document_title: Molly's Game

question_text: where was the movie molly's game filmed

question_tokens: where was the movie molly 's game filmed

text: Molly's Game

text: Plot[edit]

text: Molly Bloom is world-class mogul skier with Olympic aspirations, the result of years of enforced training from her overbearing father. In a qualifying event for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Molly is severely injured, ending her career.

text: Instead of following her original plan of attending law school, Molly decides to take a year off and move to Los Angeles. Once she arrives, she becomes a bottle-service waitress at a club, where she meets Dean, an ostentatious but unsuccessful real estate developer. She becomes his office manager, and he soon involves her in running his underground poker games. Many famous and wealthy individuals, such as movie stars, investment bankers, and sports players are involved in Dean's game. Molly earns large sums of money on tips alone.

text: Molly is initially uninformed on poker topics, but quickly learns how to appeal to the players to gain tips. In particular, she hopes to please the most successful player, Player X, by attracting new players to the game. Dean, upon seeing that Molly is becoming increasingly independent in running the games, attempts to control her, and then fires her. Molly, having gained the contacts through years of running the game, decides to create her own poker games. She rents a penthouse at a hotel, and hires a staff to help her run games. Additionally, she contacts employees at clubs and casinos to try and spread word about her poker games. Player X, along with many other players, decide to leave Dean's games to play for Molly. Molly becomes increasingly successful, gaining more money while being pressured by Player X to raise the stakes for her games. Harlan Eustice, a skilled, conservative and successful player, joins Molly's table. One night, after accidentally losing a hand to the notorious worst player in Molly's circle, Harlan becomes increasingly compulsive, suffering heavy losses; later, Molly finds out that Player X, who enjoys ruining people's lives more than the game itself, has been funding Harlan to keep him in the game. After Molly berates him for his unethical actions, Player X decides to change venue for his games, and the other players join him, leaving Molly.

text: Molly moves to New York, with the hope of beginning a new underground poker game. After reaching out to many wealthy New Yorkers, Molly finds enough players for several weekly games. Despite continuous success, she is unable to cover her losses when players cannot pay. Her dealer convinces her to begin taking a percentage of large pots, allowing her to recuperate her potential losses. One of her Los Angeles players is indicted for running a Ponzi scheme; Molly is investigated and questioned as to who attended her games. At this time, Molly becomes increasingly addicted to drugs as the games have increasingly taken their toll. Her players also begin to include wealthy individuals from the Russian mafia, among others. She is approached by several Italian mafia members, who offer their services to extort money from non-paying players. After she declines, she is attacked in her home, where she is held at gunpoint and her mother's life is threatened. As she is about to return to her poker games, the FBI conducts a raid, a result of Douglas Downey, one of her players, acting as an informant. Molly's assets are seized, and she returns home to live with her mother.

text: Two years later, Molly has published a book where she names few individuals that played in her games, and has recently moved out. She is arrested by the FBI, and indicted for involvement in illegal gambling with the mafia. She enlists the help of Charlie Jaffey, a high-profile and expensive lawyer in New York, who agrees to help after he learns that Molly has been protecting innocent people who were affected by her poker games. While in New York awaiting trial, Molly's father, Larry, seeks her out, and attempts to reconcile with her. He admits that he was overbearing, and that he treated Molly differently than her brothers because she had known about his affairs. Charlie reads Molly's book, and becomes interested in helping her case, as he feels she has not committed serious enough wrongdoing to merit a prison term. Charlie negotiates a deal for Molly to receive no sentence and her money returned in exchange for her hard drives and digital records from gambling. Molly declines this deal, fearing for the information about her players that would be released, and pleads guilty. The judge, arguing that she had committed no serious crimes, sentences her to community service, probation, and a $200,000 fine.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom

Samantha Isler as teenage Molly
Piper Howell as 7-year-old Molly

Idris Elba as Charlie Jaffey, Molly's lawyer.
Kevin Costner as Larry Bloom, Molly's father and a clinical psychologist.
Michael Cera as Player X, a composite of several Hollywood celebrity gamblers from Molly's ring, most notably Tobey Maguire.[8]
Brian d'Arcy James as Brad, a hedge fund manager.
Chris O'Dowd as Douglas Downey, the man who introduces Molly to the Russian mob and brings them to the table.
J. C. MacKenzie as Harrison Wellstone
Bill Camp as Harlan Eustice, a card sharp who gets in over his head.
Graham Greene as Judge Foxman
Jeremy Strong as Dean Keith, the real estate developer who brings Molly into the world of underground poker.
Matthew D. Matteo as Bobby
Joe Keery as Cole
Natalie Krill as Winston
Claire Rankin as Charlene Bloom, Molly’s mother and Larry’s wife.
Madison McKinley as Shelby
Angela Gots as B
Khalid Klein as Neal
Victor Serfaty as Diego
Jon Bass[9] as Shelly Habib

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: On November 12, 2014, Mark Gordon's The Mark Gordon Company bought the feature film adaptation rights to Molly Bloom's memoir, Molly's Game, which Gordon produced. Aaron Sorkin was hired to adapt the memoir into a screenplay.[10] Bloom had already approached Sorkin, as he was her "favorite writer".[11][12] On January 7, 2016, it was announced that Sorkin would make his directorial debut on the film, for Sony Pictures Entertainment, while Amy Pascal also produced.[13] On February 18, 2016, Sony exited the project,[14] and on May 13, 2016, STX Entertainment came on board, and subsequently bought the film's US and Chinese distribution rights for $9 million.[15]

text: Casting[edit]

text: On February 18, 2016, Sorkin offered Jessica Chastain the lead role in the film, but the negotiations between them had then not yet begun.[16] On May 6, 2016, Idris Elba joined the film to star alongside Chastain. Sorkin stated that "the casting of Jessica and Idris in the two lead roles is any filmmaker's dream come true, they're two of the greatest actors of their generation, paired for the first time, and their chemistry will be electric."[17] On September 7, 2016, Michael Cera joined the cast as Player X, a celebrity poker player.[18] On October 17, 2016, Kevin Costner joined as Molly Bloom's father,[19] and on October 21, 2016, Brian d'Arcy James was added.[20] On November 9, 2016, Chris O'Dowd, Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, and Graham Greene joined the cast as well.[21] Molly Bloom herself discussed Chastain's portrayal of her character with ET Canada stating, “We spent a little time together. She didn’t have much time for prep or research,” Bloom tells ET Canada’s Matte Babel. “I was blown away by her performance by how right it was and how deep and understood I felt by her performance.” [1] [22]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography began on November 9, 2016, in Toronto.[23] Production concluded on February 9, 2017.[24]

text: Release[edit]

text: Molly's Game premiered on September 8, 2017, at the Toronto International Film Festival.[1] It was also the closing film at AFI Fest on November 16, 2017, replacing All the Money in the World.[25]

text: It began a limited release in North America on December 25, 2017, before expanding wide on January 5, 2018.[26] The film was previously slated to be released on November 22, 2017, before being moved to the Christmas date in October 2017.[27]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Molly's Game grossed $28.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $53.4 million.[3]

text: On Christmas Day, the film debuted with $1.04 million from 271 theaters.[28] In its first full weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million, finishing 13th at the box office.[29] The film expanded wide on January 5, 2018, alongside the opening of Insidious: The Last Key, and was projected to gross around $6 million from 1,608 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] It ended up debuting to $6.9 million, finishing 7th at the box office.[30] The following weekend it dropped 44% to $3.9 million, finishing 11th.[31] In its third week of wide release the film grossed $1.7 million, finishing 19th.[32]

text: The film also grossed a total of $4.5 million in France and $5.3 million in the United Kingdom.[33]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 241 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Powered by an intriguing story and a pair of outstanding performances from Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, Molly's Game marks a solid debut for writer-director Aaron Sorkin."[34] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[35] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[28]

text: Peter Debruge of Variety praised Sorkin's script, saying, "... Molly’s Game delivers one of the screen's great female parts — a dense, dynamic, compulsively entertaining affair, whose central role makes stunning use of Chastain's stratospheric talent."[36] Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film 9/10, writing, "Molly's Game is a perfect story for Sorkin. There's poker, the Russian mafia, the Italian mafia, celebrities, and sports. The only thing missing for Sorkin's wheelhouse is President Bartlet. And at over two hours long, the film still feels tight and never fails to entertain."[37]

text: Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying, "Molly's Game bristles with fun zingers, electric energy and Sorkin's brand of verbal fireworks – all of which help enormously when the movie falters in fleshing out its characters. Still, in his first film with a female protagonist, the writer-director has hit on a timely theme: the tribulations of being a woman in a man's world."[38] Chastain's portrayal of Molly Bloom was praised by The Hollywood Reporter, for "Chastain roars through the performance with a force and take-no-prisoners attitude that keeps one rapt."[39] The Hollywood Reporter also stated: "Sorkin keeps things rolling relentlessly and gets fine results from the actors down the line [...]. [...] The film looks sharp and a trio of editors keeps thing pacey despite the 140-minute running time."[39] It concluded: "One strong woman and many rich men make for a good show."[39]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards
February 5, 2018
Best Screenwriter
Aaron Sorkin
Won
[40][41]

