Did you ever pay attention to the fact that the planes of the times World War I, firearms are very often located directly behind the main rotor so that when trying to fire the bullets will be guaranteed to fly through the working propeller? If not, then it's time to rummage through old photos. However, many people already had to have a question in their heads about how it is generally possible to shoot through a working screw so as not to damage it.
Very often, motor aircraft did fire directly through the propeller. The speed of the bullet was such that a significant part of the ammunition still flew. However, firing in this way was fraught with an early breakdown of the propeller, or even critical damage to it right in a combat situation. Back in 1913, French engineers thought about creating a special device - a fire synchronizer, which would reduce the number of bullets that hit the propeller directly. However, then, due to its imperfection, the technology did not go into series.
The situation changed after the outbreak of the First World War. In 1915, the French pilot and engineer Adrien Georges Eugene Roland Garros was mobilized to the front. After a series of air battles, Roland Garros developed and constructed a special device - a "bullet cutter", which was made in the form of a metal prism.
"Cutters" were attached to the propeller blades and caused the ricochet of bullets hitting the propeller. Although only 7% of the shots hit the propeller, this was enough to create Roland's device to receive critical damage in one battle. The adaptation of the French designer made it possible to significantly reduce the wear of the propeller and made it possible to use machine guns on aircraft. However, the technology had its drawbacks: the rate of fire of aircraft machine guns had to be reduced, as well as the power of the engine.
The next important step in the development of synchronizers was made by the Dutch designer Anton Fokker, who worked for the German army. It was he who created the first full-fledged synchronizer. The device turned out to be so successful that the pilots called it the gloomy nickname "Fokker's scourge."
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Mechanical synchronizer in action:
The essence of the synchronizer is that it connects the trigger of the machine gun with the thrust of the aircraft. At the moment the shot is fired, the rotation of the propeller slows down slightly, which allows the bullets to pass through the propeller without damaging the latter. Initially, the system was mechanical and did not allow achieving high rates of fire. However, already by the Second World War, designers will create electronic synchronizers, which will radically increase the rate of fire through the propeller without losing the speed of the aircraft.
However, with the advent of jet aircraft in the 1950s, this technology will become unnecessary.
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If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about what a strange German plane was used in the film "Indiana Jones".
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/030820/55548/