Orlando massacre reaction

      

         

          For a Sunday afternoon in Orlando, it is unusually quiet. By now, normally the roads and streets are bustling, lawn mowers are humming, sidewalk joggers rush by in pairs, and there is chatter in the air; from neighborhood grill outs, get togethers, and pool parties. But today, the silence is eerie. The whole area seems to be stunned by the news that 49 people were murdered and even more injured in this morning’s shooting at the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando. 49 people dead! These are battlefield numbers. These are casualties that occur when at war. So this isn’t a tragedy. It’s an atrocity.

          The gunman, identified as Omar Mateen, called 911 reportedly from within the club around 2 AM with a message of support for ISIS just minutes before he opened fire. He decided, on the basis of his avowed faith in Islam, that killing people was what Allah wanted. A Texas pastor used the occasion this morning to declare the Christian god was in complete agreement. He is saying that Yahweh or Jehovah sides with Allah, and that justifies the slaughter. Would Mateen have killed if not motivated by a religious belief? Would a Christian minister have sided with an Islamic jihadist if not for his religious belief? These men are evil. They are the face of what is wrong when motivated by their holy books. When was the last time someone killed because of what they read in a Harry Potter book?

          Like that Texas preacher, a longtime FORMER friend on Facebook (who will remain nameless as I will never acknowledge them as a member of the human race again) decided to show his love and understanding of the situation this morning by quoting Galatians 6:7 from the bible: “Don't be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap.” When I read that, I went to his Facebook page and was astounded that he had published even more vicious, gay-bashing, and biblically-oriented rantings and ravings all in support of this mass killing. I did not bother sending him a message or ask for clarification. I immediately unfriended him. If I see him at any upcoming national meetings that we have attended together in the past, I will not shake his hand or even nod in his direction.

          This is the face of 21st century Christianity. This is what he really thinks Jesus meant in Luke 19:27 when he supposedly said “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”

          I’ll state my reaction plainly….WHAT HORSESHIT! You, FORMER friend on Facebook, are the reason more and more people find your religion not just stupid, but wicked. And YOU are stupid and wicked for quoting it. You give the word HATE a whole new meaning. The Orlando victims did not sow death and destruction anywhere. They did not reap any godly justice for any sin. It’s like saying because people were buying fatty foods at a San Ysidro California McDonalds that James Huberty has a right to come in and gun them down on July 18, 1984…or that if you watch the movie The Dark Knight Rises, you should expect someone like James Holmes to pop in and open fire as he did in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012, because clearly watching a movie or eating McDonalds food is worthy of death. And now Christian bigot, loudmouth, and homophobe Pat Robertson has claimed that this is God's judgment on our nation because same sex couples are allowed to marry. As I stated at the beginning of this paragraph...WHAT HORSESHIT!

The source of evil.

          Why did it happened? Some are already claiming that it’s the atmosphere of hate created by candidates like Donald Trump. I doubt that. I think it has more to do with holy books and people’s interpretation of what they read that led to this massacre. This is a logical extension of the Huguenot slaughter perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1100s, the wholesale murder of Mormons by Christians in the state of Missouri in 1838, the Cave of Patriarchs massacre by Baruch Goldstein on Muslim worshipers February 25, 1994 near Hebron Israel, or the mass shooting in Peshawar Pakistan by Islamic militants at a school crowded with children on December 16, 2014. The common denominator is religion. In each case, the killers indicated god told them, through their holy books, to kill. Christopher Hitchens had it absolutely right. Religion does poison everything.

Age Ain’t A Factor – the elder aces of the Great War

You're never too old to look good next to an SE-5a

In the summer of 2013 R&B singer Jaheim’s monster hit “Age Ain’t A Factor” ruled the air waves. It was a look at why younger isn’t necessarily better and that good things come with those who have more experience. A case can be made that boldness is more pronounced and reflexes are quicker when a person is younger, but wisdom and experience only come with age. Acedom didn’t pass by the older pilots in World War One. Their experience paid off when they were right in the thick of aerial combat.

