0:00:15 > 0:00:18Throughout history, victory has been decided
0:00:18 > 0:00:20by what's going on down here on the surface of the Earth.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Britain, for example, in the 19th century,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26came to dominate the globe by controlling the world's oceans.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31But from the First World War onwards, warfare took to the skies,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and now controlling the air is a key part of military strategy.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And all that began with those brave pioneer aviators
0:00:38 > 0:00:40of the First World War.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50In 1909, Louis Bleriot set off on a flight that would make history.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53His aim was to win a prize of £1,000
0:00:53 > 0:00:56for the first plane to cross the English Channel.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It wasn't the most elegant of flights,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and ended in a rather rough landing.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05But he had made it.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09The plane he flew was a Bleriot XI, like this one here.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16It's amazing it got that far, it looks so flimsy.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Even more remarkably, this one still flies.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Not exactly Top Gun! HE GRUNTS
0:01:33 > 0:01:35When the war started five years later, planes like this
0:01:35 > 0:01:37were still in production,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and a few visionaries thought these might have a military application.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43With that, the first major air war had begun.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02At first, planes like this were reconnaissance vehicles,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04having a look at what was going on behind enemy lines
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and reporting back, but gradually started actually taking
0:02:07 > 0:02:09an active role on the battlefield.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Pilots were issued with these nasty looking things, flechettes -
0:02:12 > 0:02:15spikes that if you dropped over the side, might hit enemy troops -
0:02:15 > 0:02:17or even bombs.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Planes were now an important weapon of war.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25You've got to be kidding!
0:02:25 > 0:02:27There's no way I would go up in this thing.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29This might have been the future, but it was pretty primitive.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32In fact, I feel like I'm sitting in a wicker garden chair,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34surrounded by a sea of canvas.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36To steer it, you just move this column
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and it's connected by a very flimsy-looking set of wires
0:02:38 > 0:02:42to the wings themselves, not little flappy bits like modern aircraft.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47The whole wings move, they twist. It's a system called wing warping.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The engine is underpowered and prone to overheating.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It could only fly at 47mph,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56could only go at about 3,000 feet, no more,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and as for the instrument panel, you get one dial,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02your oil pressure, that's it.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06Phew!
0:03:11 > 0:03:14But as planes went into service in World War I,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17the pressure was on to improve the technology.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Soon, there was an arms race
0:03:20 > 0:03:23that pushed aircraft development at an astonishing rate.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33The pace of innovation in those years
0:03:33 > 0:03:34was like nothing seen before or since.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Just a few years into the war, they had planes like that.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49Isn't that cool?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55What makes this aircraft so distinctive is three sets of wings.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58They are designed to give the aircraft the necessary lift,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00but make the wings narrower,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03so the pilot can see more of what's going on on the ground.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05It also made the plane very manoeuvrable.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10There is an old story that the first ever test pilot amazed onlookers
0:04:10 > 0:04:13by doing three consecutive loop-the-loops.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27That plane can fly at 117mph, that's two and a half times
0:04:27 > 0:04:32as fast as the Bleriot, and it can fly seven times higher.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Such was the pace of innovation that some planes that were cutting-edge
0:04:36 > 0:04:39could be obsolete just a few months later.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But innovation wasn't just changing how these planes flew.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54It was changing how they fought.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56MUSIC: "Mr Blue Sky" by ELO
0:04:56 > 0:04:58It's said that at the very start of the war,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02when enemy planes passed each other, they would give a friendly wave.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06That didn't last
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and the age of air-to-air combat was born.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14At first, it was just the pilots taking pot-shots with a pistol.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15But the next generation of aircraft
0:05:15 > 0:05:18would have guns as part of their design.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21It soon became clear that the most effective way for the weapon
0:05:21 > 0:05:23to point was in the direction the aircraft is travelling.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Big problem there, though, of course, is you end up shooting your own
0:05:27 > 0:05:29propeller off, which is a bit of a disaster.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The first solution they tried was to mount a machine gun
0:05:32 > 0:05:34on top of the wing, on top of the propeller.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37The trouble with that was that the pilot basically had to stand up
0:05:37 > 0:05:39in his seat, release his straps, stand up here
0:05:39 > 0:05:41and replace the magazine when it ran out.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Completely unworkable, really.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47This S.E.5 had a system whereby the gun could slide
