Editing Roland Garros (aviator) (section)

=== Development of interrupter gear ===
{{Main|Synchronization gear}}
[[File:Morane-Saulnier-L-airscrew-with-deflector.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.6|Garros's propeller, with its bullet deflectors, after being recovered from his downed aircraft]]
In the early stages of the air war in [[World War I]], the problem of mounting a forward-firing machine gun on combat aircraft—without having the bullets hit the propeller—was considered by several people.  As a reconnaissance pilot with the [[Escadrille 26|Escadrille MS26]], Garros had made several attempts at shooting down German aircraft; however, these efforts were unsuccessful due to the difficulty in hitting an aircraft with a hand-held carbine. He visited the [[Morane-Saulnier]] works<ref name="van Wyngarden">{{cite book|last=van Wyngarden|first=Greg |title=Early German Aces of World War I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G94svgAACAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|isbn=978-1-84176-997-4}}</ref> in November or December 1914 to discuss the problem.

Raymond Saulnier had begun work on a synchroniser (which times the firing of the gun with the position of the propeller) before World War I and had taken out a patent for a workable mechanism by 14 April 1914. However, circumstances beyond his control resulted in its being tested with the [[Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun|Hotchkiss 09/13 portative machine gun]], which proved unsuitable due to an inconsistent firing rate.<ref name=Woodman1989p171>Woodman, 1989, p. 171</ref> As a workaround, Garros, with the help of his mechanic, Jules Hue, developed protective wedges, which were fitted to the slightly narrowed propeller blades which deflected the occasional round which would have otherwise struck the propeller.<ref name=Woodman1989p172>Woodman, 1989, p. 172</ref> With a workable installation now fitted to his [[Morane-Saulnier G]] monoplane, Garros achieved the first ever shooting-down of an aircraft by a fighter firing through a [[tractor configuration|tractor]] propeller, on 1 April 1915, and two more victories over German aircraft were achieved on 15 and 18 April 1915.<ref name="van Wyngarden" /><ref name="fft"/> The [[Aero Club of America]] awarded him a medal for this invention three years later.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aero Club Honors Garros. Aviator Gets Notice That a Medal Has Been Awarded to Him |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/03/09/98259570.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/03/09/98259570.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 March 1918 }}</ref>

On 18 April 1915, the fuel line of his Morane Saulnier Type G became clogged, causing engine trouble. He came down in German-controlled territory where he was grabbed by alert German infantrymen. The intact gun and propeller were quickly rushed to the [[Fokker|Royal Dutch Aircraft Factory]], founded by Dutch aviator [[Anthony Fokker]], famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. Fokker quickly dismissed the steel deflector plates and designed a practical interrupter gear for use on the [[Fokker E.I]] Monoplane. The interrupter gear began the "[[Fokker Scourge]]", and for a time Germany had the upper hand in the air war.