Soon all fighter planes used this invention. An invention called an 'interrupter' was invented by the Germans that allowed the machine gun to be synchronized with the propeller. However, if the machine gun was mounted at the front of the plane, the propeller would get in the way of the bullets. Pilots soon found that the best way to shoot down an enemy plane was with a mounted machine gun. At first, they tried throwing grenades at each other or shooting with rifles and pistols. With more planes taking to the skies, enemy pilots began to fight each other in the air. By the end of the war, faster long-range bombers were built that could carry a much larger weight of bombs. The first planes used for bombings could only carry small bombs and were very vulnerable to attack from the ground. The Allies attacked this gap and were able to split the German armies and drive them back.Īs the war progressed, both sides began to use aircraft to drop bombs on strategic enemy locations. One of the first major contributions of airplanes in the war was at the First Battle of the Marne where Allied reconnaissance planes spotted a gap in the German lines. The airplanes would fly above the battlefield and determine the enemy's movements and position. The first use of airplanes in World War I was for reconnaissance. German fighter planes lined up for takeoff German Albatros by a German official photographer
