Knights Without Parachutes — billy mitchell

St. Mihiel, Billy Mitchell, and the Balloon Buster

September 08, 2018 • alvin york • billy mitchell • frank luke • hugh trenchard

"We do not hike through the mud with you, but there are discomforts in our work as bad as mud, but we won't let rain, storms, Archies [anti-aircraft fire] nor Boches [German] planes prevent our getting there with the goods."

WW1 Events of September 1st, 1918

September 01, 2018 • alvin york • billy mitchell • eddie rickenbacker

"Although we did not know it at the time, we were now on the last laps of the war." -- Eddie Rickenbacker, 100 years ago

Now Entering the Final Year of the First Air War

November 18, 2017 • billy mitchell • dangers of wwi aviation • hugh trenchard • influenza • lafayette escadrille • rfc/raf • wwi

Meanwhile, the Germans would concentrate more on training and also would be fighting more defensively, conserving their aircraft and pilots. By the fall of 1918, the fortunes of German ground forces would be declining, but the German air force would have some of its best months of the war.

Overview of WWI Aviation on the 99th Anniversary of Armistice Day

November 10, 2017 • billy mitchell • charles nungesser • eddie rickenbacker • ernst udet • eugene bullard • frank luke • georges guynemer • mick mannock • raoul lufbery • red baron

November 11th, 1917 - the soon-to-be famous, the soon-to-be dead, and the soon-to-be adrift in a world not at war, one year from now.

Nazgul, Defence of London, Aerobatics, and Air Forces - Part II

August 09, 2017 • billy mitchell • eddie rickenbacker • red baron • rfc/raf • usaf origins

The End of Aerial Duels Last week’s post explained how the summer 1917 Gotha attacks on London caused Arthur Gould Lee’s squadron to be in England. Though they didn't get to fight any Gothas, they comforted the population while developing their skills at formation flying. The practice in formation flying was itself the beginning of a major change. The period that WWI aviation is best remembered for was the aerial fighting in 1916 and 1917: “when enemies in the air could fight without mercy but without hate, could even respect and admire each other’s skill and valour.” But when, on the formation of...