American Aviation 1918
Designed in 1916 by Geoffrey de Havilland, the D.H.4 was the only British design manufactured by the Americans. It was easily identified by its rectangular fuselage and deep frontal radiator. Versatile, heavily armed and equipped with a powerful twelve cylinder engine, this biplane daylight bomber was fast.
Sometimes called the "Flaming Coffin," its huge fuel tank was dangerously positioned between the pilot and observer, hindering communication. Produced in vast numbers, 6295, of which 4846 were built in the United States, many D.H.4s were modified for civilian air service after the war.
[Read more]
[Close]
Used throughout the war, the innovative Breguet Br.14 was a highly successful biplane used by the French, Belgian and American air services. Designed by Louis Breguet in 1916, it was one of the first aircraft constructed with duralumin in the airframe.
Rugged and versatile, it was mass produced in several variations, including a seaplane model. Before the end of the war, the Br.14 saw service as a reconnaissance aircraft, a day/night bomber and an air ambulance. This was one of the best bombers the French used. It was produced up until 1926.
The Curtiss 18T, unofficially known as the Wasp and by the United States Navy as the Kirkham, was an early American triplane fighter aircraft designed by Curtiss Engineering for the US Navy.
The Curtiss 18T was intended to protect bombing squads along the French coast, and a primary requisite for this job was speed. Speed was not the triplane's only salient feature: an 18T-2 set a new altitude record in 1919 of 34,910 ft (10,640 m). The streamlined and very "clean" fuselage contribiuted to the aircraft's performance. The basic construction was based on cross-laminated strips of wood veneer formed on a mold and attached to the inner structure. The technique was a refinement of that used on the big Curtiss flying boats.
Flown by Roland Rholfs, the 18T achieved a world speed record of 163 mph (262 km/h) in August 1918 carrying a full military load of 1,076 lb (488 kg).
The Model 18T-2 was an improved version of its predecessor, boosting 50 additional horsepower. The wings of the new model were swept back. It was also 5 ft (150 cm) longer with a 9 ft (270 cm) longer two-bay wing, though its flight ceiling was 2,000 ft (610 m) lower.
After World War I, it was employed as a racing plane: an 18T-2 nearly won the Curtiss Marine Trophy Race in 1922 (limited to U.S. Navy pilots), but pilot Sandy Sanderson ran out of fuel just before the finish line.
Curtiss Engineering followed the success of the Model 18T with the launch of the Model 18B, unofficially known as the "Hornet", built to otherwise similar specifications.
The CB (Curtiss Battleplane), unofficially known as the "Liberty Battler", serial number 34632, was an experimental two-seat fighter developed and flown early in 1918 as a result of difficulties being experienced with the Liberty-engined version of the Bristol F2B.
Powered by a 425hp 12-cylinder Liberty 12 water-cooled engine, the CB two-bay biplane was an early example of "Curtiss ply" construction - two layers of 5cm wide wood veneer being cross-laminated over a form to build up a monocoque fuselage shell. In an effort to maintain fuselage streamlining, the radiators were slung under the upper wing center section, where they were found to have a seriously detrimental effect on the airflow.
[Read more]
The fairing of the upper wing into the top fuselage contour resulted in a very narrow wing gap, with consequent aerodynamic penalties. While it provided the rear gunner with an excellent field of fire, it impaired the forward and downward view of the pilot, necessitating the provision of small windows in the fuselage sides.
Flown in May 1918, the sole prototype CB proved to have extremely poor handling characteristics and crashed early in its test program. Three additional airframes, 34633-34635, cancelled.
[Close]
The Curtiss HA (sometimes Dunkirk Fighter) was an American biplane seaplane designed by Captain B.L. Smith of the United States Marine Corps, and built by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.
The HA was a two-seat biplane with a central float and balancing floats on the wingtips. The fuselage was wood with a fabric covering. The plane was powered by a Liberty 12 engine in the nose. The prototype was ordered in December 1917, and its first flight was on 21 March 1918. During testing the aircraft proved very unstable, with an overly heavy tailplane. The aircraft was destroyed in a crash.
[Read more]
Two more prototypes were ordered, designated HA-1 and HA-2. the HA-1 was constructed of salvaged parts from the original, but its tailplane and radiator were redesigned, and its wings were moved further aft. The HA-1 caught fire during a flight. The HA-2 had a wider wingspan, and performed better, but as the war was almost over, no production order was received.
