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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0383.PDF
FEBRUARY 13TH, 1941. PUGNACIOUS PACHYDERM : The Martinsyde Elephant (top) of 1915 was powered with a 160 h.p. Beardmore engine. Two Lewis guns were carried. It was a long-distance scout with a duration of 4-i hours. Speed, 108 m.p.h. 1916 SOPWITH : Designed by the Sopwith Company, the forerunners of the great Hawker concern, the no h.p. Clerget-engined i£ Strutter (right) was the first two-seater fighter designed as such. The gunner was to the rear of the pilot. Armament : one Vickers firing through the airscrew and one Lewis for the rear gunner. Speed, 105 m.p.h. at ground level. only a rifle or revolver. Some of the earlier air scraps have a touch of humour in light of present-day fighting. For instance, on August 25, 1914, three machines of No. 2 Squadron chased a German monoplane and forced it to land. Lieutenants Harvey-Kelly and Mansfield, without more ado, landed beside it and took up the hunt on foot. The Boche ran the quickest. f* Rifle Left Behind Here is a story told by the man who is now Air OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, Fighter Command, and was then Lt. W. S. Douglas (Note :—Fighter pilots of to-day are advisednot to quote this story as an excuse when they forget to take their eight Brownings with them). '' The first timeI ever encountered a German machine in the air," he says, '' both the pilot (Harvey-Kelly) and myself werecompletely unarmed. Our machine had not been climbing well, and as I was considered somewhat heavy for anobserver, Harvey-Kelly told me to leave behind all unneces- sary gear. I therefore left behind my carbine andammunition. We were taking photographs of the trench system to the north of Neuve Chapelle when I suddenlyespied a German two-seater about 100 yards away and just below us. The German observer did not appear to beshooting at us. There was nothing to be done. We waved a hand to the enemy and proceeded with our task. Theenemy did likewise. At the time this did not appear to me in any way ridiculous—there is a bond of sympathybetween all who fly, even between enemies. But after- wards, just for safety's sake, I always carried a carbinewith me in the air. In the ensuing two or three months I had an occasional shot at a German machine. But theseencounters can hardly be dignified with the name of 'fights.' If we saw an enemy machine near-by we wouldfly over towards it and fire at it some half-a-dozen rounds. We scarcely expected to shoot the enemy down ; but itwas a pleasant break in the monotony of reconnaissance and artillery observation." Inchoate Installations The Farmans were slow and unmanoeuvrable, and sp,^ itil the specialised fighter pusher biplane could be pro- Juced, various expedients were tried in carrying fixed gunson the machines which had tractor propulsion. The Bristol Scout had rifles fitted to the cockpit, pointing out diagonallyin order to avoid the airscrew disc. Others had machine guns fitted in like manner, but there was one serious draw-back to all these schemes. The machine had to be flown on a different path from that taken by the bullets. The Fostergun mounting then made its appearance. This was a mounting on the top plane, sufficiently high for the bulletsto miss the airscrew, with an independent sight set parallel to the gun in front of the pilot's windscreen. The triggerwas operated by a Bowden cable. As a firing unit this was satisfactory, but it required a Houdini to change the 97-round drum of ammunition, fly the aeroplane and keep an eye open for Huns at the same time. Equipment of tractor aeroplanes with gun mountings pro-ceeded slowly, one very good reason being an acute short- age of machine guns. Before it was complete the first ofthe pusher fighters arrived. This was the Vickers Gun Bus. It had a Lewis gun which gave much trouble in thegunner's seat in the front, and a 100 h.p. Monosoupape THREE-GUN FIGHTER : The F.E.2b had two Lewises forsorward firing and another on the top plane to protect the rear. How does this appeal at 10,000 ft. with no parachute.Note the L type camera on the port side of the nacelle. PILOTS' DELIGHT : The 80 h.p. Sopwith Pup was a favourite with all who flew it. In this article Capt. Broad compares it with the Hurricane of to-day. It also had the distinction of being the first single-seater to be fitted with a synchronised gun. No. 66 Squadron used them as night bombers with 25-lb. bombs. Speed, 86 m.p.h.
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