I spoke to a ww1 veteran in 1963 i told him I was reading a book about WW1 he said to me thats good because ever since WW2 we have been forgotten about .
@@jerrymccrae7202 i’m old enough to remember lots of the generation that went through both world wars including my grandparents there were millions of them that went through both world wars in the 1950s, that elderly man that I spoke to used to come in and sweep the factory Yard for some money in hand ,My mother lost her first husband in World War II His ship was coming back from America with raw materials and it was sunk in the Icelandic sea War It’s not a joke as we’re finding out again now.
@@TheOsfania my uncle during the period of the Korean War was out there with the United Nations forces During that war He came home on leave after been billeted in Japan and brought me me a little clockwork toy It was a tank that used to go along and flip over made out of metal.
My grandfather was an RFC pilot, was shot down but somehow survived, despite the lack of parachute. Thanks for this compellingly written and told amount, which has given me a glimpse of what the experience must have been like for him.
My grandfather was also a pilot in the RFC/RAF. Flew Camels. There is also a family story about him being shot down, and picking up a French and German helmet as he made his way back to Allied lines.
My maternal grandfather joined the RFC the week before it changed to the RAF. His log book shows his training in 504K and 2 seat Camels, including winding up in a tree due to the “sparking plugs”. His 18th flight was a timed climb to 8000ft and, due to gas damage suffered st Passchendale, his lung collapsed. Armistice saw him in hospital followed by recuperation at a country estate somewhere. Judged fit to fly in Feb’19 his training was completed to A licence (55hrs) and he was demobbed the very next day. Vale Harry Edney.
@@378jbk passed down by my mother along with his tunic and a brass device for ‘Brassoing’ buttons without messing up the said tunic. Enjoy the research.
My Uncle was in the RFC as a turner machining parts. He stated pilots mostly had dihorrea as the Castrol Motor Oil gave them this as the oil system from many engines were total loss. This was a continual process throughout the war.
my dad was telling me about his uncles friend who was in the rfc. he said he went round to play billiards once and was alarmed to find a plane wind shield with bullet holes in it. apparently the rfc pilot was shot down and he kept it as a souvenir. he was a lucky one because he didn't end up dead from that. always an interesting memory for me now.
I matriculated in 1965 and in 1966 went to work in the Standard Bank, Marshalls Branch, Johannesburg. On 11 November the old man who was called the " messenger" and took cheques, etc to the clearing depot, was sitting on a table swinging his leg. About 11 am he called to me and asked if I knew what the day was. I said it was the anniversary of the end of WW! He then asked if I could guess where he was at that time and day. I did not have a clue, so he told me he had been a fighter pilot who had been shot down, and it was then that they allocated to him the task of flying new planes to squadrons in France. At 11 am he was flying over the front lines and suddenly everything went quiet, and all he heard was the wind in the wires and struts. His surname was Sullivan. In those days it was impolite to ask questions, so I never did. Now I look back and would love to have, but how much would he have discussed, as again, people did not talk.
A wonderful video, providing a level of detail I would not expect to find outside of a book. Compelling, knowledgeable narrative, read in a competent, compassionate and thankfully unsensational voice.
I'm a pilot of a Challenger Ultralight in the FAR-103 class. A LOT like those early planes. I didn't fly near any Interstate Highways at first because the cars were zooming past under me. I was shamed. lol I live near (our near, 4 hour flight) the Wright Brothers Memorial and am PROUD to say I have my "First Flight Airport" stamp!! A small civil airport beside the Wright's "runway".
The best account of WW1 RFC pilot is in the novel Winged Victory , by Victor Maslin Yeates . Virtually a autobiography , Yeates was a Camel pilot with five victories . He was disabled by Flying Sickness D , TB caused through the Castor Oil that Rotary engines threw back as a fine mist into the pilots faces . Most likely younger WW1 flying enthusiasts are more absorbed by the Dog Fights that rarely happened . What scared Yeates , and his fictional character Cundell was ground attack. During the 2nd Battle of Cambrai in Nov-Dec 1917 , the RFC lost 400 aircraft in the ground attack role. Ironically that use of aircraft was similarly a prelude to an early death in WW2 , Korea and Vietnam. Just as the Americans designed their Warthog A-10 Thunderbolt as an armored ground attacker , so the British did in 1918 .with the Sopwith Salamander.
R.Mason's "The Escadrille Lafayette" is also worth searching out as it chronicles the first Americans' volunteer group flying in the French Chase` Squadrons.
