document_title: Aviation in World War I

question_text: when were planes first used in world war 1

question_tokens: when were planes first used in world war 1

text: Aviation in World War I

text: The early years of war[edit]

text: At the 1911 meeting of the Institute of International Law in Madrid, legislation was proposed to limit the use of airplanes to reconnaissance missions and banning them from being used as platforms for weapons.[1] This legislation was rooted in a fear that airplanes would be used to attack undefended cities, violating Article 69 of the Den Hague Reglement (the set of international laws governing warfare).[2]

text: At the start of the war, there was some debate over the usefulness of aircraft in warfare. Many senior officers, in particular, remained sceptical. However the initial campaigns of 1914 proved that cavalry could no longer provide the reconnaissance expected by their generals, in the face of the greatly increased firepower of twentieth century armies, and it was quickly realised that aircraft could at least locate the enemy, even if early air reconnaissance was hampered by the newness of the techniques involved. Early skepticism and low expectations quickly turned to unrealistic demands beyond the capabilities of the primitive aircraft available.[3]

text: Even so, air reconnaissance played a critical role in the "war of movement" of 1914, especially in helping the Allies halt the German invasion of France. On 22 August 1914, British Captain L.E.O. Charlton and Lieutenant V.H.N. Wadham reported German General Alexander von Kluck's army was preparing to surround the BEF, contradicting all other intelligence. The British High Command took note of the report and started to withdraw toward Mons, saving the lives of 100,000 soldiers. Later, during the First Battle of the Marne, observation aircraft discovered weak points and exposed flanks in the German lines, allowing the allies to take advantage of them.[4]

text: In Germany the great successes of the early Zeppelin airships had largely overshadowed the importance of heavier-than-air aircraft. Out of a paper strength of about 230 aircraft belonging to the army in August 1914 only 180 or so were of any use.[5] The French military aviation exercises of 1911, 1912, and 1913 had pioneered cooperation with the cavalry (reconnaissance) and artillery (spotting), but the momentum was if anything slacking.[6]

text: Great Britain had "started late" and initially relied largely on the French aircraft industry, especially for aircraft engines. The initial British contribution to the total allied airwar effort in August 1914 (of about 184 aircraft) was three squadrons with about 30 serviceable machines. By the end of the war, Great Britain had formed the world's first air force to be independent of either army or naval control, the Royal Air Force.[7] The American army and navy air services were far behind; even in 1917, when the United States entered the war, they were to be almost totally dependent on the French and British aircraft industries for combat aircraft.[8]

text: The Germans' great air "coup" of 1914 (at least according to contemporary propaganda) was at the Battle of Tannenberg in East Prussia, where an unexpected Russian attack was reported by Leutnants Canter and Mertens, resulting in the Russians' being forced to withdraw.[9]

text: Early Western Front reconnaissance duties[edit]

text: By the end of 1914 the line between the Germans and the Allies stretched from the North Sea to the Alps. The initial "war of movement" largely ceased, and the front became static. Three main functions of short range reconnaissance squadrons had emerged by March 1901.

text: The first was photographic reconnaissance: building up a complete mosaic map of the enemy trench system. The first air cameras used glass plates. (Kodak cellulose film had been invented, but did not at this stage have sufficient resolution).[10]

text: Artillery "spotting" enabled the ranging of artillery on targets invisible to the gunners. Radio telephony was not yet practical from an aircraft, so communication was a problem. By March 1915, a two-seater on "artillery observation" duties was typically equipped with a primitive radio transmitter transmitting using Morse code, but had no receiver. The artillery battery signalled to the aircraft by laying strips of white cloth on the ground in prearranged patterns. Observation duties were shared with the tethered balloons, which could communicate directly with their batteries by field telephone, but were far less flexible in locating targets and reporting the fall of shot.

text: "Contact patrol" work attempted to follow the course of a battle by communicating with advancing infantry while flying over the battlefield. The technology of the period did not permit radio contact, while methods of signalling were necessarily crude, including dropping messages from the aircraft. Soldiers were initially reluctant to reveal their positions to aircraft, as they (the soldiers) found distinguishing between friend and foe problematic.

text: Reconnaissance flying, like all kinds, was a hazardous business. In April 1917, the worst month for the entire war for the RFC, the average life expectancy of a British pilot on the Western Front was 69 flying hours.[11]

text: Early bombing efforts[edit]

text: Typical 1914 aircraft could carry only very small bomb loads – the bombs themselves, and their stowage, were still very elementary, and effective bomb sights were still to be developed. Nonetheless the beginnings of strategic and tactical bombing date from the earliest days of the war. Notable are the raids by the RNAS on the German airship sheds at Düsseldorf, Cologne and Friedrichshafen in September, October and November 1914, as well as the formation of the Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende (or "Ostend carrier pigeon detachment", cover name for the first German strategic bombing unit), which mounted the first token raid over the English Channel in December.

text: The dawn of air combat[edit]

text: As Dickson had predicted, initially air combat was extremely rare, and definitely subordinate to reconnaissance. There are even stories of the crew of rival reconnaissance aircraft exchanging nothing more belligerent than smiles and waves.[10] This soon progressed to throwing grenades, and other objects – even grappling hooks.[12] The first aircraft brought down by another was an Austrian reconnaissance aircraft rammed on 8 September 1914 by Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov in Galicia in the Eastern Front. Both planes crashed as the result of the attack killing all occupants. Eventually pilots began firing handheld firearms at enemy aircraft,[10] however pistols were too inaccurate and the single shot rifles too unlikely to score a hit. On October 5, 1914, French pilot Louis Quenault opened fire on a German aircraft with a machine gun for the first time and the era of air combat was under way as more and more aircraft were fitted with machine guns.

text: Evolution of fighter aircraft[edit]

text: The pusher solution[edit]

text: As early as 1912, designers at the British firm Vickers were experimenting with machine gun carrying aircraft. The first concrete result was the Vickers Experimental Fighting Biplane 1, which featured at the 1913 Aero Show in London.[13] and appeared in developed form as the FB.5 in February 1915. This pioneering fighter, like the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b and the Airco DH.1, was a pusher type. These had the engine and propeller behind the pilot, facing backward, rather than at the front of the aircraft, as in a tractor configuration design. This provided an optimal machine gun position, from which the gun could be fired directly forward without an obstructing propeller, and reloaded and cleared in flight. An important drawback was that pusher designs tended to have an inferior performance to tractor types with the same engine power because of the extra drag created by the struts and rigging necessary to carry the tail unit. The F.E.2d, a more powerful version of the F.E.2b, remained a formidable opponent well into 1917, when pusher fighters were already obsolete. They were simply too slow to catch their quarry.

