|
Pomeroy Bullet
The Pomeroy bullet was designed by New Zealander John Pomeroy (1873–1950) as an anti-zeppelin weapon. Pomeroy bullets were supposed to explode when encountering the minimal resistance of fabric envelopes containing hydrogen gas holding the zeppelin aloft. The explosion might produce a larger hole in the fabric than the small diameter bullet and the energy of the explosion might ignite the hydrogen in the presence of atmospheric oxygen outside of the envelope. Background World War I saw the first use of strategic bombing. The first bombers were Zeppelin airships flying at altitudes above the effective range of most defensive weapons. Fighter aircraft could reach the altitude of a Zeppelin but took a long time to do so and their weapons were machine guns firing rifle bullets which usually made only small holes in the zeppelin's fabric gas envelopes. The minimal pressure differential was insufficient to cause rapid loss of hydrogen contained within the fabric envelopes and the small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada's Sons And Great Britain In The World War; (1919) (14768316581)
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching , is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orange color. Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material, and as a constituent of various metal alloys, such as sterling silver used in jewelry, cupronickel used to make marine hardware and coins, and constantan used in strain gauges and thermocouples for temperature measurement. Copper is one of the few metals that can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form ( native metals). This led to very early human use in several regions, from circa 8000 BC. Thousands of years later, it was the first metal to be smelted from sulfide ores, circa 5000 BC; the first metal to be cast into a shape in a mold, c. 4000 BC; and the first metal to be purposely alloyed with another metal, tin, to create ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter Pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting (close range aerial combat). A fighter pilot with at least five air-to-air kills becomes known as an ace. Recruitment Fighter pilots are one of the most highly regarded and desirable positions of any air force. Selection processes only accept the elite out of all the potential candidates. An individual who possesses an exceptional academic record, physical fitness, healthy well-being, and a strong mental drive will have a higher chance of being selected for pilot training. Candidates are also expected to exhibit strong leadership and teamwork abilities. As such, in nearly all air forces, fighter pilots, as are pilots of most other aircraft, are commissioned officers. Fitness Fighter pilots must be in optimal health to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. It has a concentration in the Earth's crust of about one gram per kilogram (compare copper at about 0.06 grams). In minerals, phosphorus generally occurs as phosphate. Elemental phosphorus was first isolated as white phosphorus in 1669. White phosphorus emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen – hence the name, taken from Greek mythology, meaning 'light-bearer' (Latin ), referring to the " Morning Star", the planet Venus. The term '' phosphorescence'', meaning glow after illumination, derives from this property of phosphorus, although the word has since been used for a different physical process that produces a glow. The glow of phosphorus is caused by oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus — a process now called chem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyrophoric
A substance is pyrophoric (from grc-gre, πυροφόρος, , 'fire-bearing') if it ignites spontaneously in air at or below (for gases) or within 5 minutes after coming into contact with air (for liquids and solids). Examples are organolithium compounds and triethylborane. Pyrophoric materials are often water-reactive as well and will ignite when they contact water or humid air. They can be handled safely in atmospheres of argon or (with a few exceptions) nitrogen. Fire Classes#Metal, Class D fire extinguisher#Class D dry powder and other agents for metal fires, fire extinguishers are designated for use in fires involving pyrophoric materials. A related concept is hypergolic propellant, hypergolicity, in which two compounds spontaneously ignite when mixed. Uses The creation of spark (fire), sparks from metals is based on the pyrophoricity of small metal particles, and pyrophoric alloys are made for this purpose. The sparking mechanisms in lighters and various toys, using fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incendiary Ammunition
Incendiary ammunition is a type of ammunition that contains a chemical that, upon hitting a hard obstacle, has the characteristic of causing fire/setting flammable materials in the vincinity of the impact on fire. World War I The first time incendiary ammunition was widely used was in World War I, more specifically in 1916. At the time, phosphorus was the primary ingredient in the incendiary charge and ignited upon firing, leaving a trail of blue smoke. These early forms were also known as "smoke tracers" because of this. Though deadly, the effective range of these bullets was only 350 yards (320 m), as the phosphorus charge burned quickly. Incendiary bullets called "Buckingham" ammunition were supplied to early British night fighters for use against military zeppelins threatening the British Isles. The flammable hydrogen gas of the zeppelins made incendiary bullets much more deadly than standard ones which would pass through the outer skin without igniting the gas. Similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium Chlorate