Academy Awards
March 4, 2018
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[42]

Alliance of Women Film Journalists
January 9, 2018
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[43]

American Cinema Editors
January 26, 2018
Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham and Josh Schaeffer
Nominated
[44]

British Academy Film Awards
February 18, 2018
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[45]

Critics' Choice Movie Awards
January 11, 2018
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Nominated
[46]

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated

Denver International Film Festival
November 13, 2017
Career Achievement Award
Aaron Sorkin
Won
[47]

Detroit Film Critics Society
December 7, 2017
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Nominated
[48]

Florida Film Critics Circle
December 23, 2017
Best Screenplay – Adapted
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[49]
[50]

Georgia Film Critics Association
January 12, 2018
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Nominated
[51]

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated

Golden Globe Awards
January 7, 2018
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jessica Chastain
Nominated
[5]

Best Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated

Mill Valley Film Festival
October 17, 2017
Audience Favorite U.S. Cinema – Gold Award
Molly's Game
Won
[52]

Palm Springs International Film Festival
January 2, 2018
Chairman's Award
Jessica Chastain
Won
[53]

Producers Guild of America Awards
January 20, 2018
Best Theatrical Motion Picture
Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal and Matt Jackson
Nominated
[54]

San Francisco Film Critics Circle
December 10, 2017
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[55]

Satellite Awards
February 10, 2018
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Nominated
[56]

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated

USC Scripter Awards
February 10, 2018
Best Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin and Molly Bloom
Nominated
[57]

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
December 8, 2017
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[58]

Writers Guild of America Awards
February 11, 2018
Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin
Nominated
[7]

Zurich Film Festival
October 4, 2017
Career Achievement Award
Aaron Sorkin
Won
[59]


document_title: The Brave (TV series)

question_text: when did the brave season 1 episode 10 air

root

text: The Brave (TV series)

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Anne Heche as Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Patricia Campbell[2]
Mike Vogel as Captain Adam "Top" Dalton, a former Delta Force operator, communications director for the team[3]
Tate Ellington as Noah Morgenthau, an analyst at the DIA and former CIA operative[4]
Demetrius Grosse as CPO Ezekiel "Preach" Carter, a former U.S. Navy SEAL[5]
Natacha Karam as Sergeant Jasmine "Jaz" Khan, the team's sniper[4]
Noah Mills as Sergeant Joseph J. "McG" McGuire, the team's combat medic, a former Delta operator[6]
Sofia Pernas as Hannah Archer, a former operative turned analyst at the DIA[7]
Hadi Tabbal as Agent Amir Al-Raisani, intelligence director and newest member of the team[4]

tag: ul

text: Recurring[edit]

text: Bahram Khosraviani as Qassem Javad[8]

text: Production[edit]

text: NBC ordered the pilot to series on May 4, 2017 together with Rise, making both series the first regular series orders for the 2017–18 United States network television schedule.[9] In May 2017 NBC announced that Matt Corman and Chris Ord would be the series' showrunners.[10] There is currently a renewal effort under way by fans of the show to help The Brave earn a second season.[11]

tag: p

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
U.S. viewers
(millions)

1
"Pilot"
Brad Anderson
Dean Georgaris
September 25, 2017 (2017-09-25)
5.96[12]

When Dr. Kimberly Wells, an ophthalmologist with Doctors Without Borders, is kidnapped by the Al-Nusra Front in Northern Syria, it is up to DIA Special Ops Capt. Adam Dalton and his team of misfits to find the terrorists responsible and bring her home safely.

2
"Moscow Rules"
Yves Simoneau
Dean Georgaris
October 2, 2017 (2017-10-02)
5.17[13]

When a CIA safe house in Ukraine is attacked and one of the operatives hurt and on the run, the team must locate her while evading the highly skilled Russian ops team in pursuit of her.

3
"The Greater Good"
Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Story by : Dean Georgaris & Michael Alaimo
Teleplay by : Michael Alaimo
October 9, 2017 (2017-10-09)
5.14[14]

The team is tasked with planting a bug on an extremely paranoid arms dealer who supplies weapons to terrorists, aided by an undercover Mexican agent and a mole in the terrorist organization – the leader's mistress.

4
"Break Out"
David Straiton
Mike Daniels
October 16, 2017 (2017-10-16)
4.97[15]

The team, along with Deputy Director Patricia Campbell, enter an Afghani military prison to interrogate an American who joined the Taliban and has intimate knowledge of an imminent attack. During the interrogation, the Taliban prisoners stage a prison break, and the team must escape before the heavily armed Taliban reinforcements arrive.

5
"Enhanced Protection"
John Terlesky
Matt Corman & Chris Ord
October 23, 2017 (2017-10-23)
5.19[16]

The DIA intercepts chatter about an impending attack on a peace summit in Nigeria which will be attended by the US Ambassador. Dalton and his team are assigned to the Ambassador's protection detail. However, the attack ends up being at a mall, and the Ambassador's wife is taken hostage. The team rushes to the mall to stop the terrorists before they identify the Ambassador's wife, and before they find out the prisoner they want released is already dead. Meanwhile, Campell receives the letter her son wrote to her in the event of his death, which was just delivered.

6
"The Seville Defection"
Tessa Blake
Mike Daniels
October 30, 2017 (2017-10-30)
4.55[17]

When a Russian spy's daughter turns to the team in Spain looking to help her father defect, the team must simultaneously avoid Venezuelan and Russian operatives while Morgenthau enters the field to try and flush out a Russian mole at the NSA.

7
"It's All Personal"
Breck Eisner
Jamie Pachino
November 6, 2017 (2017-11-06)
5.18[18]

Amir goes undercover, assuming his identity as an Algerian ISIS operative, in order to infiltrate a cell in Paris that kidnapped a boy to use him as a suicide bomber. His decisions cause tension for the team as they believe that the boy is a willing participant.

8
"Stealth"
John Scott
Theo Travers
November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13)
5.03[19]

The group has to go in and out of Mongolia to retrieve information on a drone that crashed. They have to evade Russians and Chinese military.

9
"Desperate Times"
Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Denise Harkavy & Dean Georgaris
November 20, 2017 (2017-11-20)
4.66[20]

A new mission takes them to Iran to eliminate an elusive terrorist responsible for the bombing in Turkey.

10
"Desperate Measures"
Marisol Adler
Matt Corman & Chris Ord
January 8, 2018 (2018-01-08)
2.93[21]

Dalton and what remains of his team try to escape with their lives as they process a devastating loss. Meanwhile, in DC, Patricia will stop at nothing to make things right, even if it means putting her career at risk.

11
"Grounded"
Mikael Salomon
Sue Chung
January 15, 2018 (2018-01-15)
3.95[22]

With Jaz benched after her time as a POW, the rest of the team travels to Colombia to confront a terrorist with a secret hidden agenda. With Campbell on suspension, Noah is acting Deputy Director and Hannah returns to the field.

12
"Close to Home: Part 1"
David Boyd
Michael Alaimo
January 22, 2018 (2018-01-22)
3.40[23]

13
"Close to Home: Part 2"
John Terlesky
Jamie Pachino & Dean Georgaris
January 29, 2018 (2018-01-29)
3.90[24]

tag: table

text: Reception[edit]

text: Ratings[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Air date
Rating/share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)

1
"Pilot"
September 25, 2017
1.3/5
5.96[12]
0.9
3.71
2.2
9.67[25]

2
"Moscow Rules"
October 2, 2017
1.1/4
5.17[13]
N/A
3.12
N/A
8.29[26]

3
"The Greater Good"
October 9, 2017
1.1/4
5.13[14]
0.7
3.23
1.8
8.37[27]

4
"Break Out"
October 16, 2017
1.0/4
4.97[15]
N/A
2.90
N/A
7.87[28]

5
"Enhanced Protection"
October 23, 2017
1.0/4
5.19[16]
N/A
2.86
N/A
8.05[29]

6
"The Seville Deduction"
October 30, 2017
0.8/3
4.55[17]
0.7
2.85
1.5
7.40[30]

7
"It's All Personal"
November 6, 2017
1.0/4
5.18[18]
0.7
2.95
1.7
8.13[31]

8
"Stealth"
November 13, 2017
1.0/4
5.03[19]
N/A
2.94
N/A
7.96[32]

9
"Desperate Times"
November 20, 2017
0.9/3
4.66[20]
0.7
2.90
1.6
7.56[33]

10
"Desperate Measures"
January 8, 2018
0.5/2
2.93[21]
0.7
3.23
1.2
6.16[34]

11
"Grounded"
January 15, 2018
0.7/3
3.95[22]
0.6
2.96
1.3
6.91[35]

12
"Close to Home: Part 1"
January 22, 2018
0.7/3
3.40[23]
0.7
3.30
1.4
6.70[36]

13
"Close to Home: Part 2"
January 29, 2018
0.7/3
3.90[24]
0.7
2.97
1.4
6.86[37]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 38% approval rating, with an average rating of 5.75/10 based on 21 reviews.[38] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[39]


document_title: Hors catégorie

question_text: what is the steepest climb in the tour de france

text: Hors catégorie

text: History[edit]

text: When the mountains classification in the Tour de France originated in the 1933 Tour de France, there was only one type of mountain. Points were given to the first cyclists to cross the mountains, starting with 10 points for the first cyclist, going down to 1 point for the tenth cyclist. After the Second World War, in the 1947 Tour de France, the mountains were divided into two categories, the first and the second category. The first category mountains gave 10 points to the first cyclist, similar to before 1939, and the second category mountains gave only 5 points to the first cyclist.

text: The division in categories was successful, and two years later, in 1949, the third category was added. These were even smaller mountains, which gave 3 points to the cyclist reaching the peak first.

text:
In 1962, the fourth category was added. The points system was also revised: the first category now gave 15 points for the first cyclist, the second category 10 points, the third category 5 points and the fourth category 3 points.
Although the fourth category disappeared in 1963, it came back again in 1964. The system with four categories kept in place until 1978, although the points distribution changed over the years.

text: In 1979, four categories was considered not enough, and another category was added. Instead of adding a fifth category, the Tour organisation decided to add a hors catégorie.

text: Tour de France[edit]

text: The following climbs used in the Tour de France have been ranked "Hors catégorie" at least once.

text:
Col

Height (m.)

