Aviation in World War II

Avionics systems increased in sophistication and became more widespread, including power-assisted flight controls, blind flying instrumentation, radio communications and radar tracking.

The development of civil aviation stagnated until peace could be restored, and in the combatant countries many existing civilian aircraft were pressed into military service.

In particular, the widespread construction of aerodromes with serviceable runways would provide the basis for a postwar move of long-range passenger flights from flying boats to land planes.

Key design features during this period included: The retracting undercarriage gave landplanes a significant performance advantage over the equivalent seaplane, whose floats caused additional drag.

[2] Military gliders such as the British Airspeed Horsa and specialised tugs such as the German Heinkel He 111Z were developed by a number of countries during World War II, for landing assault troops and equipment behind enemy lines.

[5][citation needed] In the early stages of the war German fighters, especially the Messerschmitt Bf 109, were very fast and maneuverable and had the advantage over the British types of a fuel-injected engine.

[6] However, as the war wore on, Germany's critical inability to produce piston aviation engines of at least 1,500 kW (2,000 PS) maximum power and above that possessed proven front-line reliability, prevented them from fully developing more advanced strategic and tactical combat aircraft designs that would require such powerplants.

The axial-flow jet, in which air passes continuously backwards through the engine, was recognized as the most efficient design but required highly advanced new technologies in both materials and precision manufacture.

At the start of the war, the British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters had eight machine guns against typically four on the Messerschmitt Bf 109, giving them far greater firepower.

[2] Avionics systems increased in sophistication and became more widespread, including power-assisted flight controls, blind flying instrumentation, radio communications and radar tracking.

At the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1939, the German Luftwaffe had amassed an attack force of modern all-metal cantilever monoplanes designed to support the Blitzkrieg style of warfare at relatively short range and manufactured by a large and organised industry.

Early German successes, with the notable assistance of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, overran Europe and left Britain open to attack.

Initially the RAF fighters flew in a tight three-fighter arrowhead formation, soon changing to the looser four-aircraft arrangement which the Germans called the "finger-four."

At the same time, the development of an early radar warning system by the British provided a new way to track German attack formations as they gathered over the European coast and flew across the English Channel.

[8][9] Later on, the British and Americans developed large long-range heavy bombers, causing great damage to the German war effort and substantial casualties.

In the Pacific war, both sides made extensive use of aircraft carriers and carrier-to-carrier engagements became pivotal turning points in several campaigns.