The World's First Aerial Battle
GREAT WARS spur people and nations to seek new technologies and techniques to overcome an enemy. Aviation is one area that developed a lot before and during World Wars I and II.
Even before WWI, some battles were held in the sky. Aeroplanes were already able to manoeuvre well and transport heavy objects, and so the military was tempted to use them in battle.
The first known dogfight took place during the Mexican Revolution on 30th November 1913. The pilots on opposing sides, Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader, were both Americans and also good acquaintances. The pilots were commanded to kill the enemy in the air, but the men decided otherwise. They fired their rifles, but deliberately missed. So the world's first air battle ended well for both of them
Article was published in Nordica´s in-flight magazine Time Flies (winter-spring 2018).