Aeroplane Monthly 1990-08
-
H.Woodman - The origins of aerial bombardment (9)
The RNAS Lever sight fitted to a Nieuport 10 in 1915.
This 5 Sqn Bristol Scout B displays a typical array of early weaponry. A stripped stockless Lee-Enfield rifle is mounted at an angle to miss the propeller; the pilot also has a Mauser Modell 1912 and a rack of five No 2 Hand Grenades (Tonite) with sticks replaced by fabric strips.
The observer of an Aviatik C.I in 1916 demonstrates 1914-style bomb-dropping with a 10kg Carbonit. The aircraft would have had bomb tubes inside the rear cockpit.
A Rumpler Taube, serial A.69. It was this model which was flown over Paris in 1914 by Lt von Hiddessen when he dropped the first bombs on the city.