Aircraft Books (WW 1) - France - Armée De L'air

French aviation during the First World War

Despite being the cradle of aviation, at the beginning of the Great War, France had access to only a few dozen military aircraft, with a staff who didn't quite know what to do with them.
However, during the course of the conflict, the embryonic air force, dedicated to the creation of reconnaissance and bombing missions, evolved like wildfire to the point that by the Armistice of 11 November 1918, French military aviation had become one of the world's most powerful as a result of the construction of 10,000 aircraft spread throughout nearly 300 squadrons.

Having become the first nation equipped with an air force, the French aviation industry in its infancy before the war, had been able to produce in four years 50,000 aircraft, many of which would go on to support a number of her allies, including Britain, Russia and especially the United States.

In this richly illustrated book Vital Ferry describes the development of the French military aviation between 1914 and 1918. Complete with technical data and profile drawings of the aircraft made and used in France during the First World War.

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The French Air Force in the First World War - Rare photographs from wartime archives (Images of War)

The French air force of the First World War developed as fast as the British and German air forces, yet its history, and the enormous contribution it made to the eventual French victory, is often forgotten.
So Ian Sumner's photographic history, which features almost 200 images, most of which have not been published before, is a fascinating and timely introduction to the subject.

The fighter pilots, who usually dominate perceptions of the war in the air, play a leading role in the story, in particular the French aces, the small group of outstanding airmen whose exploits captured the publics imagination.
Their fame, though, tends to distract attention from the ordinary unremembered airmen who formed the body of the air force throughout the war years.

Ian Sumner tells their story too, as well as describing in a sequence of memorable photographs the less well-known branches of the service the bomber and reconnaissance pilots and the variety of primitive warplanes they flew.

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L'aviation Française 1914-1918

The cradle of aviation, France had, at the beginning of the Great War, only a few dozen military aircraft, which the general staff did not know what to do with. At the time of the armistice of November 11 1918, the French military aeronautics had become one of the most powerful in the world, bringing together 10 000 aircraft spread across nearly 300 squadrons.
The French aeronautical industry had been able to produce 50 000 aircraft in four years, many of which equipped many allied countries, including Great Britain, Russia and especially the United States.

This work, the first of its kind in French, provides a complete overview of the evolution of French military aviation from 1914 to 1918 through a historical narrative peppered with anecdotes and illustrated with numerous unpublished period photos and profiles of the most emblematic aircraft, supplemented by complete technical sheets of the aircraft built and used by France during the Great War.

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