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This is the Conversation Forum for Famous Air Crash Victims - Part 1: Aviators Not complete without... >> Subject: Roland Garros Posted Nov 30, 2006 by Al Johnston   Posting 1 Good article, but on a point of pedantry, Garros wouldn't have been flying a Fokker - the dutchman supplied his aircraft to the Germans. In fact Garros had deflector plates fitted to his Moraine-Saulnier Type L when he was shot down and captured on 18/4/15. The Germans gave Fokker the job of copying the deflectors so their pilots too could fire straight ahead. Fokker quickly realised that the deflectors were crude, dangerous and ruined the aerodynamic efficiency of the propeller, so he came up with a much better idea: interrupter gear that stopped the machine gun from firing while a propeller blade was in the way. Fitting this to his new E1 monoplane enabled German pilots like Boelcke and Immelmann to virtually clear the skies of Allied aircraft: the famous "Fokker Scourge". Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Roland Garros Posted Nov 30, 2006 by Icy North This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 2 Thanks, Advocatus Diaboli It was a while since I wrote it, so I'm not sure whether it's my mistake or whether I researched someone else's. Your explanation seems to make sense. I'll give it a week (in case there are any other comments) and then I'll get it updated. Icy Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Roland Garros Posted Nov 30, 2006 by Al Johnston This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 3 No worries Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Roland Garros Posted Dec 8, 2006 by Icy North This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 4 The entry's been updated! Thanks again! Icy Conversation list Conversation list

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