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106-703: The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company . It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force , during the First World War . The Dolphin entered service on the Western Front in early 1918 and proved to be a formidable fighter. The aircraft was not retained in the postwar inventory and was retired shortly after

212-483: A Home Defence unit, had metal loops fitted above the inner set of interplane struts . Despite early problems, the Dolphin proved successful and generally popular with pilots. The aircraft was fast, manoeuvrable and easy to fly, though a sharp stall was noted. In his memoir Sagittarius Rising , Cecil Lewis described a mock dogfight between his S.E.5 and a Dolphin, The Dolphin had a better performance than I realised. He

318-565: A by now mediocre performance. The first Eindecker victory came on 1 July 1915, when Leutnant Kurt Wintgens , of Feldflieger Abteilung 6 on the Western Front, downed a Morane-Saulnier Type L. His was one of five Fokker M.5 K/MG prototypes for the Eindecker , and was armed with a synchronized aviation version of the Parabellum MG14 machine gun. The success of the Eindecker kicked off

424-463: A cadre of exceptional pilots. In the United Kingdom, at the behest of Neville Chamberlain (more famous for his 'peace in our time' speech), the entire British aviation industry was retooled, allowing it to change quickly from fabric covered metal framed biplanes to cantilever stressed skin monoplanes in time for the war with Germany, a process that France attempted to emulate, but too late to counter

530-419: A ceiling of 26,401 ft (8,047 m). The new engine had a displacement of 18.5 L (4.1 imp gal; 4.9 US gal) (1,129 in) and required an enlarged, bulbous cowling that fully enclosed the guns. The Mk II also featured an additional fuel tank, a variable incidence tailplane, strengthened airframe and longer exhaust pipes. The Air Service anticipated delivery of over 2,000 Mk II aircraft by

636-435: A competitive cycle of improvement among the combatants, both sides striving to build ever more capable single-seat fighters. The Albatros D.I and Sopwith Pup of 1916 set the classic pattern followed by fighters for about twenty years. Most were biplanes and only rarely monoplanes or triplanes . The strong box structure of the biplane provided a rigid wing that allowed the accurate control essential for dogfighting. They had

742-443: A difficult deflection shot. The first step in finding a real solution was to mount the weapon on the aircraft, but the propeller remained a problem since the best direction to shoot is straight ahead. Numerous solutions were tried. A second crew member behind the pilot could aim and fire a swivel-mounted machine gun at enemy airplanes; however, this limited the area of coverage chiefly to the rear hemisphere, and effective coordination of

848-552: A form that would replace all others in the 1930s. As collective combat experience grew, the more successful pilots such as Oswald Boelcke , Max Immelmann , and Edward Mannock developed innovative tactical formations and maneuvers to enhance their air units' combat effectiveness. Allied and – before 1918 – German pilots of World War I were not equipped with parachutes , so in-flight fires or structural failures were often fatal. Parachutes were well-developed by 1918 having previously been used by balloonists, and were adopted by

954-645: A great deal of ground-attack work. In World War II, the USAAF and RAF often favored fighters over dedicated light bombers or dive bombers , and types such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Hawker Hurricane that were no longer competitive as aerial combat fighters were relegated to ground attack. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations though they had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons. The F-111B variant

1060-431: A number of twin-engine fighters were built; however they were found to be outmatched against single-engine fighters and were relegated to other tasks, such as night fighters equipped with radar sets. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the turbojet engine was far less than a piston engine, having two engines

1166-534: A part of military nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use, along with a number to indicate the specific aircraft. The letters used to designate a fighter differ in various countries. In the English-speaking world, "F" is often now used to indicate a fighter (e.g. Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II or Supermarine Spitfire F.22 ), though "P" used to be used in

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1272-622: A range of specialized aircraft types. Some of the most expensive fighters such as the US Grumman F-14 Tomcat , McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle , Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 were employed as all-weather interceptors as well as air superiority fighter aircraft, while commonly developing air-to-ground roles late in their careers. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target (or intercept) bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate. As

1378-719: A result, during the early months of these campaigns, Axis air forces destroyed large numbers of Red Air Force aircraft on the ground and in one-sided dogfights. In the later stages on the Eastern Front, Soviet training and leadership improved, as did their equipment. By 1942 Soviet designs such as the Yakovlev Yak-9 and Lavochkin La-5 had performance comparable to the German Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . Also, significant numbers of British, and later U.S., fighter aircraft were supplied to aid

1484-638: A separate (and vulnerable) radiator, but had increased drag. Inline engines often had a better power-to-weight ratio . Some air forces experimented with " heavy fighters " (called "destroyers" by the Germans). These were larger, usually twin-engined aircraft, sometimes adaptations of light or medium bomber types. Such designs typically had greater internal fuel capacity (thus longer range) and heavier armament than their single-engine counterparts. In combat, they proved vulnerable to more agile single-engine fighters. The primary driver of fighter innovation, right up to

