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My Project, The Study of Planes in the World Wars
Claim- World War I and World War II revolutionized the structure of flight in warfare. Primary Source 1
World War I Aircraft Primary Source 2
World War II Aircraft -
Background on Flight
Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first controlled and sustained flight in a power-driven aircraft. Wilbur piloted the longest flight in history. The flight was 59 seconds and covered a distance of 852 feet. -
Bleriot XI (11) Monoplane (France)
This French plane was used as a trainer / reconnaissance monoplane. It was one of the first monoplanes built also known as a single-winged plane. The aircraft is known for its stable design and its use of "wing-warping" to control roll. Wing-warping curves the wing and allows a more stable flight. The plane's small engine could produce only 50 horsepower. A reconnaissance aircraft is a noncombat plane that is used as a scout in the sky. -
Avro Type 504 (Great Britain)
This biplane was a reconnaissance / trainer aircraft. It is a single engine biplane with two central wings. It could seat 1-2 crew members. It was mounted with a Lewis machine gun and could carry bombs under the wings. Early models contained a landing skid (middle ski) in addition to the fixed landing gears.The skids were fitted to the terrain in which the plane would land. -
Bristol Scout (Great Britain)
This aircraft was a biplane fighter / fast reconnaissance scout. The design originated from a high speed aircraft. The aircraft was not designed for combat but instead for scouting and spying. It was a single-engine and single-seater biplane. It was one of the first planes to use the interrupter gear. -
Aviatik B.I (Germany)
This German aircraft was a reconnaissance biplane. It had a modified car engine. The plane was upgraded with a Mercedes engine. The aircraft could carry two people. One would pilot and the other would scout. The observer sat in the front of the fuselage and the pilot sat behind him. The fuselage is the central body of the plane. -
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World War I
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The Interrupter Gear
The interrupter gear allowed the weapon to fire through the spinning propeller blades. Planes were given steel propellers along with metal pieces that would ricochet bullets off if they hit the propellers. A firing mechanism was made to control the firing of the gun between the revolutions of the propeller. -
Caproni Ca.1 (Italy)
This Italian plane was used as a heavy bomber. Heavy bombers were the largest with extra carrying capacity. It is a 2 engined plane with 200 horsepower and speed of 75 miles per hour. Bombs were suspended under the fuselage and machine guns were fitted to the front and rear of the plane. -
Junkers CL.I (Germany)
This multirole aircraft was all metal which was an upgrade from the previous wood and fabric. The multirole allowed for bombing, scouting, and air battles. This advanced monoplane had a Mercedes engine with 180 horsepower allowing the plane to reach 100 miles per hour. -
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin (Great Britain)
This aircraft was a fighter-bomber. It was a larger fighter plane that was used for bombing and air battles. It could reach 156 miles per hour and travel 280 miles. These feats were accomplished by its longer fuselage and strong Jaguar engine. -
Boeing P-26 Peashooter (United States)
This high-speed figher was the first all-metal body aircraft produced by the United States. Its powerful design gave it the ability to carry a 600 horsepower engine that could reach speeds of up to 234 miles per hour. To top it off, it had a range of 635 miles. It carried 1 crew member, along with two powerful machine guns. -
Supermarine Spitfire (Great Britain)
This fighter-bomber had a Rolls-Royce engine with over 1,000 horsepower. The engine gave it a top speed of 355 miles per hour and a range of up to 500 miles. It was alsos heavily armed, it had mutliple weapons like machine guns and cannons. The advancement of retractable landing gear made the aircraft much more aerodynamic than older planes. -
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World War II
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North American P-51 Mustang (United States)
This fighter-bomber was powered by a Rolls-Royce engine that gave it 1,500 horsepower. It had a top speed of 437 mile per hour. It also had a large array of guns and cannons. Certain models had up to three machine guns on each wing. -
Kawanishi H8K (Empire of Japan)
This Japanese aircraft was a water plane used for bombing. It ran off of 4 Mitsubishi engines. Each engine was capable of producing 1,850 horsepower. This monster aircraft has a range of 4,443 miles, with a top speed of 289 mile per hour. It was also heavily armed with 4 machine guns and 2 cannons. It was effective in sinking American submarines. Because of its massive size and power, it could carry up to 64 soldiers. -
Fiat G.55 Centauro (Italy)
This Italian aircraft was a fighter. It flew off a Fiat engine that supplied the plane with 1,475 horsepower. The plane could reach speeds of 387 mile per hour. The aircraft could fly up to 746 miles. The aircraft used an enclosed cockpit, which allowed it to fly at higher altitudes. It also gave it a more streamlined design. -
Horten Ho 229 (Germany)
It was a jet-powered "flying wing" fighter-bomber. A flying wing is an aircraft that has no tail and one central wing. It used 2 turbojet engines capable of producing 2,200 lbs. of thrust, much more than horsepower. It had a top speed of 607 miles per hour and an incredible range of 1,181 miles. It was armed with 4 cannons, and the ability to carry 2 bombs. It even featured a new "radar absorbing stealth technology" that allowed it to go undetected by radars.
