French Aircraft Use Charts

[ReducedAirFact]

And now for the French! Most of the data comes from the escadrille use data in Davilla's French Aircraft of the First World War. The data is somewhat approximate since a lot of escadrilles did not cut over from one type to another on a knife edge, and some of the conversion dates are general such as "summer of 1918". But the shapes and sizes of the curves should be in the ballpark, and it gives us an interesting look at which types were prevalent at each stage of the war. Some planes like the Morane-Saulnier L were sometimes used as fighters, but I have no data on what proportion were used this way instead of as two-seaters.

I left escorts like the Caudron G.6, R.4, and R.11 to the Reconnaissance & Bombers chart, which I will save for a follow-up posting.

Again, if an escadrille was half Plane A and half Plane B, I credited each plane type with half an escadrille, even though it may not have been that even a split. (We will probably never know for sure.) Some planes like the SPAD 13 trickled into escadrilles slowly in ones and twos but do not show up on the chart until a significant portion of a squadron had converted over or (more significantly) had converted from some other type. So it's hard to guess what the front-end of the SPAD 13 curve looked like. Some like the SPAD 12 and 17 were only issued in small numbers, so they do not show up here.





PM me if you're interested in how the curves were derived. I'll spare everyone else the fine details

[Teaticket]

As usual, very interesting graph. Thanks Daryl.

[Flying Helmut]

Yes, many thanks Daryl!

[Naharaht]

Well done, Daryl!

[ReducedAirFact]

Now for the French reconnaissance, bombers, and escort aircraft. Note that there are some important types that are under-represented here. For instance, starting in the second half of 1917, three to four Letord aircraft were supplied to each army cooperation escadrille rather than form any separate Letord escadrilles (with one exception: LET46). At least twenty-five other escadrilles were known to use the type, but since none of them became predominately Letord, none changed names and we don't know how quickly Letords appeared and disappeared at the front. I would imagine the Letord curve would look a lot like the SPAD 11 curve.

I had to leave off some of the minor types to reduce clutter at the bottom. And -- of course -- data on naval aircraft is hard to come by.



It surprised me how dominant the Breguet 14 and Salmson 2 were in 1918, how big the Farman F.40 role was, and how late the Strutter peaked (I would have guessed late 1917 rather than spring 1918). The French struggled with mediocre two-seaters all through 1916 and 1917, but their late-war lineup was probably better than any other nation.

It's interesting to see the Voisins play a understated but important role throughout the entire war, with a peak near the end for the Voisin 10 night bomber.

[Teaticket]

I'm also surprised at the use for the Farman 40, and the late use for the Strutter. I know when the French got around to using it they were late but didn't realize that late!

[Flying Helmut]

The Farman MF.11

And the Farman F.40

[milcoll73]

nice work!!!

[Jager]

A very revealing chart. I'm not too surprised by the Breguet 14 and Salmson 2 numbers, nor the Voisin, but the Strutter was. And I never heard of the Letord.
Karl

[Teaticket]

A very revealing chart. I'm not too surprised by the Breguet 14 and Salmson 2 numbers, nor the Voisin, but the Strutter was. And I never heard of the Letord.
Karl

I don't see the Letord on the chart. Are my old eyes missing it?

[ReducedAirFact]

I don't see the Letord on the chart. Are my old eyes missing it?

No, it's not there; I mention why in the text above. It was an important type but -- except for one escadrille -- it was handed out in ones and twos and threes to various escadrilles using other planes. So I can't judge its usage by the normal metric of "C(audron)25 changed over to LET(ord)25 in April and then BR(eguet)25 in July". There is a list in Davilla of 25 escadrilles that used the Letord but no clues as to which months.

[Teaticket]

No, it's not there; I mention why in the text above. It was an important type but -- except for one escadrille -- it was handed out in ones and twos and threes to various escadrilles using other planes. So I can't judge its usage by the normal metric of "C(audron)25 changed over to LET(ord)25 in April and then BR(eguet)25 in July". There is a list in Davilla of 25 escadrilles that used the Letord but no clues as to which months.

Doh! I read that yesterday. Yeah, the French and British had quite a few mixed squadrons here and there through the war.

[ReducedAirFact]

Doh! I read that yesterday. Yeah, the French and British had quite a few mixed squadrons here and there through the war.

Indeed, and I handled that where I had usable data. For instance when Nieuport 16s started filtering into Nieuport 11 escadrilles, I'd credit half an escadrille to each type. I just don't have enough data for the Letords.

And I don't know if I'll ever be able to produce Italian, Russian, or Austro-Hungarian charts. There's a sprinkling of data on which units used each type, but it's hard to find dates.

[Teaticket]

Going through the aircraft used by the first 150 Escadrille I found only one had enough to be named LET46.

Those that at one point has Letords were 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 27, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 53, 56, 58, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 72, 74, 122, 140.

I gathered this info on Letords from a French web site, 'HERE'.

Everything you want to know about Escadrille is here (or being worked on). Aerodrome locations, emblems, aircraft used...... incredible info!

[john snelling]

Daryl, the man and legend. Many thanks.

[mikeemagnus]

Once again - many thanks Daryl. terrific work Rep

[Teaticket]

Looking a bit more I did find a second unit for Letords, LET486.

Another great section of the same French site has aircraft with info on serial #s, units and dated that the specific plane joined the unit. Look 'HERE' for this.

[ReducedAirFact]

Looking a bit more I did find a second unit for Letords, LET486.

Another great section of the same French site has aircraft with info on serial #s, units and dated that the specific plane joined the unit. Look 'HERE' for this.

