Join Brass and Mr. Chow as they put a bow on their coverage of WWI fighter pilots, comparing and contrasting the personalities, strengths, and weaknesses of each pilot, and discuss the various attributes that bind them together.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "There are no second acts in American lives." He'd obviously never met Eddie Rickenbacker. Join Brass and Mr. Chow as they discuss the multi-faceted life of America's Ace of Aces of WWI as well as methods for making friends on transatlantic cruises and ways to make your name sound "less German."

Lanoe Hawker was returning from a patrol over the lines when he spotted a Nieuport of No. 11 Squadron returning to base. Deciding to show this newcomer what dog-fighting was all about, Hawker pounced on the tail of the Nieuport just to give him a scare. Hawker, however, was the one surprised when the Nieuport pilot saw the move, quickly reversed the position, and a mock dog-fight broke out in earnest. After a couple of minutes, during which neither pilot could best the other, the two British pilots waved off the friendly engagement and broke off for their respective airfields. Hawker didn't know that he had just tested a man that would become one of the most daring British aces of WWI: Albert Ball. Join Brass and Mr. Chow as they discuss the Ball's courageous and often reckless life in the skies over Europe.

In June of 1916, Oswald Boelcke was taking a brief respite from fighting over the skies of Verdun when a German pilot came running with urgent news: "The Devil's loose at the front." He said. "There are six Americans up aloft. I distinctly saw the American flag on their fuselages. They're damned impudent fellows; they came right up to the lines and crossed them." Boecke replied, "Well, let us go say 'how do you do?', it's the least that they can expect, and courtesy requires it of us. Join Brass and Mr. Chow as they discuss the first American fighter pilots, a motley crew of Ivy Leaguers with a sprinkling of card-sharks and soldiers-of-fortune.

"Fly on and fight on, to the last drop of blood, the last drop of blood, to the last beat of the heart." -Manfred Von Richthofen, "The Red Baron." In this episode, Brass and Mr. Chow discuss Richthofen's transformation from glory-seeking hunter to tormented hero.

Hunting trophies are the ultimate proof of a hunter's triumph and reminders that cunning, patience, and marksmanship won the day. Most hunters hang the heads of deer, moose, and bear forever frozen in their last fight. Manfred Von Richthofen was a hunter with an entirely different set of trophies; in his room hung serial numbers cut from the tails of airplanes, machine-guns torn from wrecks, salvaged propellers, and dozen of little silver cups each with a unique inscription. In this episode we explore the early life and career of Richthofen, setting the stage for him to become "The Red Baron."

Lanoe Hawker looked across the circle at the German pilot. After thirty minutes of turning, looping, and diving neither pilot had been able to best the other. It had become obvious that this was no ordinary dogfight. Hawker had finally found a German who could match his skills in flight. Continuing to look across the circle, Hawker gave the German a little wave, and Manfred Von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron" waved back. This episode explores the life and contributions of Lanoe Hawker, who is often referred to as "The British Boelcke" due to his outsized impact on the British Air Force during World War I and beyond.

In late June of 1916, Oswald Boelcke found himself on a train racing away from the war on the Western Front. Deemed as too important to lose after the death of Max Immelmann, Boelcke was left with no battle to wage. Instead, he turned his energies into distilling the lessons learned from two years of fighting. This distillation led to the "Dicta Boelcke," the first codified set of air to air tactics. Combined with daily flight briefs and debriefs, Boelcka unknowingly set the standard that all air forces use more than 100 years later.