Showing a group of German fighter pilots (Manfred von Richthofen stands third from left) one can see the pride and confidence in the faces of these "brave young men". Sadly, that same confidence would be put to the test and, all too often, found lacking.
The average life expectancy for men flying an observation plane was 16 months; men, like these seen here, who flew the "scout" or "fighter" planes had a life expectancy of 10 months. As for a rookie just starting out? He was given less than 10 days. A death came to these men (they were hardly more than boys) in a variety of venues.
Besides being shot down, a pilot could die from engine failure, shooting his own propeller off if the synchronization gear failed, structural failure (a wing just coming off during flight or, most often, during a dive), or even a mid-air collision. British ace, James McCudden, died when his engine failed on a take-off; the great German ace, Oswald Boelcke, was killed when his own wing-man collided with him. Other aces like Manfred von Richthofen and Mick Mannock were killed by gunners shooting at them from the ground. A heavy varnish ("dope") was used to coat the canvas of these planes; this dope tightened the canvas and sealed it against the weather. Unfortunately, this dope was highly flammable so if you were not hit by enemy bullets, these same bullets might strike your engine setting it ablaze. The flames would then ignite this dope and you would hurtle towards your death like a flaming meteor. When Mick Mannock was informed of von Richthofen’ s death he said, "GOOD! I hope the bastard roasted the whole way down!" (Mannock, himself, was known to take a pistol aloft with him to be used to dispatch himself in the event his plane caught fire as he did not want to "roast all the way down", and also in the event of surviving a crash landing he could take his pistol and engage in a shoot-out worthy of Wyatt Earp with the Germans. Neither happened; Mannock, breaking one of his own rules, flew too close to the ground as he pursued one of his victims and was shot and killed by a ground gunner.
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