Potassium chlorate is a compound containing potassium, chlorine and oxygen, with the molecular formula KClO3. In its pure form, it is a white crystalline substance. After sodium chlorate, it is the second most common chlorate in industrial use. It is a strong oxidizing agent and its most important application is in safety matches. In other applications it is mostly obsolete and has been replaced by safer alternatives in recent decades. It has been used * in fireworks, propellants and explosives, * to prepare oxygen, both in the lab and in chemical oxygen generators, * as a disinfectant, for example in medical mouthwashes, * in agriculture as an herbicide. Production On the industrial scale, potassium chlorate is produced by the salt metathesis reaction of sodium chlorate and potassium chloride: : NaClO3 + KCl → NaCl + KClO3 The reaction is driven by the low solubility of potassium chlorate in water. The equilibrium of the reaction is shifted to the right hand side by the continuo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Arthur Brock
Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock (29 June 1884 – 23 April 1918) was a British officer commissioned into the Royal Artillery, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and finally, when the RNAS merged with the RFC, the Royal Air Force. He invented the explosive bullet that destroyed the German Zeppelins and he devised and executed the smoke screen used during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918, an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge during the First World War. Background Brock was born in South Norwood, Surrey, the son of Arthur Brock of Haredon, Sutton, Surrey, of the famous C.T. Brock & Co. fireworks manufacturers. He was educated at Dulwich College where he blew up a stove in his form room. Brock joined the family business in 1901 (later becoming a director) where he remained until the outbreak of the First World War. He joined the Royal Artillery, being commissioned as a temporary lieutenant on 10 October ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magazine (firearms)
A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges within itself and sequentially pushing each one into a position where it may be readily loaded into the barrel chamber by the firearm's moving action. The detachable magazine is sometimes colloquially referred to as a " clip", although this is technically inaccurate since a clip is actually an accessory device used to help load ammunition into a magazine. Magazines come in many shapes and sizes, from tubular magazines on lever-action and pump-action firearms that may tandemly hold several rounds, to detachable box and drum magazines for automatic rifles and light machine guns that may hold more than one hundred rounds. Various jurisdictions ban what they define as "high-capacity magazines". Nomenclature With the increased use of semi-au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Of World War I
Soon after its re-purposing from the Army Balloon Factory to the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1912, designers at this Farnborough base turned their thoughts to flying an unmanned aircraft. During the First World War this pioneering work resulted in trials of remotely controlled aircraft for the Royal Flying Corps and unmanned boats for the Royal Navy that were controlled from 'mother' aircraft. By the end of the war in 1918 Britain had successfully flown and controlled a drone aircraft and a number of fast unmanned motor boats operating in close flotilla formation had been individually controlled by radio from operators flying in "mother" aircraft. This work then continued in the inter war years. The Factory's 1914 design There is a Royal Aircraft Factory engineering drawing dated October 1914 of an unmanned powered monoplane long with a wingspan. This was developed as a possible defence to counter the threat of aerial bombing from German dirigible airships. This new potential wea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archibald Low
Archibald Montgomery Low (17 October 1888 – 13 September 1956) developed the first powered drone aircraft. He was an English consulting engineer, research physicist and inventor, and author of more than 40 books. Low has been called the "father of radio guidance systems" due to his pioneering work on planes, torpedoes boats and guided rockets. He was a pioneer in many fields though, often leading the way for others, but his lack of discipline meant he hardly ever saw a project through, being easily distracted by new ideas. If it wasn't for this inability to see things to a conclusion, Low could well have been remembered as one of the great men of science. Many of his scientific contemporaries disliked him, due in part to his using the title "professor", which he wasn't entitled to do as he didn't occupy an academic chair. His love of the limelight and publicity probably also added to the dislike. Low was working on the invention of television before World War I Bloom, Ur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shot (pellet)
Shot is a collective term for small spheres or pellets, often made of lead. These were the original projectiles for shotguns and are still fired primarily from shotguns and less commonly from riot guns and grenade launchers, although shot shells are available in many pistol calibers in a configuration called "birdshot", "rat-shot", or "snake shot". Lead shot is also used for a variety of other purposes such as filling cavities with dense material for weight/balance. Some versions may be plated with other metals. Lead shot was originally made by pouring molten lead through screens into water, forming what was known as "swan shot", and, later, more economically mass-produced at higher quality using a shot tower. The ''Bliemeister method'' has supplanted the shot tower method since the early 1960s. Manufacture Producing lead shot from a shot tower was pioneered in the late 18th century by William Watts of Bristol who adapted his house on Redcliffe Hill by adding a three-storey t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
