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112-633: The Sopwith TF.2 Salamander was a British ground-attack aircraft of the First World War designed by the Sopwith Aviation Company which first flew in April 1918. It was a single-engined, single-seat biplane , based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter, with an armoured forward fuselage to protect the pilot and fuel system from ground fire during low level operations. It was ordered in large numbers for

224-411: A coordinated turn , adverse yaw is effectively compensated by the use of the rudder , which results in a sideforce on the vertical tail that opposes the adverse yaw by creating a favorable yawing moment. Another method of compensation is ' differential ailerons ', which have been rigged so that the down-going aileron deflects less than the up-going one. In this case the opposing yaw moment is generated by

336-468: A patent pool effectively putting an end to the Wright brothers patent war . The Wright company quietly changed its aircraft flight controls from wing warping to the use of ailerons at that time as well. Others who were previously thought to have been the first to introduce ailerons included: The Wright Brothers' Ohio patent attorney Henry Toulmin filed an expansive patent application and on May 22, 1906,

448-597: A 102mm anti-ship cannon, The BK 7,5 was unsurpassed as an aircraft-fitted gun until 1971, when the four-engine Lockheed AC-130 E Spectre; equipped with a 105 mm M102 howitzer , entered service with the US Air Force.) In the immediate post war era the piston-engined ground-attack aircraft remained useful since all of the early jets lacked endurance due to the fuel consumption rates of the jet engines. The higher powered piston engine types that had been too late for World War II were still capable of holding their own against

560-480: A Boulton-style pendulum controlled single-axis autopilot device. The pioneering U.S. aeronautical engineer Octave Chanute published descriptions and drawings of the Wright brothers ' 1902 glider in the leading aviation periodical of the day, L'Aérophile , in 1903. This prompted Esnault-Pelterie, a French military engineer, to build a Wright-style glider in 1904 that used ailerons in lieu of wing warping . The French journal L'Aérophile then published photos of

672-452: A Camel for close air support, by fitting downward-firing guns and armour. The modified Camel, known as the "TF.1" ( trench fighter 1), flew on 15 February 1918. Two Lewis guns were fixed to fire downwards and forwards at an angle of 45 degrees and a third gun was mounted on the upper wing. The downward-firing guns proved to be of little use, being almost impossible to aim. The TF.1 did not go into production but information gained in testing it

784-450: A battlefield, their slower speeds made them extremely vulnerable to ground fire, as did the lighter construction of fighters. The survivability of attack aircraft was guaranteed by their speed/power, protection (i.e. armor panels) and strength of construction; Germany was the first country to produce dedicated ground-attack aircraft (designated CL-class and J-class ). They were put into use in autumn 1917, during World War I. Most notable

896-585: A class of Schlacht ("battle") aircraft, such as the Henschel Hs 123 . Moreover, the experiences of German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War , against an enemy with few fighter aircraft, changed ideas about ground attack. Though equipped with generally unsuitable designs such as the Henschel Hs 123 and cannon -armed versions of the Heinkel He 112 , their armament and pilots proved that aircraft were

1008-410: A difference in profile drag between the left and right wingtips. Frise ailerons accentuate this profile drag imbalance by protruding beneath the wing of an upward-deflected aileron, most often by being hinged slightly behind the leading edge and near the bottom of the surface, with the lower section of the aileron surface's leading edge protruding slightly below the wing's undersurface when the aileron

1120-601: A former curator of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and other researchers, due to the patent they had received the Wrights stood firmly on the position that all flying using lateral roll control, anywhere in the world, would only be conducted under license by them. The Wrights subsequently became embroiled with numerous lawsuits they launched against aircraft builders who used lateral flight controls, and

1232-589: A high altitude bomber escort, but gradually found that role filled by the North American P-51 Mustang (because of its much longer range and greater maneuverability). The P-47 was also heavier and more robust than the P-51 and regarded therefore, as an " energy fighter ": ideal for high-speed dive-and-climb tactics, including strafing attacks. Its armament of eight 0.50 caliber machine guns was effective against Axis infantry and light vehicles in both Europe and

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1344-404: A lack of Air Force enthusiasm for the ground-attack role, developed the dedicated attack helicopter . On 17 January 1991, Task Force Normandy began its attack on two Iraqi anti-aircraft missile sites. TF Normandy, under the command of LTC Richard A. "Dick" Cody , consisted of nine AH-64 Apaches , one UH-60 Black Hawk and four Air Force MH-53J Pave Low helicopters. The purpose of this mission

1456-448: A legal resolution. A much earlier aileron concept was patented in 1868 by British scientist Matthew Piers Watt Boulton , based on his 1864 paper On Aërial Locomotion . The name "aileron", from French, meaning "little wing", also refers to the extremities of a bird's wings used to control their flight. It first appeared in print in the 7th edition of Cassell's French-English Dictionary of 1877, with its lead meaning of "small wing". In

1568-657: A light aircraft mixing all the roles that required extensive communication with land forces: reconnaissance, liaison, artillery spotting , aerial supply, and, last but not least, occasional strikes on the battlefield. The concept was similar to front-line aircraft used in the World War I, which was called the CL class in the German Empire. Eventually the RAF's experience showed types such as Westland Lysander to be unacceptably vulnerable and it

