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How were WWI pilots able to fire machine guns mounted on their planes without damaging the propellers?
A synchronization gear (also known as a gun synchronizer or interrupter gear) was a device enabling a single-engine tractor configuration aircraft to fire its forward-firing armament through the arc of its spinning propeller without bullets striking the blades.
What was the problem with mounting machine guns on planes?
While airborne the prop would actually be spinning five times as fast as the weapon could fire, so there was little margin of error. The problem was solved by the addition of a gear-like disc on the propeller that would only allow the gun to fire in between the blades’ rotation.
Why dont fighter jets have rear weapons?
Fighters don’t have tail guns because they don’t expect any enemy fighters to roll in behind them and carefully position their aircraft in perfect alignment with the gun.
How did machine guns not shoot through propellers?
Machine guns were mounted on the top of the fuselage, directly in front of the pilot, but that position placed the gun directly behind the propeller. The gun had to be designed to fire through the propeller without hitting it, which was not an easy task.
How did the Flyers solve the problem of the use of machine guns firing through their own propellers?
The problem was solved by the addition of a gear-like disc on the propeller that would only allow the gun to fire in between the blades’ rotation. Often called an “interrupter” the disc did not actually interrupt the firing of the weapon, it merely allowed it to fire semiautomatically instead of at an even pace.
How did planes not shoot the propeller?
The aircraft had a mechanical linkage to prevent the gun(s) from firing when the propeller blade would be in the bullets’ path. The use of metal “armor” on the propeller blade was dropped when machine guns changed to fire larger bullets with more force/mass/velocity, like the . 50 caliber (0.5 inch diameter) bullets.
When were machine guns added to planes?
April 1, 1915
The French were the first to develop an effective solution. On April 1, 1915 French pilot Roland Garros took to the air in an airplane armed with a machine gun that fired through its propeller.
Why can’t missiles fire backwards?
It’s generally a bad idea to fire a missile backwards from a fighter because it puts the missile at a huge disadvantage. Fighter pilots like to fire their missiles going fast and high, therefore giving the missile more energy and speed to work with.
Do fighter planes still have machine guns?
Advanced fighter jets like the F-35 carry an array of sophisticated weaponry. But those jets are also still equipped with internally mounted guns for threats that high-tech weapons can’t counter.
Do fighter jets use machine guns?
How Far Can fighter jets shoot?
In an air-to-surface role, the F-16 can fly more than 500 miles (860 kilometers), deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point.
Where are machine guns mounted on a plane?
Machine guns were mounted on the top of the fuselage, directly in front of the pilot, but that position placed the gun directly behind the propeller. The gun had to be designed to fire through the propeller without hitting it, which was not an easy task.
How did machine guns stop propellers from hitting the front?
Machine guns were a logical complement to aircraft, but there was one problem: how to stop the gun from hitting the big propeller in the front. Machine guns were mounted on the top of the fuselage, directly in front of the pilot, but that position placed the gun directly behind the propeller.
How does a propeller bump on the shaft of a plane?
The bump on the shaft would momentarily separate the pilot’s trigger from the machine gun. As a result, the machine gun would stop firing (aka be interrupted) for a fraction of a second as the propeller would sweep past the machine gun barrel. Later in WWII this technology mattered much less as jet engines made the entire concept obsolete.
How do you shoot a bullet through a propeller?
In shooting bullets through a propeller, the propeller itself is the device that arranges the timing and when it is passing a certain sector in its arc it is made to interrupt the circuit that fires the machine guns.