Streamers off wingtips

[Off Watch]

I have noticed in some of the WWI video that some of the planes have ribbons or streamers on thier wing tips. Does anyone know what the purpose of these are? Are they some sort of early stall detectors? In sailboats we use strips of yarn on the sail that lift and futter when the sail is stalled and stream straigt back when trimmed properly, I was wondering if this is somthing similar.

 

[cpirrmann]

The streamers usually denoted who was the flight leader.

 

[Winder]

We had streamers in P1 - or was it P2 - but anyway not a great success as its hard to get them to behave to physics - look weird.

For now we have provided the info in labels (yeah not very realistic I know) but thats the better option IMO than corny looking streamers.

HTH

WM

 

[Catfish]

Hello,
for what i read they were also used for predicting a stall, for e.g. in tight turns the inner wing would lose lift sooner than the outer one, and the streamer would begin to flacker (right word?) short before a stall, thus warning the pilot.
Greetings,
Catfish

 

[Baywing]

Basically, they were like a windsock, to help the pilot detect cross wind (or sideslip).

 

[Bullethead]

Basically, they were like a windsock, to help the pilot detect cross wind (or sideslip).

Those used as flight instruments weren't on the wingtips, and they weren't big, either. They were just little pieces of string or ribbon, maybe 3-4" long, tied to one of the struts near the cockpit, either a cabane or one of the inner interplanes (so as to avoid the propwash). Modern gliders still do this. Every one I've flown has had a 3" piece of string taped to the outside of the windshield right in front of your face, so it acts as an HUD .

The long streamers on the wingtips were used for identification of leaders, where his paintjob wasn't distinctive.

 

[womenfly2]

Yes. .... the long streamers affixed to the wings outer struts was to identify the flight leader, a good thing for the following flight of aircraft. He was the one responsible for navigating to and from the combat area and home plus being the mother hen in the air over the group.

The bad thing about having the flight leader streamers, he was the first to be singled out most of the time to down thus disrupting the continuity of the combat flight group.

Reminds me of the line in the movie " Von Richthofen and Brown" when one of the pilots looks at the bright multi colored aircraft and says, " My God, now they'll see us a mile away."

Cheers,
WF2