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Vickers-Gun - Aircraft Version 1

Vickers Machine Gun

british flag Great Britain  (1912)
Machine Gun
The Vickers Gun or Vickers Machine Gun as it is often called was one of the first armaments fitted to an airplane for combat in the early 1910s. The weapon, originally water cooled and based on the successful Maxim gun, was designed and manufactured by Vickers Limited of Britain and fitted to many early British and French fighter planes.

Origins

The origins of the Vickers gun can be traced back to Hiram S. Maxim’s original ‘Maxim Gun’ that came to prominence in the 1880s as a deadly armament of the British Empire. This machine gun was extremely efficient due to its novel recoil based feed operation, which utilized the recoil of the weapon to eject the spent cartridge and insert another one. The weapon was also water-cooled for maximum efficiency and due to this could be fired for long durations.

The Vickers Machine Gun Design

Vickers-Gun - Aircraft Version 1
The Vickers Aircraft Machine Gun – Fires British .303 (7.7 mm) rounds

Vickers improved on this design by lightening the overall weight of the weapon as well as simplifying and strengthening the parts of the internal mechanisms. Another significant improvement was the addition of a muzzle booster, which restricts the escaping high pressure gases from the barrel, forcing more energy to the backwards motion of the barrel without increasing recoil force.

The Vickers attained a solid reputation upon its introduction in 1912. Despite its bulk and weight of around 30 lbs (15 kg), not including water and ammunition, it was praised by crews for its dependability. Thanks to its water cooling it could be fired practically continuously, requiring only a barrel change for roughly every hour of operation.

Use in Aircraft

Vickers Gun - mounted on a Bristol ScoutThe first use of the Vickers Gun on an aircraft was on Vickers’ own experimental E.F.B.1 biplane prototype, the first British aircraft ever to be designed for military purposes. The gun recieved a few modifications for aircraft use. The water cooling system was deemed unnecessary due to the more than adequate flow of cool, fast-moving air over the barrel in flight. However the water jacket assembly had to be retained due to the barrel action mechanism, but several rows of aircooling slots were added.

Vickers Gun - RAF RE8An enclosure was added to cover the belt feed to prevent wind from kinking the incoming ammunition belt. The belt links were a disintegrating type which meant each belt link was ejected along with each spent cartridge as the weapon fired.

The closed bolt design of the Vickers Gun lent itself to forward firing use in aircraft due to its ease of integration with a synchronizer system. In a closed bolt type of firing mechanism there is virtually no delay between the trigger being pulled and the firing of the weapon, unlike the open bolt design utilized by the Lewis Gun. The introduction of the synchronizer gear system allowed for forward firing through a propeller’s field of rotation.

Colt was licensed to manufacture Vickers Machine Guns in the U.S. and had a large order for the guns from Russia in 1916. After the Russian revolution kicked off in early 1917, the Russian orders were cancelled. The thousands of guns that had been produced sat in storage until a need arose in Europe for a machine gun that could fire larger caliber incendiary rounds to destroy German hydrogen filled balloons. It was decided to use the 11 mm French gras round. All of the previously Russian sized 7.62s were altered to accept the 11mm round. Additionally they were modified for aircraft use, with the appropriate cooling slats cut into the water jacket assembly. These 11mm Vickers became known as “Balloon Busters.”

Vickers Gun - Colt Balloon Buster
The Vickers Machine Gun – 11mm “Balloon Buster” made under license in the U.S. by Colt

Legacy

The aircraft version of the Vickers Gun was by far the most used weapon on British and French fighter aircraft of World War I and the interwar period with some still in use towards the end of World War II. Most of the fighter planes developed in early WWI utilized a single .303 British (7.7mm) Vickers Gun such as the Sopwith Triplane. Later fighters like the Sopwith Camel were able to double their firepower with twin synchronized guns. Advances in aircraft design that took place through the 1930s saw the fixed armaments on aircraft shift towards the wings, allowing for larger, more powerful, and faster firing Browning 1919 machine guns to be fitted, thus signaling the end of the Vickers machine gun’s use in aircraft. The conventional infantry version of the weapon would continue to see service with British ground forces until 1968.

