
			Airplane Warfare in WWI

   During World War One, the role of airplanes and how they 
 were used changed greatly.  At first planes were only used 
 for sport, but people started realize that not only could 
 airplanes be useful but they could even influence an outcome 
 of the war greatly.  Soon the war was filled with blimps, 
 planes, and tethered balloons.  By the end of the war, 
 planes became a symbol of fear, but they were not always 
 treated with such respect.
          In the time leading up to the war, the general 
 feeling about planes was, they were a sneaky, unfair tactic 
 that should not be used in warfare.  During The 1899 Hague 
 Peace Conference it was put on record that the dropping or 
 shooting of any projectiles or explosives from the air 
 during a time of war was forbidden and was considered a 
 crime of war.  It was also decided that airplanes could only
 be used for reconnaissance or spying missions. (Villard-227) 
 "The airplane may be all very well for sport, but for the 
 army it is useless" (Quoted in Villard-227) Even by the 
 beginning of the war in 1912, the use of planes in war was 
 still prohibited by the War Office.  Shortly thereafter this 
 changed, people awakened to the possibilities of air 
 warfare.  The world soon started to realize the 
 effectiveness of planes in war and how the control of the 
 skies could influence the outcome.  
         Although the French were the first to have a 
 working, conscripting air force and to license fliers, their 
 trust in airplanes still was not up to par. Their lack of
 trust was justified, for the planes had no armaments, too 
 many wires, and no reliable motor. (Villard-228)  
          Soon all countries in the war effort had their own 
 little air force, built hangers, and started to train 
 pilots.  The first bombing occurred in November 1911.  
 Although the first bomb was dropped by the Italians, soon 
 all countries were involved in bombing raids. (Villard-229) 
  It was followed by the first aerial dogfight in 1912. This 
 consisted of a primitive exchange of pistol fire between
 British and German planes . (Harvey-95) 
         The first flying experience for the United States 
 occurred in 1862, during the Civil War.  General McClellan 
 went into battle against the South with a balloon corps 
 floated by hydrogen and pulled by four horses. (Saga-51)
         Literary fiction started to breed ideas about the 
 use of planes in warfare. The most famous writer to explore 
 the idea was H.G. Wells.  He wrote  The War In The Air, a 
 book about the future in which battle is conducted with 
 planes. (Wohl-70).  In Germany, literary fiction preceded 
 the actual development of warfare in the air.  Rudolph 
 Martin was a writer who predicted that the German's future 
 was not on the sea, but in the air.  He also believed that 
 further development in aviation would kill the importance of 
 distance and help to lead toward the German unification of 
 the world.   (Wohl-81)  Martin's novel helped to prepare the 
 Germans for their use of planes in the war.  The fiction 
 soon became scientific fact.  (Wohl-71)
           The United States, ultimately  was slower than 
 France and Germany to develop an air force.  On March 3, 
 1911, Congress appropriated $125,000 to start an air force, 
 which consisted of five planes.  The first squadron was 
 organized by the Americans on March 5, 1913, in Texas City. 
  It consisted of nine planes. Although the United States 
 entered the war in 1917, it did not use planes in the war at 
 that time. (Villard-231)
         U.S. pilots had little or no experience in 
 "cross-country navigation."  They did not have good maps and 
 sometimes they became lost, ran out of fuel and would have 
 to land behind enemy lines.  (Villard-233)
         As the Americans advanced in the use of planes in 
 warfare, so did the Germans.  Initially, the Germans made no 
 effort to hide their skepticism about the use of planes in 
 warfare.  In the beginning of the war, many Germans raised 
 in newspaper articles and on government committees the 
 possibilities of warfare in the air, but the country as a 
 whole was not quick to initiate the effort.  (Wohl-70) 
 This quickly changed, however, because the  development of 
 airplanes during the war was mostly credited to the Germans. 
  The Germans came out with advances in planes that outdid 
 anything that France had to offer.  Even though France had
 the largest air force in the world, they soon became 
 second-best.  No matter how hard the other countries tried, 
 the Germans were always one step ahead in airplane advances. 
  These advances were so great that even though the Germans 
 were outnumbered eight to one, they still came out on top.  
 For instance, the mounting of a machine gun behind the 
 propellers seemed like suicide, but the Germans came up with 
 the idea of a timed switch that would allow the gun to fire 
 in-between rotations.  This made it easier to aim and fly at
 the same time.  Roland Garros, an allied flier, who mounted 
 a gun in the cockpit and put protective plates on his 
 propellers was trying to match the German timed device, but 
 it was a faulty, unsafe rip-off . (Harvey-95)  
         Another advancement used by the Germans was the 
 introduction of luminous paint so that pilot would not fly 
 into each other or shoot each other during night raids. 
 (Duke-130)  The allied countries tried many times to 

 duplicate this and many other German inventions, but failed 
 each time.  
         The Germans started putting up hangers and domes 
 around it's boarders. They introduced more and more types of 
 planes.  As the war went on, Germany introduced the 
 BI-planes and Tri-planes which made the use of one winged
 planes obsolete.  The more wings, the more mobility, 
 stability, and speed the plane had.  The mobility made it 
 easier to evade gun fire or to maneuver better in dogfights. 
  The stability made these new planes handle better in 
 turbulence, and in reconnaissance missions the speed was 
 most important for escaping the enemy.  These new German 
 planes dominated the skies and made lumber of the
 allies' "flaming coffins" (old mono-planes)  
         The BI-plane was considered to be the best 
 all-around plane.  It was the favorite of the German Flying 
 Ace, Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the
 "Red Baron"  The Red Baron was the best pilot in the war, 
 and was credited with shooting down 80 allied planes.  He 
 was equally respected by both sides, and when he was shot 
 down, his enemies held a service for him to show how much
 respect they had.  This show of chivalry was not uncommon, 
 for in the beginning of the war, it was tradition to throw 
 down a wreath if an enemy plane was shot down, to show 
 respect and honor.  However when bombing was introduced, the
 feeling about planes turned from noble flying knights into 
 fear, death from above.  
         The evolution of aircraft during World War One was 
 profound and unmatched by any other advancements in any 
 other field at the time.  From Reconnaissance to bombing, 
 the use of airplanes in the war became a necessity
 and by the end of the war airplanes and pilots had earned 
 the respect they deserved.  Today's warfare relies heavily 
 on the use of aircraft, not only for destruction and 
 transportation of troops and supplies, but also for it's 
 initial use of reconnaissance. 