Called the 'old man' because he was 27, Rick was 6 years younger than Lufbery

Maybe it is the books produced in the U.S., skewed with a very American-centric view of the war, that many of the earliest accounts I read seemed to suggest that Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was the oldest ace of the war. One even states “At the advanced age of 27 he was two years older than the age limit for pilots but Rickenbacker proved a natural in the cockpit. Thanks to driving around General Pershing, he was able to talk his way into the Air Service, receive flight training and then ended up in command of the USAS 94^th Aero Squadron finishing the war with 26 victories and the Medal of Honor.”

Major Raoul Lufbery rates as the USAS combat pilot with greatest age experience

The whole idea is strange because one of the oldest combat pilots in the USAS was the man ordered to command Rickenbacker’s 94^th, Raoul Lufbery, a 17 victory ace who was born March 14, 1885, making him 33 when he and Rickenbacker first met. So Eddie wasn’t old by Raoul’s standards. Needless to say, the authors of those “America First” books were completely wrong about who was the oldest ace.

Here is the age winner, Sergeant Adolphe du bois d'Aische

   

The French can lay claim to that title for Sergeant Adolphe du bois d’Aische who was born March 17, 1874 in Brussels, Belgium. He served with the French Air Service and was 43 when he achieved acedom as a gunner aboard a variety of French observation and bombing aircraft, from the unusual Salmson-Moineau SM.1 and Letord 1A3 multi-place aircraft, to the Farman F.40 and Sopwith 1A2 two-seaters. After achieving 6 confirmed victories, and also having 6 probables, he did fly a single seat SPAD VII but was injured in a crash before he was able to take it into combat.

This is representative of what Marine Field Units looked like in 1917

The German’s oldest ace was Leutnant zur See Heinrich Wessels, a naval pilot with Marine Feld Jasta 1 who attained 6 victories. He was born April 18, 1877 and was 41 when he died from his injuries in combat on September 16, 1918.

2nd Lt. Henry Evans Cope

The Royal Flying Corp’s oldest ace was 2^nd Lieutenant Henry Evans Cope, born in London on July 26, 1879. He was raised in Canada but returned when war was declared. He was an observer in Maurice Farmans, became a pilot and flew DeHavilland DH-2s with 24 squadron where he attained 5 victories. He was 37 when he was killed by anti-aircraft fire while on a morning patrol September 3, 1916.

Oberst Adolf Heyrowsky

Austria-Hungary’s oldest ace was also their top two-seater ace, Oberst Adolf Heyrowsky, born February 18, 1882. He finished the war with 12 victories flying mostly Hansa Brandenburg and Lohner two seaters.

Major Pier Ruggero Piccio 

Italy’s oldest ace was Major Pier Ruggero Piccio born September 27, 1880. With 24 victories during his career, he was the third highest scoring Italian ace, behind only Major Francesco Baracca and Tenente Silvio Scaroni. He was 38 when the war ended and was lucky that he wasn’t killed on his final mission when he was shot down on a ground attack sortie October 27, 1918. He was briefly captured but slipped away a week later as the Austro-Hungarian forces disintegrated.

Russian ace Eduard Pulpe's photo when he was a teacher before the war

Russia’s oldest ace was Eduard Martinovich Pulpe, born June 22, 1880 in Riga, Latvia which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. He was a rarity, a college graduate who went to France and became a pilot. He was 34 when the war broke out and immediately joined the French Air Service where he achieved 2 victories flying a Morane Saulnier L in 1915 and 2 more flying Nieuports in 1916. In May, he returned to Russia, became a pilot with the 10th Fighter Detachment of the IRAS flying Nieuport 11s and scored his 5^th victory over Galicia in July. He was killed in combat on August 1 or 2, 1916 (records vary) at the age of 36.

France’s Adolphe du bois d’Aische beat the odds on several levels, not just becoming the oldest ace of the war but outliving the oldest of all the other counties. He passed away at the age of 84 in 1958.

Sgt. Adolphe du bois d’Aische receives the Croix de Guerre.

These men proved that age wasn’t a factor and while most of them gave the last full measure and died far too young, they left their mark in the halls of history. So do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. 

d;Aische, on the right, ready to go on patrol in the three place Letord 1A3


Author's note: because records were incomplete, I did not include any Turkish pilots in this list. According to the fragments left, Oberleutnant Ali Riza scored 3 victories, but there was a possibility that he attained two more in Mesopotamia, making him potentially Turkey's only ace.

