Airplanes in ww1
authored by sean
The weapons were wood and canvas planes that could fly close to 100 mph. It worked by using a propeller in the front to push the plane forward, behind that was a set of wings, often four, used for stabilization followed by the cockpit for the pilot to steer the plane. The weapons used were machine guns that were either mounted on the back of the plane for the copilot to operate or placed on the front on a timer to precisely fire through the propeller and bombs were dipped from planes into the enemy.
The airplane was invented by the Wright brothers in 1903, 11 years before the war in North Carolina. It wasn't invented for battle and was used for sport and competitive flying. People never thought the plane would be used in the war to attack the enemy because generals considered it a crime of war for they were unfair and not suit for warfare, they were strictly for spying and recon but this didn't last long as countries realized the potential of them in the war.
Map of all German air raids done on Britain during the war
impact and consequences
The airplane was a major impact on WW1. It was used in many various ways during the war. It was used at the beginning of the war as recon and to get info on the enemy, not as a weapon. This led to generals able to make better decisions when they knew what they were up against. Later they were used as weapons. They could drop bombs on soldiers in the trenches or often civilians and towns of the enemy. Also the elite flyers partook in dog fights where one plane would try to shoot down another.
Airplanes affected all during the war. Soldiers in the front lines could be killed by airplanes, they could do bombing runs of the enemy trenches and bases. It affected leaders and their decisions because it was used as recon and to get information on the enemy. With this information they could plan better attacks and overall make better decisions. This then affects the soldiers in the front line because their superiors know what to do to successfully lead attacks and have less casualties. It also affects the civilians near the front line because bombs were often dropped on enemy cities during the war killing many innocent defenseless people.
There are positives and negatives of the airplane. Some positives are that it could be used to gather Information on the enemy. This helped a nation win battles and more of them. Also it could attack the enemy without being easy at all to take the plane down. Also pilots were used as propaganda, they were shown as heroes to try to get more to enlist in the war and it worked. Some negatives are that they often caught on fire mid flight which was impending doom for the pilot. Also when firing through the propeller the timer often wasn't timed correctly and the propeller would be shot and ruined and the plane crashes. Also human error led to many planes crashing from bad piloting. Some positive and negatives are the air raids on cities it is a positive for the attacker but negative for the country the city is in. Also dog fights because either side could win so one nations plane will lose and be destroyed of any nation.
connections to today
A plane of today would be the F/A-18F Super Hornet. Some advancements to this plane is it no longer caches fire mid flight, it can't accidentally shoot itself down, removed propeller, more control and speed than the planes in WW1. It is a plane currently used by the US and is currently used as a bomber to bombs terrorist camps and bases in Seria. The US has been using planes like this to bomb terrorists in Seria for 5 years now.
This map shows the American bombings of Seria