Researching World War One aviation is a peculiar challenge, largely because many records have been destroyed or even stolen.  Most German records went up in flames during the last months of WW II, while British records at Kew were rifled by an unknown thief (or thieves) after WW II, with many valuable documents and reports vanishing.  Anecdotal evidence (pilot memoirs, etc) are interesting, but  are often of small value regarding objective assessments of aircraft performance.  For example, Manfred von Richthofen bemoaned the quality of his "lousy Albatros" while at the same time, British assessment gave the Albatros good marks.  Meanwhile, British pilots bemoaned the "poor" quality of their own machines!  However, combat reports can be of real value (such as Richthofen's account of his dogfight with Major Lanoe Hawker VC, and McCudden's description of Werner Voss' maneuvers with the Fokker Dr-1 Triplane).  Furthermore, using modern rebuilds of WW I machines to evaluate performance is only marginally useful, since rebuilds may look the same, but are very different from the originals in key aspects (such as the engine). Yet there are good sources out there to establish an overview of the relative quality of WW I machines to each other, and these have been instrumental in preparing this game system.  It has not only been our intention to develop a quality flight simulation "add-on," but also to provide solid historical information regarding the first air war  Unfortunately, sources often conflict, especially in the area of aircraft specifications.  There are several reasons for the latter, but one of the main ones was that many of the same machines often had slightly different specifications.  Most of the resources listed below could not be found in the local university libraries, and were even hard to track on the web.  Attempts were made to procure H.A. Jones' The War in the Air, but this is very hard to find in libraries..... or at an affordable price anywhere else.  Perhaps, someday.......  The research is on going, and further work is being done (in conjunction with Jack McCracken) with aeronautic and technical analysis to re-examine the flight performance of the aircraft.   However, it has been our desire to also create a game system which is playable for the average person, and so some realism has been sacrificed to do this.  As we re-evaluate flight characteristics, it is our intention to continue the focus regarding relative performance to each other.   Of course, comments and suggestions are always welcome.  Please email us with such.

Bibliography....  sources used for the preparation of this system

Researching World War One aviation is a peculiar challenge, largely because many records have been destroyed or even stolen.  Most German records went up in flames during the last months of WW II, while British records at Kew were rifled by an unknown thief (or thieves) after WW II, with many valuable documents and reports vanishing.  Anecdotal evidence (pilot memoirs, etc) are interesting, but  are often of small value regarding objective assessments of aircraft performance.  For example, Manfred von Richthofen bemoaned the quality of his "lousy Albatros" while at the same time, British assessment gave the Albatros good marks.  Meanwhile, British pilots bemoaned the "poor" quality of their own machines!  However, combat reports can be of real value (such as Richthofen's account of his dogfight with Major Lanoe Hawker VC, and McCudden's description of Werner Voss' maneuvers with the Fokker Dr-1 Triplane).  Furthermore, using modern rebuilds of WW I machines to evaluate performance is only marginally useful, since rebuilds may look the same, but are very different from the originals in key aspects (such as the engine). Yet there are good sources out there to establish an overview of the relative quality of WW I machines to each other, and these have been instrumental in preparing this game system.  It has not only been our intention to develop a quality flight simulation "add-on," but also to provide solid historical information regarding the first air war  Unfortunately, sources often conflict, especially in the area of aircraft specifications.  There are several reasons for the latter, but one of the main ones was that many of the same machines often had slightly different specifications.  Most of the resources listed below could not be found in the local university libraries, and were even hard to track on the web.  Attempts were made to procure H.A. Jones' The War in the Air, but this is very hard to find in libraries..... or at an affordable price anywhere else.  Perhaps, someday.......  The research is on going, and further work is being done (in conjunction with Jack McCracken) with aeronautic and technical analysis to re-examine the flight performance of the aircraft.   However, it has been our desire to also create a game system which is playable for the average person, and so some realism has been sacrificed to do this.  As we re-evaluate flight characteristics, it is our intention to continue the focus regarding relative performance to each other.   Of course, comments and suggestions are always welcome.  Please email us with such.

Primary source documents, and works dealing directly with WW I aviation.

Works dealing with aerodynamics and design, as well as supplemental works.