane.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_HRE6.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7 was based on a high altitude version
of the R.E.5. Although it was produced in relatively large numbers the
Royal Flying Corps never really had a use for the aircraft and its
front line career only lasted for six months in the first half of
1916.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE7.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was the standard Corps Reconnaissance
aircraft of the RFC and RAF in the second half of the First World War
and superseded the B.E.2c and B.E.2e, the much maligned aircraft that
had performed that role since 1914
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE8.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.9 was a version of the R.E.8 that had
its unequal span wings replaced with the two-bay equal span wings of
the B.E.2d.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_RE9.html

ROYAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY B.E.8 to B.E.12

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 was a member of the B.E.2 family that
was powered by a Gnome rotary engine.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE8.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8a was produced by fitting the rotary
engined B.E.8 with the wings of the B.E.2c, giving it ailerons in
place of the wing warping controls of the basic B.E.8.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE8a.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 was one of the more unusual aircraft
to be designed during the First World War and was a tractor biplane
with a gun position mounted in front of the propeller.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE9.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.10 was to have been a version of the
B.E.2c constructed with a steel-tube fuselage instead of the wooden
frame of the standard B.E.2c.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE10.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 was a single seat version of the B.E.
2c with a more powerful engine, originally designed to operate as a
bomber or photographic reconnaissance aircraft, tasks for which the
second crewman of the B.E.2c was not required
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE12.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12a was produced in an attempt to
improve the performance of the single seat B.E.12 by giving it the
wings from the B.E.2e, which at the time was believed to be a vast
improvement on the basic B.E.2c
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE12a.html

The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12b was a higher powered version of the
basic B.E.12 that was designed as a Home Defence aircraft but that
entered service after the Zeppelin raids it was designed to counter
had almost stopped.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_RAF_BE12b.html