Hard to believe those planes could even take off with the weight of the pilots brass balls and all.

My grandmother was a child during WWI and lived in Serbia, she use to tell me stories about during the war


One thing she said was before she had actually seen a plane she was told about the dangerous "luftfisch" and as a child thought they were some type of flying fish not a mechanical machine
I miss her

Thanks for sharing the video

Wow, I figured this would get a lot more comments. Footage like this is not easy to come by and cool as all get out.

Still nuth'in……. humph!

You are correct. Awesome. I still find myself looking for info on the Barons flying Circus. In 1917-1918-the Prussian pilots were a force to be reckoned with. Thanks for sharing!!!

A couple of years ago our family walked through a museum with the planes of WWI. Seeing the canvas and wood plains in person really helps get the feel of this video footage.
Thank you Fin.

Pretty cool to have videos of that vintage. I was impressed with the way they dropped a bomb by hand. Things have sure changed in the air in the last 100 years.

Great footage.

I just finished a great book called "Forty Seven Days" that details Pershing's life and role in finishing WWI. They talk a lot about the aerial support for the ground troops but there was so little communication between the front lines and the rear that it was tough to get things right.


Thanks for the video.

Pete

That is incredible footage. I think about 5-6 seconds from the start the pilot is Hermann Goering who went on to be the commander of the Red Baron's Flying Circus after the Baron was killed. He also was the #2 man under Hitler and commanded the Luftwaffe in WW2.

I thought the same thing. It does look like Goering. I'll bet it is. He was a famous ace at that time and there is quite a bit of footage of him.

What amazes me about the airplanes of that era is what they could do in the air, meanwhile you couldn't buy a car that you would bet your life on because it might not even start.

Still hard to believe that this thread has not taken off (no pun intended). This is really good footage and for the many history buffs on this site, I thought it would garner more attention. Not that I'm whining, I'm just say'in.

Ok, I appreciate the film!

Yes, portions of that film depict Hermann Goering. The film is incredible. Aerial battle footage, aerial bombing footage, dogfights, raids, they captured and show everything. That may be most or all of the surviving German Luftwaffe film from WWI. Can you imagine the odds of any film being taken, getting developed, surviving through battle, and ending up on the webernet more than 100 years later! In those conditions, how did those guys keep the batteries charged in their iPhones?