Warbirds—Fighter Planes of WWI
Prepared by Kim Cox
Performance vs. Appearance
The planes of the WWI era, often its appearance didn’t fit it’s performance. One example is the British S.E.5a. This aircraft was awkward looking, boxy; yet it was rugged and fast, one of the best fighter planes of the war.
France’s Nieuport 28 in comparison was a good-looking and sleek plane, sleek and pleasing to the eye. By appearance it seemed a good plane but in truth it was unreliable. During steep dives, the Nieuport 28s tended to shed their wing fabric. This is only one of the aircraft’s problems.
On the other hand, some of the plane’s appearances and potential matched excellently. A perfect example of this is the Austro-Hungarian Hansa-Bradenburg D.I. Pilots nicknamed the plane “coffin.” It flew like it looked, freaky.
Aircraft Engines
Hurting badly in 1918, Germany’s air force hadn’t been ahead in air fights since Spring of 1917. They lacked premium engines. The Allies used Hispano-Suiza, a 200hp V-8 verses the German’s 160hp Mercedes. Finally the Germans received the improved engine they awaited in the Spring of 1918, the 185hp straight-6 BMW. The success of Fokker D.VII. could be credited to this powerful engine, although it proved too little, too late.
The Immelmann Maneuver
Many think Max Immelmann constructed the “Immelmann Turn”, although the link between the aerial maneuver and the German may have been instituted by a journalist. Wherever it came from, during WWI, pilots used it to either attack or get out of the way of an attack.
The Immelmann Turn started with a dive to get the thrust to carry them to the next step. The pilot then yanked abruptly on the joystick to boot the plane into a precipitous arcing ascend with a roll. This guaranteed the plane, when it reached the top of the loop would be right-side-up.
Once the pilot achieved the turn, he had two options. He could escape a fight by enjoying his height prevalence, continuing to fly straight or dive and follow the loop through while rolling.
Once a pilot found an enemy fighter on his tail, the pilot of the front plane could shake off his attacker by doing the Immelmann maneuver. On the other hand, if the pursuing pilot dived on a target, overshooting it, his next action would be to use the Immelmann turn to give himself another shot.
Brief Survey of Military Aviation (Overview)
Three major roles were defined for aircraft during the First World War: reconnaissance, bombing and fighting. Airplanes were used first for aerial scouts—spying on the enemy from the air and learning their secrets. At first the scouts ignored their enemy numbers, then began shooting at them with rifles and eventually with machine guns. Soon they began dropping hand grenades from their planes. Promptly an aircraft was designed for each need: reconnaissance planes some armed for defense; fighter planes, exclusively designed for shooting down other planes; and bombers carried more immense loads of explosives. Much of what we know and learn today about warbirds came from the fundamental experiences of the pilots of the First World War.
Aircraft Beginnings
Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered, controlled flight in 1903. After that, the military acclaimed the possibilities of airplanes and the US Army bought their Model A biplane for $30,000 in 1909.
Observation balloon’s importance was already confirmed and the airplanes frankly appeared more maneuverable as observation platforms. The first experiments of dropping dummy bombs were accomplished in 1910 and a patent was granted for an aircraft gun mount that same year. In 1911 hand grenades were dropped from airplanes and pistol shots were fired from one plane to another in 1913. These were only isolated events that happened during peacetime, as research, I suppose.
Prior to the First World War records of speed and endurance were broken rapidly. With each passing year they grew greater.
Aircraft of WWI
All the combatants sent reconnaissance airplanes out to watch each others troops movements and detected their artillery at the beginning of World War I. The pilots on each side would in fact fly by each other and wave. They felt they were fellow aviators and above the combat taking place below their wings. Of course this camaraderie did not last.
It’s unknown as to who fired the first shots, but soon these scouts carried rifles in their planes. A French scout shot down a German scout with a machine gun that had been mounted to his observer’s station on October 14, 1914. Then a new class of plane came into existence, the fighter warplane.
