World War 1 Aircraft
Little did Orville and Wilbur realize that their successful flight would engineer one of the most deadly and efficient killing machines ever devised.

AEG C.IV
The AEG C-series of fighter-bomber was a development of Allgemeine Elektritzitats Gesellschaft and was a principle aircraft available to Imperial Germany during the First World War. Seeing action on all fronts, the system was...

AEG G.IV
The AEG G.IV was another successful product of the Allgemeine Elektritzitats Gesellschaft aircraft corporation and was an amalgam of what made the G.I, G.II and G.III successful aircraft in their own right. The system was pro...

Aeromarine 39
The Aeromarine 39 was a two-seat plane for land-based or seaplane training ordered by the US Navy in 1917. The versatile aircraft was built by the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company of Keyport, New Jersey. The design was a s...

Aeromarine 40
The Aeromarine Model 40 (or simply "Aeromarine 40") was a two-seat floatplane trainer aircraft serving the United States Navy. The aircraft was produced by the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company of Keyport, New Jersey, and ha...

Aerowerke Gustav Otto AGO C.II
The C.II was the product of the Aerowerke Gustav Otto aircraft firm, abbreviated as AGO in the designation, and is often regarded as one of the best reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War. Serving just a short span, t...

Airco / de Havilland DH.4
With production numbering over 6,000 total units, the Airco / de Havilland DH.4 was another one of Geoffrey de Havilland's successful aircraft designs of the First World War (his legacy would later be solidified with the deve...

Airco DH.2
Though not much to look at by today's fighter aircraft standards - let alone World War One-era aircraft standards, the Airco-produced DH.2 would prove to be a rugged and reliable platform. The DH.2 was the product of one Geof...

Airco DH.5
With the view afforded the pilots of the DH.2, famed aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland set out to create a similar, yet more than capable in terms of performance, off-shoot in the form of the DH.5. The end result would ...

Airco DH.9
The AirCo / de Havilland DH.9 was a further revision of the DH.4 bomber. Design was accomplished by the de Havilland company with production handled by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company ("AirCo" or "Airco"). The series was f...

Albatros B.II
The Albatros B.II was a reconnaissance biplane used in the early years of the First World War, particularly on the German side. The product of design of one Ernst Heinkel, a name that would appear on a variety of aircraft typ...

Albatros C.I
The Albatros C.I series of aircraft was the next evolution in the brand's reconnaissance aircraft line. Stemming from the development of the production Albatros B.II, the C.I shared many of the common characteristics in the i...

Albatros C.III
Continuing in the long line of short-term reconnaissance biplane designs, the German Air Force fielded the Albatros C.III in an effort to improve upon the successes of the C.I design. Appearing outwardly nearly identical to t...

Albatros C.V
The Albatros C.V can, in some ways, be approached as a step backwards in the progression of the C-series as a whole. Though the intent to produce a top-notch reconnaissance biplane aircraft, the system fell short of expectati...

Albatros C.X
The Albatros production of the C.X model continued the firm's commitment to producing capable reconnaissance biplane aircraft. Supplanting the earlier C-series types before it, the C.X model looked to improved upon an already...

Albatros D.I
The Albatros series of aircraft is a good study in how aircraft design evolved throughout World War One. The "D" series saw no fewer than five in the D.I, D.II, D.III, D.V and ultimately the D.Va. Such was the newfound weapon...

Albatros D.II
The Albatros D.II became a further development of the successful Albatros D.I series. The D.I was instrumental in winning back air superiority to the side of the Germans, with their powerful engines and dual-synchronized mach...

Albatros D.III
Having already found successes in the Albatros D.I and D.II models, designer Robert Thelen sought for more in the way of maneuverability when tackling the new Albatros D.III. This was accomplished by a new unstaggered wing la...

Albatros D.V
The Albatros D.V series is often regarded as the best of th bunch in regards to the preceding D.I, D.II and the D.III models. By the latter years of 1917, the improved D.III was already showing signs that it had become outcla...

