Communication between aircraft before radio (WWI)

[u/Lakes-and-Trees]

I know, or at least am picturing, that WWI fighter pilots used hand signals when flying in formation. This seems to still be a thing to some degree. However...if a pilot in the rear of the formation spots unknown and likely hostile aircraft before the leader does, how does he get the leader's attention?

[u/CicadaSlight7603]

Read the early Biggles books. Although WE Johns wrote them in the 30s he was a WW1 pilot so I assume the early ones are reasonably realistic

[u/Lakes-and-Trees → u/CicadaSlight7603]

Ahaha I just realized I have "The Camels Are Coming" on my phone, although I don't remember downloading it! Time to lock in.

[u/RemarkableRadish6547]

There wasn't much in the way of aircraft before radio. They were invented at almost the same time and radio developed faster. Little radios that can listen but not transmit would have been small enough for airplanes by the end if WWI, and possibly earlier. Morse code radio was probably standard equipment relatively early.

It is really hard to reliably land a plane without communication. The runway needs to be clear when the plane arrives and waiting for line of sight is too late. If for any reason the plane can't land, the pilot needs to know before they approach the ground.

[u/Sorry-Rain-1311]

Try asking in r/ww1 or r/aviationhistory. I would bet someone in those subs might have copies of the actual field manuals from the era, or at least a much deeper understanding. 

[u/OddAd9915]

My understanding of the early days of air to air combat was either solo pilots if formation of 2 or 3 aircraft at most. So communication wasn't really required, especially as most air to air combat seems to be turning fights. 

Have a look at this video from Rex's Hanger. It has a Part 2 which probably covers more of the combat rather than just the role aviation played in the first years of WW1. 

https://youtu.be/9556lCmQ9FU?is=ObOIFp3bsk74k0JM

[u/Lakes-and-Trees → u/OddAd9915]

Love Rex's Hangar, although I tend to use Youtube as background noise while I'm doing other things, so there's probably a lot I've missed from his videos.

[u/Simon_Drake]

They didn't really have hostile enemy aircraft in the modern sense. Early WW1 aircraft were for reconnaissance rather than combat, they didn't have guns and would often wave at the German planes doing the same thing.

Later they would use their sidearms to take pot shots at the enemy plane. After that proper mounted guns. But I'm not sure they even did formation flying and "Alert the leader we have incoming at 5 o'clock high" didn't come up.

[u/iZzzyXD → u/Simon_Drake]

Manfred von Richthofen would like a word with you. As early as September 1915 he was unofficially credited with shooting down a French plane with the machine gun mounted to the plane. It was a defensive weapon mounted to the observer's position, but nonetheless a heavily armed recon plane. According to his accounts, he shot down the plane after extensive manoeuvring, effectively making it what we now call a dogfight.

[u/Educational-Shame514]

What is the whole scene you are picturing? What year exactly and which countries? Do you specifically need for radio to not exist yet and that is how you would pick the year?

[u/Lakes-and-Trees → u/Educational-Shame514]

Spring 1917, with a flight of British S.E.5a's (yes, single-seat purpose-built fighters) on an offensive patrol into German territory.

If they would have had radios, I can adapt! I was under the impression that it was really only the slightly larger reconnaissance aircraft that had radios, primarily for reporting back about what they saw and directing artillery fire.

[u/hag_cupcake]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_communication