Flying for Kaiser Wilhelm 1914-1918: ACES, AEROPLANES & DEFEAT

Flying for Kaiser Wilhelm 1914-1918. Clean and unmarked straight off the press published 12 July 2023, Volume Two of German Aircraft in the Great War. Not a compilation of internet articles but newly researched using original documents from the period.

Probably for the first time a complete list of aeroplanes transferred to the Americans at the Armistice. In August 1914 there were 12 German aircraft companies manufacturing aeroplanes. By 1918 there were 33 aircraft manufacturers and the companies employed 60000 workers.

At the time of the Armistice the German aircraft industry had manufactured in total between 48000 and 49000 aeroplanes. As part of an expansion programme the army depended heavily on captive balloons for aerial observation. In 1916 the German air service was reorganized by Ernst von Hoeppner.

At that time he introduced fighter wings to counteract the Entente aerial forces giving rise to the "Ace." Using captured documents, newly translated, Flying for Kaiser Wilhelm, describes the wartime situation and the sudden fall of Germany on the Western Front. With the collapse in November 1918, Germany lost the war, her Emperor and Crown Prince and endured a draconian Armistice. Contents: 1.

Biographies and illustrations of Pour le Merite (Blue Max) pilots, includes Udet and Goring. 2. Armament - Spandau and Parabellum.

German aerial bombs with diagrams. 3. Training methods for observers, mechanics and pilots.

Lists training air bases, aircraft companies, spares production and military flying schools. 4. Biographies of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Crown Prince.

5. Describes the collapse of Germany on the Western Front and the draconian Versailles Treaty with an accurate account of the events on the railway carriage at the Forest of Compiègne and Marshall Foch 11 November 1918. Lists all aircraft handed over to the Allies and the Americans at Coblenz including the Fokker D.VII and the Roland D.VI.

Serials are given for all aircraft as well as illustrated with rare photographs of the aircraft in storage. 6. German observation balloons are included together with training methods and deployment in the German observation service.

7. German captured aircraft exhibition in London November 1918 described by C.G. Grey editor of Aeroplane.

8. The evolution of the machine gun interrupter gear and the influence of Roland Garros. Lays aside the myth of Anthony Fokker inventing the interrupter apparatus.

9. A description of Lieutnant Richter and the loss of the spherical balloon, "Luna" in 1910 in the Baltic. A limited run.

A5 Paperback highly detailed, 180 pages profusely illustrated with nearly 300 pictures many of them rarely published.