Dear Bert. An American pilot flying in world war I Italy

Flying World War I-era Nieuport 11s, the Kansas City Dawn Patrol was formed in 1988 to show folks at Missouri fly-ins the first airplane flown in combat by an organized U.S. squadron. One of the founders, Dick Starks, says that when F-22 or F-15 pilots accept an invitation to jump in his Nieuport cockpit, "They're amazed.

Italy entered the war in 1915 with just a few dozen airplanes and more or less the same number of pilots, however, during the conflict, the accelerated development of the force made it necessary to build thousands of airplanes and to train thousands of aviators. Mass production of vehicles and men is an important aspect of modern war, which we can appreciate in the experiences of many soldiers ...