@@anthonyeaton5153So, what part of R. Mason's father serving in the Escadrille Lafayette are you not understanding? And of all of Mason's stories I confirmed, along with the airfields they served at, which were also cross referenced within Rene Martel's extremely accurate book Bombing and Observations Squads of France in the Great War. Martel goes into great detail about the Farman Mf11 squadron that was co-occupying the Belfort and Luxieul airfields in Alsace with the Lafayette squadron: Happe's Esc. F.29 during 1915~1916.
So many were lost merely in training. There was one innocent-looking little coombe on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain that had its own local winds and it claimed a disproportionate number of trainee airmens' lives.
A great video. Years ago I met an elderly man who flew in WW1. He was as deaf as a post. He said the exhaust pipes were close to the cock pit. We may think that flying was romantic but it must have been tough job. Thanks again for your posts.
My grandfather Jock had may stories of his time in the Royal Flying Corps. I have one picture of him in flight gear stand in front of a sopwith camel, could be a pup. He had quite an aviation career over the span of his lifetime.
G'day, If there's a Dihedral-Angle on the top Wing it's a Pup, if the top Wing is "Flat" from tip to tip then it's a Camel. All Pups had 1 Vickers Gun, unless it was removed. Some Pups lost their Guns, acquired Rear Seats, and were sold post WW-1 as "Doves"... Camels generally had 2 Vickers Guns, fixed firing forward, but Naval Camels only had the Left Vickers, supplemented by a Lewis Gun on the Right side of the Upper Centre-Section - on a Sliding Quadrant Mount like that of an SE-5a... And Late-War Nightfighting Camels had the Fueltank mounted where the Cockpit should be, the Cockpit shifted back to where the Fueltank should have been (thus affording a better view ahead and above, as well as making Pitch Trim less Fuel-load dependant) and both Vickers Guns removed in favour of a pair of Lewis Guns on Quadrant Mountings behind the top Wing - set up generally to fire ahead and upwards at 45° ; for what the Nachtjagdwaffe liked to secretly call the "Schragemusik-Effect" - ie Slanted Music, which what the German Language translates "Jazz Music" into...; and the Moonlit Lancaster Hunters thought they'd invented something new - while the Lancaster-Jockeys had never been told how Captain D'Urban Armstrong used to shoot down Gothas, at night, while flying a Camel modified to his ideas..., so RAF Bomber Command only ever danced Funeral Jigs, when the Schragemusik's Drumbeat Cannonade began to thump up through their Wing, from below, hammering into the Fueltanks between the Engines. Jazz Music, The Camel's Gift to WW-2... As it turns out. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
Thank you for an interesting video. Growing up in New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s I became friends with a family friend who had been an observer in the RFC. When I got older I tried to get him to take a joy flight. He always said no. One day he said yes. He would come for a flight next Saturday and could I arrange it. I replied that I was going home from my holiday on Friday. He replied “that’s unfortunate”.
Just to add a historic note: The BEF's early issue BE-2's weren't quite the same aircraft that were made from 1916 onwards, as the BE-2a was considerably less maneuverable with wing warping and had a weaker Renault 8C engine. The BE-2C through F were powered by the improved RAF A.1 aircooled V8 at about 90 hp vs. the Renault 8C @ about 60~70 hp. Still that didn't make the later BE-2's any more capable during Bloody April or even afterwards. And the 'arryTate's ( RE-8...) was, despite it's forward firing Vickers and Scarff ring rear observer's "turret", was a meager improvement over the nearly defenseless BE-2's.
A very riveting account. Great presentation. My grandfather served in the Royal Flying Corps, flew an S.E.5. Not sure how he survived the war considering the life expectancy of a pilot was only a few weeks.
@@8-bitsteve500 Of course it's true; I've found records on-line to prove it. It was after his stint as a gunner/observer in R.E. 8s. He took teaching Ball as a matter of pride!
1917-- GF - had spent years in the trenches and the RCAF was training. 21 students started - 20 funerals - 1 Night Fighter. That is how brutal it was at the end of the war.
Louis Strange’s career makes Biggles look like a beginner! The book ‘Flying Rebel’ by my late friend Gp Capt Peter Hearn is a ‘must’ for followers of WW1 and WW2 aviation. I met one of Louis Strange’s WW2 colleagues and he verified that all the stories about him, seemingly so impossible, were true.
Very good way of making the subject come to life. It reminded me a bit of one of the early Biggles books. The description plus the pictures really made me feel as if I had been there. Thanks.
Many early aircraft motors were lubricated with castor oil, and the fumes often gave pilots the shitz. Later they switched to hempseed oil which has a higher temperature resistance, without the laxative effect.
