World War 1

[CFcops]

I just wanted to know how come no one really talks about WW1. I mean, this was the birthplace of the fighter. You guys are forgetting about the Spads and Camels and Dr 1s.



It's worth a mention isn't it?

[osuorsa]

Nice that you took this on table because I've also been interested in talking about this 'glory' section of aerial battle and the planes and the 'knights' What do you say Pavel?

[Pavel]

definitely. I'm a little bit 'on a side' of this glorious times of the knights, when pilots were shooting each other from handguns, and were discussing their battle on the ground like gentlemen not enemies.

But of course, I'm only up to it. Will start from the "FlyBoys" discussion? )

[osuorsa]

Yeah sure Pavel, I've seen the movie It was pretty good I think. A lot of scenes that made me felt that the directors have really thought about how a plane flies! And a great thing in the movie is also that it is based on a real story.

[CFcops]

I loved that movie, only problem is that people running on top of a Zeppelin is a little far fetched and that the Fokker Dr 1 came out in 1917 if im correct. Still, in world war 1, that was when dogfighting was extremely heroic. Open cockpits, handguns or foward firing machine guns and fabric covered planes. I know what these guys went through then because a lot of my relatives have been in both world wars and a lot of them were aviators.

[Carlo]

So, CFCops, please share with us the stories! And, if possible, also some pictures. This would be really interesting.

[Carlo]

In WWI, Russia still didn't have a fully developed aircraft industry. But they were pioneers in one thing: heavy multi-engine long range bombers! The Ilya Muromets, build by Igor Sikorski (who left Russia after the 1917 revolution and went to the US), was really an excellent plane, which was very used and had just 2 losses. German fighters often refused to attack it, as it had a powerful defense (9 machine guns). The only one to be lost in air combat was shot down by 4 Albatross fighters; anyway, before being shot down, this Ilya Muromets managed to destroy 3 of the fighters!
Not easy to find pictures of it, but I could get some of its original time:

[Carlo]

It was designed first as a passenger aircraft, before the war, in 1913. It had a big and luxurious cabin for its time, with heating, bathroom, bedroom, and a window on the floor. But it was never used as a passenger aircraft, as the war began in 1914, and Sikorski decided to convert these planes to bombers. Around 80 were built.

[Carlo]

Now there is one Ilya Muromets in Monino museum, I don't know if it is an original aircraft or a replica:

[Carlo]

These are all the pictures I have of Ilya Muromets. If some one has more, or know more about this plane, I would like very much to know.
And have a look at this site: http://www.wio.ru/index.htm
It has interesting information about Russia in WWI, that is not found often.