1680-681: A light attack aircraft. The Soviets' similar Sukhoi Su-25 ( Frogfoot ) found success in the "flying artillery" role with many air forces. The UK has completely retired the BAE Harrier II in 2011, and the Panavia Tornado dedicated attack-reconnaissance aircraft in 2019. It obtained the F-35 in 2018 and it retains its fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters. [REDACTED] Media related to Attack aircraft at Wikimedia Commons Aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin")

1792-617: A task of converted trainers, like the BAE Systems Hawk or Aero L-39 Albatros , and many trainers are built with this task in mind, like the CASA C-101 or the Aermacchi MB-339 . Such counter-insurgency aircraft are popular with air forces which cannot afford to purchase more expensive multirole aircraft, or do not wish to risk the few such aircraft they have on light ground attack missions. A proliferation of low intensity conflicts in

1904-478: A very effective weapon, even without bombs. This led to some support within the Luftwaffe for the creation of an aircraft dedicated to this role, resulting in tenders for a new "attack aircraft". This led to the introduction (in 1942) of a unique single-seat, twin-engine attack aircraft, the slow-moving but heavily armored and formidably armed Henschel Hs 129 Panzerknacker ("Safecracker" /"Tank Cracker"). In Japan,

2016-444: Is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft . Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around the aircraft's longitudinal axis ), which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector . Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'. Considerable controversy exists over credit for

2128-496: Is basically countered by aircraft yaw stability and also by the use of differential aileron movement. The Frise-type aileron also forms a slot, so air flows smoothly over the lowered aileron, making it more effective at high angles of attack. Frise-type ailerons may also be designed to function differentially. Like the differential aileron , the Frise-type aileron does not eliminate adverse yaw entirely. Coordinated rudder application

2240-411: Is caused partly by the change in drag between the left and right wing. The rising wing generates increased lift, which causes increased induced drag . The descending wing generates reduced lift, which causes reduced induced drag. Profile drag caused by the deflected ailerons may add further to the difference, along with changes in the lift vectors as one rotates back while the other rotates forward. In

2352-426: Is considered an attack mission . In United States Navy vocabulary, the alternative designation for the same activity is a strike mission . Attack missions are principally divided into two categories: air interdiction and close air support . In the last several decades, the rise of the ubiquitous multi-role fighter has created some confusion about the difference between attack and fighter aircraft. According to

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2464-431: Is deflected upwards, substantially increasing profile drag on that side. Ailerons may also be designed to use a combination of these methods. With ailerons in the neutral position, the wing on the outside of the turn develops more lift than the opposite wing due to the variation in airspeed across the wing span, which tends to cause the aircraft to continue to roll. Once the desired angle of bank (degree of rotation about

2576-402: Is moved downward, the other is moved upward: the down-going aileron increases the lift on its wing while the up-going aileron reduces the lift on its wing, producing a rolling (also called 'banking') moment about the aircraft's longitudinal axis (which extends from the nose to the tail of an airplane). Ailerons are usually situated near the wing tip , but may sometimes also be situated nearer

2688-412: Is still needed when ailerons are applied. By careful design of the mechanical linkages, the up aileron can be made to deflect more than the down aileron (e.g., US patent 1,565,097). This helps reduce the likelihood of a wing tip stall when aileron deflections are made at high angles of attack. In addition, the consequent differential in drag reduces adverse yaw (as also discussed above ). The idea

2800-422: Is that the loss of lift associated with the up aileron carries no penalty while the increase in lift associated with the down aileron is minimized. The rolling couple on the aircraft is always the difference in lift between the two wings. A designer at de Havilland invented a simple and practical linkage and their de Havilland Tiger Moth classic British biplane became one of the best-known aircraft, and one of

2912-482: The Bristol Aeroplane Company developed an aileron shape that is pivoted at about its 25 to 30% chord line and near its bottom surface [1] , in order to decrease stick forces as aircraft became faster during the 1930s. When the aileron is deflected up (to make its wing go down), the leading edge of the aileron starts to protrude below the underside of the wing into the airflow beneath the wing. The moment of

3024-687: The F-111 "Aardvark" was designated F despite having only minimal air-to-air capabilities. Only a single aircraft in the USAF's current inventory bears a simple, unmixed "A" designation: the A-10 Thunderbolt II. British designations have included FB for fighter-bomber and more recently "G" for "Ground-attack" as in Harrier GR1 (meaning "Ground-attack/Reconnaissance, Mark 1"). Imperial Japanese Navy designation use "B" to designate carrier attack bomber such as

3136-442: The Henschel Hs 123 ). Although not a synonymous class with ground-attack aircraft, fighter-bombers were usually used for the role, and proved to excel at it, even when they were only lightly armored. The Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces relegated obsolescent fighters to this role, while cutting-edge fighters would serve as interceptors and establish air superiority . The United States Navy , in distinction to

3248-791: The Imperial Japanese Navy had developed the Aichi D3A dive bomber (based on the Heinkel He 70 ) and the Mitsubishi B5M light attack bomber. Both, like their US counterparts, were lightly armored types, and were critically reliant on surprise attacks and the absence of significant fighter or AA opposition. During the Winter War , the Soviet Air Forces used the Polikarpov R-5 SSS, and Polikarpov R-Z Sh, as attack aircraft. Perhaps