Also: The Wright Flyer as a trainer is not accurate, it would have been Bristol Aero's Boxkite copy of the Farman IV, or a number of other derivative copies of the early Maurice Farman Longhorn or the Henry Farman 20. There were some numbers of British designed monoplanes and the early Royal Air Factory's Bleriot Experimental series, remember that the Royal Air Factory was based in Farnborough
Weird looking Taube, haha. These B.E.2s and R.E.8s got a lot of German pilots Pour Le Merit medals. They were awarding so many they had to up the requirements.
There was an amusement park ride at Euclid Beach in Cleveland, Ohio designed by a WWi fighter pilot. You can find videos of the "Flying Turns" on RUclips. It was the scariest to get on for the first time, but you could not wait to get on it once the ride ended.
Anyone interested in WW1 aviation should take a look at “Cavalry of the Clouds “on YT interviews with the pilots in their later years.Accounts from people who were there and survived
Propellers made of wood. My grandpa, WW1 pilot vet, had the centre of one turned into a clock. Always wore two wrist watches too, a habit fron those days.
Wow, this is way better than any movie or video game could portray it. The video footage doesn't match the commentary, but it doesn't matter one jot. I know what a Taube looks like. I particularly liked the very early start of the war time period, and the fact you never hear or see the bullets being fired, you just later notice bullet holes in the wings... if ever. More than likely probably not until you land do you find most of them. Video games get this so wrong with bright tracer rounds.
Both British and French took engines seriously. 60 ponies? That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Many British planes were extra efficient and friendly to fly. Even some Nieuports were 60 HP.
Your assignment, after this brief history lesson, is to buy a VR headset and buy Warplanes WW1 Fighters. Fly high, out of the range of the enemy's guns, and swoop down to pick them off one at a time. Use your excess speed and, in the beginning, rather sorry excuse for an engine, to swoop back upward from where you'll choose your next target. Rinse and repeat until the last enemy goes KABOOM! Back at base, your first upgrade should be climbing ability and then turn rate. Altitude advantage is EVERYTHING. Altitude is LIFE.
Someone will have to explain how an aircraft with exhaust stacks carrying the exhaust above the upper wing "fills the cockpit with smoke..." and a propeller that turns counter clockwise when viewed from the cockpit would induce a left hand turn from torque? The reason for the torque turn to the right of the BE-2 is because the propeller shaft is geared at a 1:2 reduction as it is geared off of the camshaft drive for these engines, and the rather steep pitched, 4 blade propeller has to spin at about 700 to 900 RPM because you really can't expect the Renault and RAF V8 to make much RPM.
....and then you get paired up for your next mission with an Observer by the name of Baldrick - who has brought 500 rounds with him!! "Cheese and tomato for you, and .....!!" 🤦♂️
The Folker Triplane is later in the war. Lots of visual anachronisms in this video. The heavily shelled towns for instance...again from months or years later than the time of the sortie being described.
Question for anyone: About 30 years ago I read a short story about a British WWI pilot. I think the title was “Good Morning…” Can’t remember the title but it was about a mission on a cold morning and mentioned something about jumping or burning as the only option if your aircraft caught fire. Any help appreciated, Thanks!
Observers weren't trained. The feeling among the cavalry-dominated cretins largely in charge of the early RFC was that a man didn't need to be taught how to just look at things. Which brings us neatly onto the greatest problem with the RFC - really not fixed with the RAF until the 1930s - that being the aggressive amateurishness of the highest ranks. Only created from scratch in April 1912, there simply were no senior Army officers with any flying experience. Thus, the RFC found itself commanded largely by cavalry officers, the ability to ride being seen as an important skill for flyers to have - and, of course, a good means of ensuring that only the 'right sort' get to become aviators. What this video doesn't say is the importance of Flying Sgts in the war to come. Public schools were indeed the primary feeders for the RFC/RAF, but these boys had had their minds poisoned by jingoistic nonsense to a degree that made recognizing reality difficult, and typically resulted in their dying almost as fast as they reached the Front. Of course, arriving at a Squadron with single-digit flying hours probably didn't help either. However, there was another source of pilots available - the Sergents who were serving as Observers and mechanics, getting a few hours of instruction here and there, and who were far more mature and pragmatic than the literally childish products of Engilsh public schools.
You obviously put a lot of hard work into this, and there is a lot of factually correct stuff. But in the first place your mispronunciation of 'lieutenant' (LEFTenant) and 'fuselage' (fuseLARGE) betray a lack of engagement with the subject and undermine your authority. Plus, there were a lot of RE8s substituting for BE2s. I know there can't be a pile of BE2c video material, but it's not good enough simply to pass one off as the other. There is still plenty of resource material with WW1 pilots speaking of their experiences (the 1960s BBC series 'The Great War' is a start), not to mention written personal accounts. You have the basis for a good channel here, but you need to get deeper into the time. Get to know the lexicon and idioms.
