Bomber Aircraft. Bombers evolved at the same time as the fighter aircraft at the start of World War I. The first use of an air-dropped bomb however, was carried out by the Italians in their 1911 war for Libya. In 1912 Bulgarian Air Force pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of airplanes to drop "bombs" (as grenades were called in the Bulgarian army at this time) on Turkish positions. Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload. On October 16, 1912, observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karaagac (near the besieged Edirne) from an Albatros F.II airplane piloted by Radul Milkov. After a number of tests Petrov created the final design, with improved aerodynamics, an X-shaped tail and impact detonator. This version was widely used by the Bulgarian Air Force during the siege of Eirine. Later a copy of the plans was sold to Germany and the bomb, codenamed "Chathaldza" ("Чаталджа", after the strategic Turkish town remained in mass production until the end of World War I. The weight of the bomb was 6 kilograms (13 lb); on impact it created a crater 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) wide and about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) deep. Bomber Aircraft. The Germans used Zeppelins as bombers since they had the range and capacity to carry a useful bomb load from Germany to England. With advances in aircraft design and equipment, they were joined by larger multi-engined biplane aircraft on both sides for long range strategic bombing especially by night. The majority of bombing was still done by one-engined biplanes with one or two crew-members flying short distances to attack the enemy lines and immediate hinterland. The world's first four-engined bomber was the Russian Il'ya Muromets created in 1914 and successfully used in World War I. By the end of the First World War the UK had amassed a force of heavy bombers with the sole intent of attacking Germany's industrial heart but the armistice came before it was used. In the early days of the Great War, the bomber was a relatively new concept. Like all Great War era aircraft, it had many problems, the majority of them crippling. As Canadian ace Billy Bishop once stated: "They gave us these bombs, and told us to drop them on someone". Early bombing was a very archaic practice. Rickety biplanes were not strong enough to hold bombs underwing until later on in time. Sometimes, the sheer weight of the bombs prevented the planes from even getting off the ground, and in order to accommodate the bombs, instruments, or even the invaluable machine guns, might be removed. The pilot would have to load his bombs, fly to his target, and throw them out of the plane, guiding them to their target with equal measures luck and prayer. As one could expect, this form of bombing never made a significant dent in the war machines of the Allies or the Entente. It did provide pilots, however, with valuable lessons on the art of bombing. Bomber Aircraft.
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