3360-988: The Nakajima B5N Type-97 bomber although these aircraft are mostly used for torpedo attack and level bombing. They also use "D" to specifically designate carrier dive bomber like the Yokosuka D4Y Suisei . However by the end of the world war II, the IJN introduced the Aichi B7A Ryusei which could performed both torpedo bombing and dive bombing rendering the "D" designation redundant. The NATO reporting names for Soviet/Russian ground-attack aircraft at first started with "B" categorizing them as bombers, as in case of Il-10 'Beast'. But later they were usually classified as fighters ("F")—possibly because (since Sukhoi Su-7 ) they were similar in size and visual appearance to Soviet fighters, or were simply derivatives of such. In

3472-657: The PLAAF , ground-attack aircraft are given the designation "Q". So far this has only been given to the Nanchang Q-5 . The attack aircraft as a role was defined by its use during World War I , in support of ground forces on battlefields. Battlefield support is generally divided into close air support and battlefield air interdiction, the first requiring strict and the latter only general cooperation with friendly surface forces. Such aircraft also attacked targets in rear areas. Such missions required flying where light anti-aircraft fire

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3584-710: The Pacific . While machine guns and cannon were initially sufficient, the evolution of well-armored tanks required heavier weapons. To augment bombs, high explosive rockets were introduced, although these unguided projectiles were still "barely adequate" because of their inaccuracy. For the British RP3 , one hit per sortie was considered acceptable. However, even a near miss with rockets could cause damage or injuries to "soft targets," and patrols by Allied rocket-armed aircraft over Normandy disrupted or even completely paralyzed German road traffic. They also affected morale, because even

3696-743: The Royal Air Force but the war ended before the type could enter squadron service, although two were in France in October 1918. In August 1917, the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) introduced the coordinated mass use of single-seat fighter aircraft for low-level ground-attack operations in support of the Third Battle of Ypres , with Airco DH.5s , which were unsuitable for high-altitude combat, specialising in this role. The tactic proved effective and

3808-586: The United States occupation of Haiti and Nicaragua . The United States Army Air Corps was notable for its creation of a separate "A-" designation for attack types, distinct from and alongside "B-" for bomber types and "P-" for pursuit (later replaced by "F-" for fighter) aircraft. The first designated attack type to be operational with the USAAC was the Curtiss A-2 Falcon . Nevertheless, such aircraft, including

3920-555: The carrier-based nuclear strike Douglas A-3 Skywarrior and North American A-5 Vigilante , while the Grumman A-6 Intruder , F-105 Thunderchief , F-111 , F-117 Nighthawk , LTV A-7 Corsair II , Sukhoi Su-25 , A-10 Thunderbolt II , Panavia Tornado , AMX , Dassault Étendard , Super Étendard and others were designed specifically for ground-attack, strike , close support and anti-armor work, with little or no air-to-air capability. Ground attack has increasingly become

4032-477: The fighter-bomber began to take over many attack roles, a transition that continued in the post-war era. Jet -powered examples were relatively rare but not unknown, such as the Blackburn Buccaneer . The U.S. Navy continued to introduce new aircraft in their A - series , but these were mostly similar to light and medium bombers . The need for a separate attack aircraft category was greatly diminished by

4144-473: The fuselage is parallel to the flight path. A simple gauge on the instrument panel called the slip indicator , also known as "the ball", indicates when this coordination is achieved. Particularly on larger or faster aircraft, control forces may be extremely heavy. Borrowing a discovery from boats that extending a control surface's area forward of the hinge lightens the forces needed first appeared on ailerons during World War I when ailerons were extended beyond

4256-545: The interdiction and tactical bombing roles. Today it remains the only dedicated fixed-wing ground-attack aircraft in any U.S. military service. Overall U.S. experience in the Gulf War , Kosovo War , Afghanistan War , and Iraq War has resulted in renewed interest in such aircraft. The U.S. Air Force is currently researching a replacement for the A-10 and started the OA-X program to procure

4368-491: The later version of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle , which only warped the wingtips "downward". One of the disadvantages of this setup was a greater tendency to yaw than even with basic interconnected ailerons. During the 1930s a number of light aircraft used single acting controls but used springs to return the ailerons to their neutral positions when the stick was released. Used on the first-ever airframe to have

4480-427: The wing root . Modern airliners may also have a second pair of ailerons on their wings, with the two positions distinguished by the terms 'outboard aileron' and 'inboard aileron'. An unwanted side effect of aileron operation is adverse yaw —a yawing moment in the opposite direction to the roll. Using the ailerons to roll an aircraft to the right produces a yawing motion to the left. As the aircraft rolls, adverse yaw

4592-474: The " Night Witches " utilised an obsolescent, wooden light trainer biplane type, the Polikarpov Po-2 and small anti-personnel bombs in "harassment bombing" attacks that proved difficult to counter. Wartime experience showed that poorly armored and/or lightly built, pre-war types were unacceptably vulnerable, especially to fighters. Nevertheless, skilled crews could be highly successful in those types, such as

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4704-570: The 1,420 maritime strike variants of the North American B-25 Mitchell G/H, which mounted either a M4 cannon , or light-weight T13E1 or M5 versions of the same gun. These weapons, however, were hand-loaded, had shorter barrels and/or a lower muzzle velocity than the BK 7,5 and, therefore, poorer armor penetration, accuracy and rate of fire. (Except for versions of the Piaggio P.108 armed with

