Original subtitles

France, 1917.

One of the deadliest moments of World War I. Bloody April.

There is a violent and cataclysmic battle for control of the skies.

One man stalks his prey in the skies over the French countryside.

The pilot doesn't even know he's there. In a lethal machine designed to

obliterate Allied planes.

Who said the dogfighting was fair?

Germany's bloody Red Baron litters the fields with bodies and burning wreckage.

Any opponent who was below him was dead.

Until an allied pilot in a new plane turns the tables on the world's greatest

flyer.

In the history of man, there are critical chapters that forge together a

daring individual, A crucial situation and an innovative technology.

Fate's fusion of man, moment, machine.

Hi, I'm Hunter Ellis.

Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, is a born hunter who

finds his ideal hunting ground in the skies of World War I.

Richthofen's primary weapon is the Albatross D3 fighter plane.

This combination of man and machine strikes fear in the hearts of the Allied

pilots and creates a devastating force that leads to one of the bloodiest

moments of the war.

In this single month, Germany's legendary Flying

Ace has shot down 21 planes.

Although he seems to be invincible, Allied pilots will soon be equipped with

a new generation of warplane to challenge his supremacy.

More than ever, the Red Baron will need all his skill to stay aloft and stay

alive. When you're one man in an airplane, you have one chance.

And if that fellow across there is better than you are, and he gets the

first shot, you're liable to be the one going down.

August 4th, 1914.

Germany launches the first offensive of World War I and invades neutral Belgium.

Britain immediately declares war.

As the fighting begins, the airplane is barely a decade old, and military

leaders are unsure of how to use it.

The role hadn't really been developed as yet. What is an airplane going to do?

They knew what a gun did, they knew what a tank did, but they didn't really know

what an airplane was going to do.

The warplane's first assignment is reconnaissance.

Two Cedar Scout planes carry a pilot and an observer.

an officer trained in photographing troop and artillery movement.

Reconnaissance was the most important military mission.

It was vitally important that air services be able to protect their own

reconnaissance aircraft operating deep in enemy territory, and vitally

important that they shoot down the enemies.

Specialized fighter planes soon emerge, designed to pursue enemy aircraft.

The fighters need more firepower.

But carrying a heavy machine gun on board proves to be a formidable task.

These airplanes are very flimsy wood and fabric creations.

They are barely powered enough to get two men into the air stably.

If you put a machine gun on some of them, they actually won't be able to

take off.

To make room for heavy weapons, fighters evolve into single-seat aircraft with

the pilot doing the gunning. But this creates an additional challenge.

If you're flying a tractor airplane with a propeller in the front and you fire a

gun from behind the propeller, it will shoot your propeller off and you will

crash to your death as opposed to your opponent.

So you have to figure out some way to miss your propeller.

The Germans solved this problem in 1915 with the interrupter gear, which syncs

the machine gun with the propeller.

This allows the gun to fire only in the interval when no blade is in front of

the muzzle.

The innovation gives Germany a significant advantage.

Since most fighters are armed in the front, pilots circle to hone in on the

opponent's unprotected back.

It's called dogfighting because it looks like two dogs chasing each other's

tails.

With no precedent for aerial warfare, early pilots create the tactics of the

dogfight as they go along.

No one had any idea of what it was really going to be like.

They're doing something that's never been done before. There are no rules.

There are no guidelines.

They just make it up and figure it out.

In 1916, One of Germany's first aces is a 25-year-old pilot named Oswald Belke.

He formalizes rules of aerial combat with a set of tactics known as the Belke

Dicta.

First and foremost, what you want is altitude.

You want to be above your opponent. You want to see him before he sees you.

Keep the sun at your back so that your enemy will have to look into the sun to

see you, which makes it more difficult.

Belke finds that the best approach is a diving attack from behind.

The worst position you can be in is having your enemy above you and behind

you because he can dive down, he can trade that potential energy of altitude

into speed and catch you.

Using these tactics, Belke makes kill after kill and rises to national

celebrity.

The pilots are a new breed.

I mean, this is a new kind of hero. No army's ever had pilots before.

And so when these fellows go up in the air and they start shooting down the

enemy, people take note of it.