text: Machine gun synchronisation[edit]

text: The forward firing gun of a pusher "gun carrier" provided some offensive capability – the mounting of a machine gun firing to the rear from a two-seater tractor aircraft gave defensive capability. There was an obvious need for some means to fire a machine gun forward from a tractor aircraft, especially from one of the small, light, "scout" aircraft, adapted from pre-war racers, that were to perform most air combat duties for the rest of the war. It would seem most natural to place the gun between the pilot and the propeller, firing in the direct line of flight, so that the gun could be aimed by "aiming the aircraft". It was also important that the breech of the weapon be readily accessible to the pilot, so that he could clear the jams and stoppages to which early machine guns were prone. However, this presented an obvious problem: a percentage of bullets fired "free" through a revolving propeller will strike the blades, with predictable results.

text: Early experiments with synchronised machine guns had been carried out in several countries before the war. Franz Schneider, then working for Nieuport in France but later working for L.V.G. in Germany, patented a synchronisation gear on 15 July 1913. An early Russian gear was designed by a Lieutenant Poplavko: the Edwards brothers in England designed the first British example, and the Morane-Saulnier company were also working on the problem in 1914. All these early experiments failed to attract official attention, partly due to official inertia and partly due to the terrifying results of failures of these early synchronising gears, which included dangerously ricocheting bullets as well as disintegrating propellers.[14]

text: The Lewis gun, used on many early Allied aircraft, proved next to impossible to successfully synchronise due to its open bolt firing cycle. In an open bolt firing cycle, it is impossible to predict the exact time any given round will fire, a problematic characteristic in a weapon one is attempting to fire between the spinning blades of a propeller. Photographs of fuselage-mounted Lewis guns aimed directly ahead on RNAS aircraft, and looking as if they "should" be synchronised — as with some of their Bristol Scouts — were probably in fact free firing, hardly a satisfactory solution.

text: The Maxim guns used by both the Allies (as the Vickers) and Germany (as the Parabellum MG 14 and Spandau lMG 08) had a closed bolt firing cycle that started with a bullet already in the breech and the breech closed, so the firing of the bullet was the next step in the cycle. This meant that the exact instant the round would be fired could be predicted, making these weapons considerably easier to synchronise.

text: The standard French light machine gun, the Hotchkiss, was also most unamenable to synchronisation due to rounds "hanging fire". The Morane-Saulnier company designed a "safety backup" in the form of "deflector blades" (metal wedges), complete with metal tiebars extending outwards from the propeller hub for bracing, fitted to the rear surfaces of a propeller at the radial point where they would be struck by a bullet. Roland Garros tried out this system in a Morane-Saulnier L in April 1915. He managed to score several kills, although it proved to be an inadequate and dangerous solution. Garros eventually was forced by engine failure (possibly caused by the repeated strain on his aircraft's crankshaft of the "deflected" bullets striking his propeller) to land behind enemy lines, and he and his secret weapon were captured by the Germans.[15]

text: Famously, the German High Command passed Garros' captured Morane to the Fokker company – who already produced Morane type monoplanes for the German Air Service – with orders to copy the design. The deflector system was totally unsuitable for the steel-jacketed German ammunition so that the Fokker engineers were forced to revisit the synchronisation idea (perhaps infringing Schneider's patent), crafting the Stangensteuerung system by the spring of 1915, used on the examples of their pioneering Eindecker fighter. Crude as these little monoplanes were, they produced a period of German air superiority, known as the "Fokker Scourge" by the Allies. The psychological effect exceeded the material – the Allies had up to now been more or less unchallenged in the air, and the vulnerability of their older reconnaissance aircraft, especially the British B.E.2 and French Farman pushers, came as a very nasty shock.

text: Other methods[edit]

text: Another method used at this time to fire a machine gun forward from a tractor design was to mount the gun to fire above the propeller arc. This required the gun to be mounted on the top wing of biplanes and be mounted on complicated drag-inducing structures in monoplanes. Reaching the gun so that drums or belts could be changed, or jams cleared, presented problems even when the gun could be mounted relatively close to the pilot. Eventually the excellent Foster mounting became more or less the standard way of mounting a Lewis gun in this position in the R.F.C.:[16] this allowed the gun to slide backward for drum changing, and also to be fired at an upward angle, a very effective way of attacking an enemy from the "blind spot" under its tail. This type of mounting was still only possible for a biplane with a top wing positioned near the apex of the propeller's arc – it put considerable strain on the fragile wing structures of the period, and it was less rigid than a gun mounting on the fuselage, producing a greater "scatter" of bullets, especially at anything but very short range.

text: The earliest versions of the Bristol Scout to see aerial combat duty in 1915, the Scout C, had Lewis gun mounts in RNAS service that sometimes were elevated above the propeller arc, and sometimes (in an apparently reckless manner) firing directly through the propeller arc without synchronisation. During the spring and summer of 1915, Captain Lanoe Hawker of the Royal Flying Corps, however, had mounted his Lewis gun just forward of the cockpit to fire forwards and outwards, on the left side of his aircraft's fuselage at about a 30° horizontal angle. On 25 July 1915 Captain Hawker flew his Scout C, bearing RFC serial number 1611 against several two-seat German observation aircraft of the Fliegertruppe, and managed to defeat three of them in aerial engagements to earn the first Victoria Cross awarded to a British fighter pilot, while engaged against enemy fixed-wing aircraft.

text: 1915: The Fokker Scourge[edit]

text: The first purpose-designed fighter aircraft included the British Vickers F.B.5, and machine guns were also fitted to several French types, such as the Morane-Saulnier L and N. Initially the German Air Service lagged behind the Allies in this respect, but this was soon to change dramatically.

text: In July 1915 the Fokker E.I, the first aircraft to enter service with a "synchronisation gear" which enabled a machine gun to fire through the arc of the propeller without striking its blades, became operational. This gave an important advantage over other contemporary fighter aircraft. This aircraft and its immediate successors, collectively known as the Eindecker (German for "monoplane") – for the first time supplied an effective equivalent to Allied fighters. Two German military aviators, Leutnants Otto Parschau and Kurt Wintgens, worked for the Fokker firm during the spring of 1915, demonstrating the revolutionary feature of the forward-firing synchronised machine gun to the embryonic force of Fliegertruppe pilots of the German Empire.

