Bristol F.2 Fighter - Operational History

Operational History

When initially deployed, aircrews were instructed to maintain formation and use the crossfire of the observers' guns to meet any threat from enemy fighters. This was standard procedure at the time, and worked well for such types as the F.E.2b. For the Bristol, these tactics were flawed and did not withstand the first contact with the enemy. The F.2A arrived on the Western Front in April 1917 as the British launched the Battle of Arras. The very first F.2A patrol of six aircraft from No. 48 Squadron RFC, led by Victoria Cross recipient William Leefe Robinson, ran into five Albatros D.IIIs from Jasta 11 led by Manfred von Richthofen. Four out of the six F.2As were shot down – including Robinson, who was captured – and a fifth was badly damaged.

More flexible, aggressive tactics soon proved that the new Bristol was by no means as ineffective in air-to-air combat as its first encounter with the enemy seemed to indicate. In fact it was eventually realised that the type was fast and manoeuvrable enough to be flown in combat more or less like a single-seat fighter; the pilot's fixed forward-firing gun served as the principal weapon, with the observer's flexible gun serving mainly as an additional "sting in the tail". Flown in this manner the Bristol Fighter was a formidable opponent for any German single-seater.

In September and October 1917, orders for 1,600 F.2Bs were placed and by the end of the First World War, the Royal Air Force had 1,583 F.2Bs in operation. A total of 5,329 aircraft were eventually built, mostly by Bristol but also by Standard Motors, Armstrong Whitworth and even the Cunard Steamship Company. After the war, F.2Bs continued to operate in army cooperation and light bombing roles throughout the British Empire, in particular the Middle East, India and China. The F.2B also served with the New Zealand Permanent Air Force and RAAF as well as with the air forces of Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Greece, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Spain and Sweden. It was not until 1932 that the F.2B was finally withdrawn from RAF service, the last "Brisfit" unit being No. 20 Squadron RAF stationed in India. The type lasted a further three years in New Zealand service.

In 1920 Poland bought 107 Bristol Fighters, thus becoming the second largest user of this type (105 with Hispano-Suiza 300 hp/220 kW engines, two with RR Falcon III). It was most numerous Polish aircraft type at that time. Forty were used during the Polish-Soviet war from July 1920, among others in battle of Warsaw, for reconnaissance and close air support. The rest became operational only after hostilities. Two were shot down by ground fire, one was captured by the Soviets and several were lost in crashes. The survivors served in Poland for reconnaissance and training until 1932.