[Nick Forder]

Given that the RFC had chosen the BE2 as its ‘benchmark’- and Frederick Sykes was prevented from standardizing the RFC on this single type only due to the ‘pusher’ lobby (who preferred the downwards view, and saw the AMC licenced Farman as a cheap alternative to continuing development of the FE2) – and, to quote Morrow, “the concentration on reconnaissance and artillery spotting led armies to prefer slow, stable two-seat airplanes (sic) whose top speed in 1914 was 65 to 75 mph”, why did the RFC order the Sopwith ?