By the summer of 1916, Germany has taken control of Belgium, Luxembourg, and

parts of northeastern France.

In July, the German army repels a massive Allied offensive at the Somme

front. The Germans were not going to be particularly concerned with

controlling airspace over Britain and French territory.

They would be more intent on defending against enemy airplanes coming over

their territory to see what their army was doing.

By the second year of the war, the Allies create specialized fighter units.

The French had come up with escadrilles de chasse.

The British were employing their fighters in squadrons. And the Germans

realized they needed to do something like that.

Germany's fighter squadrons are called Jagdstaffel, or JASTA, units of 12 to 18

planes.

In August of 1916, Oswald Belke takes command of JASTA II.

The mission of the Belke squadron was strictly air combat. Its purpose

was strictly to clear the air on the German side of the front of Allied

airplanes.

Belke has the authority to recruit any pilot he wants.

One of his choices is a 23-year-old cavalry officer who's a novice flyer.

This decision is the beginning of a union between man and machine that will

create one of the boldest and most enduring military legends of all time.

The officer's name is Baron Manfred von Richthofen.

What Bülke was looking for were pilots who might not

yet have the requisite skills and knowledge to be functioning fighter

pilots, but who had the drive and the determination and the aggressiveness.

And he sees that clearly in Manfred von Richthofen.

What Belke sees in Richthofen is this young man with the fire. He is a killer.

He's a soldier. And I think Belke realizes that that seriousness, that

edge, is what you have to have to survive in the air.

Richthofen begins his career as a combat pilot in one of the first planes

designed specifically as a fighter, the Albatross D-2.

Its heavy but powerful engine allows it to carry twin machine guns.

The Albatross is a fast airplane, ideal to dive down on these slow, unwieldy

observation planes and shoot them down.

Under Belke's instruction, Richthofen excels. And on September 17, 1916, he

shoots down his first enemy plane.

Your first confirmed victory produces absolute

elation in any...

combat pilot.

You have to remember that most pilots don't shoot anyone down.

Richtofen begins a tradition of ordering a silver cup for each conquest engraved

with the date and details of the kill.

Soon he's the rising star of the squadron.

There are other pilots that may be better aerobatic pilots than Richtofen.

There may be other pilots that are as good a shot or even better than he is,

but he is the best hunter.

And that is not just certain skills. It's a mindset. It's an attitude. He's

up there to shoot down the enemy.

November 23, 1916.

Rick Tovin has been a combat pilot for less than three months and has 10

victories when he comes up against a British pilot in a de Havilland DH2.

By November 1916, the de Havilland DH2 is starting to become obsolescent.

It is a rotary engine pusher. It has a lot of wires on a lattice-like tail to

accommodate the rear propeller that add drag.

Compared with the Albatross, it's a rather rickety thing.

Richthofen knows that the plane is inferior to what he's flying.

He knows that it's just a matter, it should be short work to shoot this plane

down. What Richthofen suddenly discovers is he's chasing someone who's good,

who's better at flying than maybe Richthofen is.

Behind the controls of the enemy craft is Britain's leading combat ace, Major

Lano Hawker.

Hawker, who already had a Victoria Cross because of some of his earlier exploits,

was a superb pilot. He was a very fine airman. He had many of the same

qualities that Richthofen had.

He was called the English Belky.

Hawker began using maneuvers that Richthofen had never seen before.

Richthofen was pulling all of his tricks, everything he could think of,

and couldn't shake Hawker off his tail.

After a series of intense maneuvers, Richthofen gets the upper hand and sets

his sights on Hawker's tail.

Manfred von Richthofen is about to make the kill of his career, when suddenly,

everything goes wrong.

November 23, 1916.

After a prolonged dogfight, Manfred von Richthofen is finally in a position to

shoot down Britain's finest fighter pilot, Major Lano Hawker, when both of

his machine guns jam.

This was a frequent problem with synchronized machine guns, which are

dealing with this cam system to interrupt the gun whenever the propeller

blade is in front of it.

The man is Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

The moment, bloody April 1917, is approaching.

The machine is the Albatross D3.

Hawker, who is low on fuel, makes a break for home.