text: The first successful engagement involving a synchronised-gun-armed aircraft occurred on the afternoon of July 1, 1915, to the east of Lunéville, France when Leutnant Kurt Wintgens, one of the pilots selected by Fokker to demonstrate the small series of five Eindecker prototype aircraft, forced down a French Morane-Saulnier "Parasol" two seat observation monoplane behind Allied lines with his Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker production prototype aircraft, carrying the IdFlieg military serial number "E.5/15". Some 200 shots from the synchronised Parabellum MG14 machine gun on Wintgens' aircraft had hit the Gnome Lambda rotary engine of the Morane Parasol, forcing it to land safely in Allied territory.[17]

text: By late 1915 the Germans had achieved air superiority, rendering Allied access to the vital intelligence derived from continual aerial reconnaissance more dangerous to acquire. In particular the defencelessness of Allied reconnaissance types was exposed. The first German "ace" pilots, notably Max Immelmann, had begun their careers.

text: The number of actual Allied casualties involved was for various reasons very small compared with the intensive air fighting of 1917–18. The deployment of the Eindeckers was less than overwhelming: the new type was issued in ones and twos to existing reconnaissance squadrons, and it was to be nearly a year before the Germans were to follow the British in establishing specialist fighter squadrons. The Eindecker was also, in spite of its advanced armament, by no means an outstanding aircraft, being closely based on the pre-war Morane-Saulnier H, although it did feature a steel tubing fuselage framework (a characteristic of all Fokker wartime aircraft designs) instead of the wooden fuselage components of the French aircraft.

text: Nonetheless, the impact on morale of the fact that the Germans were effectively fighting back in the air created a major scandal in the British parliament and press. The ascendancy of the Eindecker also contributed to the surprise the Germans were able to achieve at the start of the Battle of Verdun because the French reconnaissance aircraft failed to provide their usual cover of the German positions.

text: Fortunately for the Allies, two new British fighters that were a match for the Fokker, the two-seat F.E.2b and the single-seat D.H.2, were already in production. These were both pushers, and could fire forwards without gun synchronisation. The F.E.2b reached the front in September 1915, and the D.H.2 in the following February. On the French front, the tiny Nieuport 11, a tractor biplane with a forward firing gun mounted on the top wing outside the arc of the propeller, also proved more than a match for the German fighter when it entered service in January 1916. With these new types the Allies re-established air superiority in time for the Battle of the Somme, and the "Fokker Scourge" was over.

text: The Fokker E.III, Airco DH-2 and Nieuport 11 were the very first in a long line of single seat fighter aircraft used by both sides during the war. Very quickly it became clear the primary role of fighters would be attacking enemy two-seaters, which were becoming increasingly important as sources of reconnaissance and artillery observation, while also escorting and defending friendly two-seaters from enemy fighters. Fighters were also used to attack enemy observation balloons, strafe enemy ground targets, and defend friendly airspace from enemy bombers.

text: Almost all the fighters in service with both sides, with the exception of the Fokkers' steel-tube fuselaged airframes, continued to use wood as the basic structural material, with fabric-covered wings relying on external wire bracing. However, the first practical all-metal aircraft was produced by Hugo Junkers, who also used a cantilever wing structure with a metal covering. The first flight tests of the initial flight demonstrator of this technology, the Junkers J 1 monoplane, took place at the end of 1915 heralding the future of aircraft structural design.

text: 1916: Verdun and the Somme[edit]

text: When the battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916, air superiority initially enabled the Germans to establish a blockade (luftsperre) on the French air squadrons. However the French were already arming their specialist fighter squadrons, the Escadrilles de chasse, with the Nieuport 11, and with a new offensive strategy they quickly overcame the luftsperre, establishing air superiority over the battle by April.[18]

text: In the meantime, in the aftermath of the Fokker Scourge, the need for a larger, better equipped RFC became obvious, and the process of raising many new British squadrons was started. In the short term, creating new units was easier than producing aircraft to equip them, and training pilots to man them. When the Battle of the Somme started in July 1916, most ordinary RFC squadrons were still equipped with the BE.2c, which had already proved an easy target for the Fokker Eindecker. New types such as the Sopwith 1½ Strutter had to be transferred from production intended for the RNAS. Even more seriously, replacement pilots were being sent to France with pitifully few flying hours.

text: Nonetheless, air superiority and an "offensive" strategy facilitated the greatly increased involvement of the RFC in the battle itself, in what was known at the time as "trench strafing" – in modern terms, close support. For the rest of the war, this became a regular routine, with both attacking and defending infantry in a land battle being constantly liable to attack by machine guns and light bombs from the air. At this time, counter fire from the ground was far less effective than it became later, when the necessary techniques of deflection shooting had been mastered.

text: The first step towards specialist fighter-only aviation units within the German military was the establishment of the so-called Kampfeinsitzer Kommando (single-seat battle unit, abbreviated as "KEK") formations by Inspektor-Major Friedrich Stempel in February 1916. These were based around Eindeckers and other new fighter designs emerging, like the Pfalz E-series monoplanes, that were being detached from their former Feldflieger Abteilung units during the winter of 1915–16 and brought together in pairs and quartets at particularly strategic locations, as "KEK" units were formed at Habsheim, Vaux, Avillers, Jametz, and Cunel, as well as other strategic locations along the Western Front to act as Luftwachtdienst (aerial guard force) units, consisting only of fighters.[19] In a pioneering move in March 1916, German master aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke came up with the idea of having "forward observers" located close to the front lines to spot Allied aircraft approaching the front, to avoid wear and tear on the trio of Fokker Eindecker scout aircraft he had based with his own "KEK" unit based at Sivry-sur-Meuse,[20] just north of Verdun. By April 1916, the air superiority established by the Eindecker pilots and maintained by their use within the KEK formations had long evaporated as the Halberstadt D.II began to be phased in as Germany's first biplane fighter design, with the first Fokker D-series biplane fighters joining the Halberstadts, and a target was set to establish 37 new squadrons in the next 12 months – entirely equipped with single seat fighters, and manned by specially selected and trained pilots, to counter the Allied fighter squadrons already experiencing considerable success, as operated by the Royal Flying Corps and the French Aéronautique Militaire. The small numbers of questionably built Fokker D.IIIs posted to the Front pioneered the mounting of twin lMG 08s before 1916's end, as the building numbers of the similarly armed, and much more formidable new twin-gun Albatros D.Is were well on the way to establishing the German air superiority marking the first half of 1917.

text: Allied air superiority was maintained during the height of both battles, and the increased effectiveness of Allied air activity proved disturbing to the German Army's top-level Oberste Heeresleitung command staff.[21] A complete reorganisation of the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches into what became officially known as the Luftstreitkräfte followed and had generally been completed by October 1916. This reorganisation eventually produced the German strategic bombing squadrons that were to produce such consternation in England in 1917 and 1918, and the specialist close support squadrons (Schlachtstaffeln) that gave the British infantry such trouble at Cambrai and during the German Spring offensive of 1918. Its most famous and dramatic effect, however, involved the raising of specialist fighter squadrons or Jagdstaffeln – a full year after similar units had become part of the RFC and the French Aéronautique Militaire. Initially these units were equipped with the Halberstadt D.II (Germany's first biplane fighter), the Fokker D.I and D.II, along with the last few surviving Eindeckers, all three biplane design types using a single lMG 08, before the Fokker D.III and Albatros D.I twin-gun types arrived at the Front.

