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  • The aircraft was a brand new invention in WWI, just 10 years or so after the Wright Brothers' first flew.

  • At first, I think the armies of Europe didn't really know what to do with the airplane, but it very quickly found a very important role and aircraft production training of pilots that all skyrocketed very quickly.

  • It was a brand new way of fighting.

  • Having war machines that operated within the air added a third dimension to the battlefield, and they were just learning how to do it.

  • And pilots were throwing bombs out of the cockpit and they were carrying pistols and rifles in the cockpit.

  • Or they would have an observer and a secondary cockpit who had a pistol or a rifle, and they would be trading rounds with other airplanes.

  • I think on the one hand they were terrified because they were young.

  • They were fresh when they came to the front lines with a unit.

  • They maybe had a maximum of 20 hours of flying time.

  • They just weren't that experienced.

  • I have a lot of respect for the young men who flew.

  • He's really primitive, elemental airplanes back in the day, often with only a few weeks of training.

  • So I can imagine being a 17 year old kid jumping in one of these airplanes and then being thrown into combat versus another guy who's probably another 17 year old kids scared out of his mind.

  • He's trying to kill him.

The aircraft was a brand new invention in WWI, just 10 years or so after the Wright Brothers' first flew.

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