I have finally gathered enough data to do fairly accurate usage charts for aircraft types in the US Air Service:
I built these charts using squadron histories, including looking through day-by-day combat logs for the 103rd¹. A few things surprised me:
- Many units were just coming online as the war ended. After America entered the war, it sure took a long time to get crew trained, aircraft allocated, and finally deployed.
- The SPAD 7 stayed in front-line use with the 93rd, 103rd, and 139th a lot longer than I expected. I thought they all would have been replaced with the SPAD 13s by mid-summer.
- The 17th (after flying with various RAF units) and 185th were just starting combat patrols on the Sopwith Camel when the war ended.
- While we all know about the complaints about the Nieuport 28, there were three Aero Squadrons (88, 90, 99) flying Sopwith 1½ Strutters in the spring and summer of 1918, long after the Strutter heyday. What a relief the Salmson 2 must have been to them!
- By Autumn 1918, the number of squadrons flying American-built (Liberty-engined) D.H.4's was really picking up, with only one in August to ten by November. Did they stop adding Breguet 14 units when the DH4 deliveries picked up?
I've added these charts, plus d100 rollable versions, to the Wings of Linen WIKI.
Now we just need to track down solid data on Italian Squadriglia plane use!
¹ The 103rd logs, courtesy the San Diego Air & Space Museum, are online and kind of fun to look through. They include things you'd expect like victories and losses, but also the ongoing saga of a private gone AWOL, venereal disease inspections, and auto crashes. https://archive.org/search?query=sub...ro+Squadron%22
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