No. of times visited

No. of HC climbs

First time as HC climb

Most recent

Profile[2]

Notes

Col Agnel

2744

2

2

2008

2011

[1]

The first appearance of the climb in 2008 wasn't planned initially, as the stage was designed to go through the Maddalena Pass. Due to a seismic risk on the pass, the route was changed three months before the start of the race and the Col Agnel was included.[citation needed]

 Alpe d'Huez

1850/1860

30

26

1979

2018

[2]

In 2013, the Alpe was visited twice on Stage 18, firstly crossing below the summit at 1765m before returning as the stage finish at the summit (1850m).

 Andorra Arcalis

2240

3

3

1997

2016

[3]

 Annecy-Semnoz

1655

2

1

2013

2013

[4]

In 1998, the Semnoz (known as Crêt de Châtillon) was part of the route and was a 1st category climb. However, during the stage, racers went on strike to protest against the excessive police measures. The stage, although fully completed, was declared void.[citation needed]

Col d'Aubisque

1709

48

14

1980

2012

[5]

No. of times visited includes stage finishes at Gourette

Port de Balès

1755

5

5

2007

2017

[6]

Plateau de Beille

1780

6

6

1998

2015

[7]

Col de la Bonette

2715/2802

4

2

1993

2008

[8]

Highest Hors Catégorie climb to date.

 Chamrousse

1730

2

2

2001

2014

[9]

Col de la Croix-de-Fer

2067

19

11

1989

2017

[10]

Shares the same slopes from the col du Glandon on two sides.

Col du Galibier

2556/2645

57

20

1979

2017

[11]

Highest stage finish in the history of the Tour de France.In 2015, the climb was scheduled to be used, but ultimately wasn't due to landslides. The Col de la Croix de Fer was used instead.

Col du Glandon

1924

13

5

1981

2015

[12]

Col du Grand Colombier

1501

3

3

2012

2017

[13]

Col du Grand Saint-Bernard

2465

5

1

2009

2009

[14]

Col du Granon

2413

1

1

1986

1986

[15]

 Hautacam

1560

5

5

1994

2014

[16]

Col de l'Iseran

2770

5

2

1992

2007

[17]

 Isola 2000

1900

1

1

1993

1993

[18]

Col d'Izoard

2360

34

8

1986

2017

[19]

Col de Joux-Plane

1691

12

7

1981

2016

[20]

 La Plagne

1980

4

4

1984

2002

[21]

Port de Larrau

1573

2

2

1996

2007

[22]

 La Ruchère-en-Chartreuse

1160

1

1

1984

1984

[23]

Lowest Hors Catégorie climb to date.

Col de la Lombarde

2351

1

1

2008

2008

[24]

 Luz Ardiden

1715

8

8

1985

2011

[25]

Col de la Madeleine

1993

25

17

1980

2013

[26]

Col du Mont-Cenis

2083

5

1

1999

1999

[27]

Port de Pailhères

2001

5

4

2005

2013

[28]

 Pla d'Adet

1669

10

5

1981

2014

[29]

1982 Tour de France finish was planned to end at the Col de Portet, but was ultimately cancelled and the finish line was moved back to Pla d'Adet.[citation needed]

 Puy de Dôme

1415

13

2

1983

1986

[30]

Only climb in the Massif Central to have received the Hors Catégorie rating

Col du Soudet

1540

6

2

1987

2006

[31]

Col du Soulor

1474

22

1

1982

1982

[32]

Usually climbed while descending the col d'Aubisque from its west side.

  Superbagnères

1770

6

1

1986

1986

[33]

Col du Tourmalet

2115

88

26

1980

2016

[34]

No. of times visited includes stage finishes at La Mongie.

  Val Thorens

2275

1

1

1994

1994

[35]

Mont Ventoux

1909

16

7

1987

2016

[36]

Col de la Pierre St Martin

1610

1

1

2015

2015

[37]

  Finhaut-Emosson

1960

1

1

2016

2016

[38]

Montee de Bisanne

1723

1

1

2016

2016

[39]

Col de la Biche

1316

1

1

2017

2017

[40]

  Mont du Chat

1504

1

1

2017

2017

[41]

Col de  Portet

2215

1

1

2018

2018

[42]


document_title: A Walk to Remember

question_text: where did they film a walk to remember

question_tokens: where did they film a walk to remember

text: A Walk to Remember

text: Plot[edit]

text: Set in North Carolina, popular and rebellious teenager Landon Carter is threatened with expulsion from school after he and his friends leave evidence of underage drinking on the school grounds, and seriously injure another student during a prank gone wrong. The principal of the school gives Landon the choice of being expelled or atoning for his actions by tutoring fellow students and participating in the school play. During these functions, Landon notices Jamie Sullivan, a girl he has known since kindergarten and who has attended many of the same classes as him, and is also the local minister's daughter. Since he's one of the in-crowd, he has seldom paid any attention to Jamie, who wears modest dresses and owns only one sweater. Jamie is labeled an outsider and a geek. She makes no attempt to wear make-up or otherwise improve her looks or attract attention to herself.

text: Landon has trouble learning his lines for the play. Jamie, who is also in the play, agrees to help him on one condition: Jamie warns Landon not to fall in love with her, but he laughs it off and dismisses it as a foolish idea. Landon and Jamie begin practicing together at her house after school, but Landon remains wary of ruining his image and being friendly with an unpopular student like Jamie. At one point he makes the insulting suggestion that they be "secret friends", and Jamie's hurt but mature response (she tells him "I saw something good, something very good even, in you Landon--but I was wrong") visibly embarrasses Landon, who stops being dismissive of Jamie afterwards and treats her like a friend. They get to know each other and a spark of romance buds between them.

text: On the opening night of the play, Jamie astounds Landon and the entire audience with her beauty and her voice. Onstage at the peak of the ending to the play, Jamie sings. When Jamie finishes, Landon improvises and kisses her, which is not a part of the play. Afterwards, Jamie avoids Landon until Landon's friends play a cruel prank on Jamie and he protects her in opposition to his friends and she eventually warms up to him again. Landon asks Jamie on a date soon after, but Jamie says her father doesn't allow her to date. Landon asks her father if he can date his daughter, bringing up that he's looking for a chance at redemption with her and at life through her. Jamie's father is reluctant at first, but he gives in.

text: On their first date, Landon helps Jamie to fulfill her list of things she wants to achieve in life, such as being in two places at once, and getting a tattoo. After that, they go to the docks. Jamie tells Landon about how she experiences belief and how it's like the wind. It is then that he tells her he might want to kiss her now. On another date, where Jamie is very silent and unfocused, Landon asks Jamie what her plans for the future are. She then confesses she isn't making any because she has leukemia and hasn't been responding to treatment. A desperate Landon asks for his father's help in curing her, but is disappointed by his reply and heads on a long drive home thinking about Jamie.

text: One by one, his friends become aware of the tragedy looming for Jamie and Landon. They give their support to him. Jamie's condition grows worse and she gets sent to the hospital. While in the hospital, Jamie gives Landon a book that once belonged to her mother. She states that maybe God sent Landon to her to help her through the rough times and that Landon is her angel. Unbeknownst to Landon, Jamie is given private home care by Landon's estranged father, relieving her father's financial burden. Landon visits his dad, tearfully thanking him for his help. They embrace and are reunited.

text: Landon is building a telescope for Jamie to be able to see a one-time comet in the springtime. Jamie's father helps him get it finished in time. The telescope is brought to her on the balcony. She gets a beautiful view of the comet through the new telescope. It is then that Landon asks her to marry him. Jamie tearfully accepts, and they get married in the church in which her deceased mother got married. Jamie and Landon spend their last summer together, filled with an even stronger love like no other. Jamie's leukemia ends up killing her when summer ends.

text: Four years later, Landon has finished college and been accepted into medical school. Landon visits Reverend Sullivan to return to him Jamie’s precious book that belonged to her mother. Landon apologizes to the Reverend that Jamie did not witness a miracle (an ambition she expressed in the class yearbook). The Reverend disagrees saying that in fact she did and that her miracle was Landon. He is shown to have completely changed his original opinion of Landon in the beginning of the film, where he completely detested Landon and did not hide it.

