Breguet Bre.5

Breguet · France · first flew 1915 · bomber

The Breguet Bre.V B.2 bomber and Bre.V Ca.2 escort fighter were French biplanes of the First World War, developed from the Breguet Bre.IV bomber. They were a refinement of the escort fighter Breguet had designed and Michelin manufactured as the Breguet-Michelin BUC.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	9.9 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Pusher biplane with a Renault 12Fb engine
37 mm Hotchkiss cannon in the front cockpit on the Ca.2 version
Crew of two, pilot and gunner

A two-seat pusher biplane with a gun in the front cockpit. The Bre.12 night fighters were distinguished by a double nosewheel.

Specifications

The Breguet Bre.5 has a length of 9.9 m (32 ft).
It has a wingspan of 17.5 m (57 ft).
Its maximum speed is 136 km/h (85 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The Bre.5 was first intended to carry the 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon of the BUC. At the French Army's request it was revised to carry a 7.7 mm Lewis gun firing rearward from above the upper wing.

Variants

Versions included the Bre.5 B.2 bomber, the Bre.5 Ca.2 cannon-armed escort fighter and the British-built Grahame-White G.W.19 with a Rolls-Royce Falcon. The Bre.6 had a buried 240 hp Canton-Unne radial, and some Bre.5s were rebuilt as Bre.12 night fighters and night bombers.

Where you'll see it

A small number of cannon-armed machines were produced from April 1916 and allotted to bomber units. The Royal Naval Air Service operated 35, ten from Breguet and 25 built in the United Kingdom by Grahame-White, and the French Army and Romanian Air Corps also operated the type.

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