World War One: The Balance Of Force

In flight there are four basic components; thrust, drag, lift, and weight. Newton’s laws and The Bernoulli Principle are the explanation of how everything works. Balance of force is a very important part of it. If the upward force is greater than the gravitational force imposed on an object, the object will go up. If the gravitational force is greater, then the object will go down or remain on the ground. World War I was the first time that airplanes were used on a large scale. At the start of World War One, aircraft were very basic and crude. By the time World War One had ended, aircraft had become far more sophisticated and had differentiated. The first use of airplanes in World War I was for reconnaissance. The airplanes would fly above …show more content…
At first, they tried throwing grenades at each other or shooting with rifles and pistols. This didn't work very well.
Pilots soon found that the best way to shoot down an enemy plane was with a mounted machine gun. However, if the machine gun was mounted at the front of the plane, the propeller would get in the way of the bullets. An invention called an "interrupter" was invented by the Germans that allowed the machine gun to be synchronized with the propeller. Soon all fighter planes used this invention. With mounted machine guns, pilots often fought enemy pilots in the air. These fights in the air were called dogfights. The best of the pilots became famous and were nicknamed "aces."
The evolution of aircraft during World War One was profound and unmatched by any other advancements in any other field at the time. From Reconnaissance to bombing, the use of airplanes in the war became a necessity and by the end of the war airplanes and pilots had earned the respect they deserved. Today's warfare relies heavily on the use of aircraft, not only for destruction and transportation of troops and supplies, but also for it's initial use of