ISR Tour: Halberstadt CL IV

DAYTON, OHIO, UNITED STATES

05.23.2013

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Although the museum’s German Halberstadt CL IV is technically an attack aircraft, it looks like the standard observation aircraft of the First World War, with pilot in front and armed observer in back. Early in the war, it became obvious that the aircraft and the artillery battery required the same map to be successful. The British developed a pair of maps with numbered and lettered 400-yard squares known as a “squared map.” The observation aircraft could drop instructions on the battery. Later, the use of the wireless telegraph enabled the air crews to exactly target enemy positions. A 120-foot long wire antenna that extended out the back of the aircraft increased the range of the early radio sets. The Germans believed the observer, not the pilot was really the guy in charge. He ran the collection mission, took the photos, handled the wireless and shot the rear guns.

• Date Taken: 05.23.2013
• Date Posted: 07.30.2015 11:05
• Category: Recording
• Audio ID: 41574
• Filename: 1507/DOD_102629118.mp3
• Length: 00:01:16
• Album: ISR Tour
• Track #: 07
• Location: DAYTON, OHIO, US