"Book - Eyes all over the Sky" Topic

A relatively short book giving a solid overview of aerial reconnaissance efforts in the First World War. Good synthesis of source materials and copiously referenced.

link

Reads like the author had an axe to grind against the 'fighter jock' culture that grew out of the war. My take away was that if your game mission is not in some way supporting the observation mission, it's not really Great War air combat.

It's an interesting angle and not without basis in history. Certainly helps explain why pilots tended to shoot down so many balloons. Pick it up if you get the chance.

Looks like another one for my library. A large amount of the mission generators in 'Triplane' involve photo and artillery missions. It's always fun to have a two-seater to take pot-shots at until it kills you.

Awesome find, thank you G Dog, I will track that down.

BALM

I'm in agreement with the author.

Thanks for the review.

If that is what the author really is asserting, I don't agree with him. If nobody is trying to shoot down observation/information-gathering aircraft, then there is no aerial combat, is there? So the "fighter jocks" out to get observation aircraft produce defensive fire as well as escort missions: fights.

There is ground attack, too, either level bomber raids or actual low altitude aerial attacks on ground targets. Defending against these also produces air combat.

If the author is getting at the idea that most aerial combat in people's minds is the deliberate engaging of single-seaters, while basically ignoring all the other "targets" going about their work, I can agree with that clarification. Most of the highest scoring aces (e.g. McCudden) shot down a lot more two-seaters on reconnaissance missions than any other kind of "kill".