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World War 1 Aircraft
Little did Orville and Wilbur realize that their successful flight would engineer one of the most deadly and efficient killing machines ever devised.
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| World War 1: |
Key Developments: machine guns as standard armament; synchronized machine guns firing through a spinning propeller system; bombing as an air tactic; bombers as a new aircraft class (along with bomber escorts); multi-engined aircraft; dogfighting tactics; the name "ace" is made standard as one who downs 5 enemy aircraft or more; aerodynamic fuselage design; monoplane, biplane and triplane designs are all considered as viable aircraft designs of the period; carrier-based aircraft make a debut, signaling a facet of warfare still yet to be fulfilled until the Second World War; use of oxygen and heaters to allow for flight above 10,000 feet.
World War 1 saw the rise of the aircraft as a weapon system and the changing face of war. Trench warfare would dominate the ground forces in bloody battles of attrition, but the skies would be ruled by the first aces of aerial combat. The aircraft changed the modern battlefield as much as gunpowder did centuries earlier. The Red Baron, Frenchman Rene Fonck and Canadian Ace Roy Brown would duke it out above the ever-changing frontlines utilizing these 'flying wooden crates'. Synchronized machine guns, monoplane, biplane and triplane designs and plywood aerodynamic construction would usher in a new chapter of warfare. War in itself would never be the same again. Now the common soldier had to worry about death from above - and not just from artillery barrages.
World War 1 aircraft were sometimes referred to as "flying coffins" for the very simple meaning that these early warbirds often were the death of the pilot - either through combat or simply through trying to handle these machines. Another attribute of these early flying machines was that they were constructed out of plywood with stretched fabric skin, often taking the shape of wooden coffins. The construction was, however, beneficial in most designs as the fuselage of these planes could often withstand a great deal of punishment and still keep flying, thus returning their pilots home safely. It should be noted that aircraft (as combat platforms) were generally in their infancy during the First World War and evolved a great deal as the conflict progressed, which is why one might see so many production aircraft on a list such as this spanning just a few years. As technology progressed and aircraft engineers found new workarounds for new problems, the few-month-old models that were the king of the skies quickly gave way to newer models, giving the average life span of many fighters only about a few months of frontline service. |
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| Totals: |
| 84 |
There are a total of 84 World War 1 aircraft in the Military Factory. |
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