Hello,
as far as i know the thick airfoil was invented at the city of Goettingen using one of the first wind tunnels. Junkers also used thicker profles, however he only constructed all-metal planes. On the Entente side even the SE5a, the SPAD and the late Snipe all had thin airfoil profiles - this was used because the designers (wrongly) thought to need a thin profile to make a plane fly fast.
Wing warping was abandoned already in 1916, maybe some of the older planes still flew at the eastern frontlines, but this alone was not the reason for keeping slim rib profiles.
Current technology will b.t.w. go back to wing warping, because the wind flow along a "softer" direction change of a bent wing means much better flight characteristics, rather than the abrupt change gained by flaps or ailerons.
B.t.w. for what i read the "Ersatz" fuel for the german aircraft engines was not as bad as it is often quoted, some even reached a better combustion with it, however the engine casting materials and the heardened surfaces were sometimes not withstanding higher pressure and temperatures.
Greetings,
Catfish
k. Ooops, were did that "censored"-stamp come from? Gimpy??)
