Welcome to another episode of Warbird Wednesday! The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 was a British two-seat general-purpose biplane built by Armstrong Whitworth during the First World War. The type served alongside the better known R.E.8 until the end of the war, at which point 694 F.K.8s remained on RAF charge. In service the F.K.8 (nicknamed the “Big Ack”) proved to be effective and dependable, being used for training, reconnaissance, artillery spotting, ground-attack, contact-patrol and day and night bombing. It was reputedly easier to fly than the R.E.8 and was sturdier but its performance was even more pedestrian and it shared the inherent stability of the Royal Aircraft Factory types. While the pilot and observer were placed reasonably close together, communication between the two lacked the “tap on the shoulder” intimacy of the Bristol Fighter (or the R.E.8 for that matter). Two Victoria Crosses were won by pilots of F.K.8s; one by Second Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod of No. 2 Squadron RFC, on 27 March 1918 and the second by Captain Ferdinand Maurice Felix West of No. 8 Squadron RAF on 10 August 1918.