Fokker's "Eindecker" was not only the first monoplane fighter in WWI, but it was also the first to be able to fire a forward facing machinegun through the propeller without having the bullets hit it. Previous designs on both sides allowed firing through the propeller only with deflectors mounted on it that did not always deflect the bullets, and still put considerable stress on the wooden propeller. This synchronised firing mechanism was a major step forward in aerial combat, as it avoided damaging or stressing the propeller and allowed the pilot to fire the machine gun at an opponent simply by pointing his aircraft at it.

For a few months in early 1915 the Eindecker destroyed the Allies superiority in the air during the Fokker Scourge. The aircraft was used in large part to prohibit Allied access to German airspace, as the pilots were instructed not to dogfight over Allied territory for fear of having the synchronizing gear fall into enemy hands. The monoplane was used to control the air over Verdun during their offensive of Feb. 1916. By summer of 1916 the Allies regained aerial superiority with the Nieuport 11 "Bebe", the D.H.2 and the F.E.2.

Technical Details
The Eindecker was a direct copy of the Morane-Saulnier "Parasol" except for the characteristic Fokker tail plane and the synchronized machine gun. As in most early mono- and biplanes it did not possess ailerons, it performed banking maneuvers by wing warping. Even at the end of it's life the Eindecker did not possess ailerons, thus decreasing it's ability to avoid more agile enemy aircraft. The most prolific version was the EIII (shown above), although even it was not a brilliant performer. It mounted a 100 hp Oberursel rotary engine that was not very reliable. Engine power decreased with altitude and so the plane could not operate over 3,000 m (9800 ft). It took 30 minutes to get to 3,000 m and manouverability was nil at that altitude. The "eindecker" was typically armed with a single LMG 08/15 7.92 mm machine gun firing through the propeller using a synchonizing gear.

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Image from: E. Parks, Fighters. The World's Great Aces and Their Planes. Permission requested.