The Great War saw the first widespread military application of aircraft. In a stunningly short period of time combat aircraft went from tiny, under-powered one or two man planes to multi-engined behemoths that carried crews of as much as a dozen and armed with machine guns and bombs. Speed, durability, reliability and maneuverability all experienced a quantum increase. This vast impulse would lead to the spread of aircraft to all the continents in the years following the war and a world-wise fascination with flight.
Thanks for posting these, very interesting, particularly the "bug". Imagine cruise missiles introduced 30 years earlier... and of course given the war, probably with gas warheads too.
ReplyDeleteThere is something so fascinating, elegant, and yet fragile about these early planes, isn't there? Thanks for sharing!
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