The Red Baron: An Air Combat Legacy

A replica of Manfred von Richthofen's red Fokker Dr.I triplane.

Von Richthofen was credited with more aerial kills than any other ace in World War 1.On Sept. 17, 1916 the now legendary `Red Baron' of World War 1, shot down the first of 80 allied aircraft over France.

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker (triplane) was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It gained fame as the aircraft in which von Richthofen registered his last 20 victories, and in which he was killed on 21 April 1918.

Von Richthofen's Albatros D.V after a forced landing near Wervicq. The head wound he suffered in this battle left him with post-flight nausea and headaches.

A diagram of of the Fokker machine gun. Anthony Fokker was a Dutch designer who designed aircraft at his factory in Germany. He invented a design that allowed for a forward-firing machine-gun to be synchronized with the propeller of the airplane - a feature that afforded an advantage to German aces like Von Richthoven.

Von Richthofen (center) with Hermann Thomsen (German Air Service Chief of Staff, shown on the left) and Ernst von Hoeppner (Commanding General of the Air Service, shown on the right) at the Imperial Headquarters at Bad Kreuznach.

The Red Baron captured the headlines but the history of aerial warfare predates WW1. In this image, Italian dirigibles bomb Turkish positions on Libyan Territory. The Italian-Turkish war of 1911-1912 featured the first air attacks by airplanes and dirigible airships.

One or Von Richthoven's most famous victims.. British ace Major Lanoe Hawker. Hawker played a major role in helping Britain establish air dominance during the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme.

Manfred von Richthofen with other members of Jasta 11, the "No 11 Fighter Squadron." It became Germany's most successful fighter squadron during the war.

Map of the region near Amiens where Von Richthoven was shot down.

The officers and NCOs of the 24th Machine Gun Company in March 1918. Sergeant Cedric Popkin, second from the right in the middle row, is believed to have fired the fatal rounds from his anti-aircraft gun that killed the Red Baron.

Australian airmen with the remains of Richthofen's triplane.

Von Richthoven's grave in Berlin.

Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, German manager, sports functionary and grandnephew of the so-called 'Red Baron' of the same name, poses on the red carpet for the premiere of the film 'The Red Baron' on March 31, 2008 in Berlin.