text: Landon visits the docks contemplating the belief that although Jamie is dead, she is with him. It is then that he understands love is like the wind; you can't see it, but you can feel it.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Shane West as Landon Rollins Carter
Mandy Moore as Jamie Elizabeth Sullivan-Carter
Peter Coyote as Reverend Hegbert Sullivan
Daryl Hannah as Cynthia Carter
Lauren German as Bellinda
Clayne Crawford as Dean Thomas
Al Thompson as Eric
Paz de la Huerta as Tracy
David Lee Smith as Dr. Carter
Jonathan Parks Jordan as Walker
Matt Lutz as Clay Gephardt

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The inspiration for A Walk to Remember was Nicholas Sparks' sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who died of cancer in 2000. In a speech he gave after her death in Berlin, the author admits that "In many ways, Jamie Sullivan was my younger sister". The plot was inspired by her life; Danielle met a man who wanted to marry her, "even when he knew she was sick, even when he knew that she might not make it".[3] Both the book and film are dedicated to Danielle Sparks Lewis.

text: It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the same time that Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) and the TV show Dawson's Creek were being filmed there. Many of the sets were from Dawson's Creek (1998) – particularly the school, hospital and Landon's home.[4] The total shooting time was only 39 days, despite Moore being able to only work 10 hours a day because she was a minor.[4] Daryl Hannah, who wore a brown wig as her character, had received a collagen injection in her lips, which went awry and caused noticeable swelling. By the end of filming, however, the symptoms were less obvious.[5]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Director Shankman wanted the lead characters to be portrayed by young actors: "I wanted young actors with whom teenagers could connect", he said.[6] Shankman arranged a meeting with Shane West after he saw him in a magazine. He was looking for someone who could transition from being very dark to very light. He described his choice as "an instinct" he had about West, who would appear in almost every scene and had "to be either incredibly angry and self-hating or madly in love and heroic."[6] West said: "I don't generally read love stories, but after reading the screenplay, I knew I couldn't wait to read the book so I could truly understand Nicholas Sparks' story and how he envisioned the character of Landon. It's a beautiful story and the characters are very believable, which is what attracted me to the project.[6]

text: Shankman said of Moore that she "has the voice and the face of an angel" and added that she is luminous.[6] Moore explained that she was moved by the book: "I had such a visceral reaction to it that I remember not being able to read because I was almost hyperventilating while I was crying." Commenting on the film, she said: "It was my first movie and I know people say it may be cliche and it's a tearjerker or it's cheesy, but for me, it's the thing I'm most proud of."[7]

text: Comparisons to novel[edit]

text: While there are many similarities to the novel by Nicholas Sparks, many changes were made. On his personal website, Sparks explains the decisions behind the differences. For example, he and the producer decided to update the setting from the 1950s to the 1990s, worrying that a film set in the 50s would fail to draw teens. "To interest them," he writes, "we had to make the story more contemporary."[8] To make the update believable, Landon's pranks and behavior are worse than they are in the novel; as Sparks notes, "the things that teen boys did in the 1950s to be considered a little 'rough' are different than what teen boys in the 1990s do to be considered 'rough.'"[8]

text: Sparks and the producer also changed the play in which Landon and Jamie appear. In the novel, Hegbert wrote a Christmas play that illustrated how he once struggled as a father. However, due to time constraints, the sub-plot showing how he overcame his struggles could not be included in the film. Sparks was concerned that "people who hadn't read the book would question whether Hegbert was a good father", adding that "because he is a good father and we didn't want that question to linger, we changed the play."[8]

text: A significant difference is that at the end of the novel, unlike the film, it is ambiguous whether Jamie died. Sparks says that he had written the book knowing she would die, yet had "grown to love Jamie Sullivan", and so opted for "the solution that best described the exact feeling I had with regard to my sister at that point: namely, that I hoped she would live."[9]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
A Walk to Remember: Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by Various artists

Released
January 15, 2002 (2002-01-15)

Genre
Pop, contemporary Christian, post-grunge

Length
52:01 (Standard)
62:32 (2003 Special Expanded Edition)

Label
Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax

Producer
Jon Leshay

Singles from A Walk to Remember: Music from the Motion Picture

"Cry"
Released: November 4, 2001

text: The film's soundtrack was released by Epic Records and Sony Music Soundtrax on January 15, 2002.[10] It features six songs by Mandy Moore and others by acts Switchfoot, Rachael Lampa and many more.

text: The lead song "Cry" was originally released on Moore's self-titled third studio album. The soundtrack also includes two versions of Switchfoot's song "Only Hope" including the version Moore sang in the film.

text: Moore's manager, Jon Leshay, the musical supervisor for A Walk to Remember, "instantly wanted" Switchfoot's music to be a vital part of the film after hearing them. He later became Switchfoot's manager.[11] When they were approached to do the film, the band was unfamiliar with Moore or her music (despite her status as a pop star with several hits on the charts). Before their involvement with A Walk to Remember, Switchfoot was only recognized in their native San Diego and in Contemporary Christian music circles, but have since gained mainstream recognition, with a double platinum album, The Beautiful Letdown which included hits such as "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move".

text: The soundtrack was re-released on October 21, 2003[12] as a special expanded edition and featured three songs that were not originally included on the first release of the soundtrack but were featured in the film. The song "Only Hope" by Moore had dialogue added that featuring Shane West as his character Landon Carter taken from the scene from where the song is featured in the film, as well as West's narration at the end of the film.

text:
Standard edition

No.
Title
Recording artist(s)
Length

1.
"Dare You to Move"
Switchfoot
4:09

2.
"Cry"
Mandy Moore
3:43

3.
"Someday We'll Know" (cover of New Radicals)
Moore and Jonathan Foreman
3:52

4.
"Dancin' in the Moonlight" (cover of King Harvest)
Toploader
3:52

5.
"Learning to Breathe"
Switchfoot
4:36

6.
"Only Hope" (cover of Switchfoot)
Moore
3:53

7.
"It's Gonna Be Love"
Moore
3:51

8.
"You"
Switchfoot
4:14

9.
"If You Believe"
Rachael Lampa
3:49

10.
"No One"
Cold
3:17

11.
"So What Does It All Mean?"
West, Gould, & Fitzgerald
3:00

12.
"Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough"
New Radicals
5:45

13.
"Only Hope"
Switchfoot
4:14

Total length:
52:01

text:
[show]2003 Special Expanded Edition

No.
Title
Recording artist(s)
Length

1.
"Dare You to Move"
Switchfoot
4:09

2.
"Cry"
Moore
3:43

3.
"Someday We'll Know" (cover of New Radicals)
Moore and Foreman
3:52

4.
"Dancin' in the Moonlight" (cover of King Harvest)
Toploader
3:52

5.
"Learning to Breathe"
Switchfoot
4:36

6.
"Only Hope" (cover of Switchfoot)
Moore as Jamie Sullivan with dialogue by Shane West as Landon Carter
3:53

7.
"It's Gonna Be Love"
Moore
3:51

8.
"You"
Switchfoot
4:14

9.
"If You Believe"
Rachael Lampa
3:49

10.
"No One"
Cold
3:17

11.
"So What Does It All Mean?"
West, Gould, & Fitzgerald
3:00

12.
"Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough"
New Radicals
5:45

13.
"Cannonball" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)
The Breeders
3:37

14.
"Friday on My Mind" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)
Noogie
3:14

15.
"Empty Spaces" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)
Fuel
3:26

16.
"Only Hope"
Switchfoot
4:16

17.
"Cry" (Music Video) (Multi-media track)
Moore
3:41

Total length:
62:32

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: A Walk to Remember has grossed $41,281,092 in North America and $6,213,824 in other territories for a worldwide total of $47,494,916.[2][13]

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12,177,488, finishing third at the box office behind Black Hawk Down ($17,012,268) and Snow Dogs ($13,079,373).[2]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The film was met with generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 27% based on reviews from 103, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 10. The site's critical consensus is: "Though wholesome, the Mandy Moore vehicle A Walk to Remember is also bland and oppressively syrupy."[14] Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 35, based on 26 reviews, which indicates "generally unfavorable".[15] Entertainment Weekly retitled the film "A Walk to Forget".[16] In 2010, Time named it one of the 10 worst chick flicks ever made.[17]

text: The film found a warmer reception with the general public, particularly in the Christian community due to the film's moral values; as one reviewer from Christianity Today approvingly noted, "The main character is portrayed as a Christian without being psychopathic or holier-than-thou".[18] Chicago Sun-Times' film critic Roger Ebert praised Moore and West for their "quietly convincing" acting performances.[19] The Chicago Reader felt that the story "has a fair amount of nuance and charm".[20] The San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Octavio Roca found the film "entertaining" and wrote: "The picture is shamelessly manipulative, but in the best melodramatic sense."[21] S. Williams of Momzone magazine felt that the movie was "everything a chick flick should be" and praised Shankman's direction. Us Weekly deemed it one of the 30 most romantic movies of all time.[22]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Year
Ceremony
Category
Recipient(s)
Result

