US .45 cal M1911 pistol with extended magazine and brass catching cage. In the early days of WW1 and aircraft didn't have machine guns, enemy pilots would shoot at each other with pistols. The cage prevented the spent shells from ejecting onto the cockpit floor and interfere with the foot controls

Image from preview.redd.it and submitted by KO_Stradivarius

image showing US .45 cal M1911 pistol with extended magazine and brass catching cage. In the early days of WW1 and aircraft didn't have machine guns, enemy pilots would shoot at each other with pistols. The cage prevented the spent shells from ejecting onto the cockpit floor and interfere with the foot controls

well_damm on February 10th, 2021 at 14:42 UTC »

The mental image of someone flying a plane and bustin shots like a drive by lmao

Some_angry_Bastard on February 10th, 2021 at 14:57 UTC »

Fuck drive bys

Me and the homies doing fly bys

mike_pants on February 10th, 2021 at 15:04 UTC »

The fact that they went from "shoot with a pistol" to "shoot a machine gun through the propeller while it's spinning" in, like, two months is a remarkable feat of aviation.