Developments as result of WW1 planes

[peter]

I was wondering what kind of developments occured as a result of WW1 aviation. I heard that wind shield wippers is among them. Thanks for any help.

[Lufbery]

Peter,

I'm pretty sure that automobiles had windshield wipers long before airplanes did. In fact, considering that most planes had open cockpits until well into the 1920s, windshield wipers would have been superflous. :)

So, what developments came from WWI airplanes? Probably the biggest influence on post-war designs was the thick airfoil used with such success in the Fokker airplanes. The second biggest influence of the first World War was probably the success of multi-engine bombers. It was well into the '30s before fighter performance outstripped bomber performance.

There were some lessons learned in the Great War that didn't translate into success in WWII. One example is the Boulton Paul Defiant. The Defiant was the spiritual ancestor of the Bristol F2 Fighter. The Bristol was an exceptionally successful two-seat fighter. It had one fixed gun pointing forward, and one or two guns in a flexible mount behind the pilot. British pilots did well with it when they flew it as a fighter and let the gunner take shots as the opportunities presented themselves. The Bristol did so well that the British felt they had discovered some sort of basic truth: a two-seat fighter with a flexible mount is better than a single seat fighter with a fixed mount. Unlike the Bristol, the Defiant was a modern fighter in almost every sense. It was a metal, low-wing monoplane with a Roll-Royce Merlin engine. Production started in 1939. What it had in common with the Bristol fighter was a second crew member who served as a gunner. Of course by this time, the Scharff ring gun mount used in WWI was obsolete; the Defiant had a powered turret with four .303 machine guns. It also differed from the Bristol in that it did not have a forward firing MG. In combat, the Defiant fared very poorly and was quickly withdrawn from daytime service. It did, however, perform well as a night fighter.

What are some other ways that WWI aircraft influenced later design? Well, the early success of liquid-cooled engines led to increased development of that configuration -- especially in Europe. Aerial photography became it’s own science and the role of the recon plane was forever fixed in modern warfare. The use of wireless radios, standard issue in WWII, was first pioneered (by the British, I think) in WWI.

However, I’d wager that the biggest influence of WWI airplanes on future design was not what they had, but what they didn’t have. Almost all WWI planes had thin airfoils (which could lead to odd behavior near stall speed), no brakes, rotary engines (with the attendant torque problems), bad center of gravity problems (almost all of the planes were nose-heavy and required constant back pressure on the stick to keep them level), and were covered in fabric (lots of maintenance). Planes after the war were designed to counteract those shortcomings.

-Drew

[Volker_Nemsch]

As far as I know the brother of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. had a patent on these wipers (on cars). Prince Heinrich was an enthousiastic car driver and he took part in many of the early races long before WWI. He is credited with inventing wipers for the windscreen. By the way: I don´t know the year when he got that patent, but does anybody know when the wipers were introduced in other countries?

Hope this helps!
Volker Nemsch

[Sensei]

The science and "art" of photo recon, interpretation, and significant advancements in photography came about because of the war...

[Lufbery]

Yup, I said that one already. :)(Geez, didn't anyone read my magnus opus posted above?)

-Drew

[Rod_Filan]

I read it Drew! Well written and you covered everything aeronautical but I think what Peter was eluding to is common everyday items. i.e.: Ballpoint pen from the civil war.
No?

VBR

[Lufbery]

Ahh, I see. Hm, I can't think of anything not related to aircraft development.

-Drew

[Mac]

Parachutes, flying suits, wheel brakes, powerful engines, radio, navigation instruments - the list goes on and on.

[Lufbery]

Mac said: [color=blue] "Parachutes, flying suits, wheel brakes, powerful engines, radio, navigation instruments - the list goes on and on." </font> I don't really agree, Mac. Flying suits, yes. Powerful engines, yes. But the rest were not a direct result of WWI airplanes. Parachutes: These existed before the war and could (should) have been used by pilots during the war, but weren't (except toward the end).

Wheel brakes: they were not present on airplanes unti after WWI, but had been used for quite a long time on autos and motor bikes.

