When the RFC crossed to France in August 1914 to take its place alongside the PBI and the other elements of the BEF, the military authorities mainly saw the aeroplane as a platform for reconnaissance. In itself that was something of a ‘visionary’ step forward from the 1910 statement by the professional head of the army who said that military aviation was “a useless and expensive fad”.

This talk examines the origins of the RFC, who went to France and what they did with the aircraft they had and, driven by the necessity of war, the development of tactics, equipment, communications and weapons in the first year of the Great War.

Both members and non-members welcome.