World War 1
The War in the Air
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This page are about the war in the air.  This was another important part of the war.

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The B.E. 2, or Blériot Experimental 2 (above) dated its design back to 1912, and by the time the air war began in 1915 it was outmoded. It was intended as a reconnaissance plane. The B.E. could achieve just 70 mph, which made it a sitting duck to German fighters capable of exceeding 100 mph. The Quirk, as it was nicknamed,  was powered by a Renault V-8 engine, and was armed with two machine guns. Its name came from famous early French airman, Louis Blériot.

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The Nieuport biplane (France)-above. It was originally meant as a racing plane, so it was made light and agile, and could outclimb and outspeed its opponents. The Nieuport was powered by a Le Rhone (French) radial engine, could climb over 18,000 feet, and exceed 115 mph. The original model was nicknamed the "Bébé" (Baby) while a later model was named the "Superbébé".

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Airco D.H.2 (Great Britain)-above- was developed by famous aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland's for the Aircraft Manufacturing Company. It's a pusher - engine is behind the short fuselage, and the prop pushes air back.  Later, machine guns were invented which were synchronized with the propeller, so the bullets would travel between the blades. The D.H. 2 was powered by a Gnome Monosoupape (single valve) radial engine, and could fly in excess of 90 mph and had a ceiling of 14,000 feet.

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Pfalz D III (Germany) -above- had a Mercedes-Benz 6 cylinder engine, could exceed 100 miles an hour, and climb to 17,000 feet. The Pfalz was not considered an excellent fighter plane, but was used effectively against observation balloons.

In 1914 there were two branches of air service, The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).  Who in 1918, merged together to made the Royal Air Force (RAF), who are still in 2004 is here. 

 

Airships were also used in the war in the air, one being the German airship, the Zeppelins.  Airships were used for escorting ships and hunting for U-Boats.  The Germans realized that Zeppelins could be used as bombers; the first raids hit British towns in early 1915.  Zeppelins couldn't carry enough bombs for real damage, but it was psychological damage they did, British civilians seemed no longer safe.  By 1918, new fighter planes and accurate anti-aircraft made them a vulnerable target.

 

Statistics now became:

130 Zeppelins in service.

7 Lost to bad weather.

38 lost in accidents.

39 lost in enemy action.

46 planes left, 84 destroyed.

 

So, primitive 1914 planes were ineffective and dangerous which became, in 1918, sleek, safe and a killing machine.  So it was probably one of the greatest feats in technology, which was completed in 4 years.