Planes+and+Zeppelins

Planes and Zeppelins By: Liam

**__Zeppelins-__** -Zeppelins are also known as blimps. -They were used to carry bombs. -They were used in the early bombing raids. -Since they were large, they were easy to shoot down if they were flying low.

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- Zeppelins usually carried machine guns.

-Zeppelins were always flown at high altitude, making it difficult for pilots as they would be traveling at the same speed and it would be difficult to travel upwards at the same pace.

-Some zeppelins had the underside painted black in order to hide from searchlights in the night.

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-The Zeppelin was built by Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, designer of airships. -LZ 37 was the first zeppelin brought down by an airplane. It was brought down by Lieutenant Rex Warneford, who dropped 6 bombs on it from his monoplane, which is a one person plane.

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-Zeppelins were used to raid London and other British cities in 1915 by the German soldiers.

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-This was the first time they were used in warfare. -They were first used for delivering bombs and spying work. -Planes eventually went on to become fighter planes, armed with bombs, machine guns, and sometimes canons. -Battles between two planes became known as dogfights.
 * __Planes-__**

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-Planes often referred to as “flying coffins” as they usually resulted in the death of the pilot in flight or in battle. -Early planes were usually shaped like wooden coffins with wings.

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-First WW1 planes were the Caudron G.4, the Brequet Br.M5, the Voisin 5 (first true bomber, from France), and the Sikorsky Ilya Mourometz V (first four engine plane, from Russia).

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-The Junker J1 took hours to get off of the ground and sometimes fell over in the process. -About 70 different types of planes were built during the war.

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On September 23rd, 1916, the newest zeppelin, the L33, was sent to take on the area of Downtown London. It was accompanied by 10 other zeppelins of the German Imperial Navy; the L33 alone carried 3 tons of free-falling bombs. Eight of the zeppelins were ordered to attack around the Wash area, the remaining three were sent to the British Capital. The members of the raid were Heinrich Mathy (L31), Werner Peterson (L32), and Alois Bocker (L33). The L33 dropped 6 of its bombs on Hornchurch. It then went under heavy fire but continued fighting, eventually reaching its destination and dropping its load on St. Leonard and Empress Streets; a 100kg bomb and five smaller incendiary bombs (fire-causing bombs that are small). The L33 continued onward, bombing the area around Bow. The British army eventually hit the gas cell with explosives causing the airship to lose gas and thus lose altitude. Under heavy fire, the airships captain, Bocker, decided to dump water from the airship in order to gain altitude. The airship was then attacked by a British airplane, but escaped when the pilot’s gun jammed. The airship went down in Essex and was abandoned.
 * __A Battle Involving Zeppelins-__**

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Graphic: Courtesy of []