The development of air warfare during WWI.

Essay by nacionalesHigh School, 10th gradeA+, December 2002

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The use of the airplanes changed greatly during WWI. People started to realize that they could be used not only for entertainment and sports but also in wars as powerful weapons. When WWI started, planes were not allowed in the wars by the War Office. When the war started, this changed and soon after many nations were investing money in creating air forces and training pilots.

The first bombing occurred in November,1911 and it was by the Italians. Shortly after, everyone was throwing bombs from airplanes. The next year, the first aerial dogfight occurred between the Germans and the British. Most of the time, the Germans always had more technology and were more advanced in air warfare.

The Germans could beat others even if they were outnumbered eight times. They invented a timed switch that allowed them to mount a machine gun behind the propeller and fire between rotations.

Another of their great inventions was luminous paint that prevented them from crashing into each other or shooting each other. Many times the allies tried to imitate many German inventions but failed most of the time.

An allied pilot called Roland Garros mounted a gun in the cockpit of his plane and put protective plates on his

propellers was so he could shoot. He was trying to equal the German timed device but failed.

As time advanced, Germany invented Bi-planes and Tri-planes

which totally left behind the use of Mono-planes. When these planes had 2 or three wings they could fly faster and move more easily. This helped them very much when fighting against the allies in mid-air. The Bi-planes were considered the best planes in all the war.

Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the "Red Baron" was the best pilot in the war, he shot almost a...