@@kevelliott I did the first world war for o level history at public school. I have a room full of first world war books. Learn your history the Royal Flying Corps is public school England.
Well, as a guarantor of Belgian neutrality (Treaty of London, 1839) Britain had no option except to go to war. That’s how treaties work. Once Germany had invaded Belgium and refused to leave, the British reaction was inevitable. So yes, there was a ‘German onslaught’. NB: Portugal REQUESTED special dispensation, from its obligations to Britain so as not to provoke Franco. However, it still allowed Britain to use its overseas bases - notably The Azores. Portugal and England have honoured the treaty every, single time it’s been invoked (including, most recently, The Falklands War). So treaties, when signed by reputable governments, are honoured. It’s the very thing (reputation) which the UK government is in danger of losing under the current (Brexit) government… Best wishes.
Just think; it took humans 10,000+ yrs to develop the 1st airplane made of wood, wire, & fabric, & barely being able to get off the ground to…..What we have today, fantastic aircraft that can fly faster than sound, be invisible, carry weapons of all kinds (themselves being marvels of technology), all in about 110 yrs. How can this be? Did humans invent all the high technology it took to create these things? What do you think? 👽👈🏼? …..🤔
But surely the yanks won all the wars Most of the big feature films say so this can’t be true CAN IT .? The English didn’t come into the wars till it was all nearly over or have I got it wrong way round ?
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I spoke to a ww1 veteran in 1963 i told him I was reading a book about WW1 he said to me thats good because ever since WW2 we have been forgotten about .
Sure ...right, and my uncle was Mamfred Von Richotoven!
Korean vets are much more ignored.
@@jerrymccrae7202 i’m old enough to remember lots of the generation that went through both world wars including my grandparents there were millions of them that went through both world wars in the 1950s, that elderly man that I spoke to used to come in and sweep the factory Yard for some money in hand ,My mother lost her first husband in World War II His ship was coming back from America with raw materials and it was sunk in the Icelandic sea War It’s not a joke as we’re finding out again now.
@@TheOsfania my uncle during the period of the Korean War was out there with the United Nations forces During that war He came home on leave after been billeted in Japan and brought me me a little clockwork toy It was a tank that used to go along and flip over made out of metal.
I think WWI is in many ways more interesting than WWII.
As a pilot since age 16 and a builder of experimental aircraft this video is superb! They were the true pioneers!
My grandfather was an RFC pilot, was shot down but somehow survived, despite the lack of parachute. Thanks for this compellingly written and told amount, which has given me a glimpse of what the experience must have been like for him.
RFC and RAF WW1 pilots were not allowed to have parachutes. Higher Command believed that pilots would prefer to jump rather than fight.
@@wuffothewonderdog Absolutely true. The Germans started to wear parachutes in 1917 if I'm right.
My grandfather was also a pilot in the RFC/RAF. Flew Camels. There is also a family story about him being shot down, and picking up a French and German helmet as he made his way back to Allied lines.
@@redblack84141918,from about May onwards
@@wuffothewonderdogNO,they believed a parachute would have a man jumping before he needed to.
My maternal grandfather joined the RFC the week before it changed to the RAF. His log book shows his training in 504K and 2 seat Camels, including winding up in a tree due to the “sparking plugs”. His 18th flight was a timed climb to 8000ft and, due to gas damage suffered st Passchendale, his lung collapsed. Armistice saw him in hospital followed by recuperation at a country estate somewhere. Judged fit to fly in Feb’19 his training was completed to A licence (55hrs) and he was demobbed the very next day. Vale Harry Edney.
How did you get your grandfathers logbook? I am doing research on my grandfather who was in the RFC then the RAF.
@@378jbk passed down by my mother along with his tunic and a brass device for ‘Brassoing’ buttons without messing up the said tunic. Enjoy the research.
@@oscarharriet7030 Thankyou for your reply Oscar. 👍
I'm going to say the "Two Seat Camel" was probably the Sopwith 1 and 1/2 Strutter, if it was indeed a Sopwith biplane
Also cannot recommend Denis Winter’s books “Death’s Men” and “The First of the Few” highly enough.
My paternal grandfather was a reconnaissance photographer in the Royal Flying Corp.
He survived and helped teach me photography.
Just imagine standing in a biplane shooting a bolt action rifle at another guy doing the same thing. That's awesome in a weird kinda way.
Some crazy duelling, imagine actually hitting someone..
My Uncle was in the RFC as a turner machining parts. He stated pilots mostly had dihorrea as the Castrol Motor Oil gave them this as the oil system from many engines were total loss. This was a continual process throughout the war.