[Close]
The Leoning M-8 was a 1910s American fighter monoplane designed by Grover Loening and built by his Loening Aeronautical Engineering Company. An order of 5000 for the United States Army Air Corps was canceled when the First World War ended.
The first design by Grover Loening after he had formed his company was a two-seat braced-wing monoplane fighter the M-8. It had a fixed tailskid landing gear and was powered by a nose-mounted Hispano-Suiza engine with a tractor propeller. The pilot and gunner had tandem open cockpits.
The first aircraft was flown in 1918 and after testing the United States Army Air Corps ordered 5000 aircraft to be built. Only two aircraft were delivered to the Army and one to the United States Navy with the designation M-8-0.
At the end of the war the order was canceled. The Navy ordered 46 aircraft in two variants for use as observation aircraft. The Navy also ordered six M-8-S twin-float seaplane versions. A single-seat version was developed for the Army as the Loening PW-2.
Rejected by the French and British air services, the Nieuport 28 was the first biplane fighter received in large numbers by squadrons of the United States Air Service. A favorite with aces like Harold Hartney, it was fast and maneuverable but had a tendency to shed its upper wing fabric if its pilot pulled out of a steep dive too quickly. The Nieuport 28 was replaced by the less maneuverable SPAD S.XIII.
[Read more]
The Nieuport 28 design was an attempt to adapt the concept of the lightly built, highly maneuverable rotary engined fighter typified by the Nieuport 17 to the more demanding conditions of the times. It was designed to carry an up-to-date armament of twin synchronized machine guns, had a more powerful engine, and a new wing structure — for the first time a Nieuport biplane was fitted with conventional two spar wings, top and bottom, in place of the sesquiplane "v-strut" layout of earlier Nieuport types. Ailerons were fitted to the lower wings only. The tail unit’s design closely followed that of the Nieuport 27, but the fuselage was much slimmer, in fact it was so narrow that the machine guns had to be offset to the left.
By early 1918, when the first production Nieuport 28s became available, the type was already "surplus" from the French point of view. The SPAD S.XIII was a superior aircraft in most respects, and was in any case firmly established as the standard French fighter.
On the other hand, the United States Army Air Service was desperately short of fighters to equip its projected "pursuit" (fighter) squadrons. The SPAD was initially unavailable due to a shortage of Hispano-Suiza engines — and the Nieuport was offered to, and perforce accepted by, the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), as an interim alternative. A total of 297 Nieuport 28s were purchased by the Americans, and they were used to equip the very first American fighter squadrons, starting in March 1918. All together, four AEF "pursuit" squadrons flew 28s operationally, the 27th, 94th, 95th and 103rd Aero Squadrons.
On 14 April 1918, the second armed patrol of an AEF fighter unit resulted in two victories when Lieutenants Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell (the first American-trained ace) of the 94th Aero Squadron each downed an enemy aircraft. Several well known WWI American fighter pilots, including Quentin Roosevelt, the son of US president Theodore Roosevelt, as well as American aces like the 26-victory ace, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, began their operational careers on the Nieuport 28.
On the whole the type was not a success, however. Although very maneuverable and easy to fly, its performance turned out to be mediocre and its engine unreliable. More seriously, the mixed plywood/fabric skinning of the wings proved problematic — the fabric which covered the rear portion of the wings tending to "balloon" and become detached from the plywood leading section. Although a solution to this problem was speedily found, the operational Nieuports in American service were replaced with SPADs as soon as sufficient of the latter became available. This process was complete by the end of July 1918.
[Close]
The LUSAC-11 (Le Peré United States Army Combat) was an early American Army two-seat fighter aircraft. It was designed during World War I and ordered in large numbers, but the contract was cancelled at the end of the war, and only 30 were built. The type was used for experimental purposes, setting several altitude records during the 1920s.
When the U.S. entered World War I, the Signal Corps had just 55 aircraft, none fit for combat. The American Expeditionary Force was equipped with French types, and the LUSAC was part of a plan to build French designs in the U.S.
Georges Le Peré, a member of the French Aeronautical Mission to the United States, was tasked by the Engineering Division of the United States Army Air Service to design a two-seat escort fighter. His design was a two-bay biplane with upper and lower wings of equal span with forward stagger. It was of wood and fabric construction, with the fuselage consisting of a wooden box girder with plywood covering. It was powered by a 425 hp (317 kW) Liberty L-12 engine cooled by a radiator faired into the upper wing. Armament was two .30 inch (7.62 mm) machine guns synchronized to fire through the propeller, with two Lewis guns flexibly mounted on a Scarff ring at the observer's cockpit.
