The Red Baron
Setting the Scene
When we look at the term Air War, we usually look at prime examples of the battles of WW 2, or the Air War over Korea and even what we saw in the Gulf War. Very little discussion has happened over WW1, and there are lots of misnomers about WW1 as a whole from a historical perspective. We tend to focus on cavalry charges, the first use of tanks, the brutal trench war far on the Eastern Front. But WW1 was a precursor to modern day air tactics. Out of all of the technologies used in war, nothing progressed or evolved faster than the use of heavier then air aircraft and their utility in combat then in WW1.
Its hard to believe that by the arrival of WW1, there was only a 11-year separation from the first flight of the Wright Brothers that lasted about 120 feet at an altitude of 10 feet. Since then Airplanes had made a slow and steady progression, but were still basically kites with engines.
As in every war there were disagreements about the use of Airplanes on the modern battlefield but the use of Zeppelins for long range reconnaissance and bombing. Airplanes were too light and too short ranged. However, in the first months of WW1 aircraft were being used for photo recon, artillery spotting using primitive radios and contact reporting. The age of armed combat in the air was about to arrive.
It is interesting to note that the first instance of aerial combat didn’t happen until 4 months into the war, and it was a ramming incident between a Russian aircraft and a Austrian aircraft killing all involved. In the initial stages of the war there was a certain amount of chivalry as pilots would salute or wave at each other and continue their way. Eventually, aircraft were seen as a threat due to early bombing efforts, and their job gathering intelligence, and aircraft crews began to arm themselves with pistols, grenades and grappling hooks. The first instance of a machine gun armed plane entering combat was August 14, 1914 after that, all sides scrambled to arm their planes. We then entered the rapid evolution of aerial combat technology, and to get an understanding of this, its important to note some of the more interesting technology leap forwards.
Machine Gun Synchronization – Early on in the war there was a major problem with machine gun sighting. There were choices, they could either go with the early concept of the pusher engine where the propellor and engine were mounted behind the pilot so he could aim and fire forward, which couldn’t provide the power and speed needed, or mount the machine gun on the top wing over the propellor to fire forward which was inaccurate and dangerous as early use would require the pilot of gunner to stand up in the plane to fire. But one of the biggest leaps forward was the Synchronization gear which used predictive gearing to allow bullets to be fired through the forward propellor, it was patented by Franz Schneider and first appeared on the Fokker Scourge which allowed the Germans to gain early air dominance of the war.
Aircraft design – Because it was the early day of design WW1 was almost seen as a laboratory for evolution, and because of that we saw a lot of different designs, from tri-wings and bi-wings to mono-wing fighter designs. We also saw things that we take for granted now since as engine throttling, at the start of WW1 Pilots would either manually adjust their fuel mixture or turn their engines on and off to adjust their speed.
Gun and Bomb Sights – At the start of the war there were no bomb sights, instead pilots would manually toss small bombs over the side of the aircraft, by the end of the war we had bomb sights that were roughly equivalent to their WW2 counterparts.
Airborne Radios – At the star of the war there were no radios in planes, and either the pilot would use flags, or return to base, or employ homing pigeons, by the end of the war primitive radios could be mounted on planes using morse codes.
Engine Evolution – It goes without saying, that engines became more compact and more powerful through the war allowing for planes to maneuver more freely.
So now we need to set the stage. Imagine yourself as a pilot in the German or British or French or Russian army air forces. You basically wake up in the morning, your probably young, and excited that you are not fighting in the mud. You have a morning breakfast and a strong cup of coffee or tea and stride out to your aircraft. You can hear the canvas moving on the airframe. You get into a very simple cockpit and do a quick check of your guns and maneuvering surfaces. Then your crew chief wishes you luck and spins your propellor.
Your engine catches, its not a purr, its rough until you adjust the fuel mixture, even then your whole canvas covered contraction moans and creaks. Its cold outside and your head is exposed so you cinch your scarf around your mouth.
You move your plane to the start of the air strip and advance the throttle. A lot of thoughts go through your head. Maybe you’ve surpassed the average life expectancy of a pilot with by the end of WW1 had hit a low of 73 hours of flight time. Is today your day? Are you coming back? It’s a beautiful day, the sun is just so, is it your last. You advance your simple throttle, and your plane bounces down the strip, you take another look for canvas tears. Your engine coughs and threatens to stall as you pull back on your stick. Your plane doesn’t leap into the air as much as it reluctantly leaves the ground. You push the throttle forward and look down the map taped to your knee. The enemy is about 100 miles away about an hour and a half of flight time. You turn your plane, and it fights you, the wings threaten to roll, and you stomp on the rudder pedal, and you can hear the cables that hold the wings creak and scream. But you get on a rough heading. You wave to your flight leader who is counting planes to make sure that everyone survived the take off, the landing is another thing. Then he points forward and your flight heads to its destiny, you will have a lot of time to think about your family and friends before you get there. If you get there.