2002
MTV Movie Awards
Best Breakthrough Female Performance
Mandy Moore
Won

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie: Breakout Actress
Mandy Moore
Won

Choice Movie: Chemistry
Mandy Moore and Shane West
Won

Choice Movie: Liplock
Mandy Moore and Shane West
Nominated

text: Home media[edit]

text: A Walk to Remember was released by Warner Home Video on DVD on July 9, 2002. The DVD contains two commentaries (one featuring Shane West, Mandy Moore, and director Adam Shankman; the second featuring screenwriter Karen Janszen and author Nicholas Sparks), the music video for Moore's single "Cry", and the film's theatrical trailer.[23][24] A "Family-Edited Version" was later released on December 24, 2002.[25] As of 2017, it has yet to be released on Blu-ray.

text: In other media[edit]

text: In the HBO television series Entourage, the character of Vincent Chase was credited as having a small supporting role in the film. In the fictional Entourage universe, Chase has an on-set relationship with Moore during the filming of A Walk to Remember.


document_title: Aviation in World War I

question_text: what accounted for british military superiority in the first years of the war

text: Aviation in World War I

text: The early years of war[edit]

text: At the 1911 meeting of the Institute of International Law in Madrid, legislation was proposed to limit the use of airplanes to reconnaissance missions and banning them from being used as platforms for weapons.[1] This legislation was rooted in a fear that airplanes would be used to attack undefended cities, violating Article 69 of the Den Hague Reglement (the set of international laws governing warfare).[2]

text: At the start of the war, there was some debate over the usefulness of aircraft in warfare. Many senior officers, in particular, remained sceptical. However the initial campaigns of 1914 proved that cavalry could no longer provide the reconnaissance expected by their generals, in the face of the greatly increased firepower of twentieth century armies, and it was quickly realised that aircraft could at least locate the enemy, even if early air reconnaissance was hampered by the newness of the techniques involved. Early skepticism and low expectations quickly turned to unrealistic demands beyond the capabilities of the primitive aircraft available.[3]

text: Even so, air reconnaissance played a critical role in the "war of movement" of 1914, especially in helping the Allies halt the German invasion of France. On 22 August 1914, British Captain L.E.O. Charlton and Lieutenant V.H.N. Wadham reported German General Alexander von Kluck's army was preparing to surround the BEF, contradicting all other intelligence. The British High Command took note of the report and started to withdraw toward Mons, saving the lives of 100,000 soldiers. Later, during the First Battle of the Marne, observation aircraft discovered weak points and exposed flanks in the German lines, allowing the allies to take advantage of them.[4]

text: In Germany the great successes of the early Zeppelin airships had largely overshadowed the importance of heavier-than-air aircraft. Out of a paper strength of about 230 aircraft belonging to the army in August 1914 only 180 or so were of any use.[5] The French military aviation exercises of 1911, 1912, and 1913 had pioneered cooperation with the cavalry (reconnaissance) and artillery (spotting), but the momentum was if anything slacking.[6]

text: Great Britain had "started late" and initially relied largely on the French aircraft industry, especially for aircraft engines. The initial British contribution to the total allied airwar effort in August 1914 (of about 184 aircraft) was three squadrons with about 30 serviceable machines. By the end of the war, Great Britain had formed the world's first air force to be independent of either army or naval control, the Royal Air Force.[7] The American army and navy air services were far behind; even in 1917, when the United States entered the war, they were to be almost totally dependent on the French and British aircraft industries for combat aircraft.[8]

text: The Germans' great air "coup" of 1914 (at least according to contemporary propaganda) was at the Battle of Tannenberg in East Prussia, where an unexpected Russian attack was reported by Leutnants Canter and Mertens, resulting in the Russians' being forced to withdraw.[9]

text: Early Western Front reconnaissance duties[edit]

text: By the end of 1914 the line between the Germans and the Allies stretched from the North Sea to the Alps. The initial "war of movement" largely ceased, and the front became static. Three main functions of short range reconnaissance squadrons had emerged by March 1901.

text: The first was photographic reconnaissance: building up a complete mosaic map of the enemy trench system. The first air cameras used glass plates. (Kodak cellulose film had been invented, but did not at this stage have sufficient resolution).[10]

text: Artillery "spotting" enabled the ranging of artillery on targets invisible to the gunners. Radio telephony was not yet practical from an aircraft, so communication was a problem. By March 1915, a two-seater on "artillery observation" duties was typically equipped with a primitive radio transmitter transmitting using Morse code, but had no receiver. The artillery battery signalled to the aircraft by laying strips of white cloth on the ground in prearranged patterns. Observation duties were shared with the tethered balloons, which could communicate directly with their batteries by field telephone, but were far less flexible in locating targets and reporting the fall of shot.

text: "Contact patrol" work attempted to follow the course of a battle by communicating with advancing infantry while flying over the battlefield. The technology of the period did not permit radio contact, while methods of signalling were necessarily crude, including dropping messages from the aircraft. Soldiers were initially reluctant to reveal their positions to aircraft, as they (the soldiers) found distinguishing between friend and foe problematic.

text: Reconnaissance flying, like all kinds, was a hazardous business. In April 1917, the worst month for the entire war for the RFC, the average life expectancy of a British pilot on the Western Front was 69 flying hours.[11]

text: Early bombing efforts[edit]

text: Typical 1914 aircraft could carry only very small bomb loads – the bombs themselves, and their stowage, were still very elementary, and effective bomb sights were still to be developed. Nonetheless the beginnings of strategic and tactical bombing date from the earliest days of the war. Notable are the raids by the RNAS on the German airship sheds at Düsseldorf, Cologne and Friedrichshafen in September, October and November 1914, as well as the formation of the Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende (or "Ostend carrier pigeon detachment", cover name for the first German strategic bombing unit), which mounted the first token raid over the English Channel in December.

text: The dawn of air combat[edit]

text: As Dickson had predicted, initially air combat was extremely rare, and definitely subordinate to reconnaissance. There are even stories of the crew of rival reconnaissance aircraft exchanging nothing more belligerent than smiles and waves.[10] This soon progressed to throwing grenades, and other objects – even grappling hooks.[12] The first aircraft brought down by another was an Austrian reconnaissance aircraft rammed on 8 September 1914 by Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov in Galicia in the Eastern Front. Both planes crashed as the result of the attack killing all occupants. Eventually pilots began firing handheld firearms at enemy aircraft,[10] however pistols were too inaccurate and the single shot rifles too unlikely to score a hit. On October 5, 1914, French pilot Louis Quenault opened fire on a German aircraft with a machine gun for the first time and the era of air combat was under way as more and more aircraft were fitted with machine guns.

text: Evolution of fighter aircraft[edit]

text: The pusher solution[edit]

text: As early as 1912, designers at the British firm Vickers were experimenting with machine gun carrying aircraft. The first concrete result was the Vickers Experimental Fighting Biplane 1, which featured at the 1913 Aero Show in London.[13] and appeared in developed form as the FB.5 in February 1915. This pioneering fighter, like the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b and the Airco DH.1, was a pusher type. These had the engine and propeller behind the pilot, facing backward, rather than at the front of the aircraft, as in a tractor configuration design. This provided an optimal machine gun position, from which the gun could be fired directly forward without an obstructing propeller, and reloaded and cleared in flight. An important drawback was that pusher designs tended to have an inferior performance to tractor types with the same engine power because of the extra drag created by the struts and rigging necessary to carry the tail unit. The F.E.2d, a more powerful version of the F.E.2b, remained a formidable opponent well into 1917, when pusher fighters were already obsolete. They were simply too slow to catch their quarry.

text: Machine gun synchronisation[edit]

text: The forward firing gun of a pusher "gun carrier" provided some offensive capability – the mounting of a machine gun firing to the rear from a two-seater tractor aircraft gave defensive capability. There was an obvious need for some means to fire a machine gun forward from a tractor aircraft, especially from one of the small, light, "scout" aircraft, adapted from pre-war racers, that were to perform most air combat duties for the rest of the war. It would seem most natural to place the gun between the pilot and the propeller, firing in the direct line of flight, so that the gun could be aimed by "aiming the aircraft". It was also important that the breech of the weapon be readily accessible to the pilot, so that he could clear the jams and stoppages to which early machine guns were prone. However, this presented an obvious problem: a percentage of bullets fired "free" through a revolving propeller will strike the blades, with predictable results.

text: Early experiments with synchronised machine guns had been carried out in several countries before the war. Franz Schneider, then working for Nieuport in France but later working for L.V.G. in Germany, patented a synchronisation gear on 15 July 1913. An early Russian gear was designed by a Lieutenant Poplavko: the Edwards brothers in England designed the first British example, and the Morane-Saulnier company were also working on the problem in 1914. All these early experiments failed to attract official attention, partly due to official inertia and partly due to the terrifying results of failures of these early synchronising gears, which included dangerously ricocheting bullets as well as disintegrating propellers.[14]

text: The Lewis gun, used on many early Allied aircraft, proved next to impossible to successfully synchronise due to its open bolt firing cycle. In an open bolt firing cycle, it is impossible to predict the exact time any given round will fire, a problematic characteristic in a weapon one is attempting to fire between the spinning blades of a propeller. Photographs of fuselage-mounted Lewis guns aimed directly ahead on RNAS aircraft, and looking as if they "should" be synchronised — as with some of their Bristol Scouts — were probably in fact free firing, hardly a satisfactory solution.

