Airplane Warfare During World War I

   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 
diezce 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 inezce, 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.