Oberleutnant Ali Riza

JFK Assassination fallout - Liars-in-Chief

What if...?

          May 29, 2016 marked the 99th birthday of John F. Kennedy. He probably wouldn't have lived that long but the history of the past 53 years would be vastly different if he had not been murdered. Thanks to his assassination we have been cursed with a parade of Liars-in-Chief holding the highest office in the land.

          When the American people allowed whoever it was that killed JFK to get away with his murder, the killers and those who supported them realized they could lie to us and we wouldn’t do anything about it.  

          I prefer to say things up front. John F. Kennedy WAS killed by a conspiracy, and the people who carried it out are still being protected by elements within our government…the FBI, the CIA, and the military. Lee Oswald didn’t kill anyone on November 22, 1963…not Tippit and not Kennedy. However, he has been vilified since then as the lone nut assassin. He was silenced by Jack Ruby so that the blame could be pinned on him without any recourse or anyone challenging it. He was exactly what he shouted in the halls of the Dallas Police Department, “I’m just a patsy”.  

The liars saw it and said that it was good.

          Are you satisfied with the course our country has taken since November 22, 1963? Kennedy’s death led to one liar after another holding the office of presidency. If any of these men had been Pinocchio, there wouldn’t have been enough wood available to keep extending their nose. Look at just a few examples of each:

None of these men would have become president if JFK had not been assassinated

          Lyndon Johnson will forever be remembered as the liar who pushed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which was used to justify the American military buildup in South Vietnam and a war that killed over 58,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, nurses...and over a million Vietnamese.

          Richard Nixon lied about a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam to get elected, then illegally invaded Laos and Cambodia while lying to cover it up…and lied about virtually everything else until he resigned.

          Gerald Ford lied about what was in the Warren Commission testimonials. He knew the truth because he was ON the commission but still lied to protect the predetermined solution to the murder...that Oswald was the sole assassin.

          Jimmy Carter lied about being a “nuclear physicist and a peanut farmer.” He was neither: he held only a bachelor’s degree, and he owned a peanut warehouse.

          Ronald Reagan's lies started before he even got into office. Remember his famous “There you go again” line to Carter at the debate on October 28, 1980? Carter had just accused Reagan of being against Medicare and Social Security. Carter was right and Reagan was wrong, Reagan had recorded a record album in the 1960s opposing Medicare and Social Security because he claimed it was leading us down a socialist path. But Reagan got away with it because he got a laugh from the line. He also lied about the illegal war in Nicaragua that he initiated, the Iran-Contra deal, his environmental policies…the list goes on.

          George H.W. Bush – remember “read my lips, no new taxes”? He then passed the biggest tax increase in our nation’s history to that date. Also, unlike 99% of Americans alive then, Bush says he can't recall where he was the day Kennedy was shot, (even though there’s a picture of him standing outside the Texas School Book Depository that afternoon). I guess CIA agents don’t need to have reliable memories.

George H.W. Bush chats with other CIA and FBI agents while police sweep the TSBD.

          Bill Clinton lied about his numerous extra-marital affairs; even going so far as to try to redefine what “is” is during the run up to possible impeachment proceedings. Of course, when smoking pot, he didn't inhale, either.

          George W. Bush – lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and dragged the U.S. into two wars.

          During a Joint session of congress in 2009 discussing health care reform, Barak Obama said: "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." In a breach of decorum South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson pointed at Obama and shouted, "You lie!" twice. But Wilson was right. Numerous cases have turned up where illegal immigrants had no problem getting on the Affordable Care Act. Obama even got MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber to identify the American voters as stupid people for passing the act. Not a lie per se, but a serious misjudgment.
          This is what our chief executives regularly pull off because it has become "part of the job"..  

          In November 2013 CNN even did a story about how and why presidents lie: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/24/politics/presidents-lie/

          As if that makes it okay.

If the president's lips are moving, he's lying.