1590-420: A single operator, who flew the aircraft and also controlled its armament. They were armed with one or two Maxim or Vickers machine guns, which were easier to synchronize than other types, firing through the propeller arc. Gun breeches were in front of the pilot, with obvious implications in case of accidents, but jams could be cleared in flight, while aiming was simplified. The use of metal aircraft structures

1696-402: Is a fast, heavily armed and long-range type, able to act as an escort fighter protecting bombers , to carry out offensive sorties of its own as a penetration fighter and maintain standing patrols at significant distance from its home base. Bombers are vulnerable due to their low speed, large size and poor maneuvrability. The escort fighter was developed during World War II to come between

1802-539: Is able to defend itself while conducting attack sorties. The word "fighter" was first used to describe a two-seat aircraft carrying a machine gun (mounted on a pedestal) and its operator as well as the pilot . Although the term was coined in the United Kingdom, the first examples were the French Voisin pushers beginning in 1910, and a Voisin III would be the first to shoot down another aircraft, on 5 October 1914. However at

1908-616: Is known as an interceptor . Recognized classes of fighter include: Of these, the Fighter-bomber , reconnaissance fighter and strike fighter classes are dual-role, possessing qualities of the fighter alongside some other battlefield role. Some fighter designs may be developed in variants performing other roles entirely, such as ground attack or unarmed reconnaissance . This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, or other reasons. The Sopwith Camel and other "fighting scouts" of World War I performed

2014-630: Is known to have survived to the present, but a composite Dolphin Mk I was rebuilt at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre , part of the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford . The airframe is based on an original 6 ft (1.8 m) length of rear fuselage from serial no. C3988. It includes many other original parts, including a fuel tank, wheels, radiators, tailplane, and elevators from serial nos. D5329 and C4033. In March 2012,

2120-540: The Combined Bomber Offensive . Unescorted Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, however, proved unable to fend off German interceptors (primarily Bf 109s and Fw 190s). With the later arrival of long range fighters, particularly the North American P-51 Mustang , American fighters were able to escort far into Germany on daylight raids and by ranging ahead attrited

2226-572: The Junkers D.I , made with corrugated duralumin , all based on his experience in creating the pioneering Junkers J 1 all-metal airframe technology demonstration aircraft of late 1915. While Fokker would pursue steel tube fuselages with wooden wings until the late 1930s, and Junkers would focus on corrugated sheet metal, Dornier was the first to build a fighter (the Dornier-Zeppelin D.I ) made with pre-stressed sheet aluminum and having cantilevered wings,

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2332-630: The Mercedes D.IV . Although the Maybach engine was around 8% less powerful than the Mercedes (when measured at the sea level), it could continue to provide most of its power output while at altitude, where power from the Mercedes engine decreased more rapidly as height increased. Other changes included wings of slightly greater area and an airscrew of larger diameter. The crew were provided with oxygen generators and electrically-heated flight suits. Rumpler produced

2438-502: The RAF and the USAAF against German industry intended to wear down the Luftwaffe. Axis fighter aircraft focused on defending against Allied bombers while Allied fighters' main role was as bomber escorts. The RAF raided German cities at night, and both sides developed radar-equipped night fighters for these battles. The Americans, in contrast, flew daylight bombing raids into Germany delivering

2544-569: The Sopwith Tabloid and Bristol Scout . The French and the Germans didn't have an equivalent as they used two seaters for reconnaissance, such as the Morane-Saulnier L , but would later modify pre-war racing aircraft into armed single seaters. It was quickly found that these were of little use since the pilot couldn't record what he saw while also flying, while military leaders usually ignored what

2650-705: The Stangensteuerung in German, for "pushrod control system") devised by the engineers of Anthony Fokker 's firm was the first system to enter service. It would usher in what the British called the " Fokker scourge " and a period of air superiority for the German forces, making the Fokker Eindecker monoplane a feared name over the Western Front , despite its being an adaptation of an obsolete pre-war French Morane-Saulnier racing airplane, with poor flight characteristics and

2756-695: The Ukrainian Air Force (1. Zaporoska Eskadra Ukraińska ) for use against the Soviets. Both aircraft were returned to the Poles in February 1921. A total of 2,072 Dolphin Mk I aircraft were produced by Sopwith, Darracq Motor Engineering Company and Hooper & Co. Approximately 1,500 Dolphins were stored awaiting engines at the time of the Armistice. These incomplete airframes were eventually scrapped. Two developments of

2862-643: The British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force referred to them as " scouts " until the early 1920s, while the U.S. Army called them "pursuit" aircraft until the late 1940s (using the designation P, as in Curtiss P-40 Warhawk , Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Bell P-63 Kingcobra ). The UK changed to calling them fighters in the 1920s , while the US Army did so in the 1940s. A short-range fighter designed to defend against incoming enemy aircraft

