For educational purposes
'I know I'm going to die. I just don't know when. And worrying about when it's going to happen is killing me.' - U.S. Fighter Pilot, World War One.
When the First World War broke out, powered flight was barely a decade old. Within the first few months of the war, the first flimsy aircraft would change ground warfare forever.
An Allied reconnaissance plane spotted a crucial weakness in the German lines at the Marne in August 1914.
However, as the Allies massed in attack, a German aircraft saw them and the element of surprise was lost.
Armies could no longer manoeuvre without being seen - and the era of trench warfare began.
At first rival pilots regarded each other as brothers, but the desperate need to knock out the enemy 'eye in the sky' led to the swift development of the first fighter aircraft.
World War One would be fought with equal ferocity in the air as on the ground.
The life expectancy of a pilot could be as little as 3 - 6 weeks, 17,000 pilots would die in the air, earning the aircraft the grim nickname 'Flying Coffins'.
With rare film footage and the testimony of a WWI fighter pilot, "FLYING COFFINS" traces the development of the aeroplane over the course of the war, along with the tactics and technology used.
It also features stunning colour and air-to-air film of the WWI vintage replicas at Old Rheinbeck Aerodrome including the Sopwith Camel.
Nieuport 11, Fokker Triplane and Albatross, as well as exclusive interviews with the men who restore and fly these magnificent old aircraft today.
'I know I'm going to die. I just don't know when. And worrying about when it's going to happen is killing me.' - U.S. Fighter Pilot, World War One.
When the First World War broke out, powered flight was barely a decade old. Within the first few months of the war, the first flimsy aircraft would change ground warfare forever.
An Allied reconnaissance plane spotted a crucial weakness in the German lines at the Marne in August 1914.
However, as the Allies massed in attack, a German aircraft saw them and the element of surprise was lost.
Armies could no longer manoeuvre without being seen - and the era of trench warfare began.
At first rival pilots regarded each other as brothers, but the desperate need to knock out the enemy 'eye in the sky' led to the swift development of the first fighter aircraft.
World War One would be fought with equal ferocity in the air as on the ground.
The life expectancy of a pilot could be as little as 3 - 6 weeks, 17,000 pilots would die in the air, earning the aircraft the grim nickname 'Flying Coffins'.
With rare film footage and the testimony of a WWI fighter pilot, "FLYING COFFINS" traces the development of the aeroplane over the course of the war, along with the tactics and technology used.
It also features stunning colour and air-to-air film of the WWI vintage replicas at Old Rheinbeck Aerodrome including the Sopwith Camel.
Nieuport 11, Fokker Triplane and Albatross, as well as exclusive interviews with the men who restore and fly these magnificent old aircraft today.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30Dawn breaks across a linen wing.
00:44Indeed, a day owned by this flying thing.
00:49A handsome hero of his homeland soars high above that endless fetid ditch
00:54where millions languish in the hell, the horror.
01:00But look at him, mere fabric, wood and wire to keep skin and bones from breakage.
01:12More man than machine he is, really.
01:15Flying oh so high simply means the fall is farther.
01:19Through fire, faulty gas lines, naive daring do, in the end this thing has earned its morbid moniker.
01:31This flying coffin lends a war which they call great, a glamour that it simply does not have.
01:39The fuse was ignited on June 28th of that fateful year.
01:47During a visit to Sarajevo, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated by Serbian nationalists.
01:53Bullets from a Serb assassin's pistol killed Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
01:59And in the late summer of 1914, the powder keg of Europe exploded.
02:11Within weeks, more than a million German troops had crushed Belgium and were pouring into France.
02:17Commanders on all sides quickly discovered that their age-old methods of reconnaissance were now obsolete.
02:24They hadn't envisaged any of what transpired in the First World War.
02:29So in the initial charges, both infantry and cavalry, men charged into machine guns,
02:36rode their horses into machine gun fire and were mown down.
02:40In late August, as the German army swung to the east of Paris,
02:50British and French pilots, flying unarmed craft,
02:54not much advanced of this 1909 French-made bleriot,
02:58alerted their army commanders that the Germans had left a large gap in their lines.
03:03The British and French attacked the exposed flank,
03:06bringing the German advance to a halt at the Marne River.
03:09A crucial role for aviation, reconnaissance had been defined.
03:16The only danger they faced was their aircraft falling out of the sky because of mechanical problems.
03:21There was no way to shoot them down.
03:23Of course, then it turned around.
03:25A German pilot reported back to his commander
03:27that the British and the French were massing at the Battle of Marne,
03:31and the Germans then retreated from the Battle of Marne in early September of 1914 and dug in.
03:36The Allies and Germans failed to outflank one another
03:41and settled in to the infamous trenches on a front that stretched 650 kilometres
03:47from the coast of France and Belgium all the way to Switzerland.
03:52The front would remain more or less static for the next three and a half years.
03:56It was the aeroplane that owned freedom of movement above the deadlocked trenches,
04:01and it began to develop a glamorous reputation.
04:04I think there's something extremely poetic about being up to your neck in filth
04:11and human droppings and dead bodies and all the rest
04:14and look up and see these pilots flying through the clean, clear blue sky.
04:18There's a famous quote by this French commanding officer
04:28when this British reporter comes up to him on the Western Front in late 1914,
04:34and the Frenchman just looks at him and says,
04:39see that?
04:42It's that wretched bird that haunts us
04:46because every time they move,
04:49the German Tauber, which was a monoplane, would follow them.
04:54And where the plane went, so did German artillery.
04:59In an effort to protect their troops below,
05:08pilots began to develop ways of preventing enemy aerial reconnaissance.
05:13Life above the trenches was about to take a violent turn.