4816-599: The 1938 popular US Piper J-3 Cub monoplane possessed Frise ailerons as designed and helped introduce them to a wide audience. A claimed benefit of the Frise aileron is the ability to counteract adverse yaw. To do so, the leading edge of the aileron has to be sharp or bluntly rounded, which adds significant drag to the upturned aileron and helps counterbalance the yaw force created by the other aileron turned down. This can add some unpleasant, nonlinear effect and/or potentially dangerous aerodynamic vibration (flutter). Adverse yaw moment

4928-569: The A-2's replacement, the Curtiss A-12 Shrike , were unarmored and highly vulnerable to AA fire. The British Royal Air Force focused primarily on strategic bombing, rather than ground attack. However, like most air arms of the period it did operate attack aircraft, named Army Cooperation in RAF parlance, which included the Hawker Hector , Westland Lysander and others. Aviation played a role in

5040-651: The Air Navigation Co., Glendower Aircraft, Palladium Motors and the National Aircraft Factory No. 1 . A total of 1,400 Salamanders were ordered. Production was slowed, however, by problems producing the armour plate, this being prone to distortion during the hardening process , and shortages of the BR.2 engine. By the end of October 1918 only 37 Salamanders were on RAF charge, and just two of these were in France. The first Salamander-equipped squadron, 157 Squadron ,

5152-656: The Brazilian Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 , although both sides had few aircraft. The federal government had approximately 58 aircraft divided between the Navy and the Army , as the Air Force at this time did not constitute an independent branch. In contrast, the rebels had only two Potez 25 planes and two Waco CSO , plus a small number of private aircraft. During the 1930s, Nazi Germany had begun to field

5264-589: The Cessna 152/172 series can be roll controlled with rudder alone. The rudder of the Boeing 737 has more roll authority over the aircraft than the ailerons at high angles of attack. This led to two notable accidents when the rudder jammed in the fully deflected position causing rollovers (see Boeing 737 rudder issues ). Some aircraft such as the Fokker Spin and model gliders lack any type of lateral control. Those aircraft use

5376-659: The German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 , the British Hawker Typhoon and the US Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . The Typhoon, which was disappointing as a fighter, due to poor high altitude performance, was very fast at low altitudes and thus became the RAF's premier ground attack fighter. It was armed with four 20mm cannon , augmented first with bombs, then rockets. Likewise the P-47 was designed and intended for use as

5488-652: The German counter-offensive at Cambrai. While the CL-type fighters were not armoured, the Germans also introduced more specialised heavily armoured two-seat aircraft such as the Junkers J.I for contact patrol and ground-attack work. As a result of the high losses sustained during strafing and after seeing the success of the new German types, the RFC instructed the Sopwith Aviation Company to modify

5600-582: The Junkers J 7 all-duralumin metal demonstrator monoplane using them—the J 7 led directly to the Junkers D.I all-duralumin metal German fighter design of 1918, which had conventionally hinged ailerons. The main problem with this type of aileron is the dangerous tendency to stall if used aggressively, especially if the aircraft is already in danger of stalling, hence the use primarily on prototypes, and their replacement on production aircraft with more conventional ailerons. Engineer Leslie George Frise (1897–1979) of

5712-521: The Salamander was generally considered promising in the ground-attack role, lateral control was recognised as poor. To rectify these problems, the Salamander underwent many of the same modifications to the tail and ailerons as the Snipe. Production was intended to be on a very large scale – an initial order for 500 aircraft was placed with Sopwith on 18 June, followed by additional orders with Wolseley Motors ,

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5824-482: The Soviet/Russian Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot. A variety of light attack aircraft has also been introduced in the post-World War II era, usually based on adapted trainers or other light fixed-wing aircraft. These have been used in counter-insurgency operations. U.S. attack aircraft are currently identified by the prefix A- , as in " A-6 Intruder " and " A-10 Thunderbolt II ". However, until

5936-644: The U.S. Marine Corps has noted similar problems. In the late 1960s the United States Air Force requested a dedicated close air support (CAS) plane that became the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II . The A-10 was originally conceived as an anti-armor weapon (the A-X program requirements specifically called for an aircraft mounting a large rotary cannon to destroy massed Warsaw Pact armored forces) with limited secondary capability in

6048-580: The USAAF, preferred the older term "Scout-Bomber", under a "SB-" designation, such as the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver . The Junkers Ju 87s of the German Luftwaffe became virtually synonymous with close air support during the early months of World War II. The British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force , led by Arthur Tedder, became the first Allied tactical formation to emphasize the attack role, usually in

6160-680: The USAAF. It was not until 1946, when the US Navy and US Marine Corps started using the "attack" (A) designation, when it renamed BT2D Skyraider and BTM Mauler to, respectively, AD Skyraider and AM Mauler. As with many aircraft classifications, the definition of attack aircraft is somewhat vague and has tended to change over time. Current U.S. military doctrine defines it as an aircraft which most likely performs an attack mission , more than any other kind of mission. Attack mission means, in turn, specifically tactical air-to-ground action—in other words, neither air-to-air action nor strategic bombing

6272-545: The Wrights. There are still conflicting claims today over who first invented the aileron. Other 19th century engineers and scientists, including Charles Renard , Alphonse Pénaud , and Louis Mouillard , had described similar flight control surfaces. Another technique for lateral flight control, wing warping , was also described or experimented with by several people including Jean-Marie Le Bris , John Montgomery , Clement Ader , Edson Gallaudet , D.D. Wells, and Hugo Mattullath. Aviation historian C.H. Gibbs-Smith wrote that

