Originally posted by tuco What a monster-thick prop on that plane. Apparently, it had to withstand being hit by those machine guns. Must of really sucked the much needed horsepower out of the engine.
tuco, I don't mean to be disrespectful - but are you sure?
From my understanding, this plane (and most others of the late WWI period) had interrupter gears on the machine guns, so that the bullets would never hit the propeller. I believe it was a special cam connected to the mechanics of the engine, that stopped firing of the guns when the bullets would hit the prop.
Saying that, I'm no historian.
I have been told that there was someone (might have been a Frenchman) who 'pioneered' a forward firing machine gun, prior to the interrupter gear being invented. He simply armoured the propeller! Apparently it worked well until the prop or engine broke down mid-flight and he was captured.