2968-621: The British, the Americans, the Spanish (in the Spanish civil war) and the Germans. Given limited budgets, air forces were conservative in aircraft design, and biplanes remained popular with pilots for their agility, and remained in service long after they ceased to be competitive. Designs such as the Gloster Gladiator , Fiat CR.42 Falco , and Polikarpov I-15 were common even in the late 1930s, and many were still in service as late as 1942. Up until

3074-623: The C.VII in two versions: a standard radio -equipped reconnaissance machine, and a photographic version named the Rubild (or Rubilt ) a contraction of Rumpler Bildaufklärer (photo reconnaissance). The two versions of the Rumpler C.VII were in service simultaneously. The standard C.VII was used for armed long-distance reconnaissance. The armament was one fixed, synchronized LMG 08/15 Spandau machine gun firing forward, and one manually operated 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun at

3180-589: The Dolphin as their primary equipment, while other squadrons used it in small numbers. No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron, Canadian Air Force , formed with Dolphins at RAF Upper Heyford . The unit became operational shortly after the Armistice . In October 1918, the American Expeditionary Force purchased five standard Mk Is for evaluation, sending four back to the United States. The highest-scoring Dolphin unit

3286-541: The Dolphin was placed on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London in the Grahame White Hangar. In 1977, Cole Palen built an accurate Dolphin reproduction for his Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome living aviation museum, in the mid- Hudson Valley of eastern New York. It flew regularly at Old Rhinebeck's weekend air shows until September 1990, when it crash-landed after a fuel pump failure. As of 2015,

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3392-612: The Dolphin were planned. The French firm SACA ( Société Anonyme des Constructions Aéronautiques ) commenced licensed production of the Dolphin Mk II in 1918. The RAF expressed no interest in this variant, which was intended for the French Aéronautique Militaire and the US Army Air Service . The Mk II's 300 hp (220 kW) direct-drive Hispano-Suiza 8F gave a maximum speed of 140 mph (225 km/h) and

3498-622: The European battlefield, played a crucial role in the eventual defeat of the Axis, which Reichmarshal Hermann Göring , commander of the German Luftwaffe summed up when he said: "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up." Rumpler C.VII#Design and development The most significant difference between the C.IV and C.VII was the choice of the Maybach Mb IVa engine to replace

3604-483: The German flying services during the course of that year. The well known and feared Manfred von Richthofen , the "Red Baron", was wearing one when he was killed, but the allied command continued to oppose their use on various grounds. In April 1917, during a brief period of German aerial supremacy a British pilot's average life expectancy was calculated to average 93 flying hours, or about three weeks of active service. More than 50,000 airmen from both sides died during

3710-606: The German invasion. The period of improving the same biplane design over and over was now coming to an end, and the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire started to supplant the Gloster Gladiator and Hawker Fury biplanes but many biplanes remained in front-line service well past the start of World War II. While not a combatant in Spain, they too absorbed many of the lessons in time to use them. The Spanish Civil War also provided an opportunity for updating fighter tactics. One of

3816-678: The Hispano-Suiza improved in early 1918 as the French firm Emile Mayen began deliveries on an order placed by the British Admiralty . The official armament of the Dolphin was two fixed, synchronized Vickers machine guns and two Lewis guns mounted on the forward cabane crossbar, firing at an upward angle, over the propeller disc. The mounting provided three positions in elevation and some limited sideways movement. The Lewis guns proved unpopular as they were difficult to aim and tended to swing into

3922-724: The Italians developed several monoplanes such as the Fiat G.50 Freccia , but being short on funds, were forced to continue operating obsolete Fiat CR.42 Falco biplanes. From the early 1930s the Japanese were at war against both the Chinese Nationalists and the Russians in China, and used the experience to improve both training and aircraft, replacing biplanes with modern cantilever monoplanes and creating

4028-876: The Japanese Nakajima Ki-27 , Nakajima Ki-43 and Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the Italian Fiat G.50 Freccia and Macchi MC.200 . In contrast, designers in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States believed that the increased speed of fighter aircraft would create g -forces unbearable to pilots who attempted maneuvering dogfights typical of the First World War, and their fighters were instead optimized for speed and firepower. In practice, while light, highly maneuverable aircraft did possess some advantages in fighter-versus-fighter combat, those could usually be overcome by sound tactical doctrine, and

4134-605: The Luftwaffe to establish control of the skies over Western Europe. By the time of Operation Overlord in June 1944, the Allies had gained near complete air superiority over the Western Front. This cleared the way both for intensified strategic bombing of German cities and industries, and for the tactical bombing of battlefield targets. With the Luftwaffe largely cleared from the skies, Allied fighters increasingly served as ground attack aircraft. Allied fighters, by gaining air superiority over