6384-438: The advantage of not weakening the airplane's wing structure as did the wing warping technique, which was one reason for Esnault-Pelterie's decision to switch to ailerons. By 1911 most biplanes used ailerons rather than wing warping—by 1915 ailerons had become almost universal on monoplanes as well. The U.S. Government, frustrated by the lack of its country's aeronautical advances in the years leading up to World War I , enforced

6496-418: The aileron lower surface, ahead of the aileron hinge, by a lever arm. They reduce the force needed by the pilot to deflect the aileron and are often seen on aerobatic aircraft. As the aileron is deflected upward, the spade produces a downward aerodynamic force, which tends to rotate the whole assembly so as to further deflect the aileron upward. The size of the spade (and its lever arm) determines how much force

6608-558: The aileron was "....one of the most remarkable inventions... of aeronautical history, which was immediately lost sight of". In 1906 the Wright brothers obtained a patent not for the invention of an airplane (which had existed for a number of decades in the form of gliders) but for the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces, including lateral flight control, although rudders , elevators and ailerons had previously been invented. Pairs of ailerons are typically interconnected so that when one

6720-405: The aileron. In addition to reducing the risk of flutter, mass balances also reduce the stick forces required to move the control surface in maneuvers. Some aileron designs, particularly when fitted on swept wings, include fences like wing fences flush with their inboard plane, in order to suppress some of the spanwise component of the airflow running on the top of the wing, which tends to disrupt

6832-424: The aileron. In some aircraft the aileron construction may be too heavy to allow this system to work without an excessive increase in the weight of the aileron. In this case, the weight may be added to a lever arm to move the weight well out in front to the aileron body. These balance weights are tear drop shaped (to reduce drag), which make them appear quite different from spades, although both project forward and below

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6944-629: The ailerons on Esnault-Pelterie's glider which were included in his June 1905 article, and its ailerons were widely copied afterward. The Wright brothers used wing warping instead of ailerons for roll control on their glider in 1902, and about 1904 their Flyer II was the only aircraft of its time able to do a coordinated banked turn. During the early years of powered flight the Wrights had better roll control on their designs than airplanes that used movable surfaces. From 1908, as aileron designs were refined it became clear that ailerons were much more effective and practical than wing warping. Ailerons also had

7056-524: The airflow over a wing, disrupt the airflow and reduce the amount of lift generated. Many modern aircraft designs, especially jet aircraft , use spoilers in lieu of, or to supplement ailerons, such as the F4 Phantom II and Northrop P-61 Black Widow , which had almost full width flaps (there were very small conventional ailerons at the wingtips as well). All aircraft with dihedral have some form of yaw-roll coupling to promote stability. Common trainers like

7168-501: The attack role, although they would not be considered attack aircraft per se ; fighter-bomber conversions of those same aircraft would be considered part of the class. Strike fighters , which have effectively replaced the fighter-bomber and light bomber concepts, also differ little from the broad concept of an attack aircraft. The dedicated attack aircraft as a separate class existed primarily during and after World War II . The precise implementation varied from country to country, and

7280-506: The brothers were consequently blamed for playing "...a major role in the lack of growth and aviation industry competition in the United States comparative to other nations like Germany leading up to and during World War I". Years of protracted legal conflict ensued with many other aircraft builders until the U.S. entered World War I, when the government imposed a legislated agreement among the parties which resulted in royalty payments of 1% to

7392-416: The brothers were granted U.S. Patent 821393. The patent's importance lay in its claim of a new and useful method of controlling an airplane. The patent application included the claim for the lateral control of aircraft flight that was not limited to wing warping, but through any manipulation of the "....angular relations of the lateral margins of the airplanes [wings].... varied in opposite directions". Thus

7504-481: The cockpit so that different power settings or flight attitudes can be compensated for. Some large aircraft from the 1950s (including the Canadair Argus ) used free floating control surfaces that the pilot controlled only through the deflection of trim tabs, in which case additional tabs were also provided to fine-tune the control to provide straight and level flight. Spades are flat metal plates, usually attached to

7616-421: The combination of "joystick/rudder-bar" controls that directly led to the modern flight control system , the Blériot VIII in 1908, some designs of early aircraft used "wingtip" ailerons, where the entire wingtip was rotated to achieve roll control as a separate, pivoting roll-control surface—the AEA June Bug used a form of these, with both the experimental German Fokker V.1 of 1916 and the earlier versions of

7728-561: The context of powered airplanes it appears in print about 1908. Prior to that, ailerons were often referred to as rudders , their older technical sibling, with no distinction between their orientations and functions, or more descriptively as horizontal rudders (in French, gouvernails horizontaux ). Among the earliest printed aeronautical use of 'aileron' was that in the French aviation journal L'Aérophile of 1908. Ailerons had more or less completely supplanted other forms of lateral control, such as wing warping , by about 1915, well after

7840-666: The current U.S. designation system, an attack aircraft ( A ) is designed primarily for air-to-surface (Attack: Aircraft designed to find, attack, and destroy land or sea targets) missions (also known as "attack missions"), while a fighter category F incorporates not only aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat , but additionally multipurpose aircraft designed also for ground-attack missions. "F" - Fighter Aircraft were designed to intercept and destroy other aircraft or missiles. This includes multipurpose aircraft also designed for ground support missions such as interdiction and close air support. Just to mention one example amongst many,

