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What World War I invention by Anthony Fokker changed air combat?

A machine gun that fired through the spinning propeller.

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  1. The first parachute
  2. A gun that fired through the spinning propeller ✔
  3. The first jet engine

Why: Fokker's system timed the gun so bullets passed between the propeller blades. Pilots could aim the whole airplane at a target. It gave Germany control of the air for about a year, until the Allies copied it.

Huh, didn't know that: The French pilot Roland Garros had tried an earlier version of the idea in 1915.

The dad joke
Why was the propeller never late? Its timing was perfect.
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References

Answer: A gun that fired through the spinning propeller. Fokker's system timed the gun so bullets passed between the propeller blades. Pilots could aim the whole airplane at a target. It gave Germany control of the air for about a year, until the Allies copied it.

  1. CAP Teacher's Guide for Aerospace: The Journey of Flight (lesson outlines) www.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/2nd_edition_Teachers_Guide_5D3166D76F9B1.pdf
    Fokker designed a machine gun that fired through the spinning propeller.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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