Evolution of German Aircraft | Animated History

if you're a fan of our evolution of vehicles and uniforms videos check out our last project from this series on the evolution of French uniforms [Music] with its thick ancient forests and sprawling Countryside Germany has always been a nation with a rich haunting tradition if you've ever wanted to experience the thrill of hunting for yourself then why not try out the sponsor of today's video hunting Clash a free to play mobile game that takes on the ambitious task of replicating the thrill of trophy hunting while hopefully keeping the player safe from mosquitoes vengeful Predators adverse weather and angry Park Rangers take on various skill challenges and carefully stalk your prey in amazingly detailed locations like Namibia Yukon Burma and Lapland additionally players can compete in duels tournaments and even championships or join a clan and take part in exclusive events to win prizes like legendary lures prove yourself the most skilled Hunter of the pack and bring home the big game be they deadly carnivores or stealthy elusive herbivores download the game for free from the link in the description new players can use the gift code hunt with Griffin for a a special reward of 100 gold 70 skill tokens to upgrade your skills and two mythical lore cards so you can hunt bigger animals for a total value of 15 dollars during the early stages of the Great War aerial combat was a haphazard improvised Affair that started out with rival Pilots trading pot shots with rifles and service revolvers these were quickly replaced by machine guns mounted on Rails and turrets but these weapons were unable to fire directly forwards without destroying the propeller of the plane carrying them enter the focker eindecker in 1915 an otherwise unremarkable monoplane turned Terror of the Skies via the introduction of a cowl mounted 7.92 millimeter machine gun with a trigger mechanism synchronized with the rotation of the propeller this tiny monoplane would be credited with over a thousand kills during the Great War and started the focker scourge where eindeckers dominated these Skies over Europe for months on end by early 1916 antaunt biplanes with their own synchronized guns were emerging to put an end to the focker scourge this allowed the albatross company to step in and pick up the slack with their Albatross D series which featured improved aerodynamic fuselages and twin machine guns hundreds were produced with the design being incrementally improved right up until the end of the war it was in this aircraft that Manfred von Richthofen earned the title of Red Baron and was the first one to sport his signature scarlet color scheme while the eindecker was a crew designed with a single Innovation focker's own D4 biplane was a Cutting Edge machine that raced off the production line after testing by the Red Baron himself [Music] although only used for 10 months before the end of the war the D4 amassed such a reputation that the Anton Powers demanded the entire surviving stock as War prizes after the armistice surprisingly enough the Red Baron himself did not fly a focker D4 during the remainder of the war but instead used a focker dr-1 triplane as his personal aircraft with its triple Wing Arrangement the dry Decker could outturn and outclimb most contemporary opponents but was inferior in many other aspects due to the added drag and extra mass of the third wing between 1914 and 1916 Germany made extensive use of its large Zeppelin Fleet to conduct aerial reconnaissance and strategic bombing raids across the English Channel contrary to popular perception Zeppelins were virtually immune to Conventional ammunition and often limped home with gas bags perforated by thousands of rounds this all changed with the introduction of incendiary bullets turning the entire remaining Fleet into floating target practice for the Anton to replace its now obsolete Zeppelins the Central Powers invested in the first long-range bombers produced primarily by the gotha company carrying 1500 pounds of Ordnance the gotha series was the Flying Fortress of the biplane era easily able to defend itself with up to three turret-mounted machine guns in 1934 the German air Ministry embarked on a program to replace its Fleet of Aging biplanes with a modernized all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit German Engineers Walter rethel and Billy Messerschmitt Rose to the challenge competing against much more well-established companies to produce the bf-109 Prototype within just one year the design was Battle tested in 1937 when examples were flown by the luftwaffe Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War where it utterly dominated the competition despite only being armed with a pair of 7.92 machine guns giddy with success Master Schmidt began a series of Rapid iterations on the original design resulting in the e or Emil model airframe that entered the Second World War this model introduced the ability to carry small bombs for ground support but also offered a huge upgrade in Firepower thanks to the installation of two 20 millimeter cannons in the wings by now many fighters were resistant to light machine gun fire with organizations like the RAF assuming a minimum of 300 rounds would be needed to down most aircraft meanwhile a well-aimed 20 millimeter high explosive projectile could blow the wing clean off any fighter in one shot quickly following the Emil 1941 saw the Friedrich variant of the 109 take flight into the skies across Europe fitted with a more powerful engine a streamlined fuselage and rounded Wings the F-series was a superb jack of all trades design competitive with any contemporary