Radio (wireless): had been around for a while before the war (the Brits were playing with it as early as 1909). Radios were used a bit by the Brits in airplanes during the war, but not extensively. Nearly all planes did not have radios.

Navigation instruments: again, these were pretty much nonexistent in WWI airplanes, with the exception of a compass. Real navigation instruments as we know them today (including radio), really came about in the '20s to meet the demand for better navigation by airmail pilots in the United States. -Drew

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Drew:
The Heinecke Parachute was issued as goverment equipment with each (all)airplanes delivered in 1918 and were used in all classes of German aircraft. I have an incomplete list of 69 names of pilots who saved their lives with a Heinecke Parachute. Ltn Ernst Udet is on the list twice.
Radios were standard equipment in all services on recce and bomber aircraft from 1915 on. Early on the could only send Morse code, later on they could send and receive. The Germans had an experimental fighter unit with Halb. D.II/III aircraft that was radio equipped as an experiment in ground contrlled intercept(1916/17).
All metal aircraft. The Junkers Werke developed all metal aircraft in 1915 with the steel sheet Ju.E.I, and the corrugated aluminum J.I in 1917, the J.II and D.I of 1918.
Weapons: The 20 mm cannon, the 37 mm engine mounted cannon, Hispano Suiza engine.
Engines; The engines increased in horsepower from 50 hp Gnomes to 500 hp Galloway,700 hp Fiat.
Radio controlled aircraft and guided missles.
The strategic bombing concept of the destruction of the enemies ability to make war.
Blue skies,
Dan-San Abbott

[Lufbery]

Dan,

My understanding was that radios were used for artillery spotting, but not to a great extent. Part of the problem was that the radios were pretty big and you could either have a spotter or a radio, but not both. Still I could be wrong.

I don't disagree with any of your statements, but I maintain that most of the things you mention were around before the war and thus could not have come about because of airplane development.

-Drew

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Drew:
Parachutes had existed before the war as did airplanes and radio. The parachutes that existed were incapable of sustainting the opening forces from aircraft at 75-80 mph. Parachute jumps from aircraft prior the were made in two instances. But parachute jumps from an aircraft at 100 mph is an entirely different matter, the opening force nearly double. The The parachutes used in the captive balloons could not be used in aircraft.
Radio equipment was developed into very small packages that could be easily carried in Recce aircraft. Power was supplied by wind driven generators. There are many photographs of German "C" type aircraft observer cockpits showing the radio equipment. When the war started there were no all metal aircraft on either side. In 1915 Junkers produced an all sheet steel Ju.E.I using a Mercedes D.I 100 hp engine. The standard engine in 1914 was 50-100 hp on both side. In 1917 Fiat had designed an developed the 700 hp Fiat A.14 engine that powered the S.I.A.7b single engine of which 62 machines were made and equipped the 1a, 103a and 161a Squadriglia Navale. The SPAD XII was armed with a 37mm cannon. None of the things I mentioned were developed prior to the war. War is the forcer of science and always will be. Had WW1 lasted another 4 years the Me109, Fw190, Spitfire and the P-51 would have come into being.
Blue Skies,
Dan-San Abbott

[Lufbery]

Mr. Abbott

Excellent points all. Actually, if you read my first post in this thread, you'll see that I've mentioned a lot of the same things you have. I'll have to do more research on the use of airbourne radios in WWI: I find it a facinating subject and it's one that I don't know a lot about.

Respectfully,

-Drew

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Drew:
Iwould suggest,"Unser Luftkräfte 1914-1918" compliled by Generalleutnant Walter von Eberhardt,
Vaterlädischer Verlag C.A Weller, Berlin 1930. Starting on page 79 is an article by Dr.Ing.Werner von Langsdorff, Leutnant,a.D. entitled:
Luftbildwesen, Funkentelegraphie, und Wetterkunde für die Luftwaffe. The article discusses aerial cameras and aircraft radios used in airships and aircraft. They got fighter airplane radios down to the size of a shoe box and a weight of 4kg.(8.8lbs).
The third part is about weather stations and equipment.
blue skies,
Dan-San Abbott

[Lufbery]

Thanks, I'll have to check that out. I suspect that it's a German language book. Any English translations available? I hope you see this. -Drew