[Read more]
Large orders for the new design were placed, with Packard, Brewster & Co. and the Fisher Body Corporation, a total of 3,525 ordered. The first prototype made its maiden flight at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio on 15 May 1918. Despite a forced landing due to fuel starvation on its first flight, testing proved successful, with speeds of 136 mph (219 km/h) being reached. Only two prototypes and 25 production aircraft (by Packard) were completed by the Armistice that marked the end of World War I, and led to mass cancellation of outstanding orders for the LUSAC-11.
Three additional aircraft were completed with 420 hp (317 kW) Bugatti 16 engines as LUSAC-21s. These were delivered in August 1919.
In addition, three strafer aircraft were built, as LUSAGH (Le Peré United States Army Ground Harassment), two with Bugatti engines (LUSAGH-21), one a Liberty (LUSAGH-11). There was also an experimental LUSAC-11 triplane, the LUSAO-11 (Le Pere United States Army Observation), which used two Liberty L-12As.
Two LUSAC-11s were sent to France for evaluation by the Army Air Service just before the end of the War, which resulted in the type being considered unsuitable for combat. A further aircraft sent for evaluation by the French Aéronautique Militaire.
The LUSACs saw no squadron service, being used as liaison aircraft by US Military attaches in Europe, and for trials work in the United States. One LUSAC-11, fitted with a turbocharged Liberty, flown by Major Rudolf Schroeder made an attempt on the world altitude record on 27 February 1920. The pilot's oxygen supply failed during the attempt, causing Schroeder to pass-out, only regaining consciousness close to the ground. While Schroeder was hospitalized by the near disaster, the aircraft had reached a height of 33,113 feet (10,099 m) a world record. The same aircraft was flown to a height of 34,508 ft (10,518 m) on 28 September 1921 by Lieutenant John A. Macready, for which he won the Mackay Trophy. The record held for almost two years.
[Close]
The Salmson 2 was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft made by Salmson. It was developed to a 1916 requirement. Along with the Breguet 14, it was the main reconnaissance aircraft in use with the French army in 1918. At the end of the First World War, one-third of French reconnaissance aircraft were Salmson 2s.
Built in large numbers, the Salmson 2 was the most widely used reconnaissance aircraft in the final year of the war. A versatile two-seater biplane featuring a new Canton-Unné radial engine, it was also employed as a daylight bomber and ground attack aircraft by French and American air services.
Equipped with twin machine guns and a larger engine, the SPAD S.XIII was based upon the smaller SPAD S.VII. Built in large numbers, it was fast and powerful but difficult to fly. The SPAD S.XIII was flown by many of the famous aces including Georges Guynemer, Rene Fonck, and also by Italian ace Francesco Baracca. Aces of the United States Army Air Service who flew the Spad XIII include and Eddie Rickenbacker, (America's leading ace with 26 confirmed victories) and Frank Luke (18 victories).
Irish ace William Cochran-Patrick scored more victories with the SPAD S.VII and SPAD S.XIII than any other ace.
[Read more]
The SPAD S.XIII was a French biplane fighter aircraft of World War I, developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) from the earlier highly successful SPAD S.VII. It was one of the most capable fighters of the war, and one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice.
The S.VII had entered service in September of 1916, but by early 1917 it had been surpassed by the latest German fighters, leading French flying ace, Georges Guynemer to lobby for an improved version. SPAD designer Louis Béchereau initially produced the cannon-armed S.XII, which had limited success, and finally the S.XIII.
The S.XIII differed from its predecessor by incorporating a number of aerodynamic and other refinements, including larger wings and rudder, a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 8B engine fitted with reduction gearing, driving a larger "right-hand" propeller, and a second 0.303 Vickers machine gun for added firepower. The sum of these improvements was a notable improvement in flight and combat performance. It was faster than its main contemporaries, the British Sopwith Camel and the German Fokker D.VII, and was renowned for its ruggedness and strength in a dive. The manoeuvrability of the type was however relatively poor, especially at low speeds. A steep gliding angle and a very sharp stall made it a difficult aircraft for novice pilots to land safely.
It first flew on April 4, 1917, and the following month was already being delivered to the French Air Service. Other Allied forces were quick to adopt the new fighter as well, and nearly half of the 893 purchased for the United States Army Air Service were still in service in 1920. It was also exported to Japan, Poland, and Czechoslovakia after the war.
[Close]
