American fliers arriving in Europe from September 1971 brought with them no aircraft. Instead, US units had to obtain machines mainly from the British and French. From early 1918 American pilots were issued with SPAD fighters and they never looked back. As this volume details, the first American tra[...]

Unknown to almost everyone Paul Richey started this sequel to his acclaimed book Fighter Pilot in 1941, but was unable to continue it beyond the initial chapters. Now, aviation author and historian Norman Franks, by gaining exclusive access to Paul's papers and diaries, has completed the work. Riche[...]

Jimmy Sheddan was one of the many New Zealanders who joined the RNZAF, then left his native land to come to England to fight the enemies of Great Britain and her Empire during World War Two. Through his recollections we can share some of the trials and wartime tribulations they faced. Yet we can rea[...]

Undoubtedly the most famous fighter type to see service on either side during World War I, the Fokker Dr I was a revelation when it entered service on the western front in 1917. Manfred von Richthofen's JG I 'circus' was the first Jasta to completely re-equip with the new fighter, and in the skilled[...]

Befitting its status as Germany's premier fighter unit, von Richthofen's JG I (led by Hermann Goring in the wake of the 'Red Baron's recent death) received the first examples of the D VII to reach the frontline in late April. Built to oppose the new generation of French SPAD XIIIs and British SE 5as[...]

As August 1916 drew to a close, the German Air Service was spiralling almost helplessly towards defeat on the Somme. The Artillery and Feldflieger Abteilungen, the Kampfstaffeln, had been quickly reduced to relative impotency by the overwhelming quantitative and qualitative superiority of the Allies[...]