4240-637: The Luftwaffe, and while the Luftwaffe maintained a qualitative edge over the Red Air Force for much of the war, the increasing numbers and efficacy of the Soviet Air Force were critical to the Red Army's efforts at turning back and eventually annihilating the Wehrmacht . Meanwhile, air combat on the Western Front had a much different character. Much of this combat focused on the strategic bombing campaigns of

4346-483: The Ministry ordered a further 500 aircraft from Sopwith and 200 aircraft from Darracq Motor Engineering Company . The second prototype introduced upper wing radiators in lieu of the frontal radiator and large cut-outs in the lower wing roots, to improve the pilot's downward vision. These features proved a failure and were omitted from subsequent aircraft. The third and fourth prototypes incorporated numerous modifications to

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4452-539: The Soviet Polikarpov I-16 . The later German design was earlier in its design cycle, and had more room for development and the lessons learned led to greatly improved models in World War II. The Russians failed to keep up and despite newer models coming into service, I-16s remaining the most common Soviet front-line fighter into 1942 despite being outclassed by the improved Bf 109s in World War II. For their part,

4558-580: The Soviet war effort as part of Lend-Lease , with the Bell P-39 Airacobra proving particularly effective in the lower-altitude combat typical of the Eastern Front. The Soviets were also helped indirectly by the American and British bombing campaigns, which forced the Luftwaffe to shift many of its fighters away from the Eastern Front in defense against these raids. The Soviets increasingly were able to challenge

4664-545: The US for pursuit (e.g. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk ), a translation of the French "C" ( Dewoitine D.520 C.1 ) for Chasseur while in Russia "I" was used for Istrebitel , or exterminator ( Polikarpov I-16 ). As fighter types have proliferated, the air superiority fighter emerged as a specific role at the pinnacle of speed, maneuverability, and air-to-air weapon systems – able to hold its own against all other fighters and establish its dominance in

4770-529: The United States, Russia, India and China. The first step was to find ways to reduce the aircraft's reflectivity to radar waves by burying the engines, eliminating sharp corners and diverting any reflections away from the radar sets of opposing forces. Various materials were found to absorb the energy from radar waves, and were incorporated into special finishes that have since found widespread application. Composite structures have become widespread, including major structural components, and have helped to counterbalance

4876-492: The ability to gather information by reconnaissance over the battlefield. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were biplanes built with a wooden frame covered with fabric, and a maximum airspeed of about 100 mph (160 km/h). A successful German biplane, the Albatross, however, was built with a plywood shell, rather than fabric, which created a stronger, faster airplane. As control of

4982-614: The advantages of fighting above Britain's home territory allowed the RAF to deny Germany air superiority, saving the UK from possible German invasion and dealing the Axis a major defeat early in the Second World War. On the Eastern Front , Soviet fighter forces were overwhelmed during the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa . This was a result of the tactical surprise at the outset of the campaign,

5088-420: The aircraft was under restoration to flying condition. Data from Sopwith – The Man and His Aircraft General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also pursuit aircraft ) are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat . In military conflict,

5194-534: The airspace over armies became increasingly important, all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations. Between the wars, wood was largely replaced in part or whole by metal tubing, and finally aluminum stressed skin structures (monocoque) began to predominate. By World War II , most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of machine guns or cannons and some were capable of speeds approaching 400 mph (640 km/h). Most fighters up to this point had one engine, but

5300-433: The basis for an effective "fighter" in the modern sense of the word. It was based on small fast aircraft developed before the war for air racing such with the Gordon Bennett Cup and Schneider Trophy . The military scout airplane was not expected to carry serious armament, but rather to rely on speed to "scout" a location, and return quickly to report, making it a flying horse. British scout aircraft, in this sense, included

5406-414: The bombers and enemy attackers as a protective shield. The primary requirement was for long range, with several heavy fighters given the role. However they too proved unwieldy and vulnerable, so as the war progressed techniques such as drop tanks were developed to extend the range of more nimble conventional fighters. The penetration fighter is typically also fitted for the ground-attack role, and so

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5512-412: The cockpit walls to the two side-mounted radiator blocks. A pair of single-panel shutters, one in front of each radiator core and operated by the pilot, allowed the engine temperature to be controlled. The first Dolphin prototype was powered by a geared 150 hp (110 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8 B-series V-8 engine and featured a deep "car-type" frontal radiator. The test pilot, Harry Hawker , carried out

5618-539: The defense budgets of modern armed forces. The global combat aircraft market was worth $ 45.75 billion in 2017 and is projected by Frost & Sullivan at $ 47.2 billion in 2026: 35% modernization programs and 65% aircraft purchases, dominated by the Lockheed Martin F-35 with 3,000 deliveries over 20 years. A fighter aircraft is primarily designed for air-to-air combat . A given type may be designed for specific combat conditions, and in some cases for additional roles such as air-to-ground fighting. Historically

