Aerobonus 480221 French WWI Pilot

French Air Force (current French name: Armee de l'air) is historically the first air force in the world, which began to form as early as 1909, and officially became part of the ground forces in 1912 under the name Aeronautique Militaire. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, the French air force already numbered 148 aircraft, mainly reconnaissance, reconnaissance and liaison machines. In the years 1914-1918, as in Germany and Great Britain, French aviation underwent a very rapid development - both quantitative and qualitative. During this period, "specialized" fighter planes with machine weapons (eg Nieuport 11 or Nieuport 16) and bomber planes (eg Caudron G.4) appeared. The intensive development of French aviation was possible thanks to a solid industrial base and companies such as Nieuport or Caudron, but also Bleriot, Breguet and Hanriot. As a result of this development, in 1918 the French air force had about 3,600 aircraft in the line. Throughout the war, approximately 17,300 pilots and flight crew members were involved in combat operations, of which approximately 5,500 were killed.