05:18Using such weapons as flechettes, which is a steel dart,
05:22bricks, several enterprising airmen even thought about the possibility
05:26of taking grappling hooks on ropes, dragging them along behind the aircraft
05:30with the hopes that they might snag another aircraft.
05:33Of course, one wonders if they did,
05:35what would have actually happened to the aircraft itself
05:37that was pulling the grappling hook?
05:42The Great War, as it became known,
05:44began only a decade after the first motor-powered flight by the Wright brothers.
05:49The pilots who took part were older than much of the technology available.
05:56Many planes flown in the First World War
06:08had no brakes or steerable rudder.
06:11They were rudimentary in many ways,
06:14but they did embody most of the basic elements of today's aircraft.
06:20Tail for stability,
06:22wings for lift,
06:23engine for power,
06:24propeller for thrust,
06:27fuselage to contain pilot and payload,
06:31and simple mechanisms to operate movable parts
06:34needed for controlled flight,
06:36rudder,
06:37ailerons,
06:38and elevators.
06:43A stripped-down example of these planes
06:46at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum
06:48reveals some early genius.
06:50The design of aircraft actually stems from bridge building.
06:57If you ever look at the truss work in a bridge,
07:00the things that the truss wire do,
07:02they also keep the fuselage straight
07:04as you're building it
07:06so you don't have a twist into it.
07:09Bracing the truss work
07:10to keep the fuselage straight
07:12is an intricate process.
07:13You adjust each joint
07:15or turnbuckle
07:16to expand or contract the wires.
07:19So as you pull on this wire,
07:21it might pull a wire over here,
07:22which in turn pulls a wire up here.
07:26So it's a very painstaking process
07:28of adjusting all the turnbuckles
07:30to get it straight.
07:31France had seen the fastest expansion
07:42of the aviation industry,
07:44particularly the manufacture of aero engines.
07:47French designs powered many aircraft
07:50in the Great War,
07:51on both sides.
07:53One engine type, the rotary,
07:55was revolutionary in every sense of the word.
07:58The first complete break from motor car engines,
08:00its crankshaft was bolted directly
08:03to the aircraft structure
08:04so that cylinders and propeller
08:06rotated around it.
08:12So they decided,
08:14well, let's spin the whole engine
08:15and it'll be its own best fan to cool it.
08:19Fuel flow.
08:21Fuel flow.
08:28Compact and air-cooled
08:30by its own whirling motion.
08:32The rotary engine generated a lot of power
08:34for its light weight
08:35and vibrated less than early water-cooled models.
08:43The efficient performance of the rotary engine
08:46allowed pilots to carry handguns,
08:48rifles, and eventually machine guns aloft,
08:51a major factor in the aeroplane's evolution
08:54as an offensive fighting weapon.
08:55pilots of the old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum
08:59in New York's Hudson Valley
09:01still fly several rotary engine aircraft
09:03from the First World War.
09:06These are quite powerful for what they weigh.
09:08This one is about 325 pounds
09:10and turning at 1,300 RPM,
09:13which is quite slow
09:13by today's standards,
09:15but it creates quite a bit of thrust
09:17for an airplane in this size.
09:20It's an engine that doesn't turn,
09:21you know, you think of in today's terms
09:24of race engines turning
09:26at 10,000, 12,000, 15,000 turns a minute.
09:29Here it is 1,200, 1,300 turns a minute.
09:32It doesn't turn very fast.
09:34Not much faster than 1,350.
09:36The manual says danger of bursting
09:38or danger of rupture
09:39beyond 1,350 RPM.
09:44Rotary engines had no carburetor
09:46to regulate fuel flow
09:47and thus engine speed.
09:49So to slow down for landing,
09:51pilots had to intermittently
09:52switch the engine off.
10:02It's certainly one of the most unique sounds
10:05you'll ever hear anywhere
10:06to hear this engine running wide open,
10:09wide open, and then it cuts off.
10:11And then it comes back on.
10:13And then it cuts off again,
10:14and it comes back on.
10:15I remember hearing one here
10:17for the first time,
10:18first one I ever heard,
10:20coming down through the parking lot
10:21and hearing this engine,
10:23and saying, my God, what?
10:27You immediately assume
10:28something's wrong with it.
10:29I immediately knew
10:30that something exciting
10:30was happening here.
10:31But yeah, it's just,
10:33you know, it's like getting in your car,
10:35putting your foot to the floor,
10:36starting the engine,
10:37and turning it on and off
10:39when you come to the stoplight.
10:41The engine had to be lubricated
10:43with liberal quantities of castor oil,
10:45which spewed out in a fine spray
10:47all over the windscreen,
10:49the pilot's goggles,
10:50and the pilot himself.
10:59Airmen couldn't help
11:00but ingest a good amount of the oil,
11:02making a trip to the latrines,
11:03the first port of call after a flight.
11:05But it's a great sound.
11:10In the air, I'm sure it's even better.
11:12It sure is,
11:13as long as it comes back on.
11:14Turning off's not the problem.
11:16Coming back on sometimes can be.
11:20Our mission,
11:22our museum mission,
11:22is to save technology.
11:25So therefore,
11:26we have to go down
11:26to the last nut and bolt.
11:28Well, preserving history,
11:36you can do by books,
11:39photographs,
11:40this type of thing.
11:41With the technology,
11:43we need to go beyond
11:45the aircraft itself.
11:471917,
11:49what kind of metals,
11:51metal ergy,
11:52what type of aluminum,
11:54what type of designs
11:56in the aircraft engines,
11:57and how are these developments
11:59progressing?
12:01We can take something
12:02off of the airplane today
12:03and tell you exactly
12:05how the steel was manufactured
12:07in France back in 1917.
12:10So it goes beyond
12:11the aircraft itself.