fighter the F-series also removed the wing mounted guns replacing them with single 20 millimeter cannon firing through the propeller hub still the ever-evolving nature of War meant that newer versions just had to be produced and in 1942 the bf-109g or Gustav rolled off of the production line the most successful and prolific version of the 109 the Gustav had an amazing 16 variants and fought in every major theater of the war from 1942 all the way up to 1945. the final iteration on messerschmidt's legendary design was the 109k or Kerr first only appearing after January of 1945 the kerfirst pushed its delicate chassis to the Limit thanks to an engine capable of producing up to 2 000 horsepower this final iteration was a match for any Allied fighter But ultimately far too few were produced to affect the outcome of the war the breakout success of the 109 did not discourage competition from other German manufacturers engineer Kurt Voldemort tank of the fockovolf company quickly realized that it was pointless trying to build a similar fighter as it would only cause competition for The Limited supply of Daimler Ben's inline engines that most Fighters used at the time his prototype fw-190 instead used a radial engine that was easier to manufacture and maintain in addition to a solid durable airframe the 190 A1 featured two 20 millimeter cannons and four 7.92 machine guns after serving well during the opening stages of the war the 190 received extensive upgrades resulting in the Fearsome A4 model commonly known as the Virgo or butcher bird now with four cannons the A4 could disintegrate any Allied fighter with one click of the trigger and was also known for its incredible roll rate dive speed and vertical maneuvering ability by 1944 Allied high altitude bombers were busy pounding German infrastructure to rubble and the fockovolf 190 was one of the airframes redesigned to counter this threat the new d-series replaced the radial engine with a turbocharged inline engine optimized for high altitude flight this gave the fw-190 a near unparalleled climb rate and service ceiling of nearly 40 000 feet or 12 000 meters despite its capabilities the D series was soon reassigned to more standard fighter interception and even ground attack roles as the luftwaffa began introducing jet fighters to its lineup towards the end of the war many older radial engine 190s were refitted as ground attackers ensuring the 190 remained useful until the very end of the war another famous Workhorse of the Third Reich was the ju-87 a robust goal-winged aircraft fitted with dive brakes that made it one of the world's first true dive bombers first tested in the mid-1930s the Stuka would be deployed alongside the 109 by the Condor Legion where it immediately excelled in its intended role following the outbreak of war in Europe The ju-87b Struck morbid Terror into the hearts of infantry across Poland and France thanks to its iconic Sirens but these were actually only used for a brief period of time due to the amount of drag they added to the airframe while dozens of ju-87 variants were made the most interesting is the ju-87g also known as the Kanon forward or Cannon bird which featured two underslung 37 millimeter anti-tank cannons though horribly slow and ungainly the improvised design was a fearsome ground attack aircraft allowing Stuka Aces like Hans Ulrich Rudolph to amass dozens of kills on the Eastern Front while best known for the 109 Master Schmidt produced many other designs during the second world war among these was the bf-110 xerstorer or Destroyer a twin-engined heavy fighter the bf-110 stands out as perhaps one of the most misused aircraft in the war being forced into the role of a bomber escort during the Battle of Britain where it proved easy prey for single engine Fighters the 110 chassis did prove very adaptable however and during the later stages of the war the g-series would operate as capable bomber interceptors even mounting 37 millimeter cannons and radar arrays for Knight combat another fascinating modification were the shriga music vertical cannons fitted in the canopies of Select 110 genes these allow the craft to cruise directly below enemy bombers and fire up at them from much lower altitudes while German aircraft needed guns to have a major impact on the battlefield the tiny fiesler fi-156 storage or stork was a lightweight Scout plane that performed many vital roles during the war such as transporting commanders between sectors spotting for artillery batteries and even deploying paratrooper squads with the ability to take off with less than 50 meters of Runway the 156 could operate anywhere in just about any condition deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was rescued from the grand Sasso Mountaintop using a stork and captured examples were so popular with the Allies that field Marshal Bernard Montgomery used one as a personal transport plane the Workhorse of the luftwaffa was the simple ju-52 a versatile cargo plane that first took flight in 1930 and would go on to outlive the Nazi cause by more than 30 years though sometimes armed with a few light machine guns for emergencies the ju-52 was more noteworthy for its unusual tri-motor engine configuration and Innovative features such as the early autopilot system and rugged skin of corrugated door lumen Hitler's personal transport was a modified j-52 and the sturdy airframe made it an ideal choice for paratrooper operations being able to hold up to 18 soldiers and their equipment the one critical weakness of the German air force lay in its total lack of heavy strategic bombers instead the most common German bomber was the heinkel 111 a pre-war design initially