What did the interrupter gear allow?
A synchronization gear (also known as a gun synchronizer or interrupter gear) was a device enabling a single-engine tractor configuration aircraft to fire its forward-firing armament through the arc of its spinning propeller without bullets striking the blades.
Why is the interrupter gear important?
Sync gear, also known as an interrupter or gun synchronizer, was developed during World War I to ensure that an armament attached to a single-engine aircraft could fire through the spinning arc of a propeller without damaging the propeller blades.
When was interrupter gear first used?
August 1st, 1915
Lieutenant Oswald Boelcke was the first pilot to successfully use the interrupter gear to shoot down another airplane on August 1st, 1915. With that innovation, the German planes would continue to dominate the skies, a phenomenon known as the “Fokker Scourge” until mid-1916.
How did machine guns not shoot through propellers?
Machine guns were mounted on the top of the fuselage, directly in front of the pilot, but that position placed the gun directly behind the propeller. The gun had to be designed to fire through the propeller without hitting it, which was not an easy task.
Who came up with the interrupter gear?
…in the form of an interrupter gear, or gun-synchronizing device, designed by the French engineer Raymond Saulnier. This regulated a machine gun’s fire so as to enable the bullets to pass between the blades of the spinning propeller. The interrupter itself was not new: a German patent had been taken…
Who invented the synchronization gear?
How did ww2 planes not shoot their own propellers?
The synchronization gear worked as an interrupter gear that kept the machine guns from firing when the propeller blade was in front of the gun barrel. The pilot then did not have to worry about shooting his own propeller off. The pilot could concentrate on flying the plane and shooting down enemy planes.
What was the interrupter gear in an aircraft?
Alternative Title: gun-synchronizing gear. In military aircraft: Fighters …in the form of an interrupter gear, or gun-synchronizing device, designed by the French engineer Raymond Saulnier. This regulated a machine gun’s fire so as to enable the bullets to pass between the blades of the spinning propeller.
When did the Fokker start using interrupter gear?
(3) In October 1915, British fighter-pilots began reporting that the Fokker planes were using interrupter gear. 21st October 1915: Sgt. Courtney and Sgt. Thornton, when dropping hand grenades and flechettes on La Bassee were attacked by a Fokker monoplane with deflector propeller.
How does an interrupter work on a gun?
The term “interrupter” implies that the gear pauses, or “interrupts” the fire of the gun at the point where one of the blades of the propeller passes in front of its muzzle.
When was synchronization gear used in fighter aircraft?
From 1918 to the mid-1930s the standard armament for a fighter aircraft remained two synchronized rifle-calibre machine guns, firing forward through the arc of the propeller.