Effectiveness of the World War 1 airplanes?

Answer 1

Fairly low.

WWI planes were slow and often poorly armed.

When used as bombers or as ground attack planes, most WW I aircraft were largely ineffectual due to their lack of accurate bomb sights and poor bomb load, composed of weapons which often proved to be low powered or duds.

Yet in the right hands they could be deadly as Manfred von Richthofen's 80 kills show.

Answer 2

The Sopwith Camel.

Subjective AnswersFighter AircraftItalian Ansaldo S.V.A 5 Scout Weight 2,315lb Speed 143 mph Ceiling 19,685 ft Endurance 4 Hr (almost double most fighters)

German Siemens-Schuckert D.III was a small fighter with an unusual engine that combined rotary and radial engine. The engine rotated one direction and the propellor in the opposite. Weight 1,598 Lb Max speed 111 mph Operational ceiling 26,575.

Sopwith Camel Weight 1,453. Speed 113mph Ceiling 19,000 ft

Sopwith Snipe Weight 2,020 Speed 121 mph Ceiling 19,500 ft

Sopwith Salamander Weight 2,510 lbs, Speed 125mph, Ceiling 14,000 ft

Fokker D VII Weight 1,984 lbs, Speed 117 mph Ceiling 19,685 ft

But nothing beath the SE5 in coolness.

SeaplaneCurtiss H.12 US Navy Weight 7,989 lb Speed 85mph. Ceiling 10,800ft Endurance 6 Hours. BomberHandley Page O/400 Weight 13,360 lbs Speed 97.5 mph Endurance 8 hrs.

Answer 3

They were mostly a kind of joke as far as the outcome of the war was concerned ...

but they laid the seeds of WWII airpower.

Hmmmm, not sure that those brave men who were killed in them, or by them, found them in the slightest amusing. Their success or otherwise was generally dependant on the quality of the opposition. Given that powered flight precedes WW1 by about a decade the acceleration in technology by the end of the war is amazing. That is to say the aircraft at the end of WW1 were unrecognisable to those of 1914.

Answer 4

WWI was the first war where heavier-than-air aircraft were used. Many types were employed, bombers, observation aircraft and fighters. Aircraft were in the early stages of use, and limited as to what they could do. Bombing was limited to dropping grenades on enemy troops. It took a considerable amount of time to create guns that could be mounted and fired without destroying the aircraft it was on!

These aircraft affected warfare by increasing the speed of communication and observation. They did not have radios, so messages would be sent to the troops on the ground through notes dropped from the plane.