5724-550: The design approach of the Italians and Japanese made their fighters ill-suited as interceptors or attack aircraft. During the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France , Luftwaffe fighters—primarily the Messerschmitt Bf 109 —held air superiority, and the Luftwaffe played a major role in German victories in these campaigns. During the Battle of Britain , however, British Hurricanes and Spitfires proved roughly equal to Luftwaffe fighters. Additionally Britain's radar-based Dowding system directing fighters onto German attacks and

5830-463: The early 1960s since both were believed unusable at the speeds being attained, however the Vietnam War showed that guns still had a role to play, and most fighters built since then are fitted with cannon (typically between 20 and 30 mm (0.79 and 1.18 in) in caliber) in addition to missiles. Most modern combat aircraft can carry at least a pair of air-to-air missiles. In the 1970s, turbofans replaced turbojets, improving fuel economy enough that

5936-513: The fighter. Rifle-caliber .30 and .303 in (7.62 and 7.70 mm) calibre guns remained the norm, with larger weapons either being too heavy and cumbersome or deemed unnecessary against such lightly built aircraft. It was not considered unreasonable to use World War I-style armament to counter enemy fighters as there was insufficient air-to-air combat during most of the period to disprove this notion. The rotary engine , popular during World War I, quickly disappeared, its development having reached

6042-406: The guns were subjected). Shooting with this traditional arrangement was also easier because the guns shot directly ahead in the direction of the aircraft's flight, up to the limit of the guns range; unlike wing-mounted guns which to be effective required to be harmonised , that is, preset to shoot at an angle by ground crews so that their bullets would converge on a target area a set distance ahead of

6148-408: The high-flying Rubild . The type was particularly difficult to intercept, as the Allied fighters were seldom able even to climb to such altitude. According to noted ace James McCudden , "It was an exception to the rule to see an [ S.E.5 ] above 17,000 feet." One of the few Allied fighters able to reach such altitudes, and hence capable of intercepting the Rubild , was the Sopwith Dolphin . At

6254-433: The innovations was the development of the " finger-four " formation by the German pilot Werner Mölders . Each fighter squadron (German: Staffel ) was divided into several flights ( Schwärme ) of four aircraft. Each Schwarm was divided into two Rotten , which was a pair of aircraft. Each Rotte was composed of a leader and a wingman. This flexible formation allowed the pilots to maintain greater situational awareness, and

6360-440: The interceptor. The equipment necessary for daytime flight is inadequate when flying at night or in poor visibility. The night fighter was developed during World War I with additional equipment to aid the pilot in flying straight, navigating and finding the target. From modified variants of the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c in 1915, the night fighter has evolved into the highly capable all-weather fighter. The strategic fighter

6466-420: The last piston engine support aircraft could be replaced with jets, making multi-role combat aircraft possible. Honeycomb structures began to replace milled structures, and the first composite components began to appear on components subjected to little stress. With the steady improvements in computers, defensive systems have become increasingly efficient. To counter this, stealth technologies have been pursued by

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6572-401: The leadership vacuum within the Soviet military left by the Great Purge , and the general inferiority of Soviet designs at the time, such as the obsolescent Polikarpov I-15 biplane and the I-16 . More modern Soviet designs, including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 , LaGG-3 and Yakolev Yak-1 , had not yet arrived in numbers and in any case were still inferior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . As

6678-478: The lower wing, just inboard of the inner wing struts. These guns could fire incendiary ammunition, which could not be used with the synchronized Vickers guns. The 97-round ammunition drums could not be changed once empty, nor could the pilot clear gun jams and the field modification did not become standard. Dolphins were quickly retired after the war; 19 and 87 Squadrons demobilized in February 1919, followed by 23 Squadron in March. The last RAF unit to operate Dolphins

6784-481: The maiden flight on 23 May 1917. In early June, the prototype was sent to Martlesham Heath for official trials. On 13 June, the prototype flew to Saint-Omer , France, where the aircraft's unfamiliar shape prompted Allied anti-aircraft gunners to fire on it. Several pilots, including Billy Bishop of No. 60 Squadron, evaluated the prototype and reported favourably. On 28 June 1917, the Ministry of Munitions ordered 200 Dolphins from Hooper & Co. Shortly afterwards,

6890-410: The mid-1930s, the majority of fighters in the US, the UK, Italy and Russia remained fabric-covered biplanes. Fighter armament eventually began to be mounted inside the wings, outside the arc of the propeller, though most designs retained two synchronized machine guns directly ahead of the pilot, where they were more accurate (that being the strongest part of the structure, reducing the vibration to which

