The Great War: Enlisting Science and Engineering in American Aviation, 1917–1918

During World War IWorld War I, the airplane rapidly evolved from a fragile technological curiosity into a significant military weapon. Driven by the hope that control of the air might end the mindless stalemated slaughter in the trenches below, major European powers raced to expand the role of aviation from observation to air superiority over the battlefield and close support of their own ground troops.