text: 1917: Bloody April[edit]

text: The first half of 1917 was a successful period for the jagdstaffeln and the much larger RFC suffered significantly higher casualties than their opponents. While new Allied fighters such as the Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane, and SPAD S.VII were coming into service, at this stage their numbers were small, and suffered from inferior firepower: all three were armed with just a single synchronised Vickers machine gun. On the other hand, the jagdstaffeln were in the process of replacing their early motley array of equipment with Albatros D-series aircraft, armed with twin synchronised MG08s. The D.I and D.II of late 1916 were succeeded by the new Albatros D.III, which was, in spite of structural difficulties, "the best fighting scout on the Western Front"[22] at the time. Meanwhile, most RFC two-seater squadrons still flew the BE.2e, a very minor improvement on the BE.2c, and still fundamentally unsuited to air-to-air combat.

text: This culminated in the rout of April 1917, known as "Bloody April". The RFC (Royal Flying Corps) suffered particularly severe losses, although Trenchard's policy of "offensive patrol", which placed most combat flying on the German side of the lines, was maintained.[23]

text: During the last half of 1917, the British Sopwith Camel and S.E.5a and the French SPAD S.XIII, all fitted with two forward firing machine guns, became available in numbers. The ordinary two seater squadrons in the RFC received the R.E.8 or the F.K.8, not outstanding warplanes, but far less vulnerable than the BE.2e they replaced. The F.E.2d at last received a worthy replacement in the Bristol F.2b. On the other hand, the latest Albatros, the D.V, proved to be a disappointment, as was the Pfalz D.III. The exotic Fokker Dr.I was plagued, like the Albatros, with structural problems. By the end of the year the air superiority pendulum had swung once more in the Allies' favour.

text: 1918 – the Spring Offensive[edit]

text: The surrender of the Russians and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, and the resulting release of troops from the Eastern Front gave the Germans a "last chance" of winning the war before the Americans could become effectively involved. This resulted in the last great German offensive of the war, the "Spring Offensive", which opened on 21 March. The main attack fell on the British front on the assumption that defeat of the British army would result in the surrender of the mutiny-weakened French.[24]

text: In the air, the battle was marked by the carefully coordinated use of the Schlachtstaffeln or "battle flights", equipped with the light CL class two seaters built by the Halberstadt and Hannover firms, that had proved so effective in the German counter-attack in early October's Battle of Cambrai.[25] The new German fighter aircraft, notably the Fokker D.VII, that might have revived German air superiority in time for this battle had not however reached the Jagdstaffeln in sufficient numbers, despite its own premier on the Western Front in the mid-Spring of 1918. As with several offensives on both sides, thorough planning and preparation led to initial success, and in fact to deeper penetration than had been achieved by either side since 1914.[26] Many British airfields had to be abandoned to the advancing Germans in a new war of movement. Losses of aircraft and their crew were very heavy on both sides – especially to light anti-aircraft fire. However, by the time of the death of Manfred von Richthofen, the famed Red Baron, on 21 April, the great offensive had largely stalled.[27] The new German fighters had still not arrived, and the British still held general air superiority.

text: The month of April 1918 began with the consolidation of the separate British RFC and RNAS air services into the Royal Air Force, the first independent air arm not subordinate to its national army or navy. By the end of April the new Fokker, Pfalz and Roland fighters had finally begun to replace the obsolescent equipment of the Jagdstaffeln, but this did not proceed with as much dispatch as it might have, due to increasing shortages of supplies on the side of the Central Powers, and many of the Jastas still flew Albatros D types at the time of the armistice. The rotary engined Fokker D.VIII and Siemens-Schuckert D.IV, as well as surviving Fokker Triplanes, suffered from poor reliability and shortened engine life due to the Voltol-based oil that was used to replace scarce castor oil – captured and salvaged Allied aircraft (especially Sopwith Camels) were scrounged, not only for engines and equipment, but even for their lubricants. Nonetheless, by September casualties in the RFC had reached the highest level since "Bloody April"[28] – and the Allies were maintaining air superiority by weight of numbers rather than technical superiority.

text: 1918, especially the second half of the year, also saw the United States increasingly involved. While American volunteers had been flying in Allied squadrons since the early years of the war, not until 1918 did all-American squadrons begin active operations. Technically America had fallen well behind the European powers in aviation, and no American designed types saw action, with the exception of the Curtiss flying boats. At first, the Americans were largely supplied with second-rate and obsolete aircraft, such as the Nieuport 28, Sopwith 1½ Strutter, and Dorand AR.2 types, and inexperienced American airmen stood little chance against their seasoned opponents. As numbers grew and equipment improved with the introduction of the twin-gun SPAD XIII as well as the Sopwith Camel and even the S.E. 5a into American service near the war's end, the Americans came to hold their own in the air; although casualties were heavy, as indeed were those of the French and British, in the last desperate fighting of the war. One of the French twin-seat reconnaissance aircraft used by the French and the USAAS, the Salmson 2.A2, was among the World War I-era aircraft to pioneer the use of "fixed" radial engines in military aircraft — the liquid-cooled radials designed by Georges Canton and Pierre Unné powered the 2.A2 aircraft, and were among the first "fixed" radial aircraft powerplants ever designed, and manufactured by the parent Société des Moteurs Salmson aircraft and automobile manufacturing firm, from 1908 to 1920.

text: Impact[edit]

text:
“
The day has passed when armies on the ground or navies on the sea can be the arbiter of a nation's destiny in war. The main power of defense and the power of initiative against an enemy has passed to the air.
”

— Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, November 1918[29]

text: By the war's end, the impact of air missions on the ground war was in retrospect mainly tactical – strategic bombing, in particular, was still very rudimentary indeed. This was partly due to its restricted funding and use, as it was, after all, a new technology. On the other hand, the artillery, which had perhaps the greatest effect of any military arm in this war, was in very large part as devastating as it was due to the availability of aerial photography and aerial "spotting" by balloon and aircraft. By 1917 weather was bad enough to restrict flying and was considered as effective as "putting the gunner's eyes out".[30]

text: Some, such as then-Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, commander of all American air combat units in France, claimed "the only damage that has come to [Germany] has been through the air".[31] Mitchell was famously controversial in his view that the future of war was not on the ground or at sea, but in the air.

