What was the first plane in World War 1?

Answer 1

Early in the war, the airplanes were small and very delicate. Each side built 2-seat observation planes and they usually did not have any guns or bombs. Then the pilots and observer began to use small weapons, which included small bombs that they tossed over-board. Some books say the Americans first flew airplanes in combat in Mexico just prior to WW1 and they occassionally dropped bomblets.

I assume you are interested in a bomber that dropped large bombs.

Here is a FIRST:

On 28 July 1914, a torpedo was successfully launched for th efirst time from a British aircraft, a 160h.p. Short seaplane. From this prototype aircraft, the Short 184 bomber was built and began service in mid-1915. A land-plane version was built and its typical load included four 230 lb or eight 112 lb bombs carried beneath the lower wings. The Short 184 continued into service throughout the war.

The Russian designer Igor Sikorsky built a Hugh 4-engine airplane in 1914 that could carry up to 16 people. It was named Ilya Murometz. Orders were placed and by the time the Russian revolution in 1917, there were 75 built. They carried bombs weighing up to 1000 lbs. They made 400 bombing missions and only 1 airplane was shot down. But I'm not sure if this was the FIRST one or not.

The Italians were also ahead in the aircraft design than either the British or Germans. The 3-engine Caproni Ca 30 was the first of Italy's giant plane to fly in 1913. This was followed by the Ca 31, which had the military designation of Ca 1 and the Ca 32 (or military Ca 2). The Ca 2 made the first Italian bombing raid of the war against Austro-Hungary on 20 August 1915. (But I can't seem to find its bomb load capacity.)

Reference Sources:

A= Jane's Fighting Aircraft of WW1.

B= World Aircraft - Bombers 1914-1919 by Munson

C= Aeroplanes and Flyers of the First World War by Phelan

Custermen

The de Havilland was designed and produced by the United Kingdom in 1918 and the total produced was over six thousand. Its bomb load capacity was 460lb. and it had a max speed of 143 MPH. It was later redesigned and used in World War II.

References:

http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=448

E2012

Answer 2

"Biggest" can be judged by several factors: Wing Span, Length, Gross Weight. There were some very unusual airplane designs in WW1 that had multiple wings and fuselage construction. However, most of these rarely saw combat. This is a list of the most popular WW1 Bombers ranked by Wing Span with Country ID in front of name. GER Zeppelin(Staaken) R.VI WS = 138 Ft- 5 In UK Handley Page V/1500 WS = 126 Ft

UK Handley Page O/400 WS = 100 Ft

Italy Caproni Ca 4(Ca 42) WS= 98 Ft- 1 In

Russia Sikorsky Ilya Mourometz Type V WS= 97- Ft- 9 In

UK Short Bomber WS = 85 Ft

IT Caproni Ca 5(Ca 46) WS= 76 Ft- 9 In

UK Blackburn Kangaroo WS = 74 Ft- 10 In

GER A.E.G. G.IV WS = 60 Ft- 2 In Curtis H.12 WS= 92 Ft- 8 In

UK Felixsowe F.2A WS= 95 Ft- 7 In

Answer 3

There was no one "first plane" at the beginning of World War I. The warring nations all had military aircraft at the beginning of the war; they were unarmed and were used for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, Photography, and for dropping small loads of bombs. Armed aircraft were not introduced until the end of 1914. The link below will give you a year-by-year summary of the development of WWI aircraft.

Answer 4

There were a number of bombers developed during WW1. Initially, two seater biplanes would drop small hand grenades from the sky, but as the war progressed specialised aircraft were developed as bombers.

The Airco D.H. 4 was an early bomber as was the French Voisin VIII, Italian Caproni Ca.3 and 5 and the Germans AEG-IV.

Later the big bombers were developed. Two of the best known heavy bombers were the British Vimy Vickers and the German Gotha. A lesser known, but earlier heavy bomber was the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Mourometz 4 engine bomber, built in 1913-14. It was originally built as a passenger airplane and converted to the role of a bomber.

Answer 5

That's very difficult to say - was it the first aircraft where an observer leaned out and dropped a grenade, or the first purpose built bomber. -Even then nobody knows for certain when the first purpose built bomber actually fought in action.

Answer 6

There were quite a few airplanes in service when the war broke out. They varied from the Bleroit and Farman Shorthorn to the Atiatik.

Answer 7

The biplane.

Had two seats in it: one to fly the plane and the other one has a turret on the back so the can shoot.

Answer 8

A number of airplanes were already in service when the war broke out. Most countries already had small air corps prior to 1914.