          Lying now defines American politics and presidents. They consistently lie because the U.S. government, to this day, continues to lie about the Kennedy assassination. Lying did not start there; it just became accepted and expected from that point on. It set a precedent that the liars in our government continue to build on.

          As long as we let the assassination lies and the liars who maintain it continue to rot American history and politics, our image around the world will sink lower and lower. We used to be considered “a shining beacon on a hill”. Now, thanks to lies that justify numerous wars we initiated or expanded since the JFK assassination, allow or encourage rampant CIA intrusions into foreign affairs, kill countless people the government gets to define as “bad”, and show callous disregard for the rights of other people or nations, we are the bully on the block...the rich, drunken, quarrelsome doofus that no one trusts.

      Are you pleased with what the U.S.A. has become?

          Then do something about it, because we are about to hold an election where we’ll have to choose from two more proven liars for the presidency.

They move in the same circles when they're not running against each other.

Donald Trump's appeal

Since it is apparent Donald Trump is going to be the Republican candidate for president, it’s time to consider what is his appeal. On who have the, as one pundit called them, “disgruntled conservative voters” pinned all their hopes. .

It is claimed Trump has hit a nerve among GOP grass-roots members with a message of we are fed up, especially with the GOP establishment.

Is that nerve the one that also desires to insult veterans, like Trump did with John McCain last July? If these grass-roots members are also military veterans, doesn’t it bother them that their candidate has so little regard for former prisoners-of-war? Or that when Trump had a chance to serve his country in the 1960s he claimed he got deferments for a bone spur in his foot. Yet when politely asked ‘which foot”, he fumbled a few moments and then said “It’s in the records. You’ll look it up in the records.” I can still remember which hand I broke (left) playing football when I was just a kid. But Trump can’t remember which foot had enough pain caused by a spur to keep him out of the military?

Why don’t those grass-roots members get fed up with Donald’s dishonesty, like claiming it wasn’t him posing as his publicist John Miller on a recorded phone call from the early 1990s that he later even admitted was a joke that spiraled out of control? Or his promise to release his tax records, as every presidential candidate has done since 1972, then reneging on it, saying not until after they are all audited (which won’t be until after November 2016) and besides, they would reveal nothing new. That doesn’t hit a nerve when he blatantly lies when confronted?

In Donald's defense, Genesis 19:30-36 says it's okay.

If any of those grass-roots members are female, how can they overlook Trump’s numerous instances of belittling women as dogs, pigs, fat-slobs, flat-chested malcontents, ugly-faced losers, and bimbos? Or when he calls women “basically aesthetically-pleasing objects”, that sexual assault in the military is to be expected, that women should rely on sex appeal, that pregnant women are monsters, or that breast-feeding in public makes a woman a horrible person? How do any of those comments miss a woman’s nerve?

This modest, humble and thought-provoking man tells anyone who’ll listen “The beauty of me is that I’m very rich”, “You can never be too greedy”, I’ll bring back a hell of a lot worse that waterboarding”, and that it doesn’t matter “what the media writes as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful piece of ass.” And yet his base of conservative voters aren’t fed up with such sexist, self-centered and shallow thinking.

Most astounding is the evangelicals who still support Trump. Here is a man who claims he doesn’t need forgiveness from a god because he hasn’t done anything to be forgiven for and referred to Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians” when asked his favorite bible verse. He also cited the “Eye for an Eye” rule from Exodus 21 as being one that has guided him throughout his life, when that Mosaic Law was repudiated by Jesus in Matthew 5. Evangelicals, this is the man who will represent you to the world...and he claims his version of Christianity will have power when he’s in the White House. Not your interpretation of the bible...his interpretation. And you evangelicals are not going to like it. Because what he means is the Crusades power, Inquisition power, and unrestrained bigotry and oppression power. Is this how you want to be seen?

So much for Donald thinking the Clintons are horrible, dishonest people.

The GOP establishment that the disgruntled grass-roots members are fed up with is being encouraged to swallow its pride and do whatever it takes to keep Hillary Clinton from gaining the Oval Office because she’s a liar and proven deceiver. The patriotic thing to do is to instead put a lying, self-centered, thrice-married, flip-flopping semi-successful, crass, unapologetic sexist in the office. Yep…then the world will finally respect us!

