Bandy 3 Posted February 4, 2010 From John W. Stuart Gilchrist (1966) "An Aerial Observer in World War I" privately published. In his discussion as an observer in a Salmson for 99th Squadron: My two guns were mounted on one side of the circular frames ... i could point them in almost any direction. The two guns seemed parallel but, as a matter of fact, the two lines of fire converged and crossed about a hundred yards away. These were Lewis guns equipped with circular drums in which 97 bullets were placed. Usually every third bullet in our drums was incendiary --we called them tracers-- in order to help us correct our aim. A neat bit of history should you wish to mod convergence of observer dual guns as well as your tracer loadings, at least in the Salmsons flying for Yank squads. Who knows what the other nations did, but I imagine not too much differently. While he may be technically inaccurate, in that his "tracer" is not the true incendiary ordinance used on balloons, you have to admit it makes you think about holed petrol tanks that didn't catch fire in WWI. Perhaps in those instances the petrol tank wasn't hit by the odd tracer (which does contain phosphorous that burns, thus leaving the smoke behind...). Also, I'll admit an equally plausible scenario, gasoline fumes are much more flammable so tanks could have been hit below the fill line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Dora 171 Posted February 5, 2010 (edited) Bart I have a recollection from somewhere (no recollection of where, it might have been Biggles) of a typical 1918 RFC Vickers loading sequence being 5 ball/1 AP/1 tracer. I guess it may have varied a lot throughout the war, depending on a whole range of factors. As for incendiary ammunition, there was quite a "thing" in the RFC/RAF against carrying incendiary bullets such as Buckingham unless on a specifically balloon-busting sortie. Against the Hague Convention or something like that. Seemingly pilots were issued written orders when loaded with it, verifying that they were on a legitimate anti-balloon mission, so that they wouldn't be liable for court-martial if forced down and found to be carrying the stuff. Pretty ironic when you consider all the other beastliness the combatants did to each other during the war. Mike Edited February 5, 2010 by Mike Dora Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bandy 3 Posted February 5, 2010 Hi Mike, That loading sequence sounds like WWII RAF from what I've read, but I could certainly be wrong. I'm sure somebody out there has it on their fingertips... Yes, my understanding too is that if you were found with incendiary ammo and used it on a/c, you were liable to be shot if captured! Now, tracer ammo (with its small amount of phosphorous) was used on both sides, so it must not have been considered incendiary even though (I suspect) it had some of its characteristics. Just food for thought was all I was positing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+peter01 2 Posted February 5, 2010 An interesting read, posted by FlyRetired at SimHQ some time ago http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2580456/3.html Excerpted from The First Of The Few, Fighter Pilots Of The First World War, By Denis Winter: For those interested in the subject, there's a number of source books available tracing the development and use of aviation ammunition during WWI: Early Aircraft Armament, The Aeroplane and the Gun up to 1918, by Harry Woodman Flying Guns World War I, Development of Aircraft Guns, Ammunition and Installations 1914-32, by Anthony G. Williams & Dr. Emmanuel Gustin Gunning for the Red Baron, by Leon Bennett Handbook of German Military and Naval Aviation 1918, reprinted by The Battery Press Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