12:16The Garber facility
12:17in Suitland, Maryland
12:19is tucked away
12:20behind the American
12:21National Air and Space Museum.
12:24It's here that they preserve,
12:26conserve, and restore
12:27America's aviation history.
12:29Like this Newport 28 fighter
12:32that the restoration team
12:33has been working on
12:34for two years.
12:37The Newport 28
12:39was the first fighter
12:40used in combat
12:41by American units
12:42after the US
12:43entered the war
12:44in 1917.
12:45restoring a complicated piece
12:54of technology
12:54is a meticulous job.
12:56Think of a jigsaw puzzle
12:57that's already put together.
12:59And you take the first piece
13:00out and you number it
13:01and you keep doing this
13:02until you get to
13:03the very last piece.
13:05And then that piece
13:06you restore,
13:08conserve,
13:09whatever you have to do,
13:10repair,
13:11and then you just go back
13:13in reverse order.
13:17Seems a little time-consuming,
13:19but that way
13:20we can maintain
13:21the authenticity
13:22of the aircraft.
13:27It turns out
13:28that what's authentic
13:29about the Newport 28
13:30are some serious
13:32design flaws.
13:34The American pilot
13:36Edward Peck Curtis
13:37recalled the faults
13:38of the Newport 28
13:40in this 1977 interview.
13:42The Newport was
13:43a good flying airplane,
13:45but it was not
13:45a very good
13:46fighting airplane.
13:47It had a nasty tendency
13:50to pull the fabric
13:51off the top wing
13:52if it drove it too fast.
13:53Several people did this,
13:55Rickenbacker included,
13:56but he got down a ride.
13:59The French had already decided
14:00they didn't want
14:00to use the Newport 28
14:01because of its remarkable
14:02tendency to shed
14:04the fabric
14:04on its upper wing.
14:06The trouble is,
14:07not when you're simply
14:07flying along,
14:08but if you try high-speed
14:09or relatively high-speed
14:11maneuvers,
14:12the air pressure
14:12then on the upper wing
14:13would cause it to shed.
14:15The Americans
14:15were so desperate
14:16for aircraft,
14:17they bought whatever
14:18the French could provide,
14:19and we brought
14:19quite a few Newport 28s,
14:21although eventually
14:22we were going to replace
14:23them with a SPAD 13,
14:24but at that time
14:25it was the only aircraft
14:26available.
14:29American airman
14:30James Meissner,
14:31seen here on the left
14:32with famous ace
14:33Eddie Rickenbacker,
14:35remarkably survived
14:36two wing failures
14:37caused by that faulty design.
14:40The Garber restoration team
14:41found the key
14:42to the failures
14:43when they took apart
14:44the wings.
14:46The leading edge
14:46of the ribs
14:47were merely tacked
14:48in place
14:48with small nails.
14:50Neither glue
14:50nor structural supports
14:52reinforced them.
14:54The design flaw
14:55will remain firmly intact
14:57for historical reference
14:58when the Garber team
14:59puts the aircraft
15:00back together,
15:01painted in
15:02James Meissner's colours.
15:03First World War pilots
15:07had an expected
15:08lifespan of three
15:09to six weeks
15:09and faulty aircraft
15:11design would contribute
15:12to those figures.
15:18Stress tests of the day
15:19consisted of
15:20shoveling sand
15:21onto the wings
15:21to see how much weight
15:23would break them off.
15:24considering that
15:30these aircraft
15:30flew into combat
15:31their structure
15:32was quite fragile.
15:34Light wood
15:34and wire
15:35covered in a fabric skin
15:37was coated
15:37in a highly flammable
15:38sealant
15:39called dope.
15:40This was the only
15:42protection
15:43from the elements.
15:50The gas tank
15:51as you see here
15:53is sitting above
15:53the pilot's legs.
15:55This is a very dangerous
15:57place for a gas tank
15:59to be
16:00but for its day
16:01this was the height
16:02of technology.
16:04Is there some way
16:05we can wedge that
16:06rag up in there?
16:08Leaky fuel connections
16:09still present a problem
16:10for the pilots
16:11of old Rhinebeck
16:12Aerodrome.
16:13Is it leaking
16:14or just that's
16:15where it's vibrating?
16:16It's got a little drip
16:17but I don't mind
16:18watching the cowls
16:19up there
16:20to stop the vibration
16:20a little bit.
16:21I just pushed
16:22the tank forward.
16:34Eventually
16:35the crew gets
16:36the Sopwith Camel
16:37airborne
16:37but pilot
16:39Gene DiMarco
16:40is understandably
16:40concerned.
16:42The reason he keeps
16:43looking into the cockpit
16:43is because fuel
16:45is leaking
16:45all over his legs.
16:59Brian Coughlin
17:00also faces
17:01real terror
17:02in the skies.
17:03Look to the lower
17:04right-hand side
17:05of the screen
17:05below the machine gun.
17:16The gun
17:17has caught fire
17:18in a demonstration flight
17:19of this German
17:20Fokker triplane.
17:24After a few tense moments
17:25Coughlin
17:26is able to
17:27extinguish the flame
17:28and in a landing
17:29itself somewhat dramatic
17:30manages to get the
17:32airplane back on the ground.
17:33The machine gun
17:35is not on fire.
17:38Trying to get
17:39the guns to fire
17:40starting firing.
17:40On the next one you see
17:42that they can get
17:43the stress burning
17:44on the way.
17:45Off the hill.
17:46Off the hill.
17:46Off the hill.
17:48Just trying to find
17:49the first glass
17:50that's going to go.
17:51Airplanes
17:53in that period
17:54did catch fire
17:55not only from
17:57the various
17:58actions in combat
17:59but just
18:00actually
18:01everyday flying
18:02due to the materials
18:03and the way
18:04things were constructed
18:05that they would
18:05actually
18:06break apart
18:07or split
18:08or leak
18:09and then catch fire
18:10for one reason
18:11or another.