0:05:47 > 0:05:52back down to be reloaded, then slide up into its firing position.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Still very cumbersome, though.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03The Germans soon came up with an even better solution.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05It was quickly copied by the Brits.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10To show you how it works, I'm going to need too slow this down.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14They connected the machine gun to the crankshaft of the propeller
0:06:14 > 0:06:16with a series of cam plates.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20That meant the machine gun only fired when these propellers' blades
0:06:20 > 0:06:24weren't in the way. It was a very precise bit of engineering.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Get it wrong, you would blow your own propeller off.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33The amazing thing about the First World War is
0:06:33 > 0:06:37that by the end of it, pretty much every significant
0:06:37 > 0:06:40part of aerial warfare was already in development.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Planes were being used for reconnaissance, for communications,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48for dropping supplies, for dropping bombs and for air-to-air combat.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08In 1914, a new kind of hero was born.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11The fighter ace.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18These men took to the air in flimsy, primitive aircraft
0:07:18 > 0:07:20and fought to the death.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Today I'm going to find out what it's like to be
0:07:28 > 0:07:30in the middle of a World War I dogfight.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36I'm flying with the Great War Display Team,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38in a replica of the British B.E.2.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45This is a reconnaissance aircraft,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48so I'm in the observer's seat at the front.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09The B.E.2 was famed for its stability in flight.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Perfect as an observation platform, but hopeless at fighting.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Planes like this would usually be accompanies by a more nimble fighter.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24My escort is this Sopwith Triplane.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Manoeuvrable and well armed.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30But for a dogfight, we need an opponent.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Our nemesis is a Fokker DR1 Triplane.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38It was Germany's answer to the Sopwith.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42They took the British design and improved on it.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46It's spotted us and decided to go in for the kill.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Air-to-air combat decides who lives and who dies.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07A young German ace, Oswald Boelcke, decided to change that.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09He wrote a list of what he believed
0:09:09 > 0:09:14were the key tactics of aerial combat, the Dicta Boelcke.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17So here is Boelcke's guide to winning a dogfight.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37The Fokker is using the sun to mask its attack.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41It's also climbed up higher than the Sopwith.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43If you have the height,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46you have the stored energy which you can convert to speed.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The Fokker attacks, hoping to take out the Sopwith with an ambush.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57He can see the plane, but he's not firing yet.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00He's following another of Boelcke's dictums.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24But the Sopwith got lucky and spotted the Fokker.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Time for the next rule.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29If your opponent dives on you:
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Facing attack, your instinct might be to flee,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48but in fact, flying towards your attacker is the best strategy.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52By turning up, it makes it harder for the Fokker to hit it.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56The Sopwith survived and now it's got the height advantage.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00The two sides are now manoeuvring,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03putting into practice another one of Boelcke's rules.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09It's essential to assail your opponent from behind.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19The two pilots are now twisting and turning,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21desperately trying to get behind the other.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25It's a battle of nerves, wits and engineering.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Both pilots are pushing their planes to the limit.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32It's this that drove such rapid technological development.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Just turning a little bit faster
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and tighter can be enough to secure victory.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55In this case, it's the Fokker that has the advantage.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58It has the Sopwith in its sights and fires.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02GUNFIRE
0:12:02 > 0:12:05The Sopwith has been hit, its thin canvas walls offer no
0:12:05 > 0:12:09protection for the pilot or fuel tanks.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14We're now on our own. With no escort, we're a sitting duck.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43But the stability of the B.E.2 makes it hopeless against the Fokker.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49GUNFIRE
0:12:49 > 0:12:50We've been hit.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Even though I wasn't flying the plane,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07I still found that dogfight an exhausting experience.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13And to do that, day in, day out, for much longer sorties, up to a
0:13:13 > 0:13:18couple of hours, with people shooting at you, it's hard to imagine.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Not surprisingly, the life expectancy of pilots was measured in weeks,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27not years.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Those that made it safely to the ground were the lucky ones.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Just a few months after writing his rules,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Boelcke was killed during a dogfight.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42He collided with another German aircraft. He was just 25 years old.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Technology may have evolved beyond all recognition, but today,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50every fighter pilot still needs to know how to win an aerial dogfight.