Roland Gaross

[Bacchus]

Talking about DSTV.
Saw the other day that this dude Roland Gaross ( as in French tennis open played on the Roland Gaross stadium with its clay courts ) is famous for ...........

He was the FIRST guy in the first world war that developed the technique to shoot a machine gun through a propellor. Sometimes the gun went out of tune and then they shot off their own propellers! So they fitted huge chuncks of metal on the blades to deflect any bullets.
Made a lot of kills, because prior to that the pilots had a guy on the back seat that stood up and shot at the other planes with a handheld machine gun. So when the enemy saw the guy got up, they turned away. All of a sudden everybody sat down and out of nowwhere their aircrafts got riddled with bullets. Did not know where the f@ck it came from!

So.....theres todays history lesson for you. This is why Roland Garos has a tennis court named after him.

I just cannot figure out what a tennis court has to do with flying, fighting, shooting, guns etc.....!

[Dre'man]

I just cannot figure out what a tennis court has to do with flying, fighting, shooting, guns etc.....!

Well I dunno, Anna K as pax would get a few guns going.

[Low Level]

This I could never figure out. Thanx for the info.

Some more useless info for the next braai - thanx to google.

Garros' initial wartime achievement - a notable one - was his development of a forward firing machine gun which despatched bullets through the rotating blade of his Morane-Saulnier L aircraft; to protect the propeller he attached steel deflector plates, a somewhat crude if effective safety device.

On 1st April 1915, Garros approached an German Albatros B II reconnaissance aircraft. The German pilot was surprised when Garros approached him head-on. The accepted air fighting strategy at the time was to take 'pot-shots' with a revolver or rifle. Instead Garros shot down the Albatros through his whirling propeller.

In a two week period in March 1915 Garros downed no fewer than five German aircraft, an achievement that led to his being dubbed an "ace" in an American newspaper; the term stuck and was consequently attributed to other Allied pilots who similarly achieved five successes.

Garros' run of good fortune deserted him however the following month, on 18th April, a rifleman defending Courtrai railway station, managed to fracture the petrol pipe of the aircraft that Garros was flying and he was obliged to crash land his aircraft behind German lines. Caught trying to burn his aircraft so as to protect the secret of his forward firing machine gun Garros was placed into captivity and his aircraft handed over to aircraft designer Anton Fokker. Fokker subsequently designed a far superior (and safer) form of forward firing mechanism using an interrupter gear.

Held prisoner in a German camp for the following three years, Garros escaped in February 1918 and promptly returned to air service in France, scoring several more victories. He was however shot down and killed in action on 5 October 1918 while flying a Spad above Vouziers.

In the 1920s, a tennis centre was named after the pilot, Stade de Roland Garros. The stadium accommodates the French Open, one of tennis' Grand Slam tournaments. Consequently, the tournament is officially called Roland Garros.

I just cannot figure out what a tennis court has to do with flying, fighting, shooting, guns etc.....!

Maybe the same that O R Tambo had to do with building an international airport.