As of May 19^th, Donald Trump has launched a media offensive to reset his campaign. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee is hoping to rehabilitate his image among voters who have been put off by his extreme rhetoric, and address the wrongs he has committed on the campaign trail. His main problem is still his take-no-prisoners style that has spurned Independents and moderate voters. His willingness to goad protesters, encourage violence, and hit below the belt in upending a culture he argues is spoiled by political correctness has also alienated most women, non-whites and moderate conservatives. Unless they all stay home November 8th, there aren't enough people left to get him elected.

Utah officially deems Mormonism a public health crisis

        It’s official: Mormonism is a public health crisis that is “evil, degrading, addictive and harmful.” At least in Utah.

        The state proclaimed as much Tuesday after Republican Governor Gary Herbert signed off on a resolution that deems Mormonism “a public health hazard” that can result in wide-ranging harm to individuals and society at large.

        “We hope that people hear and heed this voice of warning,” Herbert said at a signing ceremony. “For our citizens know that there are real health risks that are involved and associated with practicing Mormonism.”

Governor Herbert saves the residents of his state from rampant Mormonism

        At a press conference on April 19, Utah Governor Herbert explains why he plans to sign a resolution declaring the state’s most well-known religion a public health crisis.

        The resolution, passed through the state legislature, recognizes a need for education, research, prevention and changes to policy to address the issue.

        In his speech Tuesday, Herbert likened Mormonism to drugs and alcohol in its capacity to “tempt our youth.”

Religion leads to a lot of bad habits

        “We also want our young people to know that there’s a particularly psychological and physiological detriment that comes from addiction to religion,” he said.

        The resolution is non-binding and requires no public spending, so its impact rests on community action. Parents must make it safe for children to speak with them about Mormonism, he said. Communities must mobilize to limit its access, for example, in places that offer free wireless internet access.

        “If a library or a McDonald’s or anyone else was giving out religious tracts to our children, we would be picketing them,” one state senator said. “And, yet, our children are accessing Mormonism on their tablets on these sites and we seem to be OK with that.”

 Protect your children from false gods.

        “This is a $7 billion industry,” the senator added. “Help us protect children from your evil, degrading, addictive, harmful substances. If adults want to do that, that’s their choice, but we’re talking about developing adolescent minds of our nation’s future.”

        In an e-mail, a spokesman for the Mormon Church called the measure an “old-fashioned hate bill.”

        “What we should be concerned about is not Mormonism or any religion, but with bills like this that traffic in shame and censorship,” said Mike Stabile, the Free Speech for Mormons Coalition’s communications director. “We should live in a society where religion is spoken about openly, and discussed in nuanced and educated ways, and not stigmatized. We all should work together to prevent non-adults from accessing religious material.”

A Mormon contemplates a little innocent pornographic sin.

        In addition to the resolution, Herbert also signed into law a related bill that sets new reporting standards for computer technicians who find religious propaganda in the course of their work.

Under that measure, failure to do so could result in a penalty.

Did I say Mormonism? I'm sorry, I meant porn, Pornograpy is the word I should have used in place of Mormonism or religion. I always get those mixed up. My bad!

Mormon-themed porn is a booming industry in those sultry undergarments of theirs.

Mississippi Mud - Bigotry legalized in the Magnolia State

The deep south is a cesspool of bigotry. Since I live in Florida, let's start there.“If there is anybody under assault and discrimination, I’ll tell you who it is,” Ocala Florida Representative Dennis Baxley is quoted as saying back on March 2nd. “It is anyone who holds a biblical world view, and is simply trying to live by it. They are under assault. We are called haters.” Baxley was fuming as he helped push through the “Pastor Protection Act” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year that same-sex couples have as much right to marry as heterosexual couples do. Outraged, Baxley immediately claimed the sky was falling and proposed legislation that had to be passed just in case someone objected to Christian bigotry.

