Lance, Chris and I have been looking at which of the five kit variants (A-E) would equate to Captain McKeever's aircraft. We opted for the "A" variant for the following reasons:
a. McK’s a/c was serialled “A-7288”
b. On Page 6 of the WNW instruction, the kit “A” version is the only one that uses what appears to be an earlier version of the undercarriage. The rest use a possibly later, stronger u/c version.
c. Page 21 shows the colour schemes. The kit “A” version is serialled “B1112,” which is obviously later than McK’s A-7288. The remaining four a/c are all serialled further along in the sequencing: B1330, C814, C4619 and D8084. If the “A” version is the earliest of the five marking options offered, then McK’s Biff must have been built earlier than the kit “A” version.
d. By comparison, then, McK’s a/c must be of the same vintage as the kit “A” version, and therefore would be a kit “A” version build.
McK was posted to 11 Sqn May 1917. 11 Sqn converted to Biffs in June 1917. It is almost certain that the squadron received several, if not all, a/c bearing an early series of serial numbers, hence A-7288, A-7127, A-7231, as shown on pages 2 and 3 of the Windsock Datafile for the Biff. The old Profile on the Biff provides the following quote:
"Two hundred more Bristols, numbered A7101 – A7300, had been ordered in November [1916].” These were the first F.2B variants, after the initial batch of fifty, A3305 – A3354 (F.2A variant) had been delivered. A further reference indicates that the RFC serial allocation for B901 - B1500 was the first major block assigned for the year 1917. We find the kit "A" version (B1330) in this block of serials. We believe that these references further substantiate the use of the “A” kit variant as the way to go for McK’s a/c.
Thanks to Chris and Lance for their input into our discussions. Happy to hear from any Forumite who has anything further to add!
