Design considerations for fighters...

[Lufbery]

Hi all,

One of the most interesting aspects of WWI aviation is the sheer number of different planes fielded by each nation.

I've noticed some interesting trends in aircraft design during the Great War that seem to hold true even today. For instance:

• Plane designs tend to get heavier, faster, and easier to handle.
• Planes with fewer "tricky" characteristics tend to do better in aggregate than twitchy plane designs.
• Fighters tend to be pressed into ground attack roles as time goes on.

A couple of f'rinstances:

The SE5a and the Camel were both very successful designs, yet my impression is that fewer people died while flying SE5s (anyone have numbers to either back up or refute that assertion?)

It is widely held that the best German plane of the war was the Fokker d.7: by all account an easy, stable, and fast plane with good high-altitude performance. In comparison, the Dr.1, which gets a lot of attention on this board, was fielded in low numbers for a short period of time. I've read and seen accounts of flying Dr.1s that indicate it was a tricky plane to fly.

Of course, pilots with a lot of experience were able to easily handle both the Camel and the Dr.1, but a tricky plane with a new pilot was most often a deadly combination.

In the end, each nation seemed to have ended up favoring plane designs that were faster, sturdier, and easier to handle over planes that were slower, more maneuverable, and lighter.

Your thoughts?

Regards,