The Spad was designed by M. Bechereau, of Deperdussin fame. It and the Albatross D3 model were both descended from the Deperdussin, the Nieuport, and the Tabloid. The Spad superseded the Nieuport as a fighting scout on the West Front because of its superior speed when driven by a Salmson engine.
The 1917 D. H. 4
The 1917 D. H. 4 was designed by De Havilland, and the S. E. 5 was built by his successors at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Both were descendants of the B. E., as is the Bristol Fighter, built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, of British, and designed by Captain Barnwell.
The German Gotha, which bombed London so often, was a descendant of the Caudron and the Handley Page twin-engine planes.
In 1917 Italy produced her famous three-engined Caproni triplane, driven by three Fiat 1,000 horse-power engines. It had 150-foot wing spread and was used for bombing purposes. S. I. A. and Pomilio were smaller fighting-machines, equipped with Fiat engines. All of these machines were exhibited in the United States and many Caproni triplanes were built in this country.
CHAPTER VI
DEVELOPMENT OF THE AEROPLANE FOR WAR PURPOSES
GERMAN AERIAL PREPAREDNESS—PRIZES GIVEN FOR AERONAUTICS BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS—FIRST USE OF PLANES IN WAR—FIRST AIRCRAFT ARMAMENT
There is no gainsaying the fact that Germany, in her eagerness to develop every engine of war further than any other nation, so that when “Der Tag” came she would be mechanically superior and thus able to quickly crush any adversary, instantly saw the advantage that control of the air would give her.
For that reason, as soon as the Wrights began to demonstrate in France, in 1908, the feasibility of the aeroplane as a scout, the Germans realized the importance of the aeroplane as an adjunct of the dirigible, whose development they had already been committed to since 1900, when Count Ferdinand Zeppelin built his first rigid lighter-than-air craft. Since aeronautic motors had to be used on both types of aircraft, and since the speed and flying radius depended on the efficiency of the engine, the Germans set about to develop them.