Simviation Forum - US Aircraft During WWI

Feb 6^th, 2005 at 12:41pm

randombeaner Offline
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Just out of curiosity, even thought the US was only in the war (at least officially) for about a year, which US aircraft if any saw service during WWI?

and another question were there any US pilots helping with WWI before the US entered the war? (kind of like what happened before pearl harbor)

Recently I've been getting more interested with WWI Grin

thank you

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Reply #1 - Feb 6^th, 2005 at 2:40pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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The US was caught with its pants down - aerially speaking - . It's most capable landplane was the Curtiss Jenny, but it was US based.

The only (significant) US design used in Europe were Curtiss flying boat designs license built and developed in the UK by Felixstowe (ex. the Felixstowe F.2A was a developmnent of the Curtiss H16).

What the US did contribute was the "Liberty" engine, which was used in numbers in the DH4 and DH9A.

As to US aviators in WW1 before the entry of the US into the war, yes, there were many. Most notably, in 1916, American volunteers were set up in the "Escadrille Americaine" and, after German protests, renamed "Excadrille Lafayette"

http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/lafayette.html

These were probably the most "famous" Americans to fly against the Germans before the formal declaration of War.

Felix/FFDS

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Reply #2 - Feb 7^th, 2005 at 7:57pm

randombeaner Offline
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Quote:

Most notably, in 1916, American volunteers were set up in the "Escadrille Americaine" and, after German protests, renamed "Excadrille Lafayette"

hmm why were the germans upset with the name, was it because they didn't want American involvement?

and another fact I stumbled across
Quote:

1916 — Military reconnaissance flights begin over Mexico during Gen. John Pershing’s effort to capture Pancho Villa, marking the first time an aircraft is used to gather information.

from http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0603/firsts.html My book says that these aircraft were the Curtis Jennys

and apperently Pancho Villa also had US aircraft
Quote:

1914 = 2pOB modified from a Martin exhibition tractor as a scout-bomber for Pancho Villa by 19-year-old Larry Bell during his spare time while employed by Martin Aircraft Co.

from http://www.aerofiles.com/_bell.html
just something I found interesting

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Reply #3 - Feb 7^th, 2005 at 9:32pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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and ... the US' first insignia on their airplanes was ... a red star!

http://glennhcurtiss.com/f37f4e50.jpg

(link has other interesting shots of Jennies in the Mexico campaign)

Felix/FFDS

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Reply #4 - Feb 8^th, 2005 at 7:37pm

randombeaner Offline
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woah never would have expected that ??? just like the russians... a foreshadow of the cold war?? Grin

and thanks for the link, the site is great... a nice selection of really early aircraft photos

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Reply #5 - Feb 9^th, 2005 at 7:48am

Smoke2much Offline
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Quote:

hmm why were the germans upset with the name, was it because they didn't want American involvement?

That's exactly right, they were desparate to keep the US out of the war and sensibly so. They were allied with the corrupt and destitute Austrohungarian Empire and fighting a war on 2 fronts. The last thing that they wanted was another couple of million fresh troops arriving on the western front.

A modern equivalent would be a squadron of Chinese pilots turning up in Iraq and calling themselves "The Chinese Squadron", the US and Britain etc would have been unhappy about it even if the pilots had acted alone without government sponsorship.

Will

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Reply #6 - Feb 9^th, 2005 at 8:25pm

randombeaner Offline
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ohh that makes sense now
thanks

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Reply #7 - Feb 10^th, 2005 at 4:12am

Flt.Lt.Andrew Ex Member

Hhahah, nice analogy there...

A.

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Reply #8 - Feb 10^th, 2005 at 7:27am

Smoke2much Offline
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Quote:

Hhahah, nice analogy there...

A.

I thought so Wink

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Reply #9 - Feb 10^th, 2005 at 8:32am

Hagar Offline
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I thought so Wink

Me too. Another one who seems to have missed his vocation. Wink

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