What would you do without MG?

[rammjaeger]

In 1914/1915 unarmed German double seaters were frequently attacked by MG-armed Allied airplanes. Especially the French airplanes were often faster and a fight unavoidable. Assume you are the German and your crew is only armed with pistol and/or carabine.

What would you do? Which tactic would you choose?

[Richard_Schrader]

Praying comes to mind.
Richard

[Barrett]

Depends entirely on configuration of my black crossed machine. If the observer's seat is in front, I'm limited to a narrow cone of fire off either beam. However, if the observer's behind the pilot, there are two likely modes of attack with my schnellfeuher Broomhandle Mauser:
Maneuver ahead of the hostile aircraft, presenting a no-deflection shot rearward (assuming, of course, the evil allies have no forward-firing armament.) Enemy radiator/prop/engine/pilot are vulnerable.
Place myself below and behind the target, able to fire upward and forward into the exposed belly: engine, both cockpits.

[Richard_Schrader]

If th Allied plane was French, I would turn and have a go at it head on. The French have little stomach for that you know.
If British, I would make for home a quickly as posable, those guys are bug-eyed craze!
Richard

[mike_baram]

"If th Allied plane was French, I would turn and have a go at it head on."
Shades of Rooster Cogburn. Hold the joystick with your knees, pull out 2 pistols, and go for it...

[Barrett]

...while shouting into the slipstream, "Fill your hands, you son of a bleep..."

[mike_baram]

Leave it to Barrett....
Hey, Barrett....last e-mail I sent you got kicked back...send me your address if you changed it.

[rammjaeger]

Barrett,
I believe the most were foreward firing from the balcony (pusher) or over the upper wing (or sideward of the prop).

I was just reading reports about the air combats of 18.11.1914 over Amiens. A French source stated a German airplane was passing a French MG-carrying airplane so close that the slipstream was causing an enormous amount of swinging and rolling of the Fench airplane. Therefore the MG was falling inside the fuselage (maybe balcony if the airplane was a pusher? -HT) of the French airplane. So the German could escape said the French. Sounds really like a suicidal attack but had the intend to save another German airplane which was at first attacked by the French and was already damaged.

[rammjaeger]

Barrett,

I forgot to write concerning the positions of observer and pilot: In general the German observers were sitting in front of the pilots until the introduction of the C-Flugzeug. So I think the observer had to shoot over the head of his pilot if the enemy attacked from behind and above. Must be a nice feeling for the pilot too, you can get a bullet in the back every moment and additional you observer is fumbling with his carabine or pistole near to your face.

That leads again to Richards first tactic.

I would make certain that I was always flying with a wingman whose aircraft was slower than mine..

regards,

MDD