Airplanes During World War 1

World War One weapons were often primitive and unreliable. Airplanes were still in their infancy at this point in time, and they were crudely built and inadequate in battle. During World War One, airplanes were bi-winged and often built using fabric and wood. Their tops speeds were slow and they traveled at a low altitude which allowed enemies to fire upon and hit both pilots and planes. The pilots had to literally fly low and drop bombs over the side of the plane. The most frequent use of the airplane during this time was for spying.

Adolf Hitler gained control of the Nazi party in the early 1930’s with the promise of making Germany great again. He quickly raised the military numbers and took control of Germany with absolute power. Within

a short period of time, Germany under the leadership of Hitler invaded and took control Czechoslovakia and then Austria. Other countries were soon fall in the same fate to the determined German army. The rest of the world seemed to look the other way while this was occurring. World War Two was beginning and the countries were in denial.
Technology advancements in weapons were rapidly changing and expanding. Many of the weapons used during World War One changed drastically or were obsolete by the end of World War Two. With all of the advancing technology in weapons during World War Two, the advancements in the build and weapons associated with airplanes changed warfare techniques and ultimately the outcome of the war.
Technology advancements in airplanes lead to the development of several, different types of planes for different warfare uses. Some technological advancements that happened during this time included radar, metal frames and coverings, cargo areas, more powerful engines, weapon attachments, bomb compartments, pressurized cabins and modified, atomic bomb-carrying planes. With these advancements in military planes, the way wars had been fought would change dramatically during World War Two.
The airplane design and build changed between World War One and World War Two. The bi-wing design would be changed to a mono-winged design. These wings went from being thin to a thicker design made from more durable materials. This type of wing was harder to damage than the thin fabric based bi-wing. Another design change was with the materials that were used to build planes. The first planes built and used were made from either fabric or wood. For the first time, planes would be almost completely made of aluminum. The exterior covering of planes would also be modified to include an aluminum covering to replace the typical fabric or wood covering. The frame was also made of aluminum instead of the traditional wooden frame. This light metal allowed the airplanes to accomplish difficult maneuvers during training or battles. The aluminum covering also gave a greater protection than the previously used materials to the crew onboard.
Another advancement added to some airplanes was a cargo area.

Early planes didn’t have any storage available. All supplies or packages had to be stored in the cockpit next to the pilot. This even included bombs and other dangerous cargo. Two types of planes that would have a cargo area added were the bomber and the cargo plane. The cargo plane was used to simply transport goods and soldiers to where they were needed. The ability to move troops to battle fronts quickly enhanced the way battles were fought. The bomber planes, such as B-29, used the cargo area to transport and drop bombs on specific targets. The cargo area in these planes would include a hatch where the bombs were released. These bombers could carry between one thousand and four thousand five hundred pounds of explosives. These advancements in cargo space have allowed armies to transport troops and materials long distances in a short amount of

time.
Another major change to the airplane was the engine.

The biplane was outdated and was limited in the missions that could be performed. The engines continued to be more advanced with their power coming from pistons. The new engines produced more power allowing these planes to not only to increase their flying speed, but they also allowed the planes to fly for longer periods of time. These newer fighters were able to make longer trips without stopping for fuel. This allowed pilots to complete round trip missions, returning safely back to their home base. Twin engines would be added to some aircrafts to help move heavy loads or for those airplanes that were heavily armored. These aircrafts weren’t as maneuverable as many of the single-engined planes. In a dog fight, these heavy aircrafts were easily defeated. But they were good to use as bombers, having the ability to haul larger amounts of explosives. The longer the war lasted to more speed and altitude were reached. At the beginning of the war, the distance an average plane could travel was about 300 miles. By the end of the war, this distance was doubled. At the beginning of World War Two, planes could only reach an altitude of about 35,000 feet. Towards the end of the war, planes were reaching altitudes between 40,000 and 45,000 feet. The engines could overheat, causing a malfunction that lead to the crew’s deaths. However, engines were changed to be cooled down in two ways. The first way was to bring cold outside air

and run it over the engine. The second way was the same, except they used a chemical similar to today’s antifreeze. By the end of the war, aircraft makers were developing jet engine prototypes. These engines would lead to the type of engines on today’s aircrafts.
With planes climbing to higher altitudes, plane builders had to protect the pilots and their passengers from becoming sick or passing out. Charles William Morris, a guy who was an aerospace engineer and an automotive engineer, designed a cabin that could withstand the harsh altitude and even had a supply of oxygen that you could breathe. These cabins were called pressurized cabins.
Radar was a technology that was used in World War Two and still is very important today. It lets operators know if something is close to countries or restricted areas. In the middle of 1935, the British first showed the world what radar was. By World War Two, bombers and fighter planes were being equipped with radar devices. The first use of the radar was to pinpoint exact locations that needed to be bombed, whether it was day or night. However, radar wasn’t added to day time fighter planes until the 1950s. Some pilots even used the radar to track their whereabouts in storms or poor weather, and to keep in range of their next bombing target.
Another enhancement of the plane was weapons. Machine guns were mounted both inside and outside the plane. The machine guns that were found inside the plane had to be aimed and fed strings of ammunition. Machine guns that were found on the outside of the plane were usually located near the wings or on the bottom side of the wings.
Planes also had compartments built into the belly of the plane. These compartments were meant for the transportation or release of bombs. They could also open up the hatches to the compartments. This allowed the bombs to leave the planes and meet their target.
The Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber that struck the Japanese city of Hiroshima, dropped the world’s first ever atomic bomb. That atomic bomb was called Little Boy. Little Boy weighed 9,700 pounds, was ten feet long, and had a diameter of twenty-eight inches . Because of this awkward shape and heavy weight, some parts of the Enola Gay had to be removed to make room for the size and weight of Little Boy. Without the Enola Gay, the dropping of the atomic bomb Little Boy, would have never occurred or would have been delayed. In another words, the war against Japan would have continued. The other plane, Bockscar, carried out the second successful atomic bombing. Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb Fat Man on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Fat Man weighed 10,800 pounds, was ten feet eight inches long, and had a diameter of sixty inches. Bockscar also had to be modified slightly, allowing Fat Man to fit in the plane’s belly.
The production of airplanes during World War Two was also very important. The United States alone produced an estimated 297,200 airplanes, while the Germans and Japanese built an estimated 196,000 airplanes. An estimated total of 950,000 airplanes were produced before and during World War Two.
Bombers usually had three techniques for dropping the bomb. The first technique involved flying low and dropping the bomb right before the pilot raised the nose of the plane to gain altitude. The second technique was diving at about a seventy degree angle and dropping the bomb from a mid-ranged altitude. The third and last technique involved a ninety degree nose dive. This allowed the plane to transfer some of its momentum to bomb. After dropping the bomb from a high altitude, the pilot would maneuver his plane to a parallel position with the ground or body of water.
During World War Two, not only did the world change but so did the airplanes . The planes that were created and changed caused differences in the war itself. The innovations and renovations such as radar, design and materials, cargo areas, engines, weaponry, bomb compartments, pressurized cabins, modified planes, number of planes produced, and bombing techniques all played their role in changing the outcome of World War Two. The innovations and renovations to the airplanes changed not only how the war was fought, but also the ultimate outcome of the war.