text: During the course of the War, German Aircraft Losses accounted to 27,637 by all causes, while the Entente Losses numered over 88,613 lost (52,640 France & 35,973 Great Britain)[32]

text: Anti-aircraft weaponry[edit]

text: Though aircraft still functioned as vehicles of observation, increasingly they were used as a weapon in themselves. Dog fights erupted in the skies over the front lines, and aircraft went down in flames. From this air-to-air combat, the need grew for better aircraft and gun armament. Aside from machine guns, air-to-air rockets were also used, such as the Le Prieur rocket against balloons and airships. Recoilless rifles and autocannons were also attempted, but they pushed early fighters to unsafe limits while bringing negligible returns, with the German Becker 20mm autocannon being fitted to a few twin-engined Luftstreitkräfte G-series medium bombers for offensive needs, and at least one late-war Kaiserliche Marine zeppelin for defense – the uniquely armed SPAD S.XII single-seat fighter carried one Vickers machine gun and a special, hand-operated semi-automatic 37mm gun firing through a hollow propeller shaft.[33] Another innovation was air-to-air bombing if a fighter had been fortunate enough to climb higher than an airship. The Ranken dart was designed just for this opportunity.

text: This need for improvement was not limited to air-to-air combat. On the ground, methods developed before the war were being used to deter enemy aircraft from observation and bombing. Anti-aircraft artillery rounds were fired into the air and exploded into clouds of smoke and fragmentation, called archie by the British.

text: Anti-aircraft artillery defenses were increasingly used around observation balloons, which became frequent targets of enemy fighters equipped with special incendiary bullets. Because balloons were so flammable, due to the hydrogen used to inflate them, observers were given parachutes, enabling them to jump to safety. Ironically, only a few aircrew had this option, due in part to a mistaken belief they inhibited aggressiveness, and in part to their significant weight.

text: First shooting-down of an aeroplane by anti-aircraft artillery[edit]

text: During a bombing raid over Kragujevac on 30 September 1915, private Radoje Ljutovac of the Serbian Army successfully shot down one of the three aircraft. Ljutovac used a slightly modified Turkish cannon captured some years previously. This was the first time that a military aeroplane was shot down with ground-to-air artillery fire, and thus a crucial moment in anti-aircraft warfare.[34][35][36]

text: Bombing and reconnaissance[edit]

text: As the stalemate developed on the ground, with both sides unable to advance even a few hundred yards without a major battle and thousands of casualties, aircraft became greatly valued for their role gathering intelligence on enemy positions and bombing the enemy's supplies behind the trench lines. Large aircraft with a pilot and an observer were used to scout enemy positions and bomb their supply bases. Because they were large and slow, these aircraft made easy targets for enemy fighter aircraft. As a result, both sides used fighter aircraft to both attack the enemy's two-seat aircraft and protect their own while carrying out their missions.

text: While the two-seat bombers and reconnaissance aircraft were slow and vulnerable, they were not defenseless. Two-seaters had the advantage of both forward- and rearward-firing guns. Typically, the pilot controlled fixed guns behind the propeller, similar to guns in a fighter aircraft, while the observer controlled one with which he could cover the arc behind the aircraft. A tactic used by enemy fighter aircraft to avoid fire from the rear gunner was to attack from slightly below the rear of two-seaters, as the tail gunner was unable to fire below the aircraft. However, two-seaters could counter this tactic by going into a dive at high speeds. Pursuing a diving two-seater was hazardous for a fighter pilot, as it would place the fighter directly in the rear gunner's line of fire; several high scoring aces of the war were shot down by "lowly" two-seaters, including Raoul Lufbery, Erwin Böhme, and Robert Little.

text: Strategic bombing[edit]

text: The first aerial bombardment of civilians occurred during World War I. In the opening weeks of the war Zeppelins bombed Liege, Antwerp and Warsaw, and other cities including Paris and Bucharest were targeted. And in January 1915 the Germans began a bombing campaign against England that was to last until 1918, initially using airships. There were 19 raids in 1915, in which 37 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 181 people and injuring 455. Raids continued in 1916. London was accidentally bombed in May, and in July, the Kaiser allowed directed raids against urban centres. There were 23 airship raids in 1916 in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691. Gradually British air defenses improved. In 1917 and 1918 there were only eleven Zeppelin raids against England, and the final raid occurred on 5 August 1918, resulting in the death of Peter Strasser, commander of the German Naval Airship Department. By the end of the war, 54 airship raids had been undertaken, in which 557 people were killed and 1,358 injured.[37]

text: The Zeppelin raids were complemented by the Gotha G bombers from 1917, which were the first heavier than air bombers to be used for strategic bombing, and by a small force of five Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI "giant" four engined bombers from late September 1917 through to mid-May 1918. Twenty-eight Gotha twin-engined bombers were lost on the raids over England, with no losses for the Zeppelin-Staaken giants. It has been argued that the raids were effective far beyond material damage in diverting and hampering wartime production, and diverting twelve squadrons and over 17,000 men to air defenses.[38] Calculations performed on the number of dead to the weight of bombs dropped had a profound effect on attitudes of the British government and population in the interwar years, who believed that "The bomber will always get through".

text: Observation balloons[edit]

text: Manned observation balloons floating high above the trenches were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines, reporting enemy troop positions and directing artillery fire. Balloons commonly had a crew of two equipped with parachutes: upon an enemy air attack on the flammable balloon, the crew would parachute to safety. Recognized for their value as observer platforms, observation balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by large concentrations of antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft. Blimps and balloons helped contribute to the stalemate of the trench warfare of World War I, and contributed to air-to-air combat for air superiority because of their significant reconnaissance value.

text: To encourage pilots to attack enemy balloons, both sides counted downing an enemy balloon as an "air-to-air" kill, with the same value as shooting down an enemy aircraft. Some pilots, known as balloon busters, became particularly distinguished by their prowess at shooting down enemy balloons. The premier balloon busting ace was Willy Coppens: 35 of his 37 victories were enemy balloons.

text: Leading aces[edit]

text: As pioneer aviators invented air-to-air combat, the contending sides developed various methods of tracking aerial casualties and victories. Aviators with five or more aerial victories confirmed by their parent air service were dubbed "aces". Their numbers would burgeon, until by war's end, there were over 1,800 aces.

text: The following aces scored the most victories for their respective air services.

text:
Name
Air service
Confirmed
victories

Baracca, Francesco
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
34[39]

Bishop, William Avery
Royal Air Force
72[40]

Brumowski, Godwin
Luftfahrtruppen
35[41]

Cobby, Arthur Henry
Australian Flying Corps
29[citation needed]

Coppens de Houthulst, Willy Omer
Belgian Military Aviation
37[42]