@standupnow-bo3lr I know I am of the generation who suffered it after WWII.
That was a wonderful little Snippets into World War 1 and flying. A great script, and beautifully narrated. Thank you, and best wishes.
Agreed! I note the excellent script and narrating. They brought the subject to life.
Brave Pilots and Crazy Fragile Aircrafts 👍
my dad was telling me about his uncles friend who was in the rfc. he said he went round to play billiards once and was alarmed to find a plane wind shield with bullet holes in it. apparently the rfc pilot was shot down and he kept it as a souvenir. he was a lucky one because he didn't end up dead from that. always an interesting memory for me now.
I matriculated in 1965 and in 1966 went to work in the Standard Bank, Marshalls Branch, Johannesburg. On 11 November the old man who was called the " messenger" and took cheques, etc to the clearing depot, was sitting on a table swinging his leg. About 11 am he called to me and asked if I knew what the day was. I said it was the anniversary of the end of WW! He then asked if I could guess where he was at that time and day. I did not have a clue, so he told me he had been a fighter pilot who had been shot down, and it was then that they allocated to him the task of flying new planes to squadrons in France. At 11 am he was flying over the front lines and suddenly everything went quiet, and all he heard was the wind in the wires and struts. His surname was Sullivan. In those days it was impolite to ask questions, so I never did. Now I look back and would love to have, but how much would he have discussed, as again, people did not talk.
a interesting vignette, most of the men never spoke of the war
A wonderful video, providing a level of detail I would not expect to find outside of a book. Compelling, knowledgeable narrative, read in a competent, compassionate and thankfully unsensational voice.
As a Commercial Pilot with a love for the Be2, I was stunned by the excellence if this video. Intelligently written, it was a joy to listen to.
I'm a pilot of a Challenger Ultralight in the FAR-103 class. A LOT like those early planes. I didn't fly near any Interstate Highways at first because the cars were zooming past under me. I was shamed. lol I live near (our near, 4 hour flight) the Wright Brothers Memorial and am PROUD to say I have my "First Flight Airport" stamp!! A small civil airport beside the Wright's "runway".
You're making history come alive, thanks from Vancouver B.C.!
The best account of WW1 RFC pilot is in the novel Winged Victory , by Victor Maslin Yeates . Virtually a autobiography , Yeates was a Camel pilot with five victories . He was disabled by Flying Sickness D , TB caused through the Castor Oil that Rotary engines threw back as a fine mist into the pilots faces .
Most likely younger WW1 flying enthusiasts are more absorbed by the Dog Fights that rarely happened . What scared Yeates , and his fictional character Cundell was ground attack.
During the 2nd Battle of Cambrai in Nov-Dec 1917 , the RFC lost 400 aircraft in the ground attack role. Ironically that use of aircraft was similarly a prelude to an early death in WW2 , Korea and Vietnam.
Just as the Americans designed their Warthog A-10 Thunderbolt as an armored ground attacker , so the British did in 1918 .with the Sopwith Salamander.
R.Mason's "The Escadrille Lafayette" is also worth searching out as it chronicles the first Americans' volunteer group flying in the French Chase` Squadrons.
Now go and read a proper book about the war in air that is. fact, novels only entertain.
@@anthonyeaton5153So, what part of R. Mason's father serving in the Escadrille Lafayette are you not understanding? And of all of Mason's stories I confirmed, along with the airfields they served at, which were also cross referenced within Rene Martel's extremely accurate book Bombing and Observations Squads of France in the Great War. Martel goes into great detail about the Farman Mf11 squadron that was co-occupying the Belfort and Luxieul airfields in Alsace with the Lafayette squadron: Happe's Esc. F.29 during 1915~1916.
Winged Victory is a fantastic book. My copy gets re-read about once per year.
Well narrated, and accurate historical story telling
Bravo! And I'm thankyou!
So many were lost merely in training. There was one innocent-looking little coombe on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain that had its own local winds and it claimed a disproportionate number of trainee airmens' lives.
A great video. Years ago I met an elderly man who flew in WW1. He was as deaf as a post. He said the exhaust pipes were close to the cock pit. We may think that flying was romantic but it must have been tough job. Thanks again for your posts.
My grandfather Jock had may stories of his time in the Royal Flying Corps. I have one picture of him in flight gear stand in front of a sopwith camel, could be a pup. He had quite an aviation career over the span of his lifetime.
Send us the pic! Preserve the history! Give us more details! Don't let the history die!
G'day,
If there's a Dihedral-Angle on the top Wing it's a Pup, if the top Wing is "Flat" from tip to tip then it's a Camel.
