World War 1

What was the most significant plane used in World War 1?

[leo]

Any reconnaisance plane or artillery spotter. The Junker all- metal momoplane which was due for introduction in the late Fall of 1918 set the standard fo airplanes until after WWII.

[Lufbery]

This is a tough question. If you're looking for the plane that was used to shoot down the most enemy aircraft, then the Sopwith Camel is the choice.

If you're looking for the plane that had the greatest impact on post-war designs, then I'd go with the Fokker D7. The all-metal Junkers monoplane may have shown the shape of the future, but it took a surprisingly long time for people to iron out the problems of all-metal airplane production after the war. However, the Fokker airfoil (which was thicker than other contemporary airfoils) was adopted almost immediately by post-war airplane builders.

How about the Handley Page and de Havilland bombers used by Boom Trenchard to bomb the heartland of Germany. He presaged the tactics used in WWII by both sides, and gave immediate rise to the Martin B-10 bomber in the US and the "bomber culture" that permeated the USAAF between the wars.

If you're looking for planes that had the most impact on the ground war, then any of the excellent spotting/recon planes would do. Many of these planes, especially German Hanovers and AEGs couldn't be caught by the scouts at the time because they flew too high and too fast.

-Drew

Like Drew said perhaps the Camel for it's kill score.

Or I would say The Bristol Fighter, a two seater. It could perform Recon missions and was deadly in combat. There is an account of an experienced Brisfit crew taking on 20 Dr1s and beating them.

The fight is refered to as the Two VS 20. I'm having problems trying to find refeanced to this fight but I know Barrett brought it up long ago, i'm pretty sure it was with a brisfit.

Anyways, it was a great workhorse for the RFC.

[Barrett]

Thanks for the reference, guys, but I gotta plead Not Guilty to the Brisfit v 20 thread. Don't recall who posted that.
BTW: the D-7 was credited with more than twice as many shootdowns as the Camel, and in a much shorter time.
No single aircraft was the most significant, though I suspect if you ask Al directly, he'll say it's a tie between the N.17 and SE-5!

[stephen]

The DVII statement by Barrett relies upon a shootdown as opposed to victory claims... yes, we've all been through that before, I'm just clarifying the point for the sake of the original question.

So far as having a massive, nearly instantaneous impact and rendering the entire German fighter force's equipment as obsolete overnight, the Camel still takes the honors. When the Camel was introduced en masse in the late spring of '17, it had no competition in any form and the face of the air war changed with its entry.

So far as longevity of design goes, the Albatros DI gets my vote. Concept: build a fast plane that carries big guns and climbs faster than the other guy's and forget manuevering. The DI did it well (ask any DH2 pilot), and that concept was still being used effectively by Phantom pilots in Nam.

[Vigilant]

The one that carried the armistace delegation over the lines in November 1918

[leo]

I think they came to Compeigne by train.

Camel fans might want to look at www.aviation-magazine.com/sopwith/losses.html

The guy who authored this article claims the Camel killed more British pilots than it did Germans. Its interesting.

Sorry Barrett, I guess it wasn't you...

None-the-less I found the Ace who was the pilot in the "Two VS Twenty:" Alfred Atkey

In an historic dogfight known as "Two Against Twenty," Atkey and Charles Gass, together with John Gurdon and his observer, Anthony Thornton, encountered 20 German scouts during the evening of 7 May 1918. In the epic battle that followed, Atkey and Gass shot down 5 enemy aircraft while Gurdon and Thornton knocked down 3. Two days later, Atkey and Gass again shot down 5 enemy aircraft in one day.

So it seems it was 2 Brisfits VS 20 German scouts.

Anyways...BRISFITS RULE!

[Billy_Bishop]

I'd say the most significant aircraft of WWI was the Fokker Eindecker series. The first aircraft with fixed, synchronized weapons. It, along with the Morane-Saulnier aircraft that Roland Garros used his deflector system on, revolutionized aerial combat. These were the first aircraft that let you aim the whole machine at the enemy, making aerial combat a different ball of wax.

But, that's just my opinion.

VBR,

Al Lowe