Albatros D.Va
The Albatros D.Va was a further development in the “D” series and a continuation of the successful D.V series. As with all of the preceding Albatros D models, the D.Va featured only minor improvements in the hopes that the ai...

Ansaldo A 1 Balilla (Hunter)
The Ansaldo A 1 Balilla ("Hunter") was the first aircraft fighter design of Italian origins. Italian forces consistently used French-designed aircraft in the early years of the war, leading the Ansaldo Italian firm to create ...

Armstrong Whitworth FK.8
The Armstrong Whitworth FK.8 model series was an aircraft conceived of by aircraft designer Frederick Koolhoven of Dutch origins. The system turned out to be a most versatile platform used throughout the First World War and p...

Aviatik B.I
The Aviatik B.I series handled reconnaissance duties for Germany in the early years of the war, serving up to about early 1916 before being replaced by more improved contemporaries. The system was sufficient in the role and w...

Aviatik C.I
Aviatik (Automobil und Aviatikwerke) of Germany was already involved in aircraft designs from the outset of the war, graduating from the copying of French designs to producing their own new design in the Aviatik B.I. Followin...

Avro 504
Without knowing it from the outset, the Avro Type 504 series of aircraft would become one of the most produced and influential biplane designs for the United Kingdom, being fielded from 1913 all the way through the early 1930...

Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo
The Kangaroo was the product of the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company, Limited. The design began as a venture in 1916 to which two complete prototypes were produced. These prototype aircraft, known collectively as the Bla...

Breguet Br.M5
The Breguet Br.M5 series of biplane bomber was developed from the Breguet Br.M4. The Br.M5 was operated by a crew of two with the pilot seated in the middle of the aircraft and the gunner/observer to the front. Defensive arma...

Breguet Bre.14
French aviation design triumphed with the arrival of the Breguet Bre.14 series (sometimes written as Breguet Br.XIV). The aircraft proved to be of the utmost reliability and lethality upon entering the war front in 1916 and w...

Bristol F.2
The Bristol F.2 fighter series operated throughout the British Empire for decades, serving through World War 1 and through the interwar years. The system proved a viable fighter platform despite its origination as a reconnais...

Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout is a good World War One aircraft study in the "what might have been" category. Born from the pedigree of a racing plane, the Bristol Scout was used in the beginning of the war as an unarmed flying scout, uti...

Caproni Ca.36
The Caproni Ca.36 represented the definitive model in the C-bomber series debuted in 1914 as the C.31. The Ca.36 was a tremendous asset to allied operations against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and were put into ac...

Caudron G.4
The Caudron G.4 series was a twin-engine bomber platform introduced in the early years of World War 1 by the French. The system served initially with the French air force but was put to good use in the hands of British, Itali...

Caudron R.11
The Caudron R.11 was initially intended as a reconnaissance platform for the French Air Force but went on to serve the role of fighter escort instead. The system was fielded with a crew of three, was of a large two engine des...

DFW C.V
The DFW C.V series of biplane aircraft was of German design in World War 1. The system was particularly noted for its good handling characteristics, power derived from its Benz engine and strong dogfighting capabilities even ...

Fokker D.VII
The Fokker Dr.VII is now regarded as the best German fighter of the First World War. This biplane design entered development and production towards the end of the war but aircrews still managed some very impressive kill-to-lo...

Fokker D.VIII
The Fokker D.VIII was a monoplane design and is regarded as one of the best fighters produced by the Germans during the First World War. It combined survivability, firepower and adaptability in a sturdy airframe. The syst...

Fokker Dr.I (Dreidecker) Triplane
The Fokker Dr.I ("Dr" for "Dreidecker" meaning "triplane") series is most closely associated with Manfred von Richthofen (aka "the Red Baron") as the triplane aircraft was his chosen mount in the final months of his life, acc...

Fokker E (Eindecker) Monoplane
As with most aircraft developed during the First World War, the Eindecker series enjoyed a relatively short period of time at the front lines. Aviation technology was ever changing to the point that aircraft designs could be ...