WW1 Planes
This page is dedicated to some of my WW1 planes - from air fighters to supply and personal transport, bombers, reconnaissance planes, multi-purpose planes, night fighter, ground attack planes and more. This includes the monoplanes to biplanes, triplanes, twin-engine planes and other types. I'll share it by order of creation.
Fokker Dr.I
The Fokker Dr.I is perhaps one of the most known aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke for the German Empire during World War I and one of the famous aircraft piloted by Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron. The triplane is known for its rotary engine and its three wings, making it highly maneuverable compared to its rivals; and, thanks to its two Maschinengewehr MG08, made it a fierce German plane to confront Allied planes. During World War I, the British introduced their Sopwith Triplane - superior to the German Albatross planes, despite being armed with a single Vickers machine gun. In April 1917, Anthony Fokker studied a captured British Sopwith Triplane while visiting the Jasta 11. In response to the new threat, Fokker instructed Reinhold Platz to build a triplane, although not giving any specifications from the British counterpart. The V.4 prototype was built for evaluation, but presented unacceptable high control forces from the use of unbalanced ailerons and elevators and lacked horn balances. After the tests, the V.5 was produced by Fokker - presenting horn-balanced ailerons and elevators, as well as longer-span wings. The V.5 also featured interplane struts, which were not necessary from a structural standpoint, but which minimized wing flexing. After the first flight on July 5, 1917, the Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen - "Inspectorate of Flying Troops") issued an order for 20 pre-production aircraft. The first Dr.I that entered were issued to the Jasta 10 and Jasta 11 in August 1917. The aircraft proved to be superior to the Sopwith Triplane in maneuverability and firepower - consisting in two Maschinengewehr MG08; as well compared with the Albatros and Pfalz fighters. Despite these good characteristics, the triplane suffered from a series of issues from low quality materials, poor construction and the shortages of castor oil for the engine lubricants, with some crashes occurring that killed some of the pilots by October 1917 to the summer of 1918. Some corrective measures were taken to strengthen the wings, but the issues persisted, with NACA investigating the cause that crippled the Dr.I in 1929. The major cause for the accidents was the upper wing carrying a higher lift coefficient than the lower wing – at high speeds it could be 2.55 times as much. Production ended in May 1918 in favor of the Fokker D.VII, by which time only 320 Dr.I planes had been manufactured. Three models were preserved after the Armistice - including Serial 152/17, in which Manfred von Richthofen obtained three victories, but were destroyed during Allied bombing operations in World War II. There are several replicas built for individuals and museums. The aircraft made legends like the Red Baron and his brother Lothar von Richthofen, Werner Voss (or Voß), Kurt Wolff, Josef Jacobs and many other German pilots.
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is one of the British biplanes built by Sopwith Aviation Company during World War I. It was developed from the Sopwith Pup as the Germans introduced the newest Albastros D.III - faster and better armed compared to the Pup. In response, Herbert Smith started designing a new version of the biplane, which would lead to the creation of the Sopwith Camel. The newer aircraft had a metal fairing over the gun breeches, intended to protect the guns from freezing at altitude, creating a "hump" that led pilots to call the aircraft “Camel”, although this name was never used officially. The prototype Camel flew for the first time on December 22 1916, by Harry Hawker (one of the future founders of Hawker Aviation) at Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey. The Camel had a conventional design for its era, with a wire-braced wooden box-girder fuselage structure, an aluminium engine cowling, plywood panels around the cockpit, and a fabric-covered fuselage, wings and tail. While possessing some clear similarities with the Pup, it had a noticeably bulkier fuselage. Its armament consists of two 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns mounted directly in front of the cockpit, synchronised to fire forwards through the propeller disc. In May 1917, the first production contract for an initial batch of 250 Camels was issued by the British War Office. Throughout 1917, a total of 1,325 Camels were produced, almost entirely the initial F.1 variant. Unlike the Pup and the Triplane, the Sopwith Camel has been described as difficult to fly, having light and sensitive controls - making it extreme manoeuvrability and its difficult handling to the close placement of the engine. In addition, the torque of its Clerget 9B rotary engine made the Camel difficult to turn left, which resulted in a nose-up attitude, but the torque also resulted in being able to turn to the right quicker than other fighters. Still, several aircraft crashes occurred when piloted by inexperienced pilots when the full fuel load pushed the aircraft's centre of gravity beyond the rearmost safe limit. The first operational debut occurred in June 1917 with No 4 Squadron being equipped with Sopwith Camel F.1 models, with victories racking up for the Allies. The biplane quickly proved to be superior to the Albatros D.III and D.V. Together with the S.E.5a and the SPAD S.XIII, it helped to re-establish Allied aerial superiority for a time. An important role for the Camel was home defense, when several planes from Eastchurch and Manston airfields were rallied against daylight raids by German zeppelins, including Gotha bombers, from July 1917. When the Germans switched to night operations, the Camel proved to be a capable aircraft at night operations. The biplane was also used as a naval fighter with the 2F.1 variant, as well in a series of trials as a parasite fighter, attached to the Airship R23 as a mothership. Despite facing obsolescence as a day fighter when confronted by the Fokker Dr.I and D.VII, the Sopwith Camel continued serving in the Royal Flying Corps as a ground attack aircraft by attacking German lines with Cooper bombs and low-level strafing runs. After World War I, the Sopwith Camel saw service during the Russian Civil War when the White Army confronted the Bolsheviks until retiring from service in January 1920 with 5,490 units built.
SPAD S.XIII
The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane built by the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) as a development from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. In early 1917, the main air fighter from the French Aéronautique Militaries was the SPAD S.VII, equipped with the powerful Hispano-Suiza 8A water-cooled V8 engine and armed with a single Vickers machine gun, making it the fastest plane to confront the planes from the Central Powers. This would change with the arrival of the Albatros D.III. In response, the French designer Louis Béchereau started the development of a series of modern planes: S.XII and the S.XIII. Both equipped with the HS.8BeC. The S.XII would be introduced with a 37 mm cannon installed in the engine hub - firing through the propeller shaft. However, it was deemed unpopular by the pilots in comparison to the S.XIII - equipped with a pair of Vickers MGs. The first flight occurred on April 4th, 1917. Issues related to the engine were evident at the time, but it was soon deemed reliable for mass production. The SPAD S.XIII had some similarities with the S.VII since both were of wooden construction with fabric covering, although a bit heavier and larger than its predecessor. Later models would include a high-compression HS.8Bc or HS.8Be for better performances at high altitude. The first units were shipped to the Armée de l'Air commenced in May 1917, however due to delays related to the slow rate of deliveries, only 764 of the planned 2,230 had been delivered by the end of March 1918. The SPAD S.XIII was faster than most German and Allied planes at the time. Both the French and American air forces received the new aircraft, making extensive use in the frontline and famous aces like the French Rene Fonck, Georges Guynemer and Charles Nungesser, as well the Italian Francesco Baracca and the Americans aces Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke. Aside from the US and France, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium and the Russian Empire also operated this aircraft. With the war's end in 1918, the SPAD S.XIII was shipped to other nations like Czechoslovakia, Romania, Spain, Greece, Japan, Siam (now Thailand and other Indochina countries) and Brazil. The remaining planes were used for racing and static displays at the museums. 8,472 units were built until 1918.
I plan to bring more content related to this page. Until I have the renders of the other planes, it will take a considerable time - which by the moment might be complicated due to my studies and job. Still, I hope you like this page, the images and the brief info about the planes I made.
See you next time.
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