Here’s some extraordinary, silent footage of World War 1 fighter planes, formation flyers and various battle-ready airplanes in action. First we see mostly the fast Bristol 2 Seaters which had a rear gunner, a sting in the tail of the ‘Brisfits’, the first successful fighter/bomber combo, a deadly aircraft when used correctly, followed by some SE5 fighters 1917-18 models. The cheeky Albatros D5 landing near a ‘kill’ would undoubtedly have been filmed by German ground crew. The average lifespan of an Allied pilot on the Western front in WWI was only 11 days.  The engines only lasted 18 hours before a rebuild was needed. I suggest starting with the last two minutes where we see some marvelously crisp black and white footage of the flyers themselves, mugging it up for the camera, apparently cheerful and either unafraid of unaware of the devils that await them aloft…