All Pups had 1 Vickers Gun, unless it was removed. Some Pups lost their Guns, acquired Rear Seats, and were sold post WW-1 as "Doves"...
Camels generally had 2 Vickers Guns, fixed firing forward, but Naval Camels only had the Left Vickers, supplemented by a Lewis Gun on the Right side of the Upper Centre-Section - on a Sliding Quadrant Mount like that of an SE-5a...
And Late-War Nightfighting Camels had the Fueltank mounted where the Cockpit should be, the Cockpit shifted back to where the Fueltank should have been (thus affording a better view ahead and above, as well as making Pitch Trim less Fuel-load dependant) and both Vickers Guns removed in favour of a pair of Lewis Guns on Quadrant Mountings behind the top Wing - set up generally to fire ahead and upwards at 45° ; for what the Nachtjagdwaffe liked to secretly call the "Schragemusik-Effect" - ie Slanted Music, which what the German Language translates "Jazz Music" into...; and the Moonlit Lancaster Hunters thought they'd invented something new - while the Lancaster-Jockeys had never been told how Captain D'Urban Armstrong used to shoot down Gothas, at night, while flying a Camel modified to his ideas..., so RAF Bomber Command only ever danced Funeral Jigs, when the Schragemusik's Drumbeat Cannonade began to thump up through their Wing, from below, hammering into the Fueltanks between the Engines.
Jazz Music,
The
Camel's
Gift to
WW-2...
As it turns out.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
Sorry Lieutenant is pronounced "Leff-tenant" in the UK - you used the Yankee pronunciations of "Loo-tenant"... otherwise good video!
And it's aeroplane, not airplane ;)
Thank you for an interesting video. Growing up in New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s I became friends with a family friend who had been an observer in the RFC. When I got older I tried to get him to take a joy flight. He always said no. One day he said yes. He would come for a flight next Saturday and could I arrange it. I replied that I was going home from my holiday on Friday. He replied “that’s unfortunate”.
The best novel I've read about WWI fighter pilots was "Goshawk Squadron" by Derek Robinson.
Very well done. An exceptional narrative.
FUCKIN LOVE THIS CHANNEL.......ONE of the best War channels if not top 5
Amazing work, great video!
Just to add a historic note: The BEF's early issue BE-2's weren't quite the same aircraft that were made from 1916 onwards, as the BE-2a was considerably less maneuverable with wing warping and had a weaker Renault 8C engine. The BE-2C through F were powered by the improved RAF A.1 aircooled V8 at about 90 hp vs. the Renault 8C @ about 60~70 hp. Still that didn't make the later BE-2's any more capable during Bloody April or even afterwards. And the 'arryTate's ( RE-8...) was, despite it's forward firing Vickers and Scarff ring rear observer's "turret", was a meager improvement over the nearly defenseless BE-2's.
Your presentation makes it real.
Very well done, thank you.
Awesome video! I love this channel and it’s visuals.
Amazing video, please keep the WW1 videos coming!!
Very evocative, especially in the first part. Thanks for this mostly excellent doc on WWI aviation.
A very riveting account. Great presentation. My grandfather served in the Royal Flying Corps, flew an S.E.5. Not sure how he survived the war considering the life expectancy of a pilot was only a few weeks.
This was great! Thank you very much for this!
So very brave indeed. Several of my all time heroes are WW1 pilots, Edward 'Mick' Mannock, Albert Ball and James McCudden.
My grandfather instructed Albert Ball in the use of the aerial machine gun!
@@carmium if that's true then wow, amazing!
@@8-bitsteve500 Of course it's true; I've found records on-line to prove it. It was after his stint as a gunner/observer in R.E. 8s. He took teaching Ball as a matter of pride!
1917-- GF - had spent years in the trenches and the RCAF was training. 21 students started - 20 funerals - 1 Night Fighter. That is how brutal it was at the end of the war.
Remarkable video. Thanks for making it and thanks for sharing👍🇿🇦
Fusilidge,that's a new one to me !
Very happy to have found this channel.
My great uncle Louis strange flew in both wars, a very brave man, lucky to survive!
One of my heroes, I live near his grave and like to visit this most peaceful of places. Great respects to your great uncle..
Louis Strange’s career makes Biggles look like a beginner! The book ‘Flying Rebel’ by my late friend Gp Capt Peter Hearn is a ‘must’ for followers of WW1 and WW2 aviation. I met one of Louis Strange’s WW2 colleagues and he verified that all the stories about him, seemingly so impossible, were true.
Very good way of making the subject come to life. It reminded me a bit of one of the early Biggles books. The description plus the pictures really made me feel as if I had been there. Thanks.
Many early aircraft motors were lubricated with castor oil, and the fumes often gave pilots the shitz.