18:13But it was evident
18:14early on
18:15that the airplane's
18:16potential as a military
18:17tool
18:18would far outweigh
18:19its dangers.
18:19A concept
18:21Wilbur Wright
18:22championed in 1909
18:23as he hauled
18:25his flying machine
18:25from one demonstration
18:27to another
18:27all over Europe.
18:30In these first films
18:31ever taken from an aircraft
18:32a flight for Italian officials
18:34the reconnaissance potential
18:36was obvious.
18:45In 1916
18:46one group of American pilots
18:48volunteered its services
18:50to fight for the French
18:51in its own air squadron
18:52or escadrille
18:53a full year
18:54before America
18:55declared war on Germany.
18:58Its members
18:59took the name
19:00Lafayette escadrille
19:01after a French aristocrat
19:03who'd fought with the US
19:04in the Revolutionary War.
19:06They were a strange
19:07and idealistic breed
19:08who fought above
19:09the battlefields
19:10for a lofty cause
19:11in an adopted country.
19:12They are the elite
19:15of the elite
19:16the creme de la creme
19:17Harvard men
19:18Yale men
19:19University of Virginia men
19:20who have decided
19:22that it's important
19:24enough to sacrifice
19:26their lives
19:27to protect liberty
19:28by protecting France.
19:30And what better
19:31advertisement
19:31for an America
19:34that for many
19:35of these young men
19:36to them
19:38was actually
19:39if not cowardly
19:40at least laggard
19:41in getting into
19:41this war to end
19:42all wars.
19:44Kiffin Rockwell
19:46a medical student
19:47from North Carolina
19:48William Thor
19:50ex-foreign legionnaire
19:51with a damaged knee
19:52poor vision
19:53and feeble hearing
19:54Victor Chapman
19:56the well-to-do
19:57architecture student
19:58from New York State
20:00great-great-grandson
20:01to John Jay
20:02who signed
20:03the Declaration
20:03of Independence.
20:04in the coming battles
20:10the Lafayette
20:11escadrille
20:12would prove
20:12to be welcome
20:13reinforcements
20:14to the French
20:14who in two years
20:16of bloody war
20:17had over
20:17two million casualties.
20:27The main function
20:29of aircraft
20:29in the First World War
20:30was reconnaissance.
20:31airmen prying
20:33behind enemy lines
20:35robbed ground troops
20:36of the element
20:37of surprise
20:37and changed
20:38the way war
20:39was fought
20:40forever.
20:42They were also
20:43concerted attempts
20:44to use aircraft
20:45to bomb the enemy.
20:46Attacks on supplies
20:48and infrastructure
20:48like railroads
20:49and bridges
20:50were quite successful.
20:52The bombing
20:53of cities
20:53however
20:53was less significant
20:55and the psychological
20:56effects
20:56far outweighed
20:58actual physical damage.
21:01British pilots
21:02demoralized
21:03enemy ground troops
21:04with strafing runs
21:05on German trenches.
21:07The most memorable
21:09aircraft of World War
21:10One
21:10was to be the fighter.
21:13At first
21:13slow moving
21:14observation planes
21:15carried weapons.
21:17Then
21:17from the autumn
21:18of 1915
21:19to spring 1916
21:21German pilots
21:22used armed aircraft
21:24more deliberately
21:24to attack
21:25French and British
21:26observation planes
21:27in a period
21:28that became
21:29known as
21:29the Fokker Scourge.
21:33The key
21:34to their success
21:35was the replacement
21:36of handguns
21:37with a new device
21:38which allowed them
21:39to fire machine guns
21:40forward through
21:41the propeller arc
21:42of their single wing
21:43Fokker Eindeckers.
21:52The aircraft
21:53was evolving
21:54from the purely defensive
21:55where crews protected
21:57themselves with a movable
21:58machine gun
21:59in the rear cockpit
22:00to a truly offensive
22:02weapon of war.
22:06With the development
22:07of the true fighter plane
22:08the machine gun
22:09becomes part of the aircraft.
22:13Ironically
22:14it was the dramatic success
22:15of a well-known
22:16French airman
22:17Roland Garrault
22:18that gave the Germans
22:20the idea
22:20that machine guns
22:21could be fired
22:22through their propeller arc.
22:23On his aircraft
22:25Garrault
22:26had attached
22:27metal plates
22:28that deflected
22:28bullets off his blades.
22:30He was able
22:31to achieve
22:31a number of victories
22:32in April of 1915
22:34and when he then
22:35crash-landed
22:35behind German lines
22:37I believe his engine failed
22:38the Germans then
22:40quickly picked up
22:40on this technology
22:41improved on it
22:42and the war
22:43took an entirely new
22:44a new dimension
22:46and this dimension
22:47is this war
22:48this struggle
22:48for control of the air.
22:50rather than deflecting
22:52bullets off the propeller
22:54the German system
22:55developed by Fokker
22:56synchronized the propeller
22:58and machine gun.
22:59The Allies
22:59didn't develop
23:00a successful version
23:01of this gun
23:02until later in the war.
23:06When the propeller
23:07comes around
23:08it gets about here
23:10this mechanism
23:11interrupts
23:12the firing mix
23:13and so it won't fire
23:14until the blade
23:15gets to about
23:16this position
23:17and it keeps rolling around
23:18and when the other blade
23:19comes up
23:20once again
23:20it stops
23:21stops
23:22and starts firing again
23:23when you get to the other side
23:24and this continues
23:25you're interrupting
23:27the firing sequence
23:28at every half a rotation
23:30of the propeller.
