Hi Barrett,
Take a look at pp. 31-33 of Jon Guttman's "Spad VII Aces of World War I". He relates how some French pilots made occasional use of LePrieurs in 1917. As late as 20 August 1917, Pierre de Cazenove de Pradines set off for a balloon with a SPAD VII armed with LePrieurs. He reported that when he loosed the rockets, they "fired off in all directions in an impressive smoky display. When it cleared, I found myself heading for an intact balloon-the rockets had gone in every direction except at the target !" He returned the next day with phosphorus bullets in his MG and flamed the balloon. In Jon's follow-up book on "SPAD XII/XIII Aces" there is a photo on page 64 which shows
Maurice Boyau with an early SPAD XIII fitted with LePrieur tubes. I also have a photo of an Italian SPAD VII fitted with LePrieurs.
Immo, are you sure it was Gontermann who experimented with rockets? I have read somewhere that the "Gontermann method" occasionally included use of a flare pistol to try to set a balloon ablaze, but never rockets - I'd like to hear more. On the other hand, Ltn Rudolf Nebel of Jasta 5 (the 'noted German rocket pioneer', says Pete Grosz) did indeed mount two stovepipes under each wing of his Halberstadt fighter, installed four signal rockets and fitted ignition cables connected to a firing button. However, he intended these for use against heavier-than-air craft. He reported that he attacked a large English squadron, fired his rockets with a whoosh, and one English pilot was so terrified that he immediately landed behind the German lines.
. He then reported that eight days later he shot the propeller off an enemy machine with his rockets, which crashed. A week later he had his stove pipes installed under the lower wing of an Albatros D.III, but the fiery rocket exhaust set the wings afire.
He was able to extinguish the flames in the slipstream. Grosz adds, "It must be emphasized that the accuracy of Nebel's written account is not corroborated by his logbook."
Also, on 16 October 1916 a 'Raketentrupp' equipped with one Halberstadt D.II fighter armed with 4 stick-stabilized rockets mounted on the outer wing struts for balloon attacks, left Berlin for the Front. Two weeks later the 'Trupp was back in Berlin due to 'difficulty with the rocket system,' and nothing further was done with it. There are photos of this Halberstadt D.II.
Greg