This example of the observer's position with the gun-ring installation of
a
Lewis gun from a RAF RE-8 is fairly typical for British reconnaissance
aircraft.
In the early days of
World War One the only role of aircraft was to gather tactical information
for use by ground troops. These planes were unarmed scouts until a pilot
brought along a sidearm and started shooting at other pilots. Aerial
combat quickly became a very deadly business where only the skilled and
the lucky survived to fly another day. From the days of pusher style
aircraft, to the development of first the Garro wedge, and then the
synchronised firing gear the race to create the perfect killing machine
became the primary concern for both sides in this bloody conflict.
Allied
Machineguns 1914 - 1918
Colt-Browning Mod.1895/1914
Country: USA
Calibre : 7.62mm
Weight: 16.1 kg
Rate of fire: 500 rpm
Hotchkiss Gun
Country: France
Calibre: 7.7mm
Weight : 11.8 kg
Rate of fire: 550 rpm
LewisMod.15
Country: USA, Britain, France, Russia
Calibre: 7.62mm / 7.69mm / 7.71mm
Weight: 11.0 kg
Rate of fire : 600 rpm
Lewis Aerial Gun
Country: Britain, France, Russia, Italy
Calibre: 7.62mm / 7.69mm / 7.71mm
Weight: 7.7 kg
Rate of fire : 600 rpm
Vickers-Maxim Mk.I
Country: USA, Britain
Calibre: 7.62mm / 7.69mm / 7.71mm
Weight: 15.1 kg
Rate of fire: 600 rpm
German &
Austrian Machineguns
Parabellum Mod.1921
Country: Germany
Calibre: 7.92mm
Weight: 10.0 kg
Rate of fire: 700 rpm
Schwarzlose 7/12
Country: Austria
Calibre: 8.00 mm
Weight: 18.0 kg
Rate of fire : 520 rpm
LMG 08/15 Spandau
Country: Germany
Calibre: 7.92mm
Weight: 12.0 kg
Rate of fire: 500 rpm