23:33This new device
23:34was so effective
23:35that Germany
23:36seized air superiority
23:37with only about
23:38three dozen Fokker aircraft
23:40kitted out
23:41with synchronized machine guns.
23:44British airmen
23:45grimly referred to themselves
23:47as Fokker Fodder.
23:56In 1916
23:58a new generation
23:59of faster
24:00more maneuverable
24:01Allied fighters
24:02appeared
24:02which were to challenge
24:03the Fokkers.
24:10A pioneer among this group
24:12was a fast little
24:13single seater biplane
24:15called the Newport 11
24:16this was flown
24:18by the American volunteers
24:20of the Lafayette Escadrille.
24:24Because it was so compact
24:26pilots nicknamed it
24:27the Bebe
24:28with a top speed
24:30of 156 kilometers per hour
24:32it was faster
24:33tougher
24:34and more maneuverable
24:35than the Fokker Eindeckers
24:36but it could still
24:39not fire a machine gun
24:41through its propeller arc.
24:44The gun is mounted
24:45on top of the wing
24:46because it didn't have
24:47any kind of
24:47synchronizing mechanism
24:49the gun couldn't fire
24:50through the propeller arc
24:51it had to fire above it.
24:53You had to fly
24:53the airplane with one hand
24:54you had to fire
24:55the machine gun
24:55with the other
24:56and then you had to use
24:57your third hand
24:57I guess
24:58to replace
24:59the machine gun drum.
25:00Despite its awkward gun
25:07the superior speed
25:08and maneuverability
25:09of the Newport 11
25:10and other aircraft
25:11of 1916
25:12allowed the Allies
25:14to dominate
25:14their German foes.
25:24In February 1916
25:26the Germans launched
25:28an offensive
25:28on the French fortress
25:29city of Verdun
25:30a key position
25:32for the Allies.
25:34If Verdun fell
25:36the Allied lines
25:37would be severed
25:38a potential disaster
25:39for the French
25:40and British.
25:42In desperate fighting
25:44that took place
25:45over Verdun
25:45and later that year
25:47at the Battle of the Somme
25:48the Allies
25:49had changed tactics.
25:51Instead of the costly method
25:52of sending
25:53lone reconnaissance aircraft
25:54over enemy lines
25:55they now dispatched
25:57flights of three
25:58or four fighters
25:59to hunt down
26:00and destroy
26:00German aircraft.
26:04You gang up
26:05on your opposing numbers
26:06so you'll try
26:08to get three on
26:09one
26:10and blow the other person
26:12out of the sky.
26:13We have some
26:14very fascinating accounts
26:15of some of the
26:16fighter pilots
26:18at Verdun.
26:19this is a serious battle
26:21to the death
26:22both on the ground
26:24and in the air
26:25and one of the early
26:27French fighter races
26:28fell by him
26:29of Albert Delian
26:30landed one day
26:33after an aerial combat
26:34with the Germans
26:35and his mechanic
26:37observed that
26:38his helmet
26:41his goggles
26:42his face
26:43the upper part
26:44of his airplane
26:45were all covered
26:47with blood
26:47and Durian
26:49just matter-of-factly
26:50replied
26:51I shot
26:52from very close.
26:57Air combat
26:58was becoming
26:59more complex
27:00and more brutal.
27:02he had been
27:08within
27:0910 meters
27:10in other words
27:1130 feet
27:12of the German
27:13two-seater
27:15that he shot down
27:16and had put
27:18about 25 bullets
27:19into both
27:20of the crew members
27:21and
27:22he was very
27:24pleased
27:24with his accuracy
27:26and he said
27:27it was delicious
27:28to descend
27:30after that combat
27:31the year-long
27:35battles at
27:36Verdun
27:36and the Somme
27:37resulted in
27:38well over a million
27:39killed, wounded
27:40or missing.
27:42The airplane
27:43as a fighting
27:44weapon of war
27:45had come into its own
27:46with new technology
27:47and new ways
27:48of fighting.
27:49The British
27:50and French
27:51for a brief
27:52and critical time
27:53had closed
27:54their airspace
27:55to German observation.
27:57With the Germans
27:58unable to see
27:59crucial movements
28:00behind the enemy lines
28:01the Allies had held off
28:03perhaps the greatest
28:04German offensive yet.
28:07In these battles
28:08the American members
28:10of the Lafayette escadrille
28:11proved to be reckless
28:12and headstrong
28:13in their pursuit
28:14of the enemy.
28:16The Americans'
28:17aggressive style
28:18resulted in nearly
28:19200 kills
28:20over the coming months
28:21but 63 of their own pilots
28:23were lost.
28:27Their commander
28:29Captain Thernault
28:30had worried most
28:31about 27-year-old
28:32Victor Chapman
28:33the fearless pilot
28:34who was first
28:35to fly out
28:36to every fight
28:37and always the last
28:38to return.
28:39It was a war
28:52of attrition.
28:53It was kill
28:53or be killed.
28:55Now in the early days
28:55of the war
28:56you could salute
28:57your enemy
28:57if he ran out
28:58of ammunition
28:58you could let him
28:59fly another day
29:00because it wasn't sporting
29:01but by 1915-1916
29:04as it really got down
29:05to a truly
29:06attrition warfare
29:07no one took that chance
29:09that opportunity.
29:10You shot and killed
29:11your enemy
29:11no matter what
29:12circumstances he was in.
29:14Eventually
29:1517,000 airmen
29:16were to die
29:17in the Great War
29:18as if the fear
29:20of fire
29:20faulty construction
29:21of their aircraft
29:22and the enemy
29:23were not terrifying
29:24enough for the young
29:25pilots of World War I.
29:27Once they did run
29:28into trouble
29:28chances of survival
29:29were slim.
29:31For much of the war
29:32pilots were not issued
29:33with parachutes.