text: The Maxim guns used by both the Allies (as the Vickers) and Germany (as the Parabellum MG 14 and Spandau lMG 08) had a closed bolt firing cycle that started with a bullet already in the breech and the breech closed, so the firing of the bullet was the next step in the cycle. This meant that the exact instant the round would be fired could be predicted, making these weapons considerably easier to synchronise.

text: The standard French light machine gun, the Hotchkiss, was also most unamenable to synchronisation due to rounds "hanging fire". The Morane-Saulnier company designed a "safety backup" in the form of "deflector blades" (metal wedges), complete with metal tiebars extending outwards from the propeller hub for bracing, fitted to the rear surfaces of a propeller at the radial point where they would be struck by a bullet. Roland Garros tried out this system in a Morane-Saulnier L in April 1915. He managed to score several kills, although it proved to be an inadequate and dangerous solution. Garros eventually was forced by engine failure (possibly caused by the repeated strain on his aircraft's crankshaft of the "deflected" bullets striking his propeller) to land behind enemy lines, and he and his secret weapon were captured by the Germans.[15]

text: Famously, the German High Command passed Garros' captured Morane to the Fokker company – who already produced Morane type monoplanes for the German Air Service – with orders to copy the design. The deflector system was totally unsuitable for the steel-jacketed German ammunition so that the Fokker engineers were forced to revisit the synchronisation idea (perhaps infringing Schneider's patent), crafting the Stangensteuerung system by the spring of 1915, used on the examples of their pioneering Eindecker fighter. Crude as these little monoplanes were, they produced a period of German air superiority, known as the "Fokker Scourge" by the Allies. The psychological effect exceeded the material – the Allies had up to now been more or less unchallenged in the air, and the vulnerability of their older reconnaissance aircraft, especially the British B.E.2 and French Farman pushers, came as a very nasty shock.

text: Other methods[edit]

text: Another method used at this time to fire a machine gun forward from a tractor design was to mount the gun to fire above the propeller arc. This required the gun to be mounted on the top wing of biplanes and be mounted on complicated drag-inducing structures in monoplanes. Reaching the gun so that drums or belts could be changed, or jams cleared, presented problems even when the gun could be mounted relatively close to the pilot. Eventually the excellent Foster mounting became more or less the standard way of mounting a Lewis gun in this position in the R.F.C.:[16] this allowed the gun to slide backward for drum changing, and also to be fired at an upward angle, a very effective way of attacking an enemy from the "blind spot" under its tail. This type of mounting was still only possible for a biplane with a top wing positioned near the apex of the propeller's arc – it put considerable strain on the fragile wing structures of the period, and it was less rigid than a gun mounting on the fuselage, producing a greater "scatter" of bullets, especially at anything but very short range.

text: The earliest versions of the Bristol Scout to see aerial combat duty in 1915, the Scout C, had Lewis gun mounts in RNAS service that sometimes were elevated above the propeller arc, and sometimes (in an apparently reckless manner) firing directly through the propeller arc without synchronisation. During the spring and summer of 1915, Captain Lanoe Hawker of the Royal Flying Corps, however, had mounted his Lewis gun just forward of the cockpit to fire forwards and outwards, on the left side of his aircraft's fuselage at about a 30° horizontal angle. On 25 July 1915 Captain Hawker flew his Scout C, bearing RFC serial number 1611 against several two-seat German observation aircraft of the Fliegertruppe, and managed to defeat three of them in aerial engagements to earn the first Victoria Cross awarded to a British fighter pilot, while engaged against enemy fixed-wing aircraft.

text: 1915: The Fokker Scourge[edit]

text: The first purpose-designed fighter aircraft included the British Vickers F.B.5, and machine guns were also fitted to several French types, such as the Morane-Saulnier L and N. Initially the German Air Service lagged behind the Allies in this respect, but this was soon to change dramatically.

text: In July 1915 the Fokker E.I, the first aircraft to enter service with a "synchronisation gear" which enabled a machine gun to fire through the arc of the propeller without striking its blades, became operational. This gave an important advantage over other contemporary fighter aircraft. This aircraft and its immediate successors, collectively known as the Eindecker (German for "monoplane") – for the first time supplied an effective equivalent to Allied fighters. Two German military aviators, Leutnants Otto Parschau and Kurt Wintgens, worked for the Fokker firm during the spring of 1915, demonstrating the revolutionary feature of the forward-firing synchronised machine gun to the embryonic force of Fliegertruppe pilots of the German Empire.

text: The first successful engagement involving a synchronised-gun-armed aircraft occurred on the afternoon of July 1, 1915, to the east of Lunéville, France when Leutnant Kurt Wintgens, one of the pilots selected by Fokker to demonstrate the small series of five Eindecker prototype aircraft, forced down a French Morane-Saulnier "Parasol" two seat observation monoplane behind Allied lines with his Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker production prototype aircraft, carrying the IdFlieg military serial number "E.5/15". Some 200 shots from the synchronised Parabellum MG14 machine gun on Wintgens' aircraft had hit the Gnome Lambda rotary engine of the Morane Parasol, forcing it to land safely in Allied territory.[17]

text: By late 1915 the Germans had achieved air superiority, rendering Allied access to the vital intelligence derived from continual aerial reconnaissance more dangerous to acquire. In particular the defencelessness of Allied reconnaissance types was exposed. The first German "ace" pilots, notably Max Immelmann, had begun their careers.

text: The number of actual Allied casualties involved was for various reasons very small compared with the intensive air fighting of 1917–18. The deployment of the Eindeckers was less than overwhelming: the new type was issued in ones and twos to existing reconnaissance squadrons, and it was to be nearly a year before the Germans were to follow the British in establishing specialist fighter squadrons. The Eindecker was also, in spite of its advanced armament, by no means an outstanding aircraft, being closely based on the pre-war Morane-Saulnier H, although it did feature a steel tubing fuselage framework (a characteristic of all Fokker wartime aircraft designs) instead of the wooden fuselage components of the French aircraft.

text: Nonetheless, the impact on morale of the fact that the Germans were effectively fighting back in the air created a major scandal in the British parliament and press. The ascendancy of the Eindecker also contributed to the surprise the Germans were able to achieve at the start of the Battle of Verdun because the French reconnaissance aircraft failed to provide their usual cover of the German positions.

text: Fortunately for the Allies, two new British fighters that were a match for the Fokker, the two-seat F.E.2b and the single-seat D.H.2, were already in production. These were both pushers, and could fire forwards without gun synchronisation. The F.E.2b reached the front in September 1915, and the D.H.2 in the following February. On the French front, the tiny Nieuport 11, a tractor biplane with a forward firing gun mounted on the top wing outside the arc of the propeller, also proved more than a match for the German fighter when it entered service in January 1916. With these new types the Allies re-established air superiority in time for the Battle of the Somme, and the "Fokker Scourge" was over.

text: The Fokker E.III, Airco DH-2 and Nieuport 11 were the very first in a long line of single seat fighter aircraft used by both sides during the war. Very quickly it became clear the primary role of fighters would be attacking enemy two-seaters, which were becoming increasingly important as sources of reconnaissance and artillery observation, while also escorting and defending friendly two-seaters from enemy fighters. Fighters were also used to attack enemy observation balloons, strafe enemy ground targets, and defend friendly airspace from enemy bombers.

text: Almost all the fighters in service with both sides, with the exception of the Fokkers' steel-tube fuselaged airframes, continued to use wood as the basic structural material, with fabric-covered wings relying on external wire bracing. However, the first practical all-metal aircraft was produced by Hugo Junkers, who also used a cantilever wing structure with a metal covering. The first flight tests of the initial flight demonstrator of this technology, the Junkers J 1 monoplane, took place at the end of 1915 heralding the future of aircraft structural design.

text: 1916: Verdun and the Somme[edit]

text: When the battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916, air superiority initially enabled the Germans to establish a blockade (luftsperre) on the French air squadrons. However the French were already arming their specialist fighter squadrons, the Escadrilles de chasse, with the Nieuport 11, and with a new offensive strategy they quickly overcame the luftsperre, establishing air superiority over the battle by April.[18]

text: In the meantime, in the aftermath of the Fokker Scourge, the need for a larger, better equipped RFC became obvious, and the process of raising many new British squadrons was started. In the short term, creating new units was easier than producing aircraft to equip them, and training pilots to man them. When the Battle of the Somme started in July 1916, most ordinary RFC squadrons were still equipped with the BE.2c, which had already proved an easy target for the Fokker Eindecker. New types such as the Sopwith 1½ Strutter had to be transferred from production intended for the RNAS. Even more seriously, replacement pilots were being sent to France with pitifully few flying hours.

text: Nonetheless, air superiority and an "offensive" strategy facilitated the greatly increased involvement of the RFC in the battle itself, in what was known at the time as "trench strafing" – in modern terms, close support. For the rest of the war, this became a regular routine, with both attacking and defending infantry in a land battle being constantly liable to attack by machine guns and light bombs from the air. At this time, counter fire from the ground was far less effective than it became later, when the necessary techniques of deflection shooting had been mastered.

