1913, France: Morane-Saulnier L
|
|
|
The brothers Leon and Robert Morane designed this monoplane with fellow engineer Raymond Saulnier in 1913. The fragile L was meant for reconnaissance, but by the war's start Saulnier had attached steel plates to the plane's propeller, allowing the pilot to fire rounds from a fixed 8-millimeter Hotchkiss machine gun without bombarding the propeller. (The plates deflected bullets away from the propeller blades.) French ace Roland Garros tested the Morane-Saulnier L in April of 1915 and scored three victories in as many weeks. By month's end, the Germans had managed to capture the airplane (note the German insignia painted on the tail) and they began work on a copy.
|
1915, Germany: Fokker Eindecker
|
|
|
This plane was a nearly exact copy of the Morane-Saulnier L, except that it
featured aircraft designer Anthony Fokker's signature tail design and a
synchronized machine gun firing mechanism, the first of its kind. Fokker fitted
his Eindeckers with a forward-facing 8-millimeter gun, which could fire its
bullets between the moving propeller blades without causing bullets to ricochet
off them. Though the Eindeckers were underpowered and slow, their firing
mechanism marked a major step forward in aerial combat and gave the Germans
total air superiority during the 1915 "Fokker Scourge."
|
1915, Britain: De Havilland D.H.2
|
|
|
As an answer to the Fokker Eindecker, Geoffrey de Havilland designed the D.H.2
biplane, his second aircraft for the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company.
The plane was a so-called "pusher"—its rear-mounted engine and propeller
pushed the aircraft forward from the rear rather than pulling it from the
front. This design enabled the D.H.2 to carry a fixed, forward-facing machine
gun that did not interfere with the propeller. With its excellent climbing
speed and high level of maneuverability, the D.H.2 helped end the "Fokker
Scourge" by early 1916.
|
1916, France: Nieuport 17
|
|
|
Gustave Delage's Nieuport 17 biplane made its debut in March 1916 and was a
favorite of many Allied aces, including Englishman Philip Fullard, who scored
40 victories piloting his Nieuport 17. The plane was highly maneuverable and
easily outperformed the Fokker Eindecker; within a few weeks of its debut,
German high command ordered its engineers to copy the plane. Delage fitted the
Nieuport 17 with a synchronized Vickers machine gun, the first Allied plane to
feature this technology. The Nieuport was not without flaws, however, the most
worrisome being a tendency to lose its lower wings in steep dives.
|
1916, France: SPAD VII
|
|
|
This French Air Service fighter, armed with a synchronized Vickers .303 machine
gun, made its first combat flight in July 1916 and immediately showed great
promise. Like the Nieuport 17 that it replaced, the plane was agile in the air,
yet it was more rugged and could make steep, swift dives without
disintegrating. Pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American pilots
who joined the Allied air effort in France, flew SPAD VII single-seaters almost
exclusively from the time they officially joined the war effort in 1916.
|
1916, Britain: Sopwith Triplane
|
|
|
The Sopwith Triplane's stack of three wings combined ample wing area with a
narrow width (or "chord"), giving it significantly more climbing power and
maneuverability than its biplane counterparts. The Sopwith's pilots also
enjoyed excellent visibility from its cockpit, the lack of which was a problem
in many popular biplanes, including the SPAD VII. The triple-decker
construction of this Sopwith profoundly influenced aircraft designs in other
countries, particularly Germany. Within months of the Triplane's first flights
nearly every German airplane manufacturer was hard at work designing a triplane
of its own.
|
1917, Germany: Albatros D. III
|
|
|
German manufacturer Albatros Works unveiled the Albatros D. III biplane in
January 1917. The plane featured V-struts between its wings, which allowed for
a shorter lower wing. Pilots of the Albatros could see their targets and the
terrain below much more readily with this design, which gave them an edge in
dogfights. Manfred von Richthofen, later dubbed the "Red Baron," was among the
first to fly the Albatros, and he experienced firsthand its weakness: the
V-struts could cause the lower wings to twist and crack apart in flight.
|
1917, Germany: Fokker Dr. I
|
|
|
This triplane was the signature plane of Baron von Richthofen, whose
red-painted model inspired his moniker, the "Red Baron." Modeled after the
Sopwith Triplane, the German plane boasted all of the earlier plane's
advantages. It was small, lightweight, and nimble, yet it could easily outclimb
its opponents. A Dr. I pilot had excellent visibility from the cockpit, where
he used special firing buttons to operate two synchronized 8-milimeter Spandau
machine guns. These characteristics, along with the fact that Fokker had
designed the plane without relying on the standard wing-bracing wires that were
easily shot apart during combat, made it a superb dogfighter.
|
1917, Britain: Sopwith Camel
|
|
|
This famous biplane accounted for more aerial victories than any other Allied
aircraft during the war, destroying over 1,200 enemy fighters. The plane
acquired the name "Camel" from its twin Vickers .303 machine guns, which were
housed in a camel-like "hump" at the front of the plane. Proud pilots liked to
add that the aircraft also behaved like a camel: it seemed docile but was quick
to bite when agitated. The plane's success was largely due to its extreme
maneuverability, but these characteristics also killed many an inexperienced
pilot in vicious spins.
|
1918, Germany: Fokker D. VII
|
|
|
Having honed their aviation engineering skills by the final year of the war,
the Germans released their best aircraft, Fokker's D. VII, less than a year
before armistice. The Red Baron had championed the plane's design during its
development phase, and in January 1918 he tested the plane in trials, though he
was killed just days before it officially entered combat, in April of that
year. Equipped with a state-of-the art BMW engine and a thick airfoil, the
biplane behaved nimbly at all speeds—even at an almost standstill—and was
credited with making expert pilots out of mediocre ones simply by virtue of its
ease in the air.
|
|
|