The first strategic bombing raid was instituted in November of 1914 against Zeppelin hangers. The dropping of hand grenades over the side hastily changed to dropping hundreds, then thousands of pounds of explosives from the bomb bays and wing racks.
During WWI, the race between nations for the first and best technology began. The Allies held the record for a time when Roland Garros equipped reflection plates to the propeller of his Morane-Saulnier which enabled him to fire a machine gun through its arc. Though the Germans then developed a system of synchronizing machine guns to fire rhythmically through the arc. The Allies followed suit by fashioning their own synchronize, fitting it onto aircraft such as the S.E.5, Sopwith Camel, and SPAD. Then Germans’ planes were the Fokker Dr. 1, the Fokker DVII and the Albatros.
Aircraft in WWI showed what could happen, although air power proved inconsequential and had no real affect on the outcome of the war. They could spy movements of soldiers on the ground and attack bombers could make life deplorable for ground troops. Terror was brought to civilians by heavy bombers. The design and technology of airplanes leapt ahead during the war and laid the foundation for the aerial armadas of the Second World War.
The Greatest WWI Warbirds
R.A.F. S.E.5a
(Britain)
This aircraft confirmed to be the better fighter plane than the more heavily armed German fighters of that time. It’s single wing-mounted machine gun could be swiveled upward by the pilot, enabling it ideal for shooting downward at the surprised aircraft beneath it. With its top speed of 138 mph it could climb as high as 19,500 feet and dive magnificently. The S.E.5a was one of the fastest fighters during WWI.
A 1917 plane, single-engine biplane fighter, manufactured by the Royal Aircraft Factory in Britain. Engine, one 200hp Wolseley W4 Viper liquid-cooled eight cylinder in-line V. It’s range/ endurance was two hours and thirty minutes. It had a wingspan of twenty-six feet, seven inches; length of twenty feet, eleven inches and weighed one-thousand, nine-hundred and forty pounds.
Nieuport 17
(France)
The successor of the Nieuport 11 “Bebe”, the Nieuport 17 was bigger, heavier, better-armed and faster, a swift climber. It was favored by the most famous aces of WWI, Navarre, Fonck, Guynemer, Nungesser, Bishop and Ball. Flying of this machine, required caution and experience because of its tendency to shed its wings during a step dive. The arrival of the SPAD eclipsed the Nieuport 17’s popularity.
In 1916, the Nieuport 17 was a single-engine biplane fighter with an engine of one 110-hp Le Rhone air-cooled rotary, speeds reaching 110 mph at 6,560 ft. Its range/endurance was two hours. It was armed with one machine gun; carried a crew of one; and had a wingspan of twenty-six feet, ten inches; a length of eighteen feet, eleven inches and weighed one-thousand, two-hundred and forty-six pounds.
Sopwith Camel F.1
(Britain)
It got its nickname from the hump-like fairing that covered its twin machine guns. In trained hands the Camel was deadly in aerial combat although it was arduous to fly. Its rotary engines were powerful and full of torque. This was the first British plane to carry twin machine guns that was belt-fed, eliminating the need for changing magazines. The Camel proved remarkably maneuverable. Manfred von Richthfen’s Fokker Triplane was shot down by Captain Roy Brown, flying a Camel.
In 1917, the Sopwith Camel F.1 was a single-engine biplane fighter, manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Co., Ltd. in Britain.
It had one 130-hp Clerget air-colled 9-cylinder rotary engine which allowed speeds of 115 mph at 6,500 feet. The Camel’s range/endurance was two hours and thirty minutes. It carried two machine gun and a crew of one. The wingspan spread to twenty-eight feet with a length of eighteen feet, nine inches and a weight of one-thousand four-hundred and fifty-three pounds.
