Editing Airco DH.2 (section)

==Development==
By the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineer]] [[Geoffrey de Havilland]] was already an experienced aircraft designer, having been responsible for the experimental [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.1]], [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2]]  and [[Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2|Blériot Scout B.S.1]], the B.S.1 being the fastest British aircraft of its day.<ref name = "bruce 3"/> In June 1914, de Havilland left the [[Royal Aircraft Factory]] for [[Airco]], where he continued work on his own designs, the first being the [[Airco DH.1]], which followed a similar formula to that of the F.E.2.<ref name = "bruce 3">Bruce 1966, p. 3.</ref>

Early air combat over the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] indicated the need for a single-seat fighter with a forward-firing machine gun. At this point in time, there was no dominant approach to arming fighters, but a pusher configuration was one answer.<ref name = "bruce 34">Bruce 1966, pp. 3-4.</ref> As no means of firing forward through the propeller of a tractor aeroplane was yet available to the British, Geoffrey de Havilland designed the DH.2 as a scaled-down, single-seat development of the earlier two-seat DH.1. Aviation author J.M Bruce speculated that, had adequate [[synchronization gear|synchronisation gear]] been available, de Havilland may have been less likely to pursue a pusher configuration.<ref name = "bruce 3"/>

While it is popularly viewed as a response to the emergence of Germany's [[Fokker Eindecker]] [[monoplane]] fighters, its development was not specifically targeted at the type, having commenced prior to the Eindecker's arrival.<ref name = "bruce 4">Bruce 1966, p. 4.</ref> The first prototype DH.2 performed its first flight in July 1915.<ref name="mason fighter p42">Mason 1992, p. 42.</ref> Following the completion of its manufacturing trials, on 26 July 1915, the prototype was dispatched to France for operational evaluation,<ref name = "bruce 4"/> but was lost over the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and was captured by the Germans.<ref name = "bruce 45"/>

Despite the prototype's premature loss, the DH.2 was ordered into quantity manufacture.<ref name = "bruce 5">Bruce 1966, p. 5.</ref> The production aircraft was generally similar to the prototype with the only major alterations being a fuel system and a revised gun mounting arrangement. Deliveries of the DH.2 commenced during the latter half of 1915 and a handful of aircraft were reportedly operating in France prior to the year's end.<ref name = "bruce 56">Bruce 1966, pp. 5-6.</ref> A total of 453 DH.2s were produced by Airco.<ref name="Airco DH-2">[http://www.classicfighters.co.nz/ac/dh2/index.shtml Airco DH-2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212124216/http://www.classicfighters.co.nz/ac/dh2/index.shtml |date=12 February 2008 }}</ref>