built as a civilian airliner but deliberately made for easy conversion to military service the 111 served well in massed bomber formations over Poland and France but quickly proved inadequate during the Battle of Britain while able to carry a versatile payload the 111 never had more than a few machine guns for a point defense and was much too slow to outrun enemy Fighters sharply limiting its potential effectiveness this is not to say Germany lacked effective bombers as the dornier 217 series would-handedly demonstrate with a solid airframe powerful engines and similar profile to the bf-110 the 217 was another design that could do just about anything the luftwaffe needed it to though first used as a reconnaissance plane the do217k was modified with a large internal Bombay that could be filled with regular Ordnance or hold the advanced Fritz X guided bomb other variants could even deploy the hentral hs-293 guided anti-ship missile technically making it one of the first missile armed planes in history in a further effort to fill the Strategic bomber-sized Gap in their Air Force the luftwaffe commissioned the heinkel 177 in 1942. this ambitious design featured four twin-linked engines in two nacellas and remote controlled gun turrets with a maximum payload of nearly 16 000 pounds the he-177 compared quite favorably to the American B-17 Flying Fortress in most aspects and over a thousand were produced unfortunately the highly experimental airframe and convoluted engine layout was an absolute maintenance Nightmare and in combination with severe fuel shortages this meant that most of the he-177 fleet never saw action as the war dragged on and the balance of power tipped against the axis German Engineers began desperately Searching For A Miracle Solution experiments with jet engines had been going on since 1942 and in mid-1944 the first ever jet fighter took flight in the form of the me-262 known as the schwalba or swallow the 262 A1 used two junkers yumo axial flow turbojet engines to reach speeds of up to 530 miles or 850 kilometers per hour initially armed with four 30 millimeter cannons the 262 could also carry bombs and Rockets this aircraft excelled in the role of bomber Hunter but ironically the Primitive jet engines lacked the acceleration or maneuverability of prop aircraft and several of these Cutting Edge Fighters were shot down when their pilots foolishly chose to dogfight much more Nimble Allied aircraft that they could have easily outrun while the 262 was successful it was also expensive complex and very maintenance intensive the heinkel company's volkswager or people's fighter offered a more economical alternative using a single BMW turbojet mounted on a tiny wooden frame armed with two 20 or 30 millimeter cannons depending on the variant this tiny fighter displayed many Innovative characteristics like its streamlined airframe and experimental ejection system but came far too late in the war to have any appreciable impact in 1957 the West German air force officially requested that NATO provide them with a modern fighter aircraft prompting Lockheed Martin to produce a special redesign of its f-104 Starfighter just for the luftwaffe though enthusiastically dumped the super Starfighter due to its improved engine uptuned avionics and enhanced payload the f-104g was quickly given a much less flattering moniker by its Pilots vit venmacher AKA Widowmaker a ridiculous 292 out of nearly 1 000 aircraft would be lost to crashes killing 116 Pilots although the cause of This Disaster was eventually identified as issues with pilot training on supersonic aircraft the luftwaffe began seeking a replacement as early as the 1960s by the late 1960s companies like heiko and Messerschmitt had rebuilt enough to start regular collaboration with other NATO engineering firms in 1969 the United Kingdom Germany Italy and the Netherlands created an international company with the sole duty of producing new multi-role jet aircraft utilizing variable geometry Wings the result was the panavia tornado introduced in 1979 and still in active service today tornadoes conducted the first German offensive air operation since the second world war being part of the NATO intervention in the Kosovo war in 1999. the considerable success of the tornado prompted further collaboration between the various NATO powers work began on another multi-role aircraft this time with an advanced Canard delta wing airframe the long and complicated project was further hampered by the economic upheaval caused by the reunification of Germany in 1990 but eventually resulted in a Euro Fighter typhoon which made its first flight in 2003. 2003 also saw the introduction of the Eurocopter tiger an advanced attack helicopter whose design requirements were based on the Cold War demand for anti-tank helicopters to combat the threat of a Soviet armored invasion of Europe designed in collaboration with the French the tiger was the first European helicopter to have a chassis built purely from radar absorbent composite materials considered a major success the Tiger has so far seen combat in Libya Mali and Afghanistan under both French and German operators special thanks again to hunting Clash for sponsoring this video Start amassing hunting trophies immediately by downloading the game for free through the link in the description below and don't forget to use our gift code hunt with Griffin for a total of 15 worth of in-game bonuses [Music] [Music] thank you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 2,130,785

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Id: V6YP42xzDAg

Length: 20min 28sec (1228 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 18 2022