Great site Peter! Though they don't say when the planes were withdrawn from service, at the very least we can deduce it from the Escadrille switched over to a whole new type, e.g. Breguet 14s.

[Teaticket]

Great site Peter! Though they don't say when the planes were withdrawn from service, at the very least we can deduce it from the Escadrille switched over to a whole new type, e.g. Breguet 14s.

Yeah, its a big puzzle. Looking for the plane that replaced another will be a time sink for sure. Its a lot easier when the unit name changes aircraft to track those down. With the Letords only being handed out in penny packets being in mixed units, it would be daunting.

[Spad VII]

Nice job Daryl and " Merci" for your interest in French aviation, if i can i would add to your list the Paul Schmitt P.S.7 B.R.A.H.(Bomber Renault Aile Haute) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Schmitt_P.S.7





He equipped 3 or 4 squadrons in 1917 " GB.3 " P.S n°125, 126, 127 and 128 between 150 and 200 models were built

[ReducedAirFact]

Nice job Daryl and " Merci" for your interest in French aviation, if i can i would add to your list the Paul Schmitt P.S.7 B.R.A.H.(Bomber Renault Aile Haute)

Hi Bruno, unfortunately the PS7 line got buried at the bottom of the chart where it would have been very hard to see (or fit in a line-label), equipping 3-4 units in April-October 1917 and trailing off to one unit for Nov-Dec. It is an interesting plane though, and may have been more significant if delays had not pushed it from 1916 into 1917. I've even got a model of it available on Shapeways: http://shpws.me/RWDx. My sympathies, though, to anyone who has to paint its 24 struts, metal alternating with wood.

[Diamondback]

Just to bump this, anybody mind taking a run at the kind of analysis I did on the Brits and Germans for Major Missing? Also, Daryl, is there any chance of Austro-Hungarian and Italian charts like this someday?


Major Missing Planes of WGF

	Britain	Germany	France	Italy	Austro-Hungary
Scouts	Sopwith Pup Sopwith Dolphin	Roland D.II Fok. D.II Pfalz D.XII	Ni. 23 or 24	Ansaldo SVA5/SVA10 (shared sculpt?)	Hansa-Brandenburg D.I Alb. D.III 153? Alb. D.III 253
Tandems/Lg	BE2c (and BE12 single-seater variant) FE2B AMC DH9	Albatros C.I or C.VII DFW C.V LVG C.V Hannover CL.II	Farman MF.11 or .40 Caudron G.3 Caudron G.4	Pomilio PE SAML S.2	Brandenburg C.I Lloyd C.II and C.III
Special Packs	Caquot balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon	Friedrichshafen G.III Ae 800 balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon	Caquot balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon

[ReducedAirFact]

Just to bump this, anybody mind taking a run at the kind of analysis I did on the Brits and Germans for Major Missing? Also, Daryl, is there any chance of Austro-Hungarian and Italian charts like this someday?

I don't have the data for AH or Italy (or Russia). There are some good references on the planes of AH and Russia but the data on when a plane rolled out of use is very hard to find; and as far as I know, no one has written the definitive work on Italian aircraft in WWI. We're lucky with the British and German record-keeping, and the French changed the name of the escadrille when it rolled over to a new type.

And data on naval aircraft use is hard to come by for all nations, it seems.

My candidates for "most overlooked planes" would be the DFW C.V and the (Hansa-)Brandenburg C.I.

[Flying Helmut]

Just to bump this, anybody mind taking a run at the kind of analysis I did on the Brits and Germans for Major Missing? Also, Daryl, is there any chance of Austro-Hungarian and Italian charts like this someday?


Major Missing Planes of WGF

	Britain	Germany	France	Italy	Austro-Hungary
Scouts	Sopwith Pup	Roland D.II Pfalz D.II Pfalz D.XII	Ni. 23 or 24
Tandems/Lg	BE2c (and BE12 single-seater variant) AMC DH9	Albatros C.I or C.VII DFW C.V LVG C.V Hannover CL.II	Farman MF.11 or .40 Caudron G.3 or G.4		Brandenburg C.I
Special Packs	Caquot balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon	Friedrichshafen G.III Ae 800 balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon	Caquot balloon (reissue) Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon

Did you mean Fokker D.II. instead of Pfalz D.II?
Pfalz D.II never made it past prototype........

[Diamondback]

Did you mean Fokker D.II. instead of Pfalz D.II?
Pfalz D.II never made it past prototype........

Probably had meant D.XII... I'll edit that.

[Naharaht]

I would include the F.E.2b in the Major Missing British planes.

[Diamondback]

I would include the F.E.2b in the Major Missing British planes.

Done, and a few other additions.

[zenlizard]

Gah, how did I miss this thread? Great info, Daryl!

[ReducedAirFact]

Of course one could add a whole separate row for flying boats and seaplanes, but I'll leave that for an exercise for another day.
There are a bunch of planes to put in the Italian 2-seater category, whether it's Savoia-Pomilios or the 1918 two seaters, but I don't know which of them would rise to the top.

[monse]

British scout : Sopwith Dolphin

Italian scout : Ansaldo SVA 5 (single seater) and SVA 10 (two seater)
Both versions should be edited in a scout packaging (and not in a two seater packaging) because of their small size.
See the size specifications and explanations here :
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...l=1#post530135

Italian two seaters : Pomilio PE - SAML S.2

[Spad VII]

British scout : Sopwith Dolphin

Italian scout : Ansaldo SVA 5 (single seater) and SVA 10 (two seater)
Both versions should be edited in a scout packaging (and not in a two seater packaging) because of their small size.
See the size specifications and explanations here :
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...l=1#post530135

Italian two seaters : Pomilio PE - SAML S.2

I totaly agree !