Aerial warfare began in Europe during the first year of the war in 1914. From pilots taking potshots at each other and dropping hand-made bombs, to full-fledged air combat by 1915. Aircraft began to play an important part in World War I, from reconnaissance and observation to bombing, airplanes soon became a weapon that drew thousands of young men into aviation and into an air war that resulted in 50,000 combat deaths. It was said  that aviators “were marked for death” and those who were not shot down in flames often met their fate in flying accidents, or simply “disappeared.” Part I of this two-part course will cover many of the aircraft and pilots during WWI, technical developments in aircraft and weapons.