The advantage to the Germans, almost always in this situation, is most of

these dogfights are taking place over German territory, behind the German

lines. So the British pilots...

have a longer way to go, they run out of gas.

Richthofen closes in behind the de Havilland and finally clears the jam.

He sends Britain's finest fighter pilot crashing to his death, just 50 yards

from Allied lines.

Rick Toven understands at that moment it's not the quality of the box, it's

the quality of the man in the box. And he's experienced what it's like when you

have a good pilot who knows what he's doing. It doesn't matter that his plane

is inferior to yours, he might beat you.

Rick Toven is a tireless stalker who waits for exactly the right opportunity

to present itself before striking.

His proficiency as a killer is the result of his childhood passion, hunting

in the forests of Germany.

Manfred von Richthofen is born on May 2nd, 1892 in Breslau in the German state

of Prussia.

Like all male Richthovens, Manfred is a Baron.

The family is elevated to the ranks of the nobility in 1741 by the Prussian

monarch Frederick the Great.

Manfred's father Albrecht is an army officer who sends him to a strict

military school from the age of 11.

His father has big expectations for his boys, and he wants his boys to grow up

to be soldiers.

Like many in this aristocratic environment, Manfred is a passionate

hunter.

Richthofen learns early on that there's a difference between a hunter and a

shooter. Richthofen's brother Lothar becomes the shooter.

Rick Toven is much more careful. He appreciates the stalk, stalking the

prey. If the prey is smart and wily and has good instincts, all the better.

Rick Toven is also a skilled horseman.

As World War I begins in 1914, he enters the Prussian cavalry as an officer.

But in a battlefield controlled by machine guns, the cavalry becomes

ineffective.

Rick Toven is put on supply duty.

Manfred von Richthofen became very unhappy as a cavalry officer. He has an

aggressive personality.

As he wrote to the emperor, I did not join the service to collect cheese

and eggs.

He wants combat.

Richthofen transfers to the air service and begins his career as an observer,

gathering intelligence from a scouting plane.

Richthofen was miserable.

He hated being an observer.

He wanted to be a pilot. The pilot was doing all the fun stuff. Richthofen's

basically staring through binoculars. He despised the job. He wanted the action.

In October of 1915, he has a chance encounter that transforms his life. He

meets the great Oswald Belke in the dining car of a transport train.

Rick Tobin looks at Belky the way kids today look at somebody like Michael

Jordan. I mean, he is the star. And every pilot, every young pilot like Rick

Tobin, emulates Belky.

Inspired, Richthofen takes flying lessons.

Soon, Belki recruits him.

It also doesn't hurt that as an aristocrat, this is the kind of

person who will symbolize to many Germans what they idealize most,

and that is the Prussian aristocrat as a military leader.

In September, he reports for duty at Jasta II's airfield in Burton Corps,

France.

Within three

weeks, he makes his first kill.

When he chose to engage the foe, His ability to judge distance, his ability

to maneuver the aircraft, his ability to assess the situation and counter the

opponent's moves went to high gain.

He just really understood how to put that all together.

October 28, 1916.

Barely two months into Rick Tovin's fighter training, tragedy strikes.

Oswald Belke is killed in a mid-air collision with one of his own planes.

Belke's career ends with an unprecedented tally of 40 kills.

The squadron and the nation mourn his loss.

The disaster of that is immeasurable, first of all, to the squadron, to

Germany, to the morale of the German people, to the high command, but it's

devastating personally to Richthofen.

By autumn of 1916, after two years of fighting, the war is at a stalemate.

Shortages of food and fuel have taken their toll on the German people.

When Oswald Belke dies, the fatherland loses its greatest hero, and the German

command looks to Manfred von Richthofen to fill the gap.

By January of 1917, Richthofen is well on his way to that goal.

With 16 victories under his belt, rick tovin is awarded germany's highest medal

for bravery and command of his own squadron yasta 11.

rick tovin becomes probably the most widely known celebrity in germany during

the first world war someone who simply dominates the public's attention span

everyone in germany suddenly starts carrying what we would call trading

cards like baseball cards with rick tovin's picture on them he has a fan

base i mean there's no other way to put it he becomes a hero in every sense,

even in the modern sense of that word.

