Single Gun Aces

24 December 2003, 07:34 PM

Hello,

Here is a trivia question: Which scout pilot scored the most aerial victories flying a single-seater armed with a single, forward firing machine gun? Actually, I don't know the answer myself, I just thought that it would be nice to enlist the help of my fellow forumites to come up with the answer! Something tells me he's an Allied pilot, maybe flying a Nieuport

regards

25 December 2003, 09:57 AM

At first I thought that it would be more difficult to determine what pilot scored the most with one gun. Now it looks like Guynemer is the most likely candidate, with 48 confirmed victories flying Morane Saulnier, Nieuports and Spad VIIs. Fullard also comes to mind with 40 kills on Nieuport types. I still have some more checking to do...

regards

Barrett · 25 December 2003, 10:46 AM

WW: an interesting question! FWIW, Fullard had 40 victories, including 15 credited as kills.

I'm uncertain whether his Nieuports had one gun or two.

StephenLawson · 25 December 2003, 04:40 PM

Possibly Fonck?

25 December 2003, 05:55 PM

Hi Stephen,

I considered René Fonck, but according to his autobiography 'Mes Combats', he scored 15 confirmed kills with the Spad VII (which I assume was armed with a single gun), 7 kills with the cannon armed Spad XII, and a whopping 53 kills while flying the twin gunned Spad XIII, by far the greatest exponent of the Spad XIII.

regards

25 December 2003, 06:30 PM

Hi Barrett,

I'm not sure how many Nieuport 17, 23, or 27 had twin gun armament (by this you mean one Lewis and one Vickers?). This raises an interesting point. How are we to determine this? Was it not primarily a British custom to mount a Lewis above the top wing, or did the French do this as well? I remember reading that normally if an un-synchronized Lewis was mounted above the wing, the synchronized Vickers was often removed so as to not adversely effect performance. Can anyone expound on this?

regards

Frank_Olynyk · 26 December 2003, 01:32 AM

For the British, the combat report normally specifies the armament carried; one Vickers, or one Vickers and one Lewis, etc. Early reports (1915) might specify "carbine and auto pistol". I have not attempted to catalog the armament listed in the report, except in the early cases. The Russians weren't the only ones to try strange weaponry: Lewis Strange tried "weight on end of 150' copper cable" on April 30, 1915.

Frank.

stephen · 26 December 2003, 06:39 AM

Just bumping this back to the top because I find it very interesting and a worthwhile question.

I anxiously await the answer. :P

Barrett · 26 December 2003, 11:10 AM

WW: Frank O. provided the info source I'd expect. Reason I mention the Vickers/Lewis/Both prospect is that photos show all 3 options. However, my impression is that most RFC Nieups had one or t'other; perhaps the two-gun photos were more illustrative than typical. Anyway, I've read at least one account stating that Fullard used to practice in-flight disassembly of his gun to clear major stoppages. It would probably be possible for the Lewis (on a rail vice "hard" mount) as well as Vickers but methinks I'd scoot for home rather than stooge around trying to fumble with the bolt in parts on my lap!