The airplane had existed for little more than a decade by the outbreak of World War I, but both sides of the conflict quickly recognized the advantages of creating flying war machines and worked relentlessly throughout the war to develop faster, bigger and deadlier fighters and bombers. The concept of “air superiority” was unheard of before 1914, but winning the war in the skies became a tactical necessity by the end of the Great War.
The First War Planes Were for Reconnaissance
The main military role of aircraft in World War I was reconnaissance, says Jon Guttman, an historian of military aviation who’s authored more than a dozen books about World War I aircraft and fighter pilots. Hot air balloons had been deployed by the military for more than a century to get a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield, including during the U.S. Civil War, but the fixed-wing airplanes of World War I were able to fly deep behind enemy lines to track troop movements and map terrain.
“These were two-seater aircraft with a pilot to do the flying and an observer up front to man the binoculars and take notes,” says Guttman.