29:35Parachutes were too heavy
29:36for use in aircraft
29:37and it's commonly
29:38understood that
29:39British air commanders
29:40feared pilots
29:41would lose
29:42their offensive edge
29:43if they had
29:43the option to jump.
29:45They didn't want
29:45their pilots
29:46turning chicken
29:47in a perfectly
29:48good aircraft
29:48by bailing out
29:49at the last minute.
29:51You know
29:51if they're going
29:51to have to force men
29:52to go over the top
29:53in the trenches
29:53at gunpoint
29:54to make an attack
29:55they don't want
29:56the pilots bailing out.
29:58So surprisingly
29:58if they crashed
29:59I mean there was
30:00no way to get out.
30:01There was no
30:02there was no escape.
30:04One of the great
30:06American aces
30:07flying for the
30:08Lafayette Escadrille
30:09before America
30:10entered the war
30:11Raul Lufberi
30:12dove out of his
30:13aircraft because
30:14it caught on fire
30:14and of course
30:15he had no parachute
30:16but he jumped out
30:17rather than
30:17burned to death.
30:19In 1916
30:20German officials
30:21concerned that
30:22their air crews
30:23were being outperformed
30:24by the Allies
30:24called on the expertise
30:26of a young ace
30:27named Oswald Bulke.
30:29Bulke is
30:30a master
30:31not only
30:33at flying
30:34and fighting
30:35in the air
30:35but codifying
30:37the tactics
30:38that you use
30:40to shoot down
30:41the other side.
30:41In other words
30:42he's a masterful
30:43observer
30:43of what he himself
30:46does.
30:48Pilots at this
30:49point in the war
30:50were taught
30:50only to fly
30:51not to fight.
30:53There were no tactics
30:54or training schools.
30:55The deadly skies
30:56were the airman's
30:57classroom.
30:57With the help
30:59of another pilot
31:00Max Immelmann
31:01Bulke began
31:02to change that
31:03and became
31:04mentor and instructor
31:05to the entire
31:06German air service.
31:08What Bulke
31:09and Immelmann
31:10tried to develop
31:11was the kind
31:13of tactics
31:13that would allow
31:14victory
31:14especially among
31:15neophyte pilots
31:16who did not
31:17have a lot
31:17of experience.
31:18Their dictums
31:19are still used
31:20today.
31:20Bulke developed
31:28the concept
31:29still in use
31:29today
31:30of flying
31:31two aircraft
31:31in a basic
31:32formation
31:33while one pilot
31:34engages the enemy
31:35the other
31:36protects him
31:36from attack.
31:40Get behind
31:41your opponent
31:42without his
31:43seeing you.
31:43Make certain
32:01you have
32:01the advantage
32:02of height
32:02if at all
32:03possible.
32:04Keep the sun
32:16at your back
32:18so that he
32:19can't see you
32:20in the sun.
32:21He would say
32:24once you join
32:25combat
32:26always know
32:27your avenue
32:28of retreat
32:29if you're
32:29over enemy
32:30lines
32:30if you have
32:31to get away
32:31in other words
32:32he wasn't
32:32one of these
32:33people who
32:33would fight
32:34to the death
32:34against great
32:35odds.
32:36He knew
32:36the name
32:36of the game
32:37was to get
32:38back
32:38to live
32:38to fight
32:39another day.
32:47Bulke
32:48and Immelmann
32:49organized
32:50the German
32:50fighters
32:50into units
32:51known as
32:52JASTERs
32:52or hunting
32:53groups.
32:55Among their
32:55hand-picked
32:56pilots
32:56was one
32:57Manfred
32:57von Richthofen
32:58later to
32:59achieve
33:00notoriety
33:00as the
33:01Red Baron.
33:04The JASTERs
33:06were equipped
33:06with a new
33:07aircraft.
33:08The Albatross
33:09was built
33:09with a rigid
33:10plywood-covered
33:11fuselage
33:11providing
33:12structural
33:13strength
33:13and eliminating
33:14the need
33:15for an
33:15internal
33:15network
33:16of wires.
33:17The new
33:18aircraft
33:18was armed
33:19with two
33:19Spandau
33:20machine guns
33:20and a
33:21powerful
33:21inline
33:22engine.
33:23Von Richthofen
33:24would score
33:24more than
33:2575%
33:26of his
33:26kills
33:27with various
33:27Albatross
33:28models.
33:30On their
33:31first combat
33:31mission in
33:32the autumn
33:32of 1916,
33:34Bulke and
33:34his men
33:35shot down
33:36eight out
33:36of 14
33:37British planes
33:38without loss.
33:41The Germans
33:42were to
33:42wrench
33:42mastery of
33:43the air
33:44back from
33:44the Allies.
33:45But they
33:46would maintain
33:47it for
33:48only one
33:48more year.
33:56On April
33:576th, 1917,
33:59the US
33:59Congress
34:00declared war
34:01on the
34:01Central Powers
34:02after Germany
34:03launched nearly
34:04unrestricted
34:05submarine warfare.
34:06America
34:14mobilized
34:14troops and
34:15industry
34:16while thousands
34:17of pilots
34:17trained to
34:18fly and
34:19fight in
34:19the final
34:20clashes of
34:20World War
34:21One.
34:22Training
34:23had to be
34:24quick and
34:24intensive.
34:25The Americans
34:26would be
34:26flying against
34:27units that
34:27had nearly
34:28four years
34:29of combat
34:29experience,
34:30a lifetime
34:31considering the
34:32age of the
34:32technology.
34:33What was
34:37left of the
34:38All-American
34:38Volunteer Unit,
34:39the Lafayette
34:40Escadrille,
34:41was absorbed
34:41into the
34:42new American
34:42air arm.