Fonck, René
Aéronautique Militaire
75[43]

Kazakov, Alexander
Imperial Russian Air Force
20[44]

Richthofen, Manfred von
Luftstreitkräfte
80[45]

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon
US Army Air Service
26[46][47]

text: Pioneers of aerial warfare[edit]

text: The following aviators were the first to reach important milestones in the development of aerial combat during World War I:

text:
Name
Date
Country
Event

Pyotr Nesterov
7 September 1914
Russia
First air-to-air kill, by ramming an Austrian aeroplane[48]

Louis Quénault and Joseph Frantz
5 October 1914
France
Pilot Frantz and Observer Quénault were the first fliers to successfully use a machine gun in air-to-air combat to shoot down another aircraft.[49]

Roland Garros
1 April 1915
France
First aerial victory with forward pointing fixed gun achieved while aiming gun with aircraft[50]

Adolphe Pégoud
3 April 1915
France
First flying "ace" and first French ace.[51]

Kurt Wintgens
1 July 1915
Germany
First aerial victory using a sychronised machine gun firing through the propeller arc[52]

Lanoe Hawker
11 August 1915
Britain
First British ace.[53]

Oswald Boelcke
16 October 1915
Germany
First German ace.[54]

Otto Jindra
9 April 1916
Austro-Hungary
First Austro-Hungarian ace.[55]

Redford Henry Mulock
21 May 1916
Canada
First Canadian ace, as well as first Royal Naval Air Service ace.[56]

Eduard Pulpe
1 July 1916
Russia
First Imperial Russian Air Force ace.[57]

Roderic Dallas
9 July 1916
Australia
First Australian ace.[58]

Frederick Libby
25 August 1916
United States of America
First American ace.[59]

Etienne Tsu
26 September 1916
France
First Chinese ace; French Foreign Legion, Escadrille SPA.37.[60][61][62]

Mario Stoppani
31 October 1916
Italy
First Italian ace.[63]

Fernand Jacquet
1 February 1917
Belgium
First Belgian ace.[64]

Maurice Benjamin
27 April 1917
South Africa
First South African ace.[65]

Thomas Culling
19 May 1917
New Zealand
First New Zealand ace.[66]

Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield
31 May 1917
Austro-Hungary
First night victory and first Austro-Hungarian night victory.[67]

Richard Burnard Munday
29 September 1917
Britain
First British night victory, over an observation balloon.[68]

Fritz Anders
20 August 1918
Germany
First German night victory. Anders was first night fighter ace.[69]

text: Aircraft[edit]

text:
Aircraft of the Entente Powers
Aircraft of the Central Powers

tag: ul


document_title: Footloose (musical)

question_text: who sings learning to be silent in footloose

root

text: Footloose (musical)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Act 1[edit]

text: Ren McCormack, an ordinary city teenager, is in a dance club in Chicago, dancing off his stresses born of his long and arduous eight-hour work day ("Footloose"). But this is his last visit; he tells his friends that due to financial pressures brought on by his father's abandonment, he and his mother Ethel are moving to a small town in the middle of nowhere named Bomont (much to the chagrin of his friends, who gripe, "Bomont?! Where the hell is Bomont?!"), where his aunt and uncle have offered them a place to stay. Once there, Ren and Ethel attend church and get their first glimpse of the minister Shaw Moore ("On Any Sunday") a conservative minister who is a big authority figure in the town. After a long sermon lambasting the evils of "rock and roll" music and its "endless chant of pornography", Moore's daughter Ariel runs off to a gas station to meet her boyfriend Chuck Cranston, who is "trailer trash"; he and Ariel are only together for the sex ("The Girl Gets Around"). While they embrace, Moore shows up and catches Chuck with his hands around his daughter, much to his displeasure.

tag: p

text: The next day, Ren shows up for school and Willard Hewitt, a slow-witted cowboy with a bad attitude and a strong loyalty to his mother, decides to beat him up but Ren goes along with it and doesn't mind. So, they become friends. Ren tells Willard about the dancing he used to do in Chicago ("I Can't Stand Still"). Willard tries to stop him from dancing in the middle of the school, but Ren ignores him and puts on a show in front of the school principal, who angrily explains that dancing is illegal in the town of Bomont. Willard defends Ren, saying that he is new in town and does not know the rules. After the principal leaves, Rusty, who is madly in love with Willard, tells him how brave he is to have stood up to the principal on Ren's behalf. Rusty and her friends, Wendy Jo and Urleen, then explain to a bemused Ren that dancing is illegal after Moore passed a law forbidding dancing after a horrifying car accident involving four kids returning from a dance — one of whom was his son, though this is unknown to Ren or to the audience at the time. They then warn him to lie low unless he wants to get into even more trouble than he already is. ("Somebody's Eyes").

text: Ariel returns home to a disgruntled Shaw, who stubbornly ignores her despite her repeated attempts to engage conversation with him. Exasperated, she leaves the room in a huff, leaving Moore and Vi, his wife, alone to bicker over her. Shaw expresses his concern over Ariel's relationship with Chuck Cranston, but when Vi attempts to assure him their fling will soon cool down, he silences her and storms off to finish writing his sermon. Ethel, fed up with the groundless suspicion that Ren is forced to suffer as the "new kid", commiserates alongside Vi. They are joined by Ariel, and lament how no one ever listens to them, everyone being so set in their own ways that they are seldom allowed to get a word in edgewise ("Learning to be Silent").

text: After school that day, several of the students go to the Burger Blast, a burger restaurant. Ariel, Rusty and their friends are doing homework at a table while Willard talks to Ren, who is dressed up in a waiter's uniform and roller skates, as he has just been hired to work at the restaurant. When Ren takes Ariel's order, she flirts with him. Willard warns Ren that Chuck Cranston would not be happy if Ren were to become involved with Ariel. Ren then proceeds to question Willard about his relationship with Rusty, to which Willard proclaims that he thinks she is very good-looking, but is confused by her non-stop talking. Ariel is talking with her friends about how she wants to find a decent guy ("Holding Out for a Hero"). Chuck shows up in a fury and starts to yell at Ariel. Ren and Willard come to her defense, but it is Betty Blast, the owner of the restaurant, who breaks up the fight.

text: After Ren gets off work, Ariel takes him to her secret place beneath the train tracks where she discusses her hatred of Bomont. Unbeknownst to them, Chuck witnesses the pair together.

