This is a wonderful read in which the American World War One fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker (1890 - 1973), recounted his experiences in the skies above France.
"I learned pretty fast. Long practice in driving a racing-car at a hundred miles an hour or so gives first-class training in control and judging distances at high speed..." Attached are four short articles from THE REVIEW of REVIEWS concerning what had happened in the world of aviation during the summer months of 1910. Of particular concern was the bloody month of July, which happened to be the month in which a large number of pilots met their end. Among the dead was the Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls (b. 1877), Daniel Kinet (b. 1885) and Charles Wachter (dates?). Also lost that summer was the daring aviatrix, Baroness de la Roche (b. 1886, as Elsie Raymonde Deroche). The third and fourth articles list the advances in altitude and endurance records made by such men as Walter Brookings (1889 - 1953), Jan Olieslegers (1893 - 1942), Clifford B. Harmon (dates?) and Count de Lesseps (1882 - 1916). 1912 was the year that the Lewis Gun was first mounted on military aircraft. The military possibilities of this combination was immediately recognizable to all onlookers: "The potential results of swooping aircraft, armed to the teeth with death dealing bullets, is staggering to ordnance officers of the Army and Navy who discuss it. 'Where will this lead?' they ask. Is it possible that the air is to harbor the greatest destructive forces in modern warfare? There seems nothing to prevent it." Click here to read an article about the development of aerial reconnaissance during W.W. I. An article about Roland Rohlfs (1892 - 1974), chief test pilot of the Curtiss Engineering Corporation and his Curtiss Wasp triplane, the aircraft he flew at an altitude of 30,000 feet when he set a new speed record (163.1 mph) in 1919.
An overview of the technological advancements that had been introduced in the aviation community in 1912. References are made to the superiority of the Pneumatic Flying Helmet, and the installation of the W. I. Twombly Safety Harness, oil gauges, self-acting gas pumps, double-cables, self-starting motors and heavily re-enforced wheels. References are also made to the 1910, twenty-two mile flight across the English Channel by a pilot named Bleriot. Here is an explanation from the official newspaper of the A.E.F. as to how World War I American fighter pilots were credited for their victories in the war against Germany. Click here to read an article about the development of aerial reconnaissance during W.W. I.
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