34:48Late in
34:491917,
34:50Germany was
34:51dominating the
34:52skies over
34:52Europe with
34:53well-trained
34:54pilots and
34:54aircraft like
34:55the Albatross
34:56and the famous
34:57three-winged
34:58Fokker DR1.
35:00But the Allies
35:01were once again
35:01about to rest
35:02the initiative
35:03away from the
35:04Central Powers
35:04with a new
35:05generation of
35:06fighter aircraft.
35:13The most famous
35:14of these was to
35:15be Britain's
35:15Sopwith Camel,
35:16the first Allied
35:17plane to have
35:18twin-synchronized
35:19Vickers machine
35:20guns.
35:21The Camel
35:22would destroy
35:23over 1,200
35:24enemy aircraft
35:25during the war,
35:26more than any
35:27other Allied type.
35:32The tremendous
35:33torque and
35:33centrifugal force
35:34produced by that
35:35mass of turning
35:36steel gave it the
35:37ability, as the
35:38pilots of the time
35:39said, to turn on a
35:40dime with nine
35:41cents change.
35:45The power of this
35:46efficient rotary
35:47engine created a
35:48ferocious torque on
35:49take-off, causing
35:50many inexperienced
35:51pilots to crash.
35:52But once it was
35:53learned or mastered,
35:55it could be used to
35:56your advantage.
35:57You could outmaneuver
35:57them and get behind
35:58them, of course, and
35:59it allowed you a clean
36:01shot.
36:01It was the Sopwith
36:10Camel that would
36:11challenge Germany's
36:12most famous ace in
36:13the later days of
36:14World War I, the
36:15legendary Manfred
36:16von Richthofen.
36:18Because he painted
36:19both his albatross and
36:21later his triplane
36:22red, some say to
36:23taunt his enemies,
36:25the British dubbed
36:25him the Red Baron.
36:31On April the 21st,
36:361918, a dogfight of
36:38about 30 aircraft
36:39swarmed over the
36:40Somme River.
36:41The Red Baron, in
36:42characteristic form,
36:44held back from the
36:45fray in his infamous
36:46red triplane.
36:48He noticed a lone
36:49Sopwith Camel break
36:50off.
36:51The Red Baron flew in
36:53for the kill behind
36:54the inexperienced
36:55Canadian pilot.
36:57The lead Canadian
36:58pilot saw his
36:59comrade's plight and
37:00dived at full speed.
37:02He swept behind the
37:03Red Baron's triplane,
37:04firing a desperate
37:05burst.
37:07The triplane zigzagged
37:08wildly, then
37:09disappeared behind a
37:10grove of trees.
37:12The Red Baron, who for
37:14years had terrorised
37:15Allied pilots, was
37:16dead, brought down by
37:18an Allied Knight of
37:19the Air and his
37:20superior Sopwith Camel.
37:23For many years, that
37:24was the official story,
37:26but it may be just a
37:27story, like so many
37:29myths and legends of
37:30aircraft and their
37:31aces in World War I.
37:33Many now believe Manfred
37:35von Richthofen was
37:35killed by a burst of
37:37ground fire from an
37:38Australian artillery unit
37:39operating in the area on
37:41the day of his death.
37:42Not nearly as grand a
37:43scenario.
37:45The old pictures of the
37:46Knights of the Air with
37:47their flying scarves and
37:48such, that was simply
37:49public relations.
37:50The people back home
37:51wanted to see those
37:52pictures.
37:53They did not want to see
37:53their troops in the
37:54trenches, fighting and
37:55dying in the mud where
37:56they stood.
37:59Few heroes would emerge
38:01out of the mud of the
38:02trenches in World War I.
38:04Governments on all sides
38:05turned to the pilot to
38:06boost public morale and
38:08encourage support for the
38:09war.
38:11Airmen of World War I, like
38:12von Richthofen, were
38:14deliberately depicted as
38:15superheroes who flew above
38:17and distracted from the
38:18bloody slaughter of the
38:1911 million men dying on
38:21the ground.
38:21And his primary function
38:24during the war, in addition
38:25to shooting down 80
38:26Allied aircraft, was to
38:28attract the support of the
38:29home front.
38:30He was constantly being
38:31sent back home for
38:32parades and for speeches
38:34and such.
38:35His job was to build
38:36support for the war
38:37effort.
38:38He was a great hero in a
38:39nation that needed heroes
38:40considering the casualty
38:42figures, the number of dead
38:43who were coming back from
38:44the trenches.
38:45And so in many ways he was
38:47a public relations coup, but
38:48on the other hand he was
38:49also a tremendous pilot.
38:51Postcards of favourite
38:53aces were passed around
38:54like cigarette cards.
38:57Air battles were appealing
38:58because issues were
39:00clearly resolved.
39:01When the battle ended, the
39:03loser fell to earth, the
39:04winner still flew high and
39:06away.
39:08What was not so widely
39:09discussed was that the
39:10constant stress of combat
39:12took its toll on the Red
39:13Baron, as it did on many of
39:15the airmen of the Great
39:16War.
39:17Von Richthofen seemed to lose
39:19his edge after suffering a
39:20serious head wound, which
39:22would not heal.
39:25He was pursuing this new
39:28pilot, who in his earlier
39:31days, he would have shot
39:33down just like that.
39:36But he was having difficulty
39:37getting behind him and he was
39:39following him all over the sky.
39:40He stopped observing behind
39:43him, which you're always
39:45supposed to do.
39:46He gets in the range for the
39:47guns from the ground and
39:48ultimately goes down.
39:55When the British realised
39:57that the Great Red Baron had
39:58been shot down, they gave him
40:00a hero's funeral with full
40:01military honours.
40:08Those close to Von Richthofen
40:10were perhaps not surprised when
40:12they received notification of
40:13his death.