text: Afterwards, Ren walks her home, catching Moore and Vi by surprise, as they had believed that Ariel was at home in her room all the while. On top of Shaw's displeasure at his daughter's disobedience, a nervous Ren unintentionally insults him in an attempt to ease his worries, making the situation more awkward and causing all of Shaw's friends (who were over playing a game of bridge) to dash off. An irritated Shaw then sternly orders Ariel to cease her visits with him, but Ariel retaliates, claiming that he is doing no more than make her feel like a prisoner. After a fed up daughter and wife storm off in a rage, Shaw begins to feel a pang of guilt, pondering whether or not he is being fair with his daughter while considering the problematic task of being both a preacher and a father ("Heaven Help Me").

text: At school the next day, Ren shows up late to gym class with Ariel and Willard and explains to the teacher that he was jumped by Chuck, but the teacher won't listen. Ren laments that the citizens of Bomont are so "wound up", muttering that at least in Chicago, he had the clubs to turn to in times of stress. After a quip by Willard suggesting that they "should take the coach dancing", Ren realizes that throwing a dance would be the perfect way to alleviate the teenagers' pressures, while at the same time making a statement to Moore and the town council. Willard tells Ren that he is insane, but Ren won't listen and reveals his plan to all of the students, eventually winning them over. Word catches on to Moore, who, as the one responsible for banning it to begin with, is determined to do anything within his power to ensure that it does not happen ("I'm Free/Heaven Help Me").

text: Act 2[edit]

text: Ren, Ariel, Willard and Rusty are in a town neighboring Bomont, where there is a big dance hall, complete with a country band ("Still Rockin'"). Rusty repeatedly attempts to dance with Willard, but he weasels his way out, dragging Ren off to the bar to get drinks. There, he explains to Ren that he doesn't know how to dance. Rusty overhears them, as do several cowboys, who begin to mock Willard. Rusty comes to his defense, saying that he might not be perfect, but she loves him anyway ("Let's Hear it for the Boy"). During Rusty's song, Ren tries to teach Willard to dance, who after much initial stumbling and apprehension whips off an amazing dance combination, much to Rusty's surprise.

text: Chuck Cranston then shows up at the Moores' home. When he tells them that Ariel is not where they think she is, Vi and Shaw becomes very worried. Chuck leaves, and shortly after Ariel then shows up pretending she was at her friend's house studying, but her parents reveal that they know she wasn't there. After an argument between Shaw and Ariel, Vi intervenes. Vi then tries to console him while telling him that his reprimanding is not all that logical ("Can You Find it in Your Heart?").

text: Meanwhile, Ren, Willard and their friends are trying to find a way to present their idea to the town council. Ren is extremely discouraged and considers forgetting the whole idea. Willard gives Ren some advice that his beloved mother told him and explains that he can't give up ("Mama Says")/("Mama Says (Reprise)"). Just as Ren's confidence has built up, Ariel shows up with a black eye and tells Ren that Chuck beat her up. Ariel tells everyone to leave her alone, but Ren comforts Ariel instead. The two go out to the train station Ariel took Ren to in Act 1. Ariel reveals that her brother was in the car accident that led to the dancing ban. She gives Ren a Bible marked with various passages he can use for his motion. It is then they both realize they've fallen in love with each other ("Almost Paradise").

text: At the town council meeting, Ren stands up and explains to the council, including the principal, coach, and Moore, that dancing is written about in the Bible and should not be illegal. Ren is favorably supported, but the members don't listen and the motion is dismissed.

text: After the meeting, Ethel explains that Shaw had those votes locked no matter what, and she suggests that Ren go talk to him face to face. Ren goes to the pastor's house and explains to him that he should not take his anguish about his son's death out on the entire town. They argue, but when Ren points out that they're both dealing with loss — Moore's loss of his son, Ren's loss of his father — they realize a common bond. Ren leaves, but struck by Ren's insight, Moore struggles with what to do ("I Confess").

text: At the next service, Shaw tells the whole congregation that he is going to allow the teenagers to hold a dance. They are overjoyed. Ren asks Ariel to the dance and Willard invites Rusty, telling her that he is even willing to dance with her. After the crowd leaves, Vi and Shaw are left alone, where Shaw tells Vi how much he loves her and how he has made many mistakes in the past ("Can You Find it in Your Heart?" (Reprise)"). At the end, Moore, his wife, and all the townsfolk attend the huge dance ("Footloose (Finale)").

text: Characters[edit]

text:
Ren McCormack – A teenage boy from Chicago (tenor)
Willard Hewitt – Ren's friend, a country boy (baritone/tenor)
Ethel McCormack – His mother (mezzo)
Shaw Moore – The minister of Beaumont (baritone)
Vi Moore – His wife (mezzo)
Ariel Moore – Their daughter (mezzo)
Lulu Warnicker – Ren's aunt (Alto)
Wes Warnicker – Her husband
Coach Roger Dunbar – The high school physical education teacher
Eleanor Dunbar – His wife
Rusty – Ariel's best friend (soprano)
Urleen – Ariel's friend (mezzo)
Wendy Jo – Ariel's friend (mezzo)
Chuck Cranston – Ariel's boyfriend (tenor)
Lyle – Chuck's buddy (tenor)
Travis – Chuck's buddy (baritone)
A Cop
Betty Blast – owner of the Burger Blast
Principal Harry Clark – Principal of the high school
Jeter – Ren's friend (tenor)
Bickle – Ren's friend (tenor)
Garvin – Ren's friend (baritone)
Irene – Lead singer for her band, the Country Kickers (mezzo)
Cowboy Bob – A cowboy in a country western dance hall
Cowboy #1 – A cowboy in a country western dance hall
Cowboy #2 – A cowboy in a country western dance hall
Choir, Parishioners, Townspeople, High School Students, and Country Western Couples

text: Songs[edit]

text:
Act I

"Footloose" – Ren McCormack and Company
"On Any Sunday" – Shaw Moore and Company
"The Girl Gets Around" – Chuck, Travis, Lyle, Ariel
"I Can't Stand Still" – Ren
"Somebody's Eyes" – Rusty, Urleen, Wendy Jo & Company
"Learning to Be Silent" – Vi, Ethel
"Holding Out for a Hero" – Ariel, Rusty, Urleen, Wendy Jo
"Somebody's Eyes (Reprise)" – Rusty, Urleen, Wendy Jo, Chuck, Lyle, Travis
"Heaven Help Me" – Shaw
"I'm Free/Heaven Help Me" – Ren, Shaw, and Company

