The Birth of a Fighter:

Fighter aircraft in general began in the year 1915, during the course of World War 1. Previously, aircraft had only been used for scouting missions. French pilot Roland Garros was a successful pilot who wanted not only to intercept enemy aircraft, but to shoot them down as well. There was only one hitch: How to shoot through the wooden propeller blades of his Morane-Saulnier monoplane? His solution was simple: he attached strips of aluminum to his blades. Next, he fixed a machine gun to the front of the aircraft so he could shoot straight ahead, thus saving weight, as other models had a rear gunner and a pilot, and thus were more susceptible to attack from oncoming German planes. Garros went on to become a successful fighter pilot. Unfortunately, he was shot down in April 1915, and was forced to crash -land behind German lines. He was captured, along with his aircraft. He was sent to many POW camps before escaping and continuing to fly, this time commanding Escadrille 26, a French squadron of SPADs. He was eventually shot down and killed onApril 18, 1918. Unfortunately, when he was shot down the 1st time, he failed to destroy his plane, thus leading the germans to take the propeller and machine gun to renowned aircraft designer Anthony Fokker. Fokker then went on to invent a synchronizing device that allowed pilots to shoot bullets through their propellers. Next time, I will discuss famous fighters of WW1!