But Jasta 11 will test Richthofen's leadership.

The poorly trained four-month-old squadron hasn't shot down a single enemy

aircraft, and the Halberstadt planes they're issued are not on par with the

Albatross.

On January 16, 1917, Richthofen arrives in La Braille, France, to take command

of the ragtag operation.

I think he's much less concerned about his own reputation than he is with what

he sees in front of him, which is a bunch of misfit pilots who have

accomplished nothing.

These people have not shot down anybody.

They're a dismal-looking bunch.

It's an enormous challenge.

Richthofen now feels the weight of his elevated status.

And with the clear flying weather of spring fast approaching, he'll have to

work fast.

People are quite cognizant that when weather clears, there is going to be a

violent and cataclysmic battle there for control of the skies.

There will be a clash between opposing doctrines and the opposing quality of

the fighter forces.

And one side or the other will emerge as a winner.

Pressure from German high command falls squarely on Richthofen's shoulders.

Break the stalemate and gain the upper hand in the air war.

January 16th, 1917.

Germany's greatest ace, Manfred von Richthofen, takes command of Jasta 11, a

squadron of inexperienced pilots that has yet to shoot down a single enemy

plane.

He stands them up outside.

And he lectures them, and he tells them, you're not going to die with me in

command. You know, if you go up with the track record you have, you are all going

to be killed.

I'm not going to put up with that.

Help for the hapless pilots arrives in the form of a new airplane, the next

generation of Albatross, the D-3.

With it, Richthofen scores the first victory for the squadron and has his new

Albatross painted an aggressive red.

Rick Tovin wants his plane to be identifiable by any

opponent who sees him.

He does want them to know he's there, in no uncertain terms. It's a great

announcement. I'm Rick Tovin. I'm here. I'm in this red plane. If you want to

fight, let's fight.

Rick Tovin's Albatross stands out as the only red plane on the front.

Jasta 11's other pilots follow his lead, painting their planes bright colors,

each with a warrior's splash of red.

The D3 inspires confidence in Richthofen's students, and it should.

It's superior to anything else in the air.

The Albatross D3 is 24 feet long with a 29-foot wingspan and a plywood-covered

fuselage. It's a variation on the biplane.

It's called a sesquiplane, meaning one and a half wings.

The upper wing is extended and the lower wing narrowed, using just one spar for

support. The single spar wing's greatest advantage over normal biplane

was that there was less area below, and if a pilot's looking down,

he has a better view of what's going on down there.

and spotting the enemy before he can spot you is a major advantage.

At the heart of the Albatross is a 160-horsepower Mercedes engine.

It gives the D3 a top speed of 103 miles per hour.

That's not quite as fast as the French SPAD 7, which can do 119 miles per hour.

But the Albatross has over twice the range of the SPAD and twice the

firepower. two 7.92 millimeter spandau machine guns versus the single vickers

machine gun on the spad the idea of being able to stalk and hunt one's prey

in it was perfect for rick tophan

I'm at the old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York, which has the world's largest

collection of flying World War I aircraft.

And I'm here with Chad Willey, one of its pilots, and Chad's going to take me

flying today. How you doing, Chad? Hi, Hunter. Glad to have you here. Oh,

thanks for having me. Now, this is a beautiful aircraft.

What is this?

This is an Albatross D-5A, very similar to the Albatross D-3 that Richthofen

flew. Now, is it okay if I peek in the cockpit?

Certainly. All right.

Wow. I mean, it's pretty simple in here.

Not the type of control stick I was expecting, actually.

Not very many gauges, but in their own way, they had some complications.

They had dual firing triggers for each machine gun. They could fire each one

individually or separately in case they had a gun jam.

We'll actually get to see what the tactics were that Rick Tobin developed

and became so successful with. Yes, we will. I'm going to use a couple of

techniques that he used. Use my speed and altitude to dive on you, keep you

in.

The site's for about three seconds or so and see if I can shoot you down. Okay,

I'm very used to that, so we'll see how it goes up there today. Looking forward

to it. Fight's on.

Like many of the Red Baron's victims, I'm a sitting duck in this big two

-seater.