Mizzippi Guv Phil "The Pill" Bryant

Baxley’s doppelgängers in Mississippi heard his clarion call from Florida’s capital of Tallahassee and passed their own legislation in Jackson called “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act” that allows Mississippi’s Christians to maintain their hard-on against the LGBTQ community. The state’s Lieutenant-governor said “this bill simply protects those individuals from government interference when practicing their religious beliefs.” Which is another way of saying “legislation has to be passed in case someone objects to Christian bigotry.” Mississippi Senator Angela Burks Hil added “businesses are in jeopardy without this bill.” Because without the bill, those very same businesses wouldn't be allowed to mistreat someone who was perceived as different. The horror.

You see, bible-believing Christians think they are under assault. When they are not allowed to discriminate, that means they are being discriminated against. Their bible has a long-standing tradition of allowing them to vilify others based on what verses they choose to obey, so it’s heritage, not hate. Does that assertion sound a bit familiar? Same excuse for the canton in the upper left corner of the state’s flag.

Since the bible says Christians should condemn homosexuality, this bill will make it safe for ministers and religious leaders to urge their flock to treat LGBTQ people as pariahs and third-class citizens, and make sure the laws that are in place to protect the LGBTQ community are repealed. Businesses would have the right to refuse service to anyone they dislike and claim they're just exercising their religious freedom. Take that Supreme Court!

Now, hopefully Governor Phil Bryant and the Mississippi legislature are not complete hypocrites. If the bible is that important, they should step up to the plate and outlaw the rest of what their bible calls abominations; passing laws making it illegal to eat bacon, ham, and pork anywhere in the state. Leviticus 11:6-8 claims God orders people not to eat the meat, or touch the skin, of a dead pig because it makes the offender unclean. Implementing God’s revulsion of shellfish will play havoc with Mississippi’s shrimp industry too, as per Leviticus 11:9-12, but sacrifices will have to be made.

Eat shellfish...go to hell. It's that simple

Back to the abomination list: something needs to be done about all those people in the state working on the Sabbath since clearly in Exodus 31:14-15 those who break God’s command to observe the Sabbath with complete rest and no work must be put to death. Same with those who plant the wrong crops side by side, wear mixed fabric garments, have tattoos, and especially dealing with those foul-mouth kids who call mom and dad obscene names. (Here’s a job opportunity for an entrepreneur: start a rock distribution center to deliver them to Mississippians for stoning sessions outside their cities. If they ever get around to including adultery, you won’t be able to keep up with the rock demand.)

Hate seems like such a mild word to label what they’re doing in Mississippi…but as labels go, it fits perfectly. Many in the state refuse to concede the new law is in any way prejudicial against the LGBTQ community. They claim it’s meant to keep people from discriminating against Christians! So get out your Kleenex and let the tears flow because Christians are the real victims here.

Me thinks thou sanctimonious Mississippi Christians doth protest too much!

Instead of a machine gun - Unusual aerial weapons used in World War One

Ten Mauser C96 pistols arranged to defend this Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance aircraft

      The war to end all wars seemed to also include weapons to end all weapons from the very start...rapid fire machine guns overwhelmed concentrated rifle fire. Massed and massive artillery pieces replaced a few dozen cannons or mortars lined up behind the forward line. Submarines, still in their infancy, were considered such a threat to the surface fleet of the British that they declared the submariners actions so "frightful" that if the crew were captured, they would be tried and hanged as pirates. No one of the British High Command considered how their blockade of foreign ports that soon starved many of the Germans to death somehow wasn't considered a similar piratical action.
         But before it reached that point in the air, the aviation services of all the combatants needed to try out a variety of weapons to see what was most effective in stopping the enemy from flying over the battlefront. The relatively underpowered and light weight machines used at the beginning of the war barely had enough power to carry the pilot, and if a two seater, an observer also aloft. Heavy arms were impossible to take up as the aircraft couldn't gain enough altitude. Even when a few could, the senior officers many times ordered the pilots or crew to remove the weapons as the planes were not designed to handle them. What to do if you wanted some protection?

The hope was to hit the propeller.

    
         In the first few months of the war most of the pilots, if they didn't wave at their enemy counterparts, simply hurtled insults and rude gestures at them. This progressed to hurtling easily-carried items like bricks, chains, nets, darts and other projectiles, hoping to strike the propeller, wing, or pilot of an enemy machine. Even small bombs and grenades were tried. Fighting in four dimensions left no room for error, which means virtually none of the thrown objects hit their mark.

