Webley-Scott .455 1913 Navy Automatic

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

This is a rare bird, and it's really cool in all its ugliness.

I was reading a little bit about its history...It seems in April 1915 the Royal Flying Corps pilots needed a weapon to defend themselves against enemy planes...Machine guns had not yet been mounted (or even thought of being mounted), so the Webley-Scott was issued for aero defense...[Source: POTW, Ian Hogg]...

I thought that scene in "Flyboys" where The Black Falcon is shot with a revolver was kind of a flight of fancy, but at a mere 70mph maybe not so much...

[Olle]

Originally Posted by postino

I was reading a little bit about its history...It seems in April 1915 the Royal Flying Corps pilots needed a weapon to defend themselves against enemy planes...Machine guns had not yet been mounted (or even thought of being mounted), so the Webley-Scott was issued for aero defense...[Source: POTW, Ian Hogg]...

I thought that scene in "Flyboys" where The Black Falcon is shot with a revolver was kind of a flight of fancy, but at a mere 70mph maybe not so much...

I wouldn't be surprised. They even dropped bombs by hand, so it's not too far fetched to assume that they used handguns to shoot at other planes. It's also said that many WWI pilots liked to carry handguns, just because they didn't have parachutes. Quicker and less painful than jumping from a burning plane...

[varifleman]

An interesting observation about use of this pistol by the Royal Flying Corps. According to the 1916 Admiralty manual this pistol is supplied for the use of destroyers and torpedo boats where a sword will not be worn and therefore the pistol is carried at the left side. Sounds almost like the days of the sailing ships and boarding parties...and Errol Flynn!