The World War I Aviator's Pocket Manual

How the first military pilots learned to fly—and fight: guidance from Great War training manuals.

Aviation was still in its infancy when World War I broke out—and newly formed air forces produced manuals to help pioneers heading for the skies as they took warfare into a new dimension with reconnaissance missions, primitive bombing attempts, and attacks on enemy aircraft.

Pulling together information from British manuals such as A Few Hints for the Flying Officer and Practical Flying, a...