SPAD S.XIII
(France)
Probably the most famous fighter of WWI, the SPAD is associated by most American minds with Eddie Rickenbacker and the “Hat in the Ring” squadron, though many French aces also loved and flew the SPAD. It had a high velocity of climb and the stamina of its construction that enabled it to dive steeply without loosing its wings. (Most biplanes would fold and plummet to the ground if they were dove too fast and steep.) The plane was fast for its day and didn’t handle well under low speeds, requiring it to be landed under power and it dropped like a brick if its engine switched off.
In 1917, a single-engine biplane fighter that was manufactured by S.P.A.D. (Sociere Anonyme Pour l’Aviation et ses Derives) in France. It’s engine was one 235-hp Hispano-Suiza liquid-cooled 8-cylinder in-line V with speeds of 119 mph and a range/endurance of two hours. The SPAD carried one crew member and two machine guns. The wingspan spread to twenty-six feet and eleven inches with its length being twenty feet and eight inches. It weighed one-thousand, eight-hundred and one pounds.
Fokker D.VII
(Germany)
The Fokker D. VII, unremarkable in appearance and the best-performing, best all-around German fighter during the First World War. It had sturdiness, maneuverability, good speed, extraordinary rate of climb and its performance at high-altitudes was remarkable. Hanging on its propeller at a forty-five degree angle, it was still fully flyable, enabling it to shoot upward into an enemy’s belly. The plane was tolerant of beginner’s mistakes and was respected by its adversaries. Evidence of this came at the end of the war when the victorious Allies named it in the terms of the Armistice as a war weapon that had to be handed over.
In 1918, a single-engine biplane fighter, manufactured by Fokker Flugzeug-Werke GmbH in Germany. It had a wingspan of twenty-nine feet, three inches; a length of nine feet, two inches and weighed one-thousand, eight-hundred and seventy pounds. Carrying a crew of one with a range/endurance of one hour and thirty minutes, it had two machine guns. The engine was one 160-hp Mercedes D III liquid-cooled in-line 6 cylinder.
Fokker Dr.1
Triplane (Germany)
With only three wings but an airfoil between the wheels of its landing gear, the Dr.1’s lifting area allowed it to climb and out-turn any Allied aircraft. The plane wasn’t very fast but its superior maneuverability allowed it to evade pursuit. There was only one way it could be outdone and that was by its opponent diving on it and striking before the pilot had time to take evasive action. The Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen popularized the Dr.1. The Dr.1 is second only to the Fokker D. VII as the best remembered German plane of WWI.
The Dr.1, in 1917 had a wingspan of twenty-three feet, seven inch; a length of eighteen feet, eleven inches and weighed one- thousand two-hundred eighty-nine pounds. It was a single-engine fighter triplane manufactured in Germany by Fokker Flugzeug-Serke GmbH. The engine, one 110-hp Thulin-built Le Rhone 9J air-cooled 9-cylinder rotary with a speed of 103 mph at 13,123 feet. Its range/endurance was one hour and thirty minutes. The Dr.1 carried one crew member and two machine guns.
List of Films Featuring WWI Warbirds
*Ace of Aces
*The Dawn Patrol
*The Great Waldo Pepper
*Layfayette Escadrille
*The Trial of Billy Mitchell
*The Blue Max
*Hell’s Angels
*Wings
Recommended
Reading of Warbirds
*Angelucci, Enzo. “The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft”
*Bonds, Ray. “The Illustrated Directory of Modern Weapons: Warplanes, tanks, missiles, warships, artillery, small arms.” Crescent Books, 1985.
*Cole, Dick Major; Lightbody, Andy; Poyer, Joe. “The Great Book of Fighter Planes: The Worlds Warbirds” Publications International, 1990
*Cross, Roy. “Great Aircraft and their Pilots” New York Graphic Society, 1971.
*Dwights, Don. “Famous Flyers and the Ships They Flew” Grossett & Dunlap, Inc., 1969.
That’s just a few.
Sources:
“Planes”, http://www2.eos.net/speed/homepage.htm
“Warbirds Arts and
Letter” CD Rom