text: The first step towards specialist fighter-only aviation units within the German military was the establishment of the so-called Kampfeinsitzer Kommando (single-seat battle unit, abbreviated as "KEK") formations by Inspektor-Major Friedrich Stempel in February 1916. These were based around Eindeckers and other new fighter designs emerging, like the Pfalz E-series monoplanes, that were being detached from their former Feldflieger Abteilung units during the winter of 1915–16 and brought together in pairs and quartets at particularly strategic locations, as "KEK" units were formed at Habsheim, Vaux, Avillers, Jametz, and Cunel, as well as other strategic locations along the Western Front to act as Luftwachtdienst (aerial guard force) units, consisting only of fighters.[19] In a pioneering move in March 1916, German master aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke came up with the idea of having "forward observers" located close to the front lines to spot Allied aircraft approaching the front, to avoid wear and tear on the trio of Fokker Eindecker scout aircraft he had based with his own "KEK" unit based at Sivry-sur-Meuse,[20] just north of Verdun. By April 1916, the air superiority established by the Eindecker pilots and maintained by their use within the KEK formations had long evaporated as the Halberstadt D.II began to be phased in as Germany's first biplane fighter design, with the first Fokker D-series biplane fighters joining the Halberstadts, and a target was set to establish 37 new squadrons in the next 12 months – entirely equipped with single seat fighters, and manned by specially selected and trained pilots, to counter the Allied fighter squadrons already experiencing considerable success, as operated by the Royal Flying Corps and the French Aéronautique Militaire. The small numbers of questionably built Fokker D.IIIs posted to the Front pioneered the mounting of twin lMG 08s before 1916's end, as the building numbers of the similarly armed, and much more formidable new twin-gun Albatros D.Is were well on the way to establishing the German air superiority marking the first half of 1917.

text: Allied air superiority was maintained during the height of both battles, and the increased effectiveness of Allied air activity proved disturbing to the German Army's top-level Oberste Heeresleitung command staff.[21] A complete reorganisation of the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches into what became officially known as the Luftstreitkräfte followed and had generally been completed by October 1916. This reorganisation eventually produced the German strategic bombing squadrons that were to produce such consternation in England in 1917 and 1918, and the specialist close support squadrons (Schlachtstaffeln) that gave the British infantry such trouble at Cambrai and during the German Spring offensive of 1918. Its most famous and dramatic effect, however, involved the raising of specialist fighter squadrons or Jagdstaffeln – a full year after similar units had become part of the RFC and the French Aéronautique Militaire. Initially these units were equipped with the Halberstadt D.II (Germany's first biplane fighter), the Fokker D.I and D.II, along with the last few surviving Eindeckers, all three biplane design types using a single lMG 08, before the Fokker D.III and Albatros D.I twin-gun types arrived at the Front.

text: 1917: Bloody April[edit]

text: The first half of 1917 was a successful period for the jagdstaffeln and the much larger RFC suffered significantly higher casualties than their opponents. While new Allied fighters such as the Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane, and SPAD S.VII were coming into service, at this stage their numbers were small, and suffered from inferior firepower: all three were armed with just a single synchronised Vickers machine gun. On the other hand, the jagdstaffeln were in the process of replacing their early motley array of equipment with Albatros D-series aircraft, armed with twin synchronised MG08s. The D.I and D.II of late 1916 were succeeded by the new Albatros D.III, which was, in spite of structural difficulties, "the best fighting scout on the Western Front"[22] at the time. Meanwhile, most RFC two-seater squadrons still flew the BE.2e, a very minor improvement on the BE.2c, and still fundamentally unsuited to air-to-air combat.

text: This culminated in the rout of April 1917, known as "Bloody April". The RFC (Royal Flying Corps) suffered particularly severe losses, although Trenchard's policy of "offensive patrol", which placed most combat flying on the German side of the lines, was maintained.[23]

text: During the last half of 1917, the British Sopwith Camel and S.E.5a and the French SPAD S.XIII, all fitted with two forward firing machine guns, became available in numbers. The ordinary two seater squadrons in the RFC received the R.E.8 or the F.K.8, not outstanding warplanes, but far less vulnerable than the BE.2e they replaced. The F.E.2d at last received a worthy replacement in the Bristol F.2b. On the other hand, the latest Albatros, the D.V, proved to be a disappointment, as was the Pfalz D.III. The exotic Fokker Dr.I was plagued, like the Albatros, with structural problems. By the end of the year the air superiority pendulum had swung once more in the Allies' favour.

text: 1918 – the Spring Offensive[edit]

text: The surrender of the Russians and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, and the resulting release of troops from the Eastern Front gave the Germans a "last chance" of winning the war before the Americans could become effectively involved. This resulted in the last great German offensive of the war, the "Spring Offensive", which opened on 21 March. The main attack fell on the British front on the assumption that defeat of the British army would result in the surrender of the mutiny-weakened French.[24]

text: In the air, the battle was marked by the carefully coordinated use of the Schlachtstaffeln or "battle flights", equipped with the light CL class two seaters built by the Halberstadt and Hannover firms, that had proved so effective in the German counter-attack in early October's Battle of Cambrai.[25] The new German fighter aircraft, notably the Fokker D.VII, that might have revived German air superiority in time for this battle had not however reached the Jagdstaffeln in sufficient numbers, despite its own premier on the Western Front in the mid-Spring of 1918. As with several offensives on both sides, thorough planning and preparation led to initial success, and in fact to deeper penetration than had been achieved by either side since 1914.[26] Many British airfields had to be abandoned to the advancing Germans in a new war of movement. Losses of aircraft and their crew were very heavy on both sides – especially to light anti-aircraft fire. However, by the time of the death of Manfred von Richthofen, the famed Red Baron, on 21 April, the great offensive had largely stalled.[27] The new German fighters had still not arrived, and the British still held general air superiority.

text: The month of April 1918 began with the consolidation of the separate British RFC and RNAS air services into the Royal Air Force, the first independent air arm not subordinate to its national army or navy. By the end of April the new Fokker, Pfalz and Roland fighters had finally begun to replace the obsolescent equipment of the Jagdstaffeln, but this did not proceed with as much dispatch as it might have, due to increasing shortages of supplies on the side of the Central Powers, and many of the Jastas still flew Albatros D types at the time of the armistice. The rotary engined Fokker D.VIII and Siemens-Schuckert D.IV, as well as surviving Fokker Triplanes, suffered from poor reliability and shortened engine life due to the Voltol-based oil that was used to replace scarce castor oil – captured and salvaged Allied aircraft (especially Sopwith Camels) were scrounged, not only for engines and equipment, but even for their lubricants. Nonetheless, by September casualties in the RFC had reached the highest level since "Bloody April"[28] – and the Allies were maintaining air superiority by weight of numbers rather than technical superiority.

text: 1918, especially the second half of the year, also saw the United States increasingly involved. While American volunteers had been flying in Allied squadrons since the early years of the war, not until 1918 did all-American squadrons begin active operations. Technically America had fallen well behind the European powers in aviation, and no American designed types saw action, with the exception of the Curtiss flying boats. At first, the Americans were largely supplied with second-rate and obsolete aircraft, such as the Nieuport 28, Sopwith 1½ Strutter, and Dorand AR.2 types, and inexperienced American airmen stood little chance against their seasoned opponents. As numbers grew and equipment improved with the introduction of the twin-gun SPAD XIII as well as the Sopwith Camel and even the S.E. 5a into American service near the war's end, the Americans came to hold their own in the air; although casualties were heavy, as indeed were those of the French and British, in the last desperate fighting of the war. One of the French twin-seat reconnaissance aircraft used by the French and the USAAS, the Salmson 2.A2, was among the World War I-era aircraft to pioneer the use of "fixed" radial engines in military aircraft — the liquid-cooled radials designed by Georges Canton and Pierre Unné powered the 2.A2 aircraft, and were among the first "fixed" radial aircraft powerplants ever designed, and manufactured by the parent Société des Moteurs Salmson aircraft and automobile manufacturing firm, from 1908 to 1920.

text: Impact[edit]

text:
“
The day has passed when armies on the ground or navies on the sea can be the arbiter of a nation's destiny in war. The main power of defense and the power of initiative against an enemy has passed to the air.
”

— Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, November 1918[29]

text: By the war's end, the impact of air missions on the ground war was in retrospect mainly tactical – strategic bombing, in particular, was still very rudimentary indeed. This was partly due to its restricted funding and use, as it was, after all, a new technology. On the other hand, the artillery, which had perhaps the greatest effect of any military arm in this war, was in very large part as devastating as it was due to the availability of aerial photography and aerial "spotting" by balloon and aircraft. By 1917 weather was bad enough to restrict flying and was considered as effective as "putting the gunner's eyes out".[30]

text: Some, such as then-Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, commander of all American air combat units in France, claimed "the only damage that has come to [Germany] has been through the air".[31] Mitchell was famously controversial in his view that the future of war was not on the ground or at sea, but in the air.

