52 minSeason 1 • Episode 2
LatestWorld War I is the mark of a major new innovation in warfare: airplanes capable of high speed raids, bombing and shooting from the air, spying, and backing up ground troops. But the planes of that era were flown with little in the way of instrumentation. Brave and daring men flew them, often to the point of recklessness. This episode introduces us to the great flying aces of World War I.
One month after the outbreak of World War I, Paris is bombarded by German airplanes. Parisians witness a whole new type of warfare. Five pilots from France, Germany, and Britain take us into the world of the greatest "flying aces" of the First World War.
Production
Stunning aerial recreations that'll make your stomach drop.
Direction
Balances documentary gravitas with genuine cinematic dread.
Creators
Fabrice Hourlier, Marc Eisenschteter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
René Fonck survived the war with 75 confirmed kills but died in 1953 as a Vichy regime collaborator — the show barely touches this.
The 'flying ace' concept was partly invented by newspapers desperate to make industrial slaughter palatable to readers back home.
FR