6996-495: The most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage…" Throughout the war, fighters performed their conventional role in establishing air superiority through combat with other fighters and through bomber interception, and also often performed roles such as tactical air support and reconnaissance . Fighter design varied widely among combatants. The Japanese and Italians favored lightly armed and armored but highly maneuverable designs such as

7102-449: The most serious problem of the Dolphin. Use of insufficiently hardened metal in the pinion gears led to numerous failures of the reduction gearing, particularly in engines built by the French firm Brasier . The engine also suffered persistent lubrication problems. Limited production capacity for the geared Hispano-Suiza HS.8B engine and the priority afforded to French aircraft like the SPAD S.XIII slowed Dolphin deliveries. Availability of

7208-629: The new aircraft, mistaking it for a German type. For the next few weeks, Dolphin pilots exercised caution near other Allied aircraft. New pilots also voiced concern over the Dolphin's wing arrangement, fearing serious injury to the head and neck in the event of a crash. Early aircraft were often fitted with improvised crash pylons consisting of steel tubes over the cockpit to protect the pilot's head. Experience showed that fears of pilot injury from overturning were largely unfounded. Crash pylons disappeared from frontline aircraft, though they were often retained on trainers. Night-flying Dolphins of 141 Squadron ,

7314-556: The observer/gunner's rear position (the observer also operated a radio). The Rubild was a "stripped-down" version that dispensed with the forward gun and eliminated all other extraneous equipment in order to carry specialized cameras. The Rubild was capable of operating as high as 7,300 m (24,000 ft), and could maintain 160 km/h (100 mph) at 6,100 m (20,000 ft). The high-altitude version proved practically invulnerable to interception above 5,500 m (18,000 ft). Allied combat reports most often featured

7420-607: The opposition. Subsequently, radar capabilities grew enormously and are now the primary method of target acquisition . Wings were made thinner and swept back to reduce transonic drag, which required new manufacturing methods to obtain sufficient strength. Skins were no longer sheet metal riveted to a structure, but milled from large slabs of alloy. The sound barrier was broken, and after a few false starts due to required changes in controls, speeds quickly reached Mach 2, past which aircraft cannot maneuver sufficiently to avoid attack. Air-to-air missiles largely replaced guns and rockets in

7526-488: The outbreak of World War I , front-line aircraft were mostly unarmed and used almost exclusively for reconnaissance . On 15 August 1914, Miodrag Tomić encountered an enemy airplane while on a reconnaissance flight over Austria-Hungary which fired at his aircraft with a revolver, so Tomić fired back. It was believed to be the first exchange of fire between aircraft. Within weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian aircraft were armed. Another type of military aircraft formed

7632-451: The outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the main air superiority role, and these include the interceptor and, historically, the heavy fighter and night fighter . Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare . Fighters continued to be developed throughout World War I, to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles

7738-479: The period of rapid re-armament in the late 1930s, were not military budgets, but civilian aircraft racing. Aircraft designed for these races introduced innovations like streamlining and more powerful engines that would find their way into the fighters of World War II. The most significant of these was the Schneider Trophy races, where competition grew so fierce, only national governments could afford to enter. At

7844-433: The period, going from a typical 180 hp (130 kW) in the 900 kg (2,000 lb) Fokker D.VII of 1918 to 900 hp (670 kW) in the 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) Curtiss P-36 of 1936. The debate between the sleek in-line engines versus the more reliable radial models continued, with naval air forces preferring the radial engines, and land-based forces often choosing inlines. Radial designs did not require

7950-471: The pilot's face. Pilots also feared that the gun butts would inflict serious head injuries in the event of a crash. Most pilots discarded the Lewis guns, though a minority retained one or both guns for attacking high altitude reconnaissance aircraft from below . Pilots of No. 87 Squadron, including Arthur Vigers, experimentally fitted some aircraft with two forward firing, unsynchronized Lewis guns mounted on top of

8056-516: The pilot's maneuvering with the gunner's aiming was difficult. This option was chiefly employed as a defensive measure on two-seater reconnaissance aircraft from 1915 on. Both the SPAD S.A and the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 added a second crewman ahead of the engine in a pod but this was both hazardous to the second crewman and limited performance. The Sopwith L.R.T.Tr. similarly added a pod on

8162-451: The pilots reported. Attempts were made with handheld weapons such as pistols and rifles and even light machine guns, but these were ineffective and cumbersome. The next advance came with the fixed forward-firing machine gun, so that the pilot pointed the entire aircraft at the target and fired the gun, instead of relying on a second gunner. Roland Garros bolted metal deflector plates to the propeller so that it would not shoot itself out of

8268-410: The point where rotational forces prevented more fuel and air from being delivered to the cylinders, which limited horsepower. They were replaced chiefly by the stationary radial engine though major advances led to inline engines gaining ground with several exceptional engines—including the 1,145 cu in (18,760 cm ) V-12 Curtiss D-12 . Aircraft engines increased in power several-fold over