text: During the course of the War, German Aircraft Losses accounted to 27,637 by all causes, while the Entente Losses numered over 88,613 lost (52,640 France & 35,973 Great Britain)[32]

text: Anti-aircraft weaponry[edit]

text: Though aircraft still functioned as vehicles of observation, increasingly they were used as a weapon in themselves. Dog fights erupted in the skies over the front lines, and aircraft went down in flames. From this air-to-air combat, the need grew for better aircraft and gun armament. Aside from machine guns, air-to-air rockets were also used, such as the Le Prieur rocket against balloons and airships. Recoilless rifles and autocannons were also attempted, but they pushed early fighters to unsafe limits while bringing negligible returns, with the German Becker 20mm autocannon being fitted to a few twin-engined Luftstreitkräfte G-series medium bombers for offensive needs, and at least one late-war Kaiserliche Marine zeppelin for defense – the uniquely armed SPAD S.XII single-seat fighter carried one Vickers machine gun and a special, hand-operated semi-automatic 37mm gun firing through a hollow propeller shaft.[33] Another innovation was air-to-air bombing if a fighter had been fortunate enough to climb higher than an airship. The Ranken dart was designed just for this opportunity.

text: This need for improvement was not limited to air-to-air combat. On the ground, methods developed before the war were being used to deter enemy aircraft from observation and bombing. Anti-aircraft artillery rounds were fired into the air and exploded into clouds of smoke and fragmentation, called archie by the British.

text: Anti-aircraft artillery defenses were increasingly used around observation balloons, which became frequent targets of enemy fighters equipped with special incendiary bullets. Because balloons were so flammable, due to the hydrogen used to inflate them, observers were given parachutes, enabling them to jump to safety. Ironically, only a few aircrew had this option, due in part to a mistaken belief they inhibited aggressiveness, and in part to their significant weight.

text: First shooting-down of an aeroplane by anti-aircraft artillery[edit]

text: During a bombing raid over Kragujevac on 30 September 1915, private Radoje Ljutovac of the Serbian Army successfully shot down one of the three aircraft. Ljutovac used a slightly modified Turkish cannon captured some years previously. This was the first time that a military aeroplane was shot down with ground-to-air artillery fire, and thus a crucial moment in anti-aircraft warfare.[34][35][36]

text: Bombing and reconnaissance[edit]

text: As the stalemate developed on the ground, with both sides unable to advance even a few hundred yards without a major battle and thousands of casualties, aircraft became greatly valued for their role gathering intelligence on enemy positions and bombing the enemy's supplies behind the trench lines. Large aircraft with a pilot and an observer were used to scout enemy positions and bomb their supply bases. Because they were large and slow, these aircraft made easy targets for enemy fighter aircraft. As a result, both sides used fighter aircraft to both attack the enemy's two-seat aircraft and protect their own while carrying out their missions.

text: While the two-seat bombers and reconnaissance aircraft were slow and vulnerable, they were not defenseless. Two-seaters had the advantage of both forward- and rearward-firing guns. Typically, the pilot controlled fixed guns behind the propeller, similar to guns in a fighter aircraft, while the observer controlled one with which he could cover the arc behind the aircraft. A tactic used by enemy fighter aircraft to avoid fire from the rear gunner was to attack from slightly below the rear of two-seaters, as the tail gunner was unable to fire below the aircraft. However, two-seaters could counter this tactic by going into a dive at high speeds. Pursuing a diving two-seater was hazardous for a fighter pilot, as it would place the fighter directly in the rear gunner's line of fire; several high scoring aces of the war were shot down by "lowly" two-seaters, including Raoul Lufbery, Erwin Böhme, and Robert Little.

text: Strategic bombing[edit]

text: The first aerial bombardment of civilians occurred during World War I. In the opening weeks of the war Zeppelins bombed Liege, Antwerp and Warsaw, and other cities including Paris and Bucharest were targeted. And in January 1915 the Germans began a bombing campaign against England that was to last until 1918, initially using airships. There were 19 raids in 1915, in which 37 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 181 people and injuring 455. Raids continued in 1916. London was accidentally bombed in May, and in July, the Kaiser allowed directed raids against urban centres. There were 23 airship raids in 1916 in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691. Gradually British air defenses improved. In 1917 and 1918 there were only eleven Zeppelin raids against England, and the final raid occurred on 5 August 1918, resulting in the death of Peter Strasser, commander of the German Naval Airship Department. By the end of the war, 54 airship raids had been undertaken, in which 557 people were killed and 1,358 injured.[37]

text: The Zeppelin raids were complemented by the Gotha G bombers from 1917, which were the first heavier than air bombers to be used for strategic bombing, and by a small force of five Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI "giant" four engined bombers from late September 1917 through to mid-May 1918. Twenty-eight Gotha twin-engined bombers were lost on the raids over England, with no losses for the Zeppelin-Staaken giants. It has been argued that the raids were effective far beyond material damage in diverting and hampering wartime production, and diverting twelve squadrons and over 17,000 men to air defenses.[38] Calculations performed on the number of dead to the weight of bombs dropped had a profound effect on attitudes of the British government and population in the interwar years, who believed that "The bomber will always get through".

text: Observation balloons[edit]

text: Manned observation balloons floating high above the trenches were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines, reporting enemy troop positions and directing artillery fire. Balloons commonly had a crew of two equipped with parachutes: upon an enemy air attack on the flammable balloon, the crew would parachute to safety. Recognized for their value as observer platforms, observation balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by large concentrations of antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft. Blimps and balloons helped contribute to the stalemate of the trench warfare of World War I, and contributed to air-to-air combat for air superiority because of their significant reconnaissance value.

text: To encourage pilots to attack enemy balloons, both sides counted downing an enemy balloon as an "air-to-air" kill, with the same value as shooting down an enemy aircraft. Some pilots, known as balloon busters, became particularly distinguished by their prowess at shooting down enemy balloons. The premier balloon busting ace was Willy Coppens: 35 of his 37 victories were enemy balloons.

text: Leading aces[edit]

text: As pioneer aviators invented air-to-air combat, the contending sides developed various methods of tracking aerial casualties and victories. Aviators with five or more aerial victories confirmed by their parent air service were dubbed "aces". Their numbers would burgeon, until by war's end, there were over 1,800 aces.

text: The following aces scored the most victories for their respective air services.

text:
Name
Air service
Confirmed
victories

Baracca, Francesco
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
34[39]

Bishop, William Avery
Royal Air Force
72[40]

Brumowski, Godwin
Luftfahrtruppen
35[41]

Cobby, Arthur Henry
Australian Flying Corps
29[citation needed]

Coppens de Houthulst, Willy Omer
Belgian Military Aviation
37[42]

Fonck, René
Aéronautique Militaire
75[43]

Kazakov, Alexander
Imperial Russian Air Force
20[44]

Richthofen, Manfred von
Luftstreitkräfte
80[45]

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon
US Army Air Service
26[46][47]

text: Pioneers of aerial warfare[edit]

text: The following aviators were the first to reach important milestones in the development of aerial combat during World War I:

text:
Name
Date
Country
Event

Pyotr Nesterov
7 September 1914
Russia
First air-to-air kill, by ramming an Austrian aeroplane[48]

Louis Quénault and Joseph Frantz
5 October 1914
France
Pilot Frantz and Observer Quénault were the first fliers to successfully use a machine gun in air-to-air combat to shoot down another aircraft.[49]

Roland Garros
1 April 1915
France
First aerial victory with forward pointing fixed gun achieved while aiming gun with aircraft[50]

Adolphe Pégoud
3 April 1915
France
First flying "ace" and first French ace.[51]

Kurt Wintgens
1 July 1915
Germany
First aerial victory using a sychronised machine gun firing through the propeller arc[52]

Lanoe Hawker
11 August 1915
Britain
First British ace.[53]

Oswald Boelcke
16 October 1915
Germany
First German ace.[54]

Otto Jindra
9 April 1916
Austro-Hungary
First Austro-Hungarian ace.[55]

Redford Henry Mulock
21 May 1916
Canada
First Canadian ace, as well as first Royal Naval Air Service ace.[56]

Eduard Pulpe
1 July 1916
Russia
First Imperial Russian Air Force ace.[57]

Roderic Dallas
9 July 1916
Australia
First Australian ace.[58]

Frederick Libby
25 August 1916
United States of America
First American ace.[59]

Etienne Tsu
26 September 1916
France
First Chinese ace; French Foreign Legion, Escadrille SPA.37.[60][61][62]

Mario Stoppani
31 October 1916
Italy
First Italian ace.[63]

Fernand Jacquet
1 February 1917
Belgium
First Belgian ace.[64]

Maurice Benjamin
27 April 1917
South Africa
First South African ace.[65]

Thomas Culling
19 May 1917
New Zealand
First New Zealand ace.[66]

Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield
31 May 1917
Austro-Hungary
First night victory and first Austro-Hungarian night victory.[67]

Richard Burnard Munday
29 September 1917
Britain
First British night victory, over an observation balloon.[68]

Fritz Anders
20 August 1918
Germany
First German night victory. Anders was first night fighter ace.[69]

text: Aircraft[edit]

text:
Aircraft of the Entente Powers
Aircraft of the Central Powers