7952-424: The earliest, to use differential ailerons. On the earliest Pioneer Era aircraft, such as the Wright Flyer and the later, 1909-origin Blériot XI and Etrich Taube , lateral control was effected by twisting the outboard portion of the wing so as to increase or decrease lift by changing the angle of attack. This had the disadvantages of stressing the structure, being heavy on the controls, and of risking stalling

8064-455: The end of World War II the A- designation was shared between attack planes and light bombers for USAAF aircraft (as opposed to B- prefix for medium or heavy bombers). The US Navy used a separate designation system and at the time preferred to call similar aircraft scout bombers (SB) or torpedo bombers (TB or BT). For example, Douglas SBD Dauntless scout bomber was designated A-24 when used by

8176-447: The firewall. Originally an armament of three machine guns was planned, with two Lewis guns firing forwards and downwards through the cockpit floor as in the TF.1, and a forward firing Vickers machine gun . This was changed to a conventional battery of two synchronised Vickers guns in front of the cockpit, as on the Snipe, before the first prototype was complete. The guns were staggered, with

8288-592: The form of single-engine Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss P-40 fighter-bombers or specialized "tank-busters", such as the Hurricane Mk IID, armed with two 40 mm Vickers S guns (notably No. 6 Squadron RAF ). At around the same time, a massive invasion by Axis forces had forced the Soviet air forces to quickly expand their army support capacity, such as the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik. The women pilots known as

8400-449: The function of the rudder and elevator flight controls had been largely standardised. Although there were previously many conflicting claims over who first invented the aileron and its function, i.e., lateral or roll control, the flight control device was invented and described by the British scientist and metaphysicist Matthew Piers Watt Boulton in his 1864 paper On Aërial Locomotion . He

8512-430: The fuselage was a generally similar structure to the Snipe but flat sided, to match the forepart. The two- bay wings and tailplane were identical in form to those of the Snipe but were strengthened to cope with the extra weight, while the fin and rudder were identical to the Snipe. The new aircraft used the same Bentley BR2 rotary engine as the Snipe, covered by an unarmoured cowling – the foremost armour plate forming

8624-496: The introduction of precision-guided munitions which allowed almost any aircraft to carry out this role while remaining safe at high altitude. Attack helicopters also have overtaken many remaining roles that could only be carried out at lower altitudes. Since the 1960s, only two dedicated attack aircraft designs have been widely introduced, the American Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II and

8736-454: The invention of the aileron. The Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss fought a years-long legal battle over the Wright patent of 1906, which described a method of wing-warping to achieve lateral control. The brothers prevailed in several court decisions which found that Curtiss's use of ailerons violated the Wright patent. Ultimately, the First World War compelled the U.S. Government to legislate

8848-590: The jets as they were able to both out accelerate and out maneuver the jets. The Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury fighters and the U.S. Vought F4U Corsair and Douglas A-1 Skyraider were operated during the Korean War while the latter continued to be used throughout the Vietnam War . Many post-World War II era air forces have been reluctant to adopt fixed-wing jet aircraft developed specifically for ground attack. Although close air support and interdiction remain crucial to

8960-615: The laminar flow above the aileron, when deflected downwards. Used during aviation's pre-war "pioneer era" and into the early years of the First World War, these ailerons were each controlled by a single cable, which pulled the aileron up. When the aircraft was at rest, the ailerons hung vertically down. This type of aileron was used on the Farman III biplane 1909 and the Short 166 . A "reverse" version of this, utilizing wing-warping, existed on

9072-462: The lateral control of flying machines. The fact that the Wright brothers were able to gain a patent in 1906 did not invalidate Boulton's lost and forgotten invention. Ailerons were not used on manned aircraft until they were employed on Robert Esnault-Pelterie 's glider in 1904, although in 1871 a French military engineer, Charles Renard , built and flew an unmanned glider incorporating ailerons on each side (which he termed 'winglets'), activated by

9184-487: The leading Stuka ace, Hans-Ulrich Rudel , who claimed 500 tanks, a battleship, a cruiser, and two destroyers in 2,300 combat missions. The Bristol Beaufighter , based on an obsolescent RAF bomber, became a versatile twin-engine attack aircraft and served in almost every theatre of the war, in the maritime strike and ground attack roles as well as that of night fighter. Conversely, some mid-war attack types emerged as adaptations of fighters, including several versions of

9296-503: The leading edge in the airflow helps to move up the trailing edge, which decreases the stick force. The down moving aileron also adds energy to the boundary layer. The edge of the aileron directs air flow from the underside of the wing to the upper surface of the aileron, thus creating a lifting force added to the lift of the wing. This reduces the needed deflection of the aileron. Both the Canadian Fleet Model 2 biplane of 1930 and

9408-401: The longitudinal axis) has been obtained, the pilot uses opposite aileron to prevent the angle of bank from increasing due to this variation in lift across the wing span. This minor opposite use of the control must be maintained throughout the turn. The pilot also uses a slight amount of rudder in the same direction as the turn to counteract adverse yaw and to produce a "coordinated" turn wherein

9520-457: The modern battlefield, attack aircraft are less glamorous than fighters, while air force pilots and military planners have a certain well-cultivated contempt for "mud-movers". More practically, the cost of operating a specialized ground-attack aircraft is harder to justify when compared with multirole combat aircraft . Jet attack aircraft were designed and employed during the Cold War era, such as

