wing fixed MG

Cigogne · 4 May 2005, 06:35 AM

Pierced propellers could prove fatal... look at Immelmann. The propeller is neatly sawn off in photos. Also, Schäfer's Albatros D.III is shown w/ a neat row of holes through the propeller. The firing rates of the twin LMG were faster. The single Vickers fired at a slower rate... and so I guess that means less holes.

Rbailey · 4 May 2005, 09:57 AM

I recall reading a couple of years ago a calcualtion (maybe on this forum - I don't remember) of the probability of a free-firing machine gun hitting a propeller blade. It turned out to be fairly low, which is why pilots could get away with it I suppose. But if that is so, then it would seem difficult to "saw-off" a blade unless the synchronization gear failed in such a way as to fire at the blades rather than between them.

Vin · 6 May 2005, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cigogne

Pierced propellers could prove fatal... look at Immelmann. The propeller is neatly sawn off in photos. .

Whether Immelmann really did shoot off the propellor is open to debate, a civilised debate occurred on

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9094&highlight=immelmann+propello r

for anyone interested. The previous posts suggesting that a mg is more likely to put hole in the propellor than shave it off, neatly, adds support to the position of the sceptic.

Romani · 6 May 2005, 05:32 AM

Here are my 2 Euro cents.

Blade sliced off? could have broken in the crash.

Was Immelman flying the standard Fokker or his custom variant that had twin MGs? What is a calculated risk with one machinegun could be guaranteed failure with two, enough bullets breaking the prop.

As it's exposed in the thread, shooting up your own propeller is not necessarily fatal in itself, you still can glide down to a forced landing, the broken propeller caused indirectly Immelman's death, but that's more to blame on the structural weakness of the plane rather than the interrupter.