Vol. 1

Over 100 pages

AEG – AIRCO, De HAVILLAND

ISBN O-934269-66-1

$20.00 each

WORLD WAR I AIRCRAFT

1914 TO 1918

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and highly maneuverable, and have been fitted with increasingly sophisticated tracking and weapons systems to intercept and attack other aircraft.

At one time, just before the opening of World War II, there were two types of fighters. Smaller single-engine planes were used as interceptors and day fighters, sometimes referred to as pursuit, while larger twin-engine designs were used as heavy fighters. The latter role proved to be unworkable, or at least not enough effort was put into them to remain useful. They then found themselves being converted to an ever-growing list of secondary roles, including strike fighters, bomber destroyers and night fighters, where their two engines gave them the increased payload needed to fill these roles.

Fighter aircraft were developed during World War I, when they were tasked with hunting down enemy reconnaissance aircraft and balloons. Engine power was so limited that they were barely able to lift themselves, but by the end of the war they had become one of the primary designs in the inventory

Historical overview

1914-1918

Aerial combat first evolved during World War I

French aviator Roland Garros became the first flying "ace" (a pilot who shoots down five or more enemy aircraft) when he affixed machine guns to his aircraft (Morane-Saulnier Type L) which fired through the propeller, although he used crude metal deflector plates (the bullets hit the propeller but were deflected aside) rather than interrupter gear.
Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker developed the first interruptor for the machine gun, which prevents bullets from hitting the propeller of the aircraft.

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