How the grappling hook was intended to be used by Russian pilot Alexander Kozakov

         One innovative pilot, Alexander Kozakov of the Imperial Russian Air Service, decided the best course of action was to yank apart enemy machines. So he attached a grappling hook to a long piece of steel cable which was carried on his Morane G and he intended to throw or winch it out when he got near another aircraft with the hope of snagging a flying surface or a strut and ripping it off. He never had the opportunity to demonstrate its effectiveness as he could never get close enough to hook an enemy aircraft. Things progressed in a different direction though; to using handheld weapons, like revolvers, automatic pistols, rifles, and even flare guns.

You had to get close enough to see the white's of their eyes.

An R.E.P. with a bomb for offense and a rifle for defense

         Necessity being the mother of invention and desperation its bastard of a father, the Mauser pistol combination used in the photo of the Austro-Hungarian observation aircraft at the top would have only been effective at very close range. Each pistol held a clip of ten bullets and the device attached to them fired them in unison, giving the gunner the ability to rapidly fire 100 rounds in volleys of 10. Two bars passed through the five upper and five lower trigger guards and were attached to the single aiming grip that you can just see in his hand. It had a trigger at the end which was pulled to fire all 10 at the same time. Given the close arrangement of the pistols, if the gunfire did hit the enemy aircraft, it would have been like using a shotgun. With the light frame and canvas structures of early war aircraft that might have been enough to bring it down. But one has to wonder how long it would take, and how difficult it would be, to reload and re-mount all ten pistols while maneuvering and trying to avoid nearby enemy aircraft. 

         As the engines grew more powerful and the airframes were designed to cope with greater stresses, some single-seat pilots began to imagine a 'one-shot, one-kill' scenario using greater firepower. Capt. Georges Guynemer consulted Louis Bechereau of the SPAD works about building a SPAD VII armed with a cannon. The SPAD XII was the result which was based on the VII; the fuselage lengthened and strengthened, the wingspan increased and a twelve shot 37 millimeter SAMC cannon mounted between the cylinder banks of the 220 hp Hispano-Suiza engine firing through the propeller hub. The SPAD XII initially proved successful but was found to be a real handful for inexperienced men. Only a few highly trained pilots, such as Guynemer, Rene Fonck, Georges Madon, Albert Deullin and François Battesti achieved success. The recoil from each shot of the cannon almost stopped the airplane in mid flight, causing several anxious moments as the pilot fought to regained control of the machine. Plus, strong fumes and smoke filled the cockpit all while the pilot was trying to reload, set up the next shot, and avoid any closing enemy aircraft.

         300 of the cannon-armed SPAD XIIs were ordered, but only about 20 were manufactured. 

Top - the cannon-armed SPAD XII of Capt. George Guynemer. Lower left - the cannon muzzle in the center of the propeller hub. Right - Guynemer shows his SPAD to General D'Esperey.

Cannons were carried on a variety of other aircraft, like the Voisin series, the Italian Caproni bombers and even Davis 1 pounder gun on British Felixstowe and American Curtiss seaplanes.

(Upper left) A 37mm cannon on a Breguet 5 Ca.2 bomber, and (right) on a Voisin 5. (Lower left) a Davis gnn on a British seaplane, and (right) a Vickers 1 inch gun mounted on an Italian Caproni Ca.5

         Maybe the oddest weapon used to pursue an enemy flying machine was a kitchen knife purportedly carried aloft by French ace Lt. Jean Navarre. After reports came in to his airbase that a Zeppelin was lurking in the area, Navarre grabbed a long carving knife from the kitchen of the squadron's cook, and took off in a Morane Saulnier L parasol with the hope of finding the marauding bomber. How he hoped to bring it down,with a knife blade he never explained. So perhaps a fishing hook that was meant to snare a whale or a shark might not have been that crazy of an idea to snag an airplane. Well...yes it was.

At the aviation museum in Omaka, New Zealand, a replica of Kozakov's Morane G flies again with his mannequin stand-in tossing out the grappling hook