8374-566: The propeller arc was evident even before the outbreak of war and inventors in both France and Germany devised mechanisms that could time the firing of the individual rounds to avoid hitting the propeller blades. Franz Schneider , a Swiss engineer, had patented such a device in Germany in 1913, but his original work was not followed up. French aircraft designer Raymond Saulnier patented a practical device in April 1914, but trials were unsuccessful because of

8480-461: The propeller arc. Wing guns were tried but the unreliable weapons available required frequent clearing of jammed rounds and misfires and remained impractical until after the war. Mounting the machine gun over the top wing worked well and was used long after the ideal solution was found. The Nieuport 11 of 1916 used this system with considerable success, however, this placement made aiming and reloading difficult but would continue to be used throughout

8586-454: The propeller blades were fitted with metal wedges to protect them from ricochets . Garros' modified monoplane first flew in March 1915 and he began combat operations soon after. Garros scored three victories in three weeks before he himself was downed on 18 April and his airplane, along with its synchronization gear and propeller was captured by the Germans. Meanwhile, the synchronization gear (called

8692-426: The propensity of the machine gun employed to hang fire due to unreliable ammunition. In December 1914, French aviator Roland Garros asked Saulnier to install his synchronization gear on Garros' Morane-Saulnier Type L parasol monoplane . Unfortunately the gas-operated Hotchkiss machine gun he was provided had an erratic rate of fire and it was impossible to synchronize it with the propeller. As an interim measure,

8798-504: The radiator, upper fuselage decking, fin and rudder. The fourth prototype was selected as the production standard. Series production commenced in October 1917, with 121 Dolphins delivered by the end of the year. The Dolphin Mk I became operational with Nos. 19 Squadron and 79 Squadron in February 1918 and 87 Squadron and 23 Squadron in March. The Dolphin's debut was marred by several incidents in which British and Belgian pilots attacked

8904-604: The reduction gear from the engine and fitting a revised cowling to accommodate the lower thrust line. In service, the Mk III offered slightly lower performance, but improved reliability. Dolphin Mk I Dolphin Mk II Dolphin Mk III [REDACTED]   Canada : [REDACTED]   Second Polish Republic : [REDACTED] Ukrainian People's Republic [REDACTED]   United Kingdom : [REDACTED]   United States No complete Dolphin

9010-421: The role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace . Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets, and helps prevent the enemy from doing the same. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to

9116-532: The skies above the battlefield. The interceptor is a fighter designed specifically to intercept and engage approaching enemy aircraft. There are two general classes of interceptor: relatively lightweight aircraft in the point-defence role, built for fast reaction, high performance and with a short range, and heavier aircraft with more comprehensive avionics and designed to fly at night or in all weathers and to operate over longer ranges . Originating during World War I, by 1929 this class of fighters had become known as

9222-417: The sky and a number of Morane-Saulnier Ns were modified. The technique proved effective, however the deflected bullets were still highly dangerous. Soon after the commencement of the war, pilots armed themselves with pistols, carbines , grenades , and an assortment of improvised weapons. Many of these proved ineffective as the pilot had to fly his airplane while attempting to aim a handheld weapon and make

9328-408: The steady increases in aircraft weight—most modern fighters are larger and heavier than World War II medium bombers. Because of the importance of air superiority, since the early days of aerial combat armed forces have constantly competed to develop technologically superior fighters and to deploy these fighters in greater numbers, and fielding a viable fighter fleet consumes a substantial proportion of

9434-479: The summer of 1919 but only a few were delivered before the Armistice. Persistent difficulties with the geared 200 hp (150 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8B prompted development of the Dolphin Mk III , which used a de-geared version of the engine. The Mk III first flew in October 1918 and went into production just as hostilities ended. Many Dolphins were converted to Mk III standard at aircraft repair depots by removing

9540-420: The target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers , are designed from

9646-480: The top wing with no better luck. An alternative was to build a "pusher" scout such as the Airco DH.2 , with the propeller mounted behind the pilot. The main drawback was that the high drag of a pusher type's tail structure made it slower than a similar "tractor" aircraft. A better solution for a single seat scout was to mount the machine gun (rifles and pistols having been dispensed with) to fire forwards but outside

9752-460: The two Rotten could split up at any time and attack on their own. The finger-four would be widely adopted as the fundamental tactical formation during World War Two, including by the British and later the Americans. World War II featured fighter combat on a larger scale than any other conflict to date. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel noted the effect of airpower: "Anyone who has to fight, even with

9858-426: The upper wings, creating the Dolphin's distinctive negative wing stagger . The pilot sat with his head through the frame, where he had an excellent view. This configuration sometimes caused difficulty for novices, who found it difficult to keep the aircraft pointed at the horizon because the nose was not visible from the cockpit. The cockpit was nevertheless warm and comfortable, in part because water pipes ran alongside