Later they switched to hempseed oil which has a higher temperature resistance, without the laxative effect.
Absolutely fantastic production👍
Also: The Wright Flyer as a trainer is not accurate, it would have been Bristol Aero's Boxkite copy of the Farman IV, or a number of other derivative copies of the early Maurice Farman Longhorn or the Henry Farman 20. There were some numbers of British designed monoplanes and the early Royal Air Factory's Bleriot Experimental series, remember that the Royal Air Factory was based in Farnborough
Ooh... A Great War video. Hope it’s good!
Weird looking Taube, haha. These B.E.2s and R.E.8s got a lot of German pilots Pour Le Merit medals. They were awarding so many they had to up the requirements.
There was an amusement park ride at Euclid Beach in Cleveland, Ohio designed by a WWi fighter pilot. You can find videos of the "Flying Turns" on RUclips. It was the scariest to get on for the first time, but you could not wait to get on it once the ride ended.
Anyone interested in WW1 aviation should take a look at “Cavalry of the Clouds “on YT interviews with the pilots in their later years.Accounts from people who were there and survived
Thank you for this recommendation. I'm watching it right now and it's absolutely superb documentary. Btw. This one is also very well done.
Propellers made of wood. My grandpa, WW1 pilot vet, had the centre of one turned into a clock. Always wore two wrist watches too, a habit fron those days.
Wow, this is way better than any movie or video game could portray it. The video footage doesn't match the commentary, but it doesn't matter one jot. I know what a Taube looks like.
I particularly liked the very early start of the war time period, and the fact you never hear or see the bullets being fired, you just later notice bullet holes in the wings... if ever.
More than likely probably not until you land do you find most of them.
Video games get this so wrong with bright tracer rounds.
Your words are well researched and highly informative in your mission to inform us and honor their courage. Many Thanx!
Both British and French took engines seriously. 60 ponies? That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Many British planes were extra efficient and friendly to fly. Even some Nieuports were 60 HP.
Fantastic story ! Tnx alot!
My Grandmother used to make the wings (sewn). 👍🏼
Your assignment, after this brief history lesson, is to buy a VR headset and buy Warplanes WW1 Fighters. Fly high, out of the range of the enemy's guns, and swoop down to pick them off one at a time. Use your excess speed and, in the beginning, rather sorry excuse for an engine, to swoop back upward from where you'll choose your next target. Rinse and repeat until the last enemy goes KABOOM! Back at base, your first upgrade should be climbing ability and then turn rate. Altitude advantage is EVERYTHING. Altitude is LIFE.
This is very good and very factual....great images. Most RFC airman died in training accidents during the War.
Well Done Sir.
Sounds like a blast.
Someone will have to explain how an aircraft with exhaust stacks carrying the exhaust above the upper wing "fills the cockpit with smoke..." and a propeller that turns counter clockwise when viewed from the cockpit would induce a left hand turn from torque?
The reason for the torque turn to the right of the BE-2 is because the propeller shaft is geared at a 1:2 reduction as it is geared off of the camshaft drive for these engines, and the rather steep pitched, 4 blade propeller has to spin at about 700 to 900 RPM because you really can't expect the Renault and RAF V8 to make much RPM.
Very good !
....and then you get paired up for your next mission with an Observer by the name of Baldrick - who has brought 500 rounds with him!! "Cheese and tomato for you, and .....!!" 🤦♂️
Well done.
Thank you.
The Folker Triplane is later in the war. Lots of visual anachronisms in this video. The heavily shelled towns for instance...again from months or years later than the time of the sortie being described.
Nice vid , you've told the story well . Peace from France ; )
Best channel ever.
So Real, lived this, yet felt that pain as much as U intended it to feel ❤😢😅
Wow! Subscribed!
Do a follow up for an raf pilot in ww2.
They used castor oil as a lubricant, the most common medical complaint for all WW1 pilots was loose bowels,😁😊😀
Very interesting!
Life was quite short as a British WW1 pilot.
Fewsalidge....???? Oh, Please!!!
Lootenant......???? Aaaaaaaaaaaaargggghhhh!!!!
Better, but deadlier than the trench
What is the other aircraft in the picture along with the BE-2 ar about 8:48?
Question for anyone: About 30 years ago I read a short story about a British WWI pilot. I think the title was “Good Morning…”
Can’t remember the title but it was about a mission on a cold morning and mentioned something about jumping or burning as the only option if your aircraft caught fire. Any help appreciated, Thanks!
you would find interesting Peter Tunstall's biography The Last Escaper
First time that men fought in the sky.🛩
Really interesting pity about the triplane and helicopter bits
The twenty minuters
let us not forget that these were WOODEN frames and Fabric covered early on!