40:15His mother observed as the war
40:17continued that he clearly was
40:19not the same person he had been
40:21at the beginning.
40:22He's not cocky anymore.
40:24It's very clear.
40:25His brother's shot down.
40:27He sees his men getting killed
40:29around him.
40:30There are points in time at which
40:32the German fighter arm does not
40:37have the planes to fly that are
40:40of the same calibre as the British
40:42and French do.
40:44That takes a toll.
40:46You try it for a few months,
40:49years, watch people die,
40:52watch them go down in flames,
40:54watch them jump out of planes
40:56and end up in these heaps on the
40:58ground where every bone in their
40:59body is broken.
41:01See them get burned to death on
41:03the ground and not be able to get
41:04out of their cockpits because
41:06they can't move.
41:07You see them with these horrible
41:09wounds that some of them are
41:10still flying with.
41:12It's not a sport, which is what it
41:15was cracked up to be.
41:16It's a very brutal business.
41:22I think what you see with these
41:24young men is that after a point
41:26in time, they all know that
41:29they're going to die.
41:31The question is when and how.
41:33And one American put it,
41:34I know I'm going to die.
41:38I just don't know when and
41:39worrying about when it's going to
41:40happen is killing me.
41:45Perhaps the greatest myth of the
41:47First World War is that the dog
41:49fights of the Great Aces were
41:51crucial to the outcome of the war.
41:53In fact, what air power did in
41:55World War One was simply make the
41:56war worse.
41:57It was not a war winner.
41:59And by worse, I mean by they
42:00simply made it a greater number of
42:03casualties because they removed the
42:04element of surprise.
42:06With surprise, the war would not have
42:08lasted nearly as long as it did.
42:10The fascinating thing is that they
42:12sometimes forget that what really
42:13proved itself in the First World War
42:15was tactical air power.
42:17In other words, the short range
42:19bombers, the reconnaissance capabilities
42:23of these two seat single engine
42:25planes, the development of cameras to
42:28take pictures in depth of the front
42:31line, all these things are very, very
42:34important and are important
42:36harbingers of the future that the
42:37airplane is going to be very
42:40important in future wars.
42:44In 1918, America's first joint air and
42:47ground offensive was launched on one
42:49of the last German strongholds on the
42:51Western Front, Saint-Michel,
42:53South-East of Verdun.
42:561,500 British, French and American
42:58aircraft streamed over the lines in
43:00early September against half as many
43:03German planes.
43:04Any kind of individual effort was
43:06eclipsed by the huge numbers of
43:08attacking forces.
43:10What you see ultimately with Saint-Michel
43:13is the mass.
43:16We're not talking about individual
43:18fighter pilots fighting individual
43:20battles or individual reconnaissance
43:22planes. We're talking about thousands
43:24of aircraft being amassed over one
43:27area of the front to crush any
43:29opposition on the other side.
43:32Ironically, the Germans by now
43:35possessed what is considered the
43:36premier fighter of World War I, the
43:38Fokker D-7.
43:41D-7s had thick internally supported
43:43wings which reduced drag and increased
43:46lift. Their high compression BMW engines
43:49made them a tough competitor at high
43:51altitudes. The D-7 was capable of
43:54maintaining an altitude of 20,000 feet at
43:58this kind of an attitude of attack so it
44:01could fire up into you and it could hang
44:04on the prop and stay there and not lose
44:06altitude which is absolutely incredible. But
44:09the German war machine was now exhausted. Despite
44:12operating these excellent aircraft, the air
44:15arm did not possess enough fuel or
44:17replacement pilots to defend against the
44:19allied onslaught.
44:20We had really learned our stuff and we
44:23shot down a lot of planes. We were
44:25experienced and Germans at that time of
44:28course were getting a little low on
44:30replacements. So I'm sure the level of
44:32their pilot experience at that time wasn't as good as
44:35ours by long shot. Eventually victory in the air
44:42war was largely tied to numbers. Allied tactics
44:45were not that superior. Allied aircraft were not that
44:48superior. The real key was numbers. By the fall of
44:511918 the allies were able to achieve superiority in
44:55numbers of three, four to one and the Germans were
44:58simply overwhelmed, were simply swamped with new
45:00allied aircraft. Nothing could counter those odds and
45:06the air and ground battles ended with the capture of
45:08nearly 15,000 German infantrymen at St. Michael.
45:15Infantrymen actually commented since there were three
45:21Frenchmen and Englishmen for every two Germans, they
45:25were bound to win the end even if everybody had to be
45:29killed to prove it. The Allies could celebrate after
45:34four long years of war. With the mutiny of the German
45:38navy and food riots in a dozen German cities, the
45:41Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland. On November the
45:4511th 1918, the armistice was declared.
45:49Well, one day, this was about a week before the
45:55armistice. The weather was very bad, unusually bad, and we
46:00had no thought of flying. We were sitting around the
46:02barracks playing Red Dog or something. And we heard the
46:06sound of this plane motor overhead. Couldn't believe it. And
46:12somebody said, gee, that sounds like a German motor. So we
46:15whisked out and here, sure enough, was this Flocker D7 flying
46:19around the field about 50 feet up. And the mechanics came out
46:24and started throwing rocks and shooting .45s. Eventually, he
46:30came around and landed. And we all rushed out of the field,
46:34hoping he might try to burn up his airplane or something, which
46:37was the first thing in his mind. And he got out of the cockpit and
46:40quite got angry. She said, where am I? And I said, you're in
46:45Verdun, brother. And he said, oh, that's too bad. I thought it
46:48was Mets. Well, I don't think he ever thought it was Mets. I
46:52think he decided the war was over, and this was a good way of
46:55getting done with it. We took him out and bought him a lunch.
47:15All right .
47:29Yep.