In a World War I dogfight, altitude is the single most important advantage a

pilot can employ in an attack.

The higher plane can choose the moment of attack and gain vital speed as he

dives down to make the kill.

On two different occasions, Chad had us in his sights for more than three

seconds. If he was the Red Baron, I'd be just another silver cup on his

mantelpiece.

Arming them with technique and the Albatross D3, Richthofen transforms his

misfits into a superior fighting force.

As Richthofen's reputation spreads beyond Germany, British newspapers dub

him the Bloody Red Baron.

The British press is serving German propaganda very well because they're

giving him this larger-than-life image, this sort of aura, this legend around

this character.

Well, if you're a British pilot, you have to deal with that.

January 24th, 1917.

In the skies over France, a British scout plane is making a photo flight

over German-held territory.

Suddenly, from out of the sun, the Red Baron appears.

If you're a British reconnaissance pilot in a two-seat aircraft,

most of which are out of date,

You're basically, to put it bluntly, dog meat.

Richtoven dives on the aircraft and knocks out the engine and fuel tank.

It's his 18th victory.

As Richtoven watches the enemy plane burn, he suddenly finds himself in

trouble. This plane is falling apart.

The wing on his albatross is cracking.

The bloody Red Baron is about to be brought down by a flaw in his own

machine.

Imagine the horror of the fact that it's not the British pilot who's going to

kill him, it's his own plane.

January 24th, 1917.

Manfred von Richthofen has just shot a British reconnaissance plane out of the

sky when his own plane develops a critical problem.

The lower wing is on the verge of collapse.

Rick Tovin's initial reaction, like most of the other pilots who experienced it,

was alarm.

Here was a plane that looked like a world beater, but it has a very serious

Achilles heel to it.

Rick Tovin is able to make an emergency landing, but it's clear that the brand

new D-3 has a structural flaw.

Just days earlier, two pilots in another squadron are killed by the same failure.

By this time, Rick Toven and his albatross are having a huge,

intimidating effect on the enemy. But if word of the wing failure leaks, it could

damage the psychological edge that he and his airplane enjoy.

The high command needs to locate the source of the problem and find a

solution, fast.

The culprit turns out to be the single spar of the lower wing.

Its placement is too far back from the leading edge, which weakens the wing

during stressful maneuvers.

That single spar lower wing on the Albatross is going to be a problem if

anyone pushes the plane too hard.

And this can be a tremendous disadvantage in aerial combat.

While the Albatross is grounded for repair, Richthofen flies an underpowered

replacement.

Even so, he reaches a milestone 20 victories over the next few weeks.

Manfred von Richthofen became superhuman.

at 20 kills and that was only a quarter of the way into his record his picture

literally hung in almost every german home in march of 1917 manfred's younger

brother lotar joins the squadron the

high command realizes the publicity value of having two

rickdovens flying together

Manfred von Richthofen says, I am a hunter.

My brother Lothar is a butcher.

He was referring to the fact that Lothar would just charge right in hell for

leather and shoot at anything that moved.

A week later, as Britain prepares its attack, the D-3 returns to action.

A brace has been added to the lower wing to strengthen it.

But the pilots will need to hold back their speed in the dive, or the wings

could fail.

To know that there's a limit that you have to put on the plane for fear of

your wings falling off?

No, that's not good for pilot morale.

April 9th, 1917.

Britain begins the long-awaited Arras offensive with a massive artillery

bombardment that captures over four miles of German-occupied territory.

The British have this sense that perhaps if they push

hard enough, they might be able to break the Germans.

For Germany, April is a decisive month.

They have to achieve control of the air in April because all the intelligence

estimates indicate that the Allies will be introducing within a month higher

performance airplanes.

It is going to be neither quiet on the Western Front nor over the Western Front

for the next month to come.

To counter the British offensive, Jasta 11 flies constant patrols from their

base at La Braille, France.

In a patrol area covering roughly 400 square miles, Richtofen makes as many as

four flights a day.

On April 13th, he surpasses Oswald Belke's record by scoring his 41st kill.

I'm certain that in Richtofen, there was, in some respects, this sense of

Having honored Belki's legacy, as the pupil has learned from the master, now

the pupil is going to exceed the master.