Wild, I had no idea I was a ww1 pilot…
Of all the wars to be a pilot
wonderfull
Absolutely amazing...
pilots were not allowed to wear parachutes. They wanted the pilot to land the plane rather than parachute.
"At the end of the century you were born with a silver spoon up your ar... "
Most of the aircraft in the flying scenes are not what is being talked about.
A film made by people who don't know very much about Early aviation.
Somewhat nit picking .... but it is "Fuse - a - large" ... not "Fuse - a - lige" . Thanks.
To sum it up in one word, short!
Life back then was so boring that flying in an aircraft would have been worth risking it.
Leff-tenant!
Observers weren't trained. The feeling among the cavalry-dominated cretins largely in charge of the early RFC was that a man didn't need to be taught how to just look at things. Which brings us neatly onto the greatest problem with the RFC - really not fixed with the RAF until the 1930s - that being the aggressive amateurishness of the highest ranks. Only created from scratch in April 1912, there simply were no senior Army officers with any flying experience. Thus, the RFC found itself commanded largely by cavalry officers, the ability to ride being seen as an important skill for flyers to have - and, of course, a good means of ensuring that only the 'right sort' get to become aviators.
What this video doesn't say is the importance of Flying Sgts in the war to come. Public schools were indeed the primary feeders for the RFC/RAF, but these boys had had their minds poisoned by jingoistic nonsense to a degree that made recognizing reality difficult, and typically resulted in their dying almost as fast as they reached the Front. Of course, arriving at a Squadron with single-digit flying hours probably didn't help either. However, there was another source of pilots available - the Sergents who were serving as Observers and mechanics, getting a few hours of instruction here and there, and who were far more mature and pragmatic than the literally childish products of Engilsh public schools.
That’s a little harsh methinks! Mind you, I am a former public schoolboy…
Like your video. But Artillery is very technical and requires considerable skill in mathematics.
My grandfather rode a camel.
Why ppl back then walk fast like in those vintage films?
Film playback speed
You obviously put a lot of hard work into this, and there is a lot of factually correct stuff. But in the first place your mispronunciation of 'lieutenant' (LEFTenant) and 'fuselage' (fuseLARGE) betray a lack of engagement with the subject and undermine your authority. Plus, there were a lot of RE8s substituting for BE2s. I know there can't be a pile of BE2c video material, but it's not good enough simply to pass one off as the other. There is still plenty of resource material with WW1 pilots speaking of their experiences (the 1960s BBC series 'The Great War' is a start), not to mention written personal accounts. You have the basis for a good channel here, but you need to get deeper into the time. Get to know the lexicon and idioms.
Yes it's a shame the narrator didn't attend public school like the first world war pilots did. A lot of grametical errors.
@@tonyleadley3494 It's nothing to do with which schools anybody went to. I didn't go to public school but i know this stuff.
@@kevelliott I did the first world war for o level history at public school. I have a room full of first world war books. Learn your history the Royal Flying Corps is public school England.
Oh I suppose you're perfict
6:00 not to mention the weight limit... and a bucket load of amphetamines to help get that weight limit if slightly over....
Nice movie, and a lot of bulls**t. BE2 against Fokker triplanes? A Sopwith Triplane? A pilot with a micro in front of his mouth?
" ... and your off to face the German onslaught ... " Okay, Actually - It Was The YOUR Country That Declared War On The German's ...
But WHATEVER
Well, as a guarantor of Belgian neutrality (Treaty of London, 1839) Britain had no option except to go to war. That’s how treaties work.
Once Germany had invaded Belgium and refused to leave, the British reaction was inevitable.
So yes, there was a ‘German onslaught’.
NB: Portugal REQUESTED special dispensation, from its obligations to Britain so as not to provoke Franco. However, it still allowed Britain to use its overseas bases - notably The Azores. Portugal and England have honoured the treaty every, single time it’s been invoked (including, most recently, The Falklands War).
So treaties, when signed by reputable governments, are honoured. It’s the very thing (reputation) which the UK government is in danger of losing under the current (Brexit) government…
Best wishes.
Just think; it took humans 10,000+ yrs to develop the 1st airplane made of wood, wire, & fabric, & barely being able to get off the ground to…..What we have today, fantastic aircraft that can fly faster than sound, be invisible, carry weapons of all kinds (themselves being marvels of technology), all in about 110 yrs. How can this be? Did humans invent all the high technology it took to create these things? What do you think? 👽👈🏼? …..🤔
But surely the yanks won all the wars Most of the big feature films say so this can’t be true CAN IT .? The English didn’t come into the wars till it was all nearly over or have I got it wrong way round ?
Short