The Great War saw the world’s first use of military aviation. Initially, planes were used for reconnaissance over the trenches during the stalemate on the Western front. Unarmed and forced to fly low, early pilots put themselves at great risk to survey the battlefield. However, this all changed when Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker developed German fighter jets that moved the battle from the trenches to the skies. While great aces sat on both sides of the war, possibly the greatest and most well-known is Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a the “Red Baron”. With over 80 victories in the skies, he’s considered the ace of aces to this day. While the Germans made some of the first advancement, the Allies soon followed suit. The United States joined the aviation revolution when Woodrow Wilson put six million dollars toward developing a military air division, and soon the U.S joined its Allies in the sky.