WW 1 Planes

You mixed up tractor and pusher. Also cool is that these planes had ludicrous turn rates. The iconic German triplane could yaw 180 degrees in less than 3 seconds IIRC.

biplanes in general have a very low moment of inertia, because that shit is proportional to the span squared

It's crazy how basically no one knew what they were doing and it was basically just guys making up aerial combat as they went along.

Well, the machine gun would hit the propellor if it was in front

For WW1 pilots, a map and compass would be the best you could hope for. However, with endurances being short and the front being pretty visible and static, going off of landmarks would generally work fairly well.

Fun fact - the Soviets actually used giant cloth arrows to guide planes as late as early 1942 to guide fighters to the front because many were flying without radios.

Those are always the funnest parts of history to read about. Remember when Torpedo Rams were the future of naval warfare? Or all the ridiculous tank designs before the Main Battle Tank became solidified? I always liked the Monitor vs Merrimack because neither side knew what Ironclad warfare was so they spent half a day bouncing shots off each other wasting each others time.

the early dogfights were hilarious. You had guys throwing nets trying to jam the enemys propellers or attempting to use a rifle/pistol to shoot the engine.

>A well known feature of Rotary engines was its use of castor oil. The reason is lost until we examine the lubrication system in detail. With the fuel and oil mixed together in the crankcase it was important that the fuel not dissolve the oil and ruin its lubricating qualities. The perfect choice was pharmaceutical-quality castor oil—it would stand the heat and centrifugal force, and its gum-forming tendency were irrelevant in a total-loss lubrication system. An unfortunate side effect was that pilots inhaled and swallowed a considerable amount of the oil during flight, leading to persistent diarrhea. This also accounts for the pilot’s use of a flowing white scarf—not for a dashing image, but to wipe goggles clear of the persistent oil mist flowing past the cockpit.

>the engines used in the early aircraft were simple by today's standards and used castor oil in the fuel as engine lubricant. As a result, a continuous mist of castor oil was generated and sprayed across the pilot. To counter these problems, early aviators wore long scarves to wipe the mist from their googles. In addition, the fine castor oil spray had a cathartic effect on the gastro-intestinal tract. The reported antidote was a shot of brandy."
in Occupational, Industrial, and Environmental Toxicology
By Michael I. Greenberg

>Interestingly French ww1 sources do not mention these effects. American WW1 aviation medicine sources attribute the nausea to altitude flight and "hypersensitivity to movement" (but they were written while most aircraft in use were no longer equipped with rotary engines). Canadian sources, well, they focus on another aspect: aviators reported that they used to add a cut onion in the castor oil so as to neutralize its side effects...and make excellent potato French fries with it.

>I always liked the Monitor vs Merrimack because neither side knew what Ironclad warfare was so they spent half a day bouncing shots off each other wasting each others time.

To be fair, the Virginia (Merrimack) did have a ram built into the front, it did attempt to use it multiple times, but the Monitor was always able to dodge it. I'm not sure what you'd do differently.

Name one thing ridiculous about this design

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