I’ve been interested in the aircraft of the First World War since I was a child. There is something appealing about the lines of the airplanes used on both sides, particularly those from the 1917-1918 era. After only 10 years of flight WW1 saw the first military application of aircraft against one another.
It is interesting to remember that the air war started with reconnaissance aircraft. A typical recon aircraft of 1914 was the Blériot XI:
This aircraft was little more than an engine bound to wings by a frame. The photographer/observer was seated behind the plot and pointed his camera alongside the fuselage.
It was not long until someone figured out that denying the enemy reconnaissance data was a good idea; and thus was born the fighter aircraft.
This excellent BBC documentary documents the air war in WW1. It contains some wonderful footage.
https://youtu.be/3axANcTlhIE
Aircraft development was rapid. Advancements in armament, engines, and aerodynamics made the aircraft of 1918 vastly different from those of 1914.
The symmetry and simplicity of the early Nieuports:
The streamlined Albatros D series, here a D3:
Culminating in the birds of 1918. The Fokker Dr1:
The Spad 13:
The Sopwith Camel:
These are all aircraft of the first 20 years of flight; add another 20 years and jets will be fighting the air war.