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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Monoplane

Second Industrial Revolution 1880 CE - 1914 CE, Weapons and technology

A6M Zero and Spitfire
A6M Zero and Spitfire
Monoplane aircraft developed out of earlier multiplanes. Almost all early airplanes were biplanes and triplanes. Though maneuverable, these were slow. During the interwar period both military and civilian aircraft kept on evolving rapidly, stimulated by air races. Range, speed and height records were broken all the time. By the 1930's CE increased engine power resulted in more airspeed, offsetting the disadvantages of monoplanes, while stronger wings made them reliable. By the end of the decade the monoplanes had replaced bi- and triplanes as the dominant type. Also, wood gradually gave way to metal as a construction material; air-cooled engines replaced water-cooled ones; constant-speed propellers became variable-pitch propellers; landing gear was made retractable; cockpits became closed all-round.
By the start of World War II aircraft looked different than a decade earlier and were much more powerful. Fighters achieved top speeds of around 550 kilometers per hour; heavy bombers with four engines carried 5 tons of bombs and ranged 3,000 - 4,000 kilometers. In World War II, airplanes were much more important than in World War I. The German Luftwaffe was the first to use tactical bombers as flying artillery, vital for their 'Blitzkrieg' tactics. Powerful strategic bombers were developed to pound enemy industry and even cities into rubble, though they suffered heavy losses themselves too. In the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force fended off the Luftwaffe's attempt to achieve air superiority, thereby preventing a German invasion of Britain.
By the end of World War II propeller-driven airplanes had almost reached the end of their potential. Fighters reached top speeds of about 700 kilometers per hour and attacked with guns and rockets; strategic bombers carried loads of up to 10 tons to ranges of several thousands of kilometers. Some bombers were bristling with defensive gun turrets like flying fortresses; the Boeing B-17 was named just like that. At the end of the war, just when development was stalling, Germany and Britain independently developed jet engines, ushering in a new era of high-powered jet aircraft. Soon almost all fighter and many bomber airplanes were jet-powered, though propellers remain in use for aircraft that do not require very high speeds. Many of the latter category adopted turboprop engines.