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The History Of Aviation In World War I, The First Great War That Employed Aircraft As A Weapon Of War, Along With The Life And Achievements Of The Greatest Flying Ace Of The First World War, The German Army Air Service Fighter Pilot Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, Known Inside And Outside Germany As "The Red Baron", As Well As Those American Flying Heroes Such As Eddie Rickenbacker, Raoul Lufberry Of The Lafayette Escadrille And The Hat-In-The-Ring Squadron! Another VHS-Era Classic Collection From The Golden Age Of Cable Television, Presented In Our Highest DVD Quality MPEG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS In A 2 Volume Video Download MP4 Set Or A 2 Disc Archival Quality All Regions Format DVD Set! #AviationInWorldWarI #AviationInWWI #WWIAviation #Aces #FlyingAces #FighterAces #RedBaron #ManfredVonRichthofen #EddieRickenbacker #RaoulLufbery #WilliamThaw #JamesMcConnell #WorldWarI #WorldWarOne #WorldWar1 #WWI #WW1 #FirstWorldWar #FirstEuropeanWar #EuropeanCivilWar #Aviation #AviationHistory #HistoryOfAviation #HistoryOfFlight #Luftstreitkrafte #ImperialGermanAirService #Jagdstaffel2 #Jagdstaffel11 #Jasta11 #Jagdgeschwader1 #TheFlyingCircus #RichthofensCircus #LafayetteEscadrille #Hat-In-The-RingSquadron #HatInTheRingSquadron #AirCombat #CulturalIcons #PopIcons #VauxSurSomme #VideoDownload #MP4 #DVD

*7/7/26: Updated & Expanded To Include TRUE ACTION ADVENTURES: FRANCE'S YANKEE FLYERS!


Contents:

VOLUME ONE:

THE RED BARON (Color, 1971, 46 Minutes)
The best full length documentary on the subject, this documentary gives both a historical and personal perspective on First World War aerial warfare generally and Manfred von Richthofen particularly. In addition to great film footage and intelligent analysis, it interviews Allied pilots who fought the Red Baron and fellow flyers of his "Flying Circus", surviving Flying Circus members, and the airmen and anti-aircraft gunners involved with the still mysterious death of Baron von Richthofen.

FIGHTER ACES OF WORLD WAR I (Color, 1990, (23 Minutes)
A wide-ranging survey among the combatant nations of the greatest flying aces of the First World War.

WORLD WAR 1: DOGFIGHTS AND DAREVILS (Black And White, 1963, 25 Minutes)
An excellent installment of the Landmark 1964 CBS documentary series devoted to a full and concise brief on the history, personalities, strategy and drama of warfare's first aerial battlefield, with special attention given to the short term but highly successful contributions made by American airman of The 94th Aero Squadron known as "The Hat-In-The-Ring Squadron" and its leader, Medal Of Honor recipient and top-scoring American flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Narrated By Robert Ryan.


VOLUME TWO:

TRUE ACTION ADVENTURES: FRANCE'S YANKEE FLYERS (Color, 1996, 24 Minutes)
Fritz Weaver narrates this installment of the Golden Age Of Cable Television documentary series on the illustrious achievements Raoul Lufbery, William Thaw, James McConnell and their fellow American aviators of France's Lafayette Escadrille (Lafayette Squadron) of World War I, as well as those who fought in French and British uniforms during World War II.

COLE PALEN'S FLYING CIRCUS (Color, 1987, 52 Minutes)
The unlikely and charming story of Cole Palen and the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome he founded, a living museum that restores, maintains and flies authentic aircraft from the dawn of flight to 1925, serviced by multiple examples of roadworthy antique automobiles and other vehicles, located in Red Hook, New York, where weekend airshows reenacting such historic moments as the last dogfight of The Red Baron are performed.


Manfred von Richthofen, famous as "The Red Baron", German captain and pilot (May 2, 1892 - April 21, 1918) was born in Kleinburg, near Breslau, Lower Silesia (now part of the city of Wroclaw, Poland). Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories. Originally a cavalryman, Richthofen transferred to the Air Service in 1915, becoming one of the first members of fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2 in 1916. He quickly distinguished himself as a fighter pilot, and during 1917 became leader of Jasta 11 and then the larger fighter wing unit Jagdgeschwader 1, better known as "The Flying Circus" or "Richthofen's Circus" because of the bright colours of its aircraft, and perhaps also because of the way the unit was transferred from one area of allied air activity to another - moving like a travelling circus, and frequently setting up in tents on improvised airfields. By 1918, Richthofen was regarded as a national hero in Germany, and respected by his enemies. He remains one of the most widely known fighter pilots of all time, and has been the subject of many books, films and other media. On April 21, 1918: he was shot down and killed just after 11:00 AM over Vaux-sur-Somme while flying over Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River. There has been considerable discussion and debate regarding aspects of his career, especially the circumstances of his death. Having crashed in Allied territory, Officers of No. 3 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) were pallbearers at his funeral, and other ranks from the squadron acted as a guard of honour during the Red Baron's funeral on April 22, 1918. In the early 1920s the French authorities created a military cemetery at Fricourt, in which a large number of German war dead, including Richthofen, were reinterred. In 1925 von Richthofen's youngest brother, Bolko, recovered the body from Fricourt and took it to Germany. During the Cold War, the Invalidenfriedhof was on the boundary of the Soviet zone in Berlin, and the tombstone became damaged by bullets fired at attempted escapees from East Germany. In 1975 the body was moved to a Richthofen family grave plot at the Sudfriedhof in Wiesbaden.

World War I was the first major conflict involving the large-scale use of aircraft. Tethered observation balloons had already been employed in several wars, and would be used extensively for artillery spotting. Germany employed Zeppelins for reconnaissance over the North Sea and Baltic and also for strategic bombing raids over Britain and the Eastern Front. Aeroplanes were just coming into military use at the outset of the war. Initially, they were used mostly for reconnaissance. Pilots and engineers learned from experience, leading to the development of many specialized types, including fighters, bombers, and trench strafers. Ace fighter pilots were portrayed as modern knights, and many became popular heroes. The war also saw the appointment of high-ranking officers to direct the belligerent nations' air war efforts. While the impact of aircraft on the course of the war was mainly tactical rather than strategic, most important being direct cooperation with ground forces (especially ranging and correcting artillery fire), the first steps in the strategic roles of aircraft in future wars were also foreshadowed.