"When my brother and I built the first man-carrying flying machine we thought that we were introducing into the world an invention which would make future wars practically impossible."
.....Orville Wright

World War I fliers became a new kind of cavalry, conducting from up among the clouds the same sort of missions less-favored riders still executed amid the trees and rocks. The fliers would swoop over the corpse-strewn trenches of Europe to strafe and bomb, to spy out enemy troop movements, to locate targets for the artillery and, most theatrically, to duel with the aerial cavalry of the other side.

Dashing and colorful - and young (their average age was about 20) - they were feared, feted and exalted as the reincarnations of medieval knights. professional killers with the manners of gentlemen and the courage of eagles. "They recall the legendary days of chivalry," declared Prime Minister Lloyd George of Britain, "not merely by their daring exploits but by the nobility of their spirit ." Hundreds of the most stalwart fliers actually were knighted by their grateful nations. Manfred von Richthofen, for example, who abandoned his cavalry career to volunteer for the Air Service, was but one of fourscore German fliers designated a knight of the order of Pour le Merite by Kaiser Wilhelm II for repeated heroism in the air.

Although the appellation of knight was widely applied to them, the great pilots more commonly became known as aces. The term at first meant an excellent flier, a high card to play against the enemy. But soon it denoted a pilot who had achieved a specific number of victories in the air.

The personal nature of air combat in WWI enabled each nation to maintain a record of the successes of its aviators. Ground rules were established for confirming each victory - victory being defined as the shooting or forcing down of an enemy plane, balloon or airship regardless of whether the opposing pilot was killed or survived. Though many victories were never confirmed, literally thousands of airmen were credited with at least one victory. Generally, 5 victories were required to be considered an 'Ace'.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Manfred von Richthofen

Rene Paul Fonck

James McCudden