With Britain taking massive losses, the British dubbed the month Bloody April.

By the 22nd, Jasta 11 alone records its 100th kill.

But in a business where one mistake can cost you your life, each success brings

the Red Baron that much closer to running out of luck.

April 29th, 1917 dawns with clear skies, perfect flying weather.

Rick Toven joins a morning patrol with his brother, Lothar.

They're having a great time because they know, one, They're superior to their

enemy. Two, Richtofen has this squadron he has formed around him with men that

he trusts impeccably.

And three, best of all, he's got his brother to fly with. They make the

perfect hunting pair.

But the prey is about to become more dangerous.

Richtofen will soon meet a new generation of aircraft designed to

outfly the Albatross.

His reputation as the ace of aces is about to be put to the test.

April 29th, 1917.

Manfred von Richthofen and his brother Lothar are patrolling the airspace over

German-occupied France.

It doesn't take long before they spot three French-made SPAD 7 fighters flown

by British pilots.

Although the Spad 7 is an extremely sturdy airplane, Richthofen shoots the

wings right off it, which gives you an idea of what his marksmanship was at

that point. And as Richthofen describes it, the fuselage plummets to earth like

a flaming stone.

The man is the Red Baron.

The machine is the Albatross D3.

an airborne weapon armed with a lethal dose of firepower.

The moment is bloody April, when the critical battle for air supremacy

reaches its most violent heights.

With 49 kills, Manfred von Richthofen has defied the odds.

Statistically, he should have been killed long ago.

The high command wants him to stop flying, preferring the propaganda value

of a living war hero to a dead one.

In just a few days, he'll go on leave not knowing if he'll be allowed to

return. But before he goes, he wants to raise his tally to an even 50.

As Manfred and his brother return to the airfield, their father, Albrecht von

Richthofen, arrives for a visit.

They both came back and they leapt out of their airplanes and his brother goes

up and says, Father, I've just shot down a British airplane.

And Rick Hoefen leaps out of his airplane and goes up to the old man and

says, I did too.

During lunch, a German reconnaissance plane is attacked just over the

airfield.

As medics carry away the dead crew, the jovial mood turns somber.

At that point, von Richthofen observes his father becomes a little more serious

because he then becomes aware that anyone can fall in this war, including

his sons.

That afternoon, Richthofen goes on a sortie and finds a British

reconnaissance plane with no fighter escort.

It's an easy mark.

of fair and equal combat.

But that's not the objective of the First World War anyway.

We're not talking about chivalry or fairness.

The objective is to catch your opponent at a disadvantage and shoot him full of

holes and kill him.

300 rounds from Richthofen's machine gun brings his score to the magic number of

50 victories.

A few hours later, another British plane will also fall prey to Richthofen's

guns. In one day, the brothers now have five victories between them.

But the planes they've brought down have all been inferior to the Albatross.

This moment of time, April 1917, the Albatross is at the pinnacle of its

development. Its fight of force is at the pinnacle of their abilities, but

that can change very, very rapidly.

Then, high above them...

Richthofen spots a fleet of 11 brand new British Sopwith triplanes.

German airmen have been warned about this new machine that's designed to

outperform the Albatross.

Sopwith triplane is a magnificent and beautiful aircraft.

It is highly maneuverable and well armed. It is a dangerous opponent to the

Albatross D3.

For the first time, Rick Toven's albatross, especially with its fragile

wing, is the underdog in a fight.

What he sees immediately is the soft-width triplane is more

maneuverable, it's faster, it can turn on a dime, and Rick Toven takes the

challenge. The triplanes are above them in perfect attack position.

When the triplanes dive, the albatrosses know they're coming, and the technique

is to turn to meet.

which means that Richtofen and his peers are perfectly well prepared to do

business with the English.

The Red Baron greets his attack with gunfire.

The triplane easily evades it by dropping below the albatross.

It's a critical mistake, which gives Richtofen the upper hand.

Triplane, you want to keep altitude.