9632-562: The most notable attack type to emerge during the late 1930s was the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik , which became the most-produced military aircraft type in history. As World War II approached, the concept of an attack aircraft was not well defined, and various air services used many different names for widely differing types, all performing similar roles (sometimes in tandem with non-attack roles of bombers, fighters, reconnaissance and other roles. The British concept of

9744-474: The patent explicitly stated that other methods besides wing-warping could be used for adjusting the outer portions of an airplane's wings to different angles on its right and left sides to achieve lateral roll control. John J. Montgomery was granted U.S. Patent 831173 at nearly the same time for his methods of wing warping. Both the Wright Brothers patent and Montgomery's patent were reviewed and approved by

9856-404: The pilot needs to apply to deflect the aileron. A spade works in the same manner as a horn but is more efficient due to the longer moment arm . To increase the speed at which control surface flutter ( aeroelastic flutter ) might become a risk, the center of gravity of the control surface is moved towards the hinge-line for that surface. To achieve this, lead weights may be added to the front of

9968-518: The post-World War II era has also expanded need for these types of aircraft to conduct counter-insurgency and light ground attack operations. A primary distinction of post-World War II aviation between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force was that latter had generally been allocated all fixed-wing aircraft , while helicopters were under control of the former; this was governed by the 1948 Key West Agreement . The Army, wishing to have its own resources to support its troops in combat and faced with

10080-505: The prospect of a rocket attack was unnerving. The ultimate development of the cannon-armed light attack aircraft was the small production run in 1944 of the Henschel Hs 129 B-3, armed with a modified PAK 40 75 mm anti-tank gun. This weapon, the Bordkanone BK 7,5 , was the most powerful forward-firing weapon fitted to a production military aircraft during World War II. The only other aircraft to be factory-equipped with similar guns were

10192-410: The same benefit. Trim tabs are small movable sections resembling scaled down ailerons located at or near the trailing edge of the aileron. On most propeller powered aircraft, the rotation of the propeller(s) induces a counteracting roll movement due to Newton's third law of motion , in that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. To relieve the pilot of having to provide continuous pressure on

10304-555: The same patent examiner at the United States Patent Office, William Townsend. At the time Townsend indicated that both methods of wing warping were invented independently and were sufficiently different to each justify their own patent award. Multiple U.S. court decisions favoured the expansive Wright patent, which the Wright Brothers sought to enforce with licensing fees starting from $ 1,000 per airplane, and said to range up to $ 1,000 per day. According to Louis S. Casey,

10416-566: The side with the increased angle of attack during a maneuver. By 1916, most designers had abandoned wing warping in favor of ailerons. Researchers at NASA and elsewhere have been taking a second look at wing warping again, although under new names. The NASA version is the X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing while the United States Air Force tested the Adaptive Compliant Wing . Spoilers are devices that when extended into

10528-500: The specification was dropped before an aircraft went into production. In some air services, dive bombers did not equip ground-attack units, but were treated as a separate class. In Nazi Germany, the Luftwaffe distinguished between the Stuka ( Sturzkampf- , "dive bombing") units, equipped with Junkers Ju 87 from Schlacht ("battle") units, using strafing/low-level bombing types such as

10640-440: The starboard gun mounted a few inches forward of the port one to give more room for ammunition. Four light bombs could also be carried. The first prototype started flight tests at Brooklands aerodrome on 27 April 1918 and was sent to France for evaluation on 9 May. It was wrecked in a crash on 19 May while being flown by No. 65 Squadron when the pilot had to avoid a tender crossing the aerodrome responding to another crash. While

10752-441: The stick in one direction (which causes fatigue) trim tabs are provided to adjust or trim out the pressure needed against any unwanted movement. The tab itself is deflected in relation to the aileron, causing the aileron to move in the opposite direction. Trim tabs come in two forms, adjustable and fixed. A fixed trim tab is manually bent to the required amount of deflection, while the adjustable trim tab can be controlled from within

10864-723: The stronger wings of the Salamander, rendering the aircraft unsafe, while the armoured section was subject to spontaneous distortion, misaligning the airframe and again making the aircraft dangerous. The Salamander was used in trials of various patterns of disruptive camouflage in 1919, while some Salamanders were still in use at Heliopolis , Egypt in 1922. One example went to America, and was still in existence at McCook Field in 1926. Data from British Aeroplanes 1914–18 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Ground-attack aircraft Fighter aircraft often carry out

10976-465: The wingtip and provided with a horn ahead of the hinge. Known as overhung ailerons, possibly the best known examples are the Handley Page Type O (first flight 17 December 1915), Sopwith Snipe , Fokker Dr.I and Fokker D.VII . Later examples brought the counterbalance in line with the wing to improve control and reduce drag. This is seen less often now, due to the Frise type aileron which provides

11088-605: Was a part of the Allied armies' strength in holding German attacks and supporting Allied counter-attacks and offensives. Admittedly, the cost to the Allies was high, with the Royal Flying Corps sustaining a loss rate approaching 30% among ground-attack aircraft. After World War I, it was widely believed that using aircraft against tactical targets was of little use other than in harassing and undermining enemy morale; attacking combatants

