In 1913 the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough commenced the design of a series of aeroplanes suitable for reconnaissance, the aim being to produce a stable machine so the crew could concentrate on the task at hand.

Built by the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, the FE.2 (Fighter Experimental 2) first appeared in 1911, entering production in August 1913 as a fighting scout aircraft.

The BE.12 was a single-seat fighter developed in 1915. The prototype was a re-built BE.2c (serial 1697), being a two-bay equal-span biplane with a Royal Aircraft Factory 4a engine.

In 1912 the Royal Aircraft Factory (formerly the Army Aircraft Factory) produced the BE.2 with a 52 kw (70-hp) Renault engine.

Considered by many to be one of the, if not the, most produced aircraft of all time, with estimates of aircraft completed ranging from 30,000 to 40,000, the Polikarpov PO-2, also known as the U-2, primary trainer biplane flew for the first time on 7 January 1928.

The PC-9 was a development of the very successful PC-7 Turbo-Trainer, the latter having the flat-rated 410 kw (550 shp) PT6A-25 engine and the PC-9 having the PT6A-62, flat-rated at 709 kw (950 shp) for take-off.

Following the interest, and some success, with Triplanes by other manufacturers in Europe, Pfalz developed the Dr.1 Triplane, the prototype of which was powered by a 119 kw (160-hp) Siemens Halske Sh III geared rotary engine.

In the late fifties design and development took place in Poland, Czechoslovakia and the USSR of a series of two-seat military trainers to meet a common requirement, the proposal being that the best design of the three (TS-1 Iskra, L-29 Delfin and Yak 30) would be chosen for use by

Based on the I-180 series, the I-185 was designed in 1940, which itself was developed from the I-16 but was virtually a new design.

Pilatus Flugzeugwerke based at Stans. was established on 16 December 1939 to produce aircraft and one of its designs was the P-3 tandem two-seat trainer (HB-HON) first flown on 3 September 1953.

The Pfalz D.XI appeared at the June 1918 German fighter trials at Adlershof and was shown in two models, one with a Mercedes D.IIIa engine and the other with a BMW III engine.

The Provost replaced the Percival Prentice in service in 1953 as the basic training aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

The fastest biplane ever to see operational service, the I-153 made its operational debut during the Spanish Civil War, during which it became known as the Chaika (Gull).

Since the 1970s Pilatus Aircraft at Stans in Switzerland has been involved in the design and development of turboprop-power trainers for air forces, resulting in the PC-7, PC-9, and later the PC-21

The Plalz D.III or Scout was built by the Pfalz Flugzeug Werke on the Rhine River and designed by Rudolfo Gehringer following the completion of orders for the E-type monoplanes.

The I-16 (known as the Ishak or Rata) was designed by a team headed by Nikolai Polikarpov and was flown for the first time on 31 December 1933 fitted with a 336 kw (450-hp) M-22 engine (licence built Bristol Jupiter) and achieved a max speed of 360 km/h (224 mph).

The P-61 Black Widow was built to meet a USAAF specification issued in 1940 for a large heavily armed night fighter.

In 1954 the USAF issued a requirement for a supersonic trainer and the Northrop Corporation entered the N-156T trainer, at the same time developing a single-seat variant known as the N-156F. The two-seater became the T-38 Talon, the prototype making its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base on 10

The T-28 series of aircraft was designed by North American Aviation as a replacement for that Company’s very successful T-6 series as a standard basic trainer for the US military services, but in the event it was not particularly successful in that role and was developed into a counter insurgency

Following the decision to fit the Rolls Royce Merlin in the Mustang, the Packard Motor Co began licence production of the engine at its Detroit facility, the engine to be fitted to the P-51B.

In 1963 a specifications was evolved by the US Navy for a Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft with mission profiles to cover armed reconnaissance, close air support, helicopter escort, personnel and cargo transportation, photographic and target reconnaissance, and forward air control.

The O-47 was an observation aircraft built for the US Army. Accommodation was provided for three in tandem under a large canopy.

When production ceased, some 15,000 North American NA-16s in a variety of versions had been built in the USA, or under licence in the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Canada, and, in Australia in much modified form as the Wirraway.

In November 1944 North American initiated the design (NA.134) of a high-performance fighter aircraft to be powered by a turbojet engine and in May 1945 a contract was received for three XP-86 single-seat fighters.

The B-25 Mitchell was probably the best all-round light-to medium twin-engine bomber to be operated on the Allied side during World War II. Named after Colonel William (Billy) Mitchell, an exponent of aircraft for bombing, the type became well known when a flight of Mitchells was flown from the flight

The AJ-1 Savage was the first aircraft in the category of bomber with a strategic capability designed and built for the US Navy. On 13 August, 1945 a design competition was announced for a carrier-based aircraft capable of carrying a 4,536 kg (10,000 b) bomb, the contract being awarded to

Development of the Nieuport series continued during World War I, and new models introduced included the Types 23, 24 and 27.

Edouard de Nieuport, one of the pioneers of early flight, began design of a monoplane in 1905, and set up a facility at Suvesnes in 1909 where a number of advanced designs were built under the name Nieuport.

Following the conclusion of World War II large numbers of ex-RAAF aircraft were sold from military bases in Australia as the aircraft were no longer required, most being scrapped for their metal value. Amongst these were Avro Ansons and Airspeed Oxford twin-engine trainers.

The Nakajima Ki-49 series known as the Donryu (Storm Dragon) was designed to supercede the Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber, which was then just entering Japanese Army service, and the prototype (c/n 4901) was first flown in August 1939.

The “Oscar”, as it was known to the allies, proved to be a very successful fighter in combat early in its career.

Work on the Ki.84 series commenced in early 1942, being aimed at eventually replacing the Ki.43 in Imperial Army service. The prototype was rolled out in March 1943 at Ojima airfield.

The J1N1 Gekko (moonlight) was conceived by the Japanese Naval Bureau of Aeronautics in June 1938 for a twin-engine fighter, and the Nakajima Hikoki K K put forward a proposal designed by a team lead by Katsuji Nakamura, which was accepted, a contract being awarded in 1939, and the prototype

The Japanese Navy issued a specification in 1933 for the development of a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft to operate from vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Three new types were entered in the competition, from Aichi, Kawanishi and Nakajima.

The B5N series (Type 97 Attack Bomber) was designed by the Nakajima Aircraft Co Ltd of Ota, Japan as a carrier-borne dive bomber, the prototype fitted with a 574 kw (770-hp) Nakajima Kikari 3 radial engine, first flying in January 1937.

Single-engine fighter and fighter-bomber seaplaneDue to the lack of available airstrips on some of the islands Japanese forces were taking during World War II it was decided to develop a floatplane fighter version of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen fighter, and, as Mitsubishi was fully involved in producing the land-based variant,

The Type L was a parasol wing single or two-seat parasol wing fighter designed in 1914 for surveillance and artillery observation, being built by Morane Saulnier with a single machine gun firing through the arc of the propeller, which was protected by armoured deflector wedges.

The Societe anonyme des Aeroplanes Morane-Borel-Saulnier was founded in 1911 and commenced the construction of aircraft, one of the first, the Morane-Borel monoplane, making a flight from Paris to Madrid from 21 to 26 May that year.

The Model BB was one of a number of fighter designs produced in France during World War I by Societe Anonyme de Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier.

In 1917 Morane-Saulnier designed two fighter aircraft using the fuselage that had been built for the Type AC and which had the Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine.