WAR

although Kriegszeitung stated explicitly that Roland Garros set fire to his
aeroplane, there was certainly enough salvaged for German technical experts
to comprehend the importance of their lucky capture. They perceived that this
was the very aeroplane with which Garros had shot down three German machines.
If the French had successfully launched one such apparatus they might be planning
to introduce any number of machines with a like equipment, and the
consequences of such a move were unforseeable. And disagreeable to contemplate.
Since the principle
and the mechanism were so simple, the Germans decided
to assume the worst: namely, that the French were preparing every single-seater
they had in a similar fashion so as to launch a sudden aerial offensive that would
sweep the German observation machines from the sky.
Well, it was a two-edged sword. Since it was so simple, the Germans could
arm every single-seater they had and meet the French on better than equal terms
because the advantage of surprise would be on their side. The aeroplane was ready
to hand: the Fokker M.5, the machine in which Tony Fokker had won the accolade
of "master of the sky" from the German newspapers, and in which he had
so impressed General von Falkenhayn, the Prussian Minister of War, just one
year before.
Fokker was immediately ordered to produce a copy of the Garros/Morane
deflector gear suitable for installation in his monoplane. The unique mechanical
genius of the Flying Dutchman finally came into the game. The pendulum
completed its first stroke.
A standard infantry machine gun was issued to Fokker, the first one he had
ever seen up close, much less handled, but its workings were easy enough to
understand. He instantly apprehended that the essential problem was how to
shoot between the blades of the propeller. This business of deflecting bullets was
not safe—the ricochets might go anywhere, they might damage the engine or even
hit the pilot, and the hammering on the prop might throw it out of true eventually.
That was particularly dangerous because a vibrating prop can tear the whole
engine loose. Besides, the standard-issue machine gun cartridge for the French
used a relatively soft copper-coated bullet, whereas the comparable German
ammunition was jacketed with steel. A slug like that might smash the propeller,
deflector plates and all. The trick was to shoot through the propeller by interrupting
the flow of bullets whenever the blades passed before the muzzle of the gun.
How to interrupt at the right time By causing the propeller itself to fire the gun.
A small knob judiciously located on the propeller hub would strike a cam, and
by a simple, direct mechanical linkage the firing mechanism would be tripped
and the gun would fire—600 rounds a minute as long as the pilot held his
thumb down on the firing button on the control stick. When the pilot let up
his pressure on the firing button the connection would be broken between cam
and trigger and the gun would stop. Splendid. He came up with the idea and
the finished mechanism within 48 hours.
Official demonstrations for the ordnance boards followed, Fokker himself
doing some of the flying, and upon acceptance the new armament installed in
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