11200-501: Was also endorsed by C.H. Gibbs-Smith. Boulton's British patent, No. 392 of 1868, issued about 35 years before ailerons were "reinvented" in France, became forgotten and lost from sight until after the flight control device was in general use. Gibbs-Smith stated on several occasions that if the Boulton patent had been revealed at the time of the Wright brothers ' legal filings, they might not have been able to claim priority of invention for

11312-493: Was an armored twin-engine triplane for ground strafing with eight machine guns and about a ton of armor plate, and the 1922 Aeromarine PG-1 was a combined pursuit (fighter) and ground attack design with a 37mm gun. The United States Marine Corps Aviation applied close air support tactics in the Banana Wars . While they did not pioneer dive bombing tactics, Marine aviators were the first to include it in their doctrine during

11424-600: Was carried out by purpose-designed and heavily armored aircraft such as the Henschel Hs 129 and Ilyushin Il-2 . The Germans and Soviets also used light bombers in this role: cannon-armed versions of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka greatly outnumbered the Hs 129, while the Petlyakov Pe-2 was used for this role in spite of not being specifically designed for it. In the latter part of World War II,

11536-617: Was due to fly out to France with 24 aircraft on 21 November, with more squadrons in the process of forming in the United Kingdom. With the Armistice , the immediate need for a specialist close support aircraft evaporated, and 157 Squadron was quickly disbanded. Production continued for several months following the Armistice, with at least 497 completed. It was discovered postwar that 70 Salamanders had been fitted with Sopwith Snipe wings instead of

11648-475: Was expected and operating at low altitudes to precisely identify targets. Other roles, including those of light bombers , medium bombers , dive bombers , reconnaissance , fighters , fighter-bombers , could and did perform air strikes on battlefields. All these types could significantly damage ground targets from a low level flight, either by bombing, machine guns, or both. Attack aircraft came to diverge from bombers and fighters. While bombers could be used on

11760-686: Was generally much more dangerous to aircrews than their targets, a problem that was continually becoming more acute with the ongoing refinement of anti-aircraft weapons . Within the range of types serving attack roles, dive bombers were increasingly being seen as more effective than aircraft designed for strafing with machine guns or cannons . Nevertheless, during the 1920s, the US military, in particular, procured specialized "Attack" aircraft and formed dedicated units, that were trained primarily for that role. The US Army Engineering Division became involved in designing ground attack aircraft. The 1920 Boeing GA-1

11872-539: Was handled by a wide variety of designs. In the United States and Britain , attack aircraft were generally light bombers or medium bombers , sometimes carrying heavier forward-firing weapons like the North American B-25G Mitchell and de Havilland Mosquito Tsetse . In Germany and the USSR , where they were known as Schlachtflugzeug ("battle aircraft") or sturmovik ("storm trooper") respectively, this role

11984-641: Was repeated at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 by DH.5s and Sopwith Camels being used in strafing attacks. While the tactic proved successful, losses of the unarmoured fighters proved to be extremely high, reaching up to 30 per cent per day. Most losses were due to ground fire, although low-flying aircraft also proved vulnerable to attacks from above by enemy fighters. Two-seat German fighters such as Halberstadt CL.II , originally designed as escort fighters, were also used for ground-attack, playing an important role in

12096-523: Was replaced by faster fighter types for photo-reconnaissance, and light aircraft for artillery spotting. During the inter-war period, the British flew the Fairey Battle , a light bomber which originated in a 1932 specification. Designs in 1938 for a replacement were adapted as a target tug. The last British specification issued for a light bomber was B.20/40 described as a "Close Army Support Bomber" capable of dive bombing and photo-reconnaissance. However,

12208-713: Was the Junkers J.I , which pioneered the idea of an armored "bathtub", that was both fuselage structure and protection for engine and crew. The British experimented with the Sopwith TF series (termed "trench fighters"), although these did not see combat. The last battles of 1918 on the Western Front demonstrated that ground-attacking aircraft were a valuable component of all-arms tactics. Close support ground strafing ( machine-gunning ) and tactical bombing of infantry (especially when moving between trenches and along roads), machine gun posts , artillery , and supply formations

12320-419: Was the first to patent an aileron control system in 1868. Boulton's description of his lateral flight control system was "the first record we have of appreciation of the necessity for active lateral control as distinguished from [passive lateral stability].... With this invention of Boulton's we have the birth of the present-day three torque method of airborne control" as was praised by Charles Manly . This

12432-830: Was to create a safe corridor through the Iraqi air defense system. The attack was a huge success and cleared the way for the beginning of the Allied bombing campaign of Operation Desert Storm . One concern involving the Apache arose when a unit of these helicopters was very slow to deploy during U.S. military involvement in Kosovo. According to the Army Times , the Army is shifting its doctrine to favor ground-attack aircraft over attack helicopters for deep strike attack missions because ground-attack helicopters have proved to be highly vulnerable to small-arms fire;

12544-568: Was used for the Salamander design. Work on a more advanced armoured fighter, conceived as an armoured version of the Sopwith Snipe , began early in 1918. The forward portion of the fuselage was a 605 lb (275 kg) box of armour plate, forming an integral part of the aircraft structure, protecting the pilot and fuel system, with a 0.315 in (8 mm) front plate, a 0.433 in (11 mm) bottom plate, 0.236 in (6 mm) side plates and rear armour consisting of an 11- gauge and 6-gauge plate separated by an air gap. The rear (unarmoured) section of

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