Act II

"Entr'acte"
"Still Rockin'" – Cowboy Bob & Band
"Let's Make Believe We're In Love" – Irene
"Let's Hear It for the Boy" – Rusty, Girls
"Can You Find it in Your Heart" – Vi
"Mama Says" – Willard, Bickle, Garvin, Jeter, Ren
"Almost Paradise" – Ren, Ariel
"Dancing Is Not A Crime" – Ren
"I Confess" – Shaw
"Can You Find it in Your Heart? (Reprise)" – Shaw
"Footloose (Finale)" – Company

tag: table

text: In April 2005, the show was revised slightly. Aside from numerous tweakings to the script, there are slight differences in the revised version's musical numbers. Chief among these is a brand new song opening Act II called "Still Rockin.'" Other changes include the removal of the 'rap' "Dancing is not a Crime". Only the very first section of the rap is used and right before "Mama Says" instead of during the Town Council meeting. Ren gives a speech instead during the meeting. Also, the Reverend's song "I Confess" has also been removed and replaced with a much longer and more emotional scene with Ren after the Town Council meeting and a short reprise of "Heaven Help Me" sung by Reverend Moore alone. Furthermore, the show now begins with Rusty, Wendy Jo, and Urleen singing the opening of "Footloose" instead of Ren and the boys, and during "Learning to be Silent" Ariel sings with Vi and Ethel during the song.

text: Instrumentation[edit]

text: Footloose requires a pit orchestra in a rock combo style. The instrumentation calls for two keyboards, two guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, and a woodwind player. The woodwind player doubles on clarinet, flute, tenor sax, and baritone sax. The first keyboard part is played by the conductor. In the original Broadway production, there was also music for solo violin and cello.

text: Productions[edit]

text: Broadway production[edit]

text: The musical Footloose opened at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre on October 22, 1998 and ran for 709 performances until July 2, 2000. It was directed by Walter Bobbie with choreography by AC Ciulla.

text: Footloose received mixed critical reception. General consensus was that the show was in and of itself poor, but the music and talented cast made it entertaining.[1] It was nominated for four Tony Awards. The wardrobe is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida.[citation needed]

text:
Jeremy Kushnier as Ren McCormack
Jennifer Laura Thompson as Ariel Moore
Stephen Lee Anderson as Shaw Moore
Dee Hoty as Vi Moore
Tom Plotkin as Willard Hewitt
Stacy Francis as Rusty
Kathy Deitch as Urleen
Rosalind Brown as Wendy Jo
Catherine Cox as Ethel McCormack
Billy Hartung as Chuck Cranston
Adam Lefevre as Wes Warnicker
Catherine Campbell as Lulu Warnicker
Robin Baxter as Betty Blast/Irene
Bryant Carroll as Travis
Jim Ambler as Lyle
Artie Harris as Jeter/Cowboy Bob
Hunter Foster as Bickle
Paul Castree as Garvin
John Deyle as Principal Clark
John Hillner as Coach Dunbar
Donna Lee Marshall as Eleanor Dunbar

text: Original London production[edit]

text: A London production, billed as both Footloose: The Musical and simply Footloose in different press accounts, opened at the Novello Theatre on the Strand, following a United Kingdom touring version.[2][3] It premiered on April 18, 2006,[3] and closed November 11, 2006.[4] Directed by Karen Bruce, the creative team included Morgan Large designing sets and costumes, James Whiteside as lighting designer, and Mike Dixon and Chris Egan as musical supervisors.[2][3]

text: Original London cast[2]

text:
Derek Hough as Ren McCormack
Stephen McGann as Shaw Moore
Lorna Want as Ariel Moore
Giovanni Spaño as Willard Hewitt
Cheryl Baker as Vi Moore
Caroline Deverill as Ethel McCormack
Stevie Tate-Bauer as Rusty
Johnny Shentall as Chuck Cranston
Lisa Gorgin as Wendy-Jo
Natasha McDonald as Urleen

text: British national tours[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Footloose, directed by Paul Kerryson, premiered in the UK at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in February 2004, where it played for three weeks before embarking on a 24-week national tour. A second UK national tour opened on January 4, 2006, at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. This time directed by Karen Bruce, it starred Cheryl Baker and Stephen McGann and went on to tour another 11 venues mainly in the south of England and Scotland.

text: The production transferred into London's West End, starring David Essex and Cheryl Baker in April 2006, before closing in November of the same year – due to the limited availability of the Novello Theatre. The production then embarked its third national tour, which opened in Salford in January 2007, and continued until July 2007, starring Lyn Paul. Then the cast returned to London at the Playhouse Theatre from August 17, 2007 through December 6, 2007; Lyn Paul continued her role.

text: The musical will return to the West End in September 2017 at the Peacock Theatre with Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan confirmed to take on the roles of Willard and Vi Moore.[5]

text: British national tour cast[edit]

text:
Stephen Webb as Ren McCormack
Twinnie Lee Moore as Ariel Moore
Maureen Nolan as Vi Moore
Richard Grieve as Shaw Moore
Jodie Jacobs as Rusty
Claire-Louise Mealor as Wendy-Jo
Tarisha Rommick as Urleen
Simon Lipkin as Willard Hewitt
Robbie Sotcher as Chuck Cranston
Lisa Peace as Ethel McCormack
Ricky Morrell as Lyle
Martin Johnston as Principal Clark

text: 2016 British National Tour Cast[edit]

text:
Luke Baker as Ren McCormack
Hannah Price as Ariel Moore
Maureen Nolan as Vi Moore
Nigel Lister as Shaw Moore
Joanna Sawyer as Rusty
Natasha Brown as Wendy-Jo
Miracle Chance as Urleen
Gareth Gates as Willard Hewitt
Matthew Tomlinson as Chuck Cranston
Nicky Swift as Ethel McCormack
Scott Haining as Cowboy Bob
Thomas Cotran as Jeter
Luke Thornton as Garvin
Alex Marshall as Wes Warnicker
Lauren Storer as Lulu Warnicker
Natalie Graham-Morton as Eleanor

text: American 10th Anniversary national tour[edit]

text: Prather Entertainment Group produced a "10th Anniversary" U.S. tour of Footloose.[6]

text: American 10th Anniversary National Tour cast[edit]

text:
Erik Keiser as Ren McCormack
Lindsay Luppino as Ariel Moore
Glenn Wall as Shaw Moore
Jennie Hollander as Ethel McCormack
Michael Kennan Miller as Willard Hewitt
Kara Guy as Rusty
Mary-Elizabeth Milton as Urleen
Sara Catherine Barnes as Wendy Jo
Katherine Proctor as Vi Moore
Jeff Blim as Chuck Cranston

text: Regional productions[edit]

text: Comtra Theatre, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, (July 9 through July 18, 2015)[7]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Footloose was nominated for four Tony Awards:

text:
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical—Stage adaptation by Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie
Tony Award for Best Original Score—Music by Tom Snow; Lyrics by Dean Pitchford; Additional numbers by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, Jim Steinman
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical—Dee Hoty
Tony Award for Best Choreography—A.C. Ciulla