War in the Air Tiffany Morales, Erica Verga, Melissa Dominguez

Background on War in the Air The air war threw up a new breed of fighter, and in general the Allied and Central Powers' governments proved quick in exploiting the successes of their airmen for propaganda purposesCentral Powers' Hot-air balloons were widely used in World War 1 because they were cheaper then planes. Dog fights, meaning a battle between two or more planes, were a big part of World War 1. The first successful controlled plane flight was December 17, The Wright Brothers gained worldwide fame for their “flying machine”. When they offered their design to the US, the US turned it down. Air craft became faster and more powerful, but many of the technologies that were common at the start of war, had disappeared by the end of it.

 What advances took place in the various technologies used? The first successfully controlled plane flight was December 17, Not many people realized the full potential of the plane. Observation balloons were floating high above the trenches. They commonly had a crew of two, equipped with parachutes. Blimps and balloons contributed to air-to-air combat among aircraft, because of their reconnaissance value, and to the trench stalemate, because it was impossible to move large numbers of troops undetected. Germany led the world in the design of Zeppelins and used these airships to make occasional bombing raids on military targets.

 How important was the type of warfare in WW1? From a strategic standpoint air warfare was of important interest initiating with reconnaissance work. Troop movements and artillery locations were readily reported from aerial observation. This soon brought on the role of the fighter plane whose job, initially, was to protect the observation planes. Because of this, the term 'Air Superiority' was born. By the war's end, the impact of air missions on the ground war was mainly tactical – strategic bombing, in particular, was still very basic. This was partly due to its restricted funding and use, as it was, a new technology. Aircraft helped create the trench situation and aided in the strengthening of the stalemate. Even though the air battle for the skies was more fluid than the trench battles, the air war had some localized effects on the ground but outside of that not much else.

 Did any particular warfare change the course of the war? The airplane changed the course of the war because they realized that small handheld bombs or percussion grenades could be dropped on the enemy lines from the air. This realization led to the development of the fighter, which was built to shoot down other aircraft, and the bomber which was built to attack enemy troops and cities. Machine guns during WWI were even more bulky than they are today. It could be mobile but you must set it up in one position and left it there rather than move it forward. Yet fighters were a mobile machine gun platform that actually allowed the guns to be used offensively against the enemy rather than defensively as they were on the ground.

Resources up9/airwar.htm up9/airwar.htm mmary.htm mmary.htm during_World_War_I#Air_warfare