THE OBSERVATION, RECONNAISSANCE AND SCHOOL PLANES OF THE GREAT WAR...

As early as 1891, the army, in particular General Mensier, Director of Engineering, followed the work of the forerunner Clément Ader. In 1909, he published a prophetic work, L'Aviation Militaire (Military Aviation). That year, the Minister of War, General Brun, asked the Engineers and the Artillery to lay the foundations of military aeronautics. 14 airplanes take part in the Manoeuvres of Picardy in September 1910. The Frenchmen René Simon and Roland Garros, pilots of the Moisant International Aviators, an American "flying circus", carry out TRUE war missions during the Mexican revolution of 1911. The Italians did the same in Libya at the end of 1911, the French in Morocco at the beginning of 1912, and the Balkan War of 1913 saw the use of air weapons on both sides... Knowing the enemy's intentions in depth or on the front line, regulating artillery fire on him, are vital missions for the conduct of combat. While the first aircraft are derived from those that evolved in the Belle-Époque, at the end of the Great War specialized, powerful, efficient and effective machines were in service, while many decommissioned models were used for training airmen.