The fighting aircraft of WWII were military bombers, fighters, and reconnaissance airplanes. Other aircraft included cargo transports, gliders, and blimps. The war saw the beginning of the use of jets, although not many were used compared to the vast amounts of other aircraft. The aircraft of WWII were essential to the war, unlike their use in WWI.
Early in the war, Germany used planes to invade Denmark and Holland by bombing their cities. The Battle of Britain started with the air raids of Germany, and ended in the first major military campaign fought entirely in the air, as British pilots fought back Nazi pilots. Out of necessity, Allied aircraft were upgraded, with the Spitfire emerging as a famous airplane. The Spitfire was a single seat interceptor aircraft, designed specifically to attack enemy aircraft as they approach. They were also the only British airplane to be continuously produced throughout the whole war.
Japan's famous attack on Pearl Harbor that brought America into the war was fought entirely with air power. They used aircraft carriers to bring in their bombers and destroyed almost the whole American navy.
The airplanes of World War I were not reliable because they were made of wood and fabric. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust my life 3,000 feet up in a wood and fabric plane. Luckily, in World War II, the planes evolved greatly. The frames became aluminum, and the engines became piston engines. America developed long-range bombers, such as the B-17 and B-29. The B-29 was the most powerful and advanced bomber of the time, with multiple crew areas, external guns fired by remote control, and a rear gun. These improvements helped illuminate the true power of the airplane.
There were also very experimental developments in the aircraft sector. On the Ally and Axis side, there was experimentation with jet engines, an engine with no propeller. Germany even developed early guided missiles in their v1 and v2 weapons. The v1 was the first of its kind, a rocket with a jet engine and a payload. It was used by Germany to attack London in 1944. It was nothing compared to the V2, a super missile of its time. It had a huge range and was practically undetectable. It would fly almost all the way to space, and then come hurling down faster than the speed of sound.
The bombers were used to end the war. Once the Allies began to retake Europe, bombers were used to destroy German war supply facilities. By slowing down resources for Germany, they sealed their fate. As well, the B-29 dropped the atomic bomb on Japan and ended the war there.
Sources:
http://ethw.org/World_War_II_Aircraft
https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/history-ww2-25-airplanes-180954056/
http://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-29-superfortress.page
http://ethw.org/V1_and_V2_Rockets
Wow, I found your post about planes extremely interesting, and I found it fascinating that planes made the jump from wooden to aluminum frames in just a matter of years. What really grabbed my attention was the use of air power during WW2. Due to America's greatly superior industrial power, it attempted to use planes and other air powers in order to reduce the loss of human lives. While these planes were more technologically advanced than their predecessors in WW1, they were by no means perfect, and many planes crashed outside of battle due to collisions or pilot error. I agree that planes and bombers were a key component to the Allied victory in WW2, and without them, the Allies would have lost valuable resources in bombing capabilities as well as the protection of convoys from German Uboats.
ReplyDeleteResource: Freedom From Fear: Unready Ally, Uneasy Alliance
I did not know that the Germans were using guided missiles back in WWII! That is pretty advanced technology, and the super-weapon V2 rockets killed 9,000 people in attacks. Luckily, they were not super successful: the V2 rockets were highly inaccurate when they were first put into tactical use, with one missing its target by as far as 40 miles. Who knows what Germany could have done, though, had these rockets been more successful...
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.v2rocket.com/start/deployment/v2s-on-remagen.html