Hulton Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
Famous American Air Force ace, c.1918
MPI/Getty Images
Captain Ball
Captain Ball
At his Investiture at Buckingham Palace, 21 July 1917
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
RAF No. 1 Squadron
RAF No. 1 Squadron
Clairmarais, France, c.1918
Evening Standard/Getty Images
British Bi-Plane
British Bi-Plane
Prepares for takeoff, Corfu, Greece c.1917
Hulton Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
War Hero
War Hero
Captain Ball holding the nose and propeller from his plane, c.1917
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
RAF Plane Heading to Germany
RAF Plane Heading to Germany
David McLellan/National Library of Scotland
Arming Aircraft Bombs
Arming Aircraft Bombs
Hulton Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Russian Ilya Mourometz
Russian Ilya Mourometz
Built by Igor Sikorsky, a passenger plane converted to a bomber, 1914.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
British Pilot from a RAF Squadron
British Pilot from a RAF Squadron
With an American, Canadian, New Zealand and South African Pilot, c.1918
David McLellan/National Library of Scotland
Clairmarais Aerodrome near Ypres
Clairmarais Aerodrome near Ypres
British Officers and SE 5a Scouts of No. 1 Squadron. The group includes two Americans, Lieutenants D. Knight and H.A. Kuhlberg, July 1918
IWM/via Getty Images/by David McLellan
RAF Planes in action
RAF Planes in action
Newscom/Alamy Stock Photos
Two Observer Officers in Balloon Basket
Two Observer Officers in Balloon Basket
With telephones and maps, 17 February 1918
David McLellan/National Library of Scotland
A German Soldier Jumps from Observation Balloon
A German Soldier Jumps from Observation Balloon
Set on fire by Allied aviators, c.1917
Hulton Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Captured German Balloon
Captured German Balloon
Observation balloons were critical assets to both sides in WWI, c.1917
Hulton Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
A Zeppelin Flies Over the Balkans
A Zeppelin Flies Over the Balkans
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
U-Boat Scouting Party
U-Boat Scouting Party
Aerial Naval observer coming down from balloon after a scouting tour, c.1918
American Photo Archive/Alamy Stock Photos
The Zeppelin Wreckers
The Zeppelin Wreckers
Flight Commander William Leefe Robinson of the Royal Flying Corps, Lieut. Wulstan Tempest and Lieut. Frederick Sowrey. In 1916, Robinson became the first pilot to bring down a German zeppelin over British soil.