Vickers Machine Gun Specifications

Weight  15 kg / 33 lb
Length  1.12 m / 3 ft 8 in
Barrel Length  720 mm / 28 in
Cartridge  .303 British / 7.7 mm
Action  recoil with gas boost
Rate of Fire  450 to 500 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity  744 m/s  /  2440 ft/s
Effective Firing Range  2,000 m / 2,187 yd
Maximum Firing Range  4,100 m / 4,500 yd (indirect fire)
Feed System  250 round canvas belt

Gallery

Sources

Vickers machine gun. (2016, April 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia., Segel R. (n.d.). THE U.S. COLT VICKERS MODEL OF 1915  WATER-COOLED MACHINE GUN, Small Arms Review.,  MG34. (2012, September 3). My 1918 US Colt/Australian/Turkish Vickers Mk.1 Medium Machine Gun. War Relics Forum.

 

Sopwith Triplane N6290 Dixie - Side Profile View

Sopwith Triplane

british flag Great Britain  (1916)
Fighter Plane – 147 Built
The Sopwith Triplane was a creation of Britain’s Sopwith Aviation Company around 1916. Its three stacked wings gave it good maneuverability and stability in flight relative to other planes of the day. The aircraft had the nicknames Tripehound, Trihound, Triplehound, or Tripe and it was popular among pilots. The Triplane first saw service with Royal Navy Air Squadron No.1 in late 1916. Many orders were placed by the RNAS as well as the Royal Flying Corps. Some aircraft were also acquired by the French Navy. One each was sent to Greece and Russia for evaluation. Only two original examples of the Tripe exist today.

Design

Sopwith Triplane Blueprint - Front ViewThe most noticeable aspect of the Triplane is its three wing design, which was one of the first of its kind. In the interest of pilot field of view Chief Engineer Herbert Smith decided to use a narrow chord design, meaning the wings were short as measured from leading edge to trailing edge. Because of the lift lost when narrowing the chord, the third wing was added to the design. All three wings have functional ailerons and the tailplane is a variable incidence type which means it can be trimmed enough for the pilot to fly hands-off. In early 1917 a smaller tailplane was introduced improving maneuverability. The Triplane was fitted with a single Vickers gun.

The Tripehound

Sopwith Triplane Flying

WIth the Tripehound’s entry into active service late in 1916, it quickly proved popular among pilots with its relatively superior maneuverability and speed. The first adversaries the Tripehound went up against were German Albatros D-IIIs which it greatly outclassed in climbing and turning ability, as well as being 15 mph faster. Every engagement with the enemy demonstrated the Triplanes’ superior power.

Clerget Power

Clerget 9 Cylinder Engine HeadThe Triplane was powered first by a Clerget  9B, 9 cylinder rotary engine developing 110 HP (82 kW). This powerplant was built in both France and Great Britain by numerous manufacturers. Later, 130 HP 9B engines were fitted, further enhancing the Triplane’s dominance, although the engine was tuned perhaps too aggressively as it was prone to overheating.

 

 

Sopwith Triplane Specifications

Wingspan  8.07 m / 26 ft 6 in
Length  5.73 m / 18 ft 10 in
Height  3.20 m / 10 ft 6 in
Wing Area 11 m² / 118.4 ft²
Engine 1 air-cooled Clerget 9B 110 HP or 130 HP
Maximum Take-Off Weight 698 Kg / 1,541 lb
Empty Weight 499 kg / 1,101 lb
Maximum Speed 188 km/h / 117 mph
Range 2 hours and 45 minutes
Maximum Service Ceiling 6,248 m / 20,000 ft
Crew 1 (pilot)
Armament 1 synchronized 7.7mm Vickers machine gun

Gallery

Sopwith Triplane Prototype N500 Side Profile View
Sopwith Triplane Prototype N500 – June 1916
Sopwith-Triplane-Prototype-N500-Brown-Bread-Side-Profile-View
Sopwith Triplane Prototype N500 – June 1916 repainted as “Brown Bread”
Sopwith Triplane N5387 Peggy - Side Profile View
Sopwith Triplane N5387 “Peggy” – August 1917
Sopwith Triplane N533 Black Maria - Side Profile View
Sopwith Triplane N533 “Black Maria” – July 1917
Sopwith Triplane N6290 Dixie - Side Profile View
Sopwith Triplane N6290 “Dixie”


Simulated Dogfight in a Triplane

Sources

1 Franks, N. (2004). Sopwith Triplane aces of World War 1. Oxford: Osprey., Images:Sopwith Triplane Flying at Duxford 2012 by AirwolfhoundCC BY-SA 2.0 , Clerget 9B Engine Head by Andy Dingley / CC BY-SA 3.0