You don't ever want either to join combat or...

descend below the opponent in the albatross because once you descend below

him the albatross simply will turn on your tail and riddle you the pilot

realizing his error makes a break for allied lines the albatross can't outrun

him so rick tovin tries another trick he fires again though he's well out of

range and has no chance of hitting the triplane the sop with pilot takes

evasive action but this slows him down it's a fatal mistake rick tovin keeps

his plane in a straight line well the result is he gains speed rick tovin gets

within 50 yards of the triplane close enough to hear the hiss of the fuel tank

as his bullets destroy it it's rick tovin's 50-second kill and with four

victories in one day it's the red baron's best day ever with all the

disadvantages handed to rick tovin rick tovin wins He shoots down the British

plane, and ultimately, I don't think that's a surprise to Richthofen, because

I think he very well understands it's not the box, it's the man who flies the

box.

In April 1917, the British hit their lowest point in the air war.

In four weeks, they lose one third of their crews, over 900 men, and 150

airplanes to the Germans.

Yasta 11 scores 89 of those victories, more than half of the British losses.

The leadership in the Royal Flying Corps was very distressed by the losses they

were taking, and they knew that they had inferior aircraft.

So they were really pushing as hard as they could to bring newer, better

airplanes into production and get them to the front, get them in the hands of

their pilots.

The Germans suffer as well, losing 159 airmen and 77 aircraft.

Although on the whole Bloody April is a triumph for Germany, it's also the last

time they'll dominate the skies in World War I.

The month marks the beginning of the end for the Albatross.

As British production hits its stride, the Allies come up with more planes that

meet and surpass it.

It was at that point that the Germans realized they were now looking at a

disadvantage in the air rather than a positive advantage that they enjoyed all

the way through the first part of World War I.

For Manfred von Richthofen, Bloody April is the pinnacle of his career.

In that one month, he brings down 21 airplanes.

But two months later, his luck will change when he attacks a reconnaissance

plane that should be an easy kill.

The observer is shooting at him wildly, way out of range, and Richthofen's sort

of chuckling to himself that, you know, yeah, yeah, I've seen this before.

One of the bullets strikes him in the head.

It's just bad luck.

Richthofen will never fully recover from this injury, although he continues to

fly and score victories.

In September of 1917,

Richthofen's aging Albatross is replaced by the Fokker DR-1 triplane.

The small and agile fighter is a fierce counter to the new Allied designs.

The Albatross was, of course, von Richthofen's primary aircraft, his

primary steed, until he had accomplished 60 kills. At that point, along came the

Fokker DR-1, the airplane for which he's probably most noted for, but actually

the aircraft that he spent the least time in.

April 21st, 1918.

Richthofen is on patrol in his Fokker triplane when he blatantly disregards

the rules that have kept him victorious and alive for so long.

He fixates on the plane of an inexperienced pilot, chasing him low

across enemy lines and within range of ground artillery.

By that time, Richthofen is very tired and exhausted.

His wound has not healed.

He's still a highly proficient fighter.

Ariel, killer.

But the man is no longer the same man.

The greatest ace of all is shot down and killed with a single bullet through the

chest.

There was a great dispute after he was shot down as to whether Captain Roy

Brown and the Sopwith Camel trailing had shot him down or whether the Australian

gunners from the ground shot him down.

In some respects, it really didn't make a lot of difference. He was dead.

Rick Tovin is two weeks shy of his 26th birthday when he's killed.

The Allies bury him with full military honors.

His career total of 80 combat victories is unequaled by any other flyer on

either side during World War I.

Manfred's brother Lothar survives the war but dies in a plane crash in 1922 at

the age of 27.

Manfred von Richthofen deserves to be recognized as an extraordinary military

hero, not just a German military hero, an extraordinary hero to anyone who

understands how difficult it is to be a fighter pilot, who understands how

primitive those airplanes were, the challenge of facing an adversary in

horrible physical conditions, and the fact that Richthofen did it better than

anyone.

Manfred von Richthofen and the Albatross are a rare combination of uncanny talent

and exquisite engineering that appear at a moment in the war when the outcome is

far from decided.

During that deadly month of April 1917, man and machine unite to give Germany a

glimmer of hope for victory.

It also marks another appearance of the M3 factor.

A force will continue to target on man, moment, machine.