9964-530: The very end of the inter-war period in Europe came the Spanish Civil War . This was just the opportunity the German Luftwaffe , Italian Regia Aeronautica , and the Soviet Union's Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily needed to test their latest aircraft. Each party sent numerous aircraft types to support their sides in the conflict. In the dogfights over Spain, the latest Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters did well, as did

10070-473: The war as the weapons used were lighter and had a higher rate of fire than synchronized weapons. The British Foster mounting and several French mountings were specifically designed for this kind of application, fitted with either the Hotchkiss or Lewis Machine gun , which due to their design were unsuitable for synchronizing. The need to arm a tractor scout with a forward-firing gun whose bullets passed through

10176-443: The war. Fighter development stagnated between the wars, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where budgets were small. In France, Italy and Russia, where large budgets continued to allow major development, both monoplanes and all metal structures were common. By the end of the 1920s, however, those countries overspent themselves and were overtaken in the 1930s by those powers that hadn't been spending heavily, namely

10282-490: The war. In early 1917, the Sopwith chief engineer, Herbert Smith, began designing a new fighter (internal Sopwith designation 5F.1) powered by the geared 200 hp (150 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8B. The Dolphin was a two-bay, single-seat biplane, with the upper wings attached to an open steel cabane frame above the cockpit. To maintain the correct centre of gravity, the lower wings were positioned 13 in (330 mm) forward of

10388-648: Was 79 Squadron, based in Bickendorf , Germany, as part of the British Army of the Rhine ; 79 Squadron demobilized in July 1919. The Dolphin was declared obsolete on 1 September 1921. No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron, which operated Dolphins with S.E.5as, Sopwith Snipes and captured Fokker D.VIIs , was disbanded on 28 January 1920. Although retired from Canadian Air Force service, a small number of Dolphins were sent back to Canada. One Dolphin

10494-598: Was Captain Arthur Vigers of No. 87 Squadron, who attained all 14 of his victories in the same aircraft, serial no. C4159. Another notable ace, Major Albert Desbrisay Carter of No. 19 Squadron, obtained approximately 13 of his 29 confirmed victories in the Dolphin. Captain Henry Biziou scored eight victories in the type. The scarcity and unreliability of the French-built Hispano-Suiza 8B engine proved to be

10600-496: Was No. 87 Squadron, which shot down 89 enemy aircraft. Pilots of No. 79 Squadron shot down 64 enemy aircraft in the eight and a half months that the aircraft was at the front. The top two Dolphin aces served in No. 79 Squadron. Captain Francis W. Gillet , an American, scored 20 victories in the type. Lieutenant Ronald Bannerman , a New Zealander, scored 17 victories. The third-ranking Dolphin ace

10706-594: Was converted for civilian use. In 1920, Handley Page obtained serial no. D5369 and operated it as a demonstrator under the civil registration G-EATC. This aircraft was sold in 1923. The Polish Air Force operated 10 Dolphins during the Polish-Soviet War . From August 1920, these aircraft were primarily used for ground attack duties in the Battle of Warsaw and other actions. They were soon grounded due to lack of spare parts. In October 1920, two Polish Dolphins were loaned to

10812-420: Was no longer a handicap and one or two were used, depending on requirements. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, and G-suits to counter the much greater forces being applied to the pilot during maneuvers. In the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since due to ever increasing air-to-air weapon ranges, pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for

10918-507: Was often sent against German reconnaissance aircraft such as the Rumpler C.VII , which in its specialized Rubild photo-reconnaissance version, routinely operated at altitudes above 20,000 ft (6,100 m). No. 87 Squadron explored the use of equipment to supply pilots with oxygen at high altitude but the experiment was abandoned after trials showed that the oxygen tanks exploded when struck by gunfire. Four Royal Air Force squadrons operated

11024-472: Was originally intended for a fighter role with the U.S. Navy , but it was canceled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for "attack" or "strike" operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs and incendiaries. Versatile multi role fighter-bombers such as the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having

11130-501: Was pioneered before World War I by Breguet but would find its biggest proponent in Anthony Fokker, who used chrome-molybdenum steel tubing for the fuselage structure of all his fighter designs, while the innovative German engineer Hugo Junkers developed two all-metal, single-seat fighter monoplane designs with cantilever wings: the strictly experimental Junkers J 2 private-venture aircraft, made with steel, and some forty examples of

11236-472: Was up in a climbing turn and on my tail in a flash. I half rolled out of the way, he was still there. I sat in a tight climbing spiral, he sat in a tighter one. I tried to climb above him, he climbed faster. Every dodge I have ever learned I tried on him; but he just sat there on my tail, for all the world as if I had just been towing him behind me. When working properly, the Dolphin's Hispano-Suiza engine afforded excellent performance at high altitude. The Dolphin

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