WW1 Observation Balloons - High Value Targets

An Overview of WW1 Observation Balloons and Balloon Buster Pilots

Movies Video Games Featured:

The Red Baron 2008
Wings 1927
Von Richthofen and Brown 1971
The Blue and the Gray 1982
Sucker Punch 2011
Battlefield 1 (Video Game)
Zeppelin 9971
Flyboys 2006
Blackadder 1989
Sky Bandits 1986
The Mini Adventures of Winnie The Pooh 2011

#history #ww1 #aircraft

[fortis]

You should definitely do Zeppelins next. Especially since they were among the first aircraft to conduct bombing missions on cities from the air

[deadlybaconman]

im really enjoying these videos on less "crucial" parts of war like the slouch hats and trench armor its cool to see in-depth videos on the less flashy or well known parts of warfare that don't usually get shown in such detail

[oberstul]

OMG, that was cracking good fun at the end there. Quite informative, too. But comparing Winnie with his IT balloon with the Chinese spying incident was PURE genius. Top form, cheers!

[Siddingsby]

Balloon observers were issued with parachutes. Aircraft pilots and crew, however, weren't issued with parachutes. Partially because of weight concerns but also because the early air staff officers (on both sides) quite callously believed that pilots would abandon their (expensive) aircraft rather than attempt a landing after suffering battle damage.

[bigblue]

Napoleon did have observation balloons but stopped using them when he discovered that some of his officers were using them in what was the forerunner to the mile high club.

Later on some of the early armoured trains would carry an observation balloon on a flatcar which would be sent aloft when they reached hostile territory. Similar to how helicopters flew above supply convoys in Viet Nam. Unfortunately what they often did was give the enemy another target to shoot at.

Though it may seem an easier target than fighting an aircraft WW1 observation balloons were so heavily defended that many pilots considered it much more dangerous than dogfighting. In fact many pilot specialised in balloon busting with eight of the top ten pilots getting more balloon kills than fighters. The Belgian pilot Willy Coppens busted 35 balloon victories but only to 2 aircraft.

[TheLilikprasaja]

That pooh reference got me chuckled. good one sir!

[marpintado]

I can´t stop to be astound by such condensed, concise and deep videos!!! Thank you man!!!

[Butter_Warrior]

Thank goodness for WW1 balloons, it paved the way for the first air to air kill for the F-22.

[meshuggahshirt]

Fun fact: because the Geneva Convention forbids the use of incendiary ammo in warfare, balloon busters were required to carry official documents from their COs stating that their incendiary ammo was for anti-air purposes only

[billyponsonby]

Brilliantly sourced material and production. Fascinating too!

[andrewsteele]

Good morning, Johnny, interesting that the static unmanned balloons were used to defend London during the Blitz. Great video, Cheers

[danielvictor]

Just want to say this is one of the best channels in YouTube right now

[johnmeyer]

Pooh bears appearance is tha chef's kiss!🤣

[tipGasm]

Love the puns, jokes, and little goofs at the end of vids. Keep it up!

[RolfYeager]

Every video you post I watch then like it before you even get your first word in because you never disappoint. It’s crazy to see how otherworldly warfare was back then, imagine how much skill it took to land on an enemy’s balloon and live through to tell the tail especially when landing on aircraft carriers with modern jets is considered a very dangerous landing maneuver but those guys have a whole runway and a way to be caught too. Very good video

[arnowisp]

Always found it interesting to know that if it wasn't for the highly flammable Hydrogen and material used in the balloon. They were actually hard for planes to destroy. At that time I think, Zeppelins would climb faster than a Plane and even if severely damaged, they don't pop like a Party balloon but instead slowly losed altitude which meant they could be piloted to safety when severly damaged.

[johnnyallred]

I enjoyed your video on balloon's and Balloon busting in World war 1, thank you!.

[cj_modeller]

Allllright another great video, thanks Johnny. Also, your dry humor is my favorite lol

[ewangrainger]

Loving the increased emphasis on WW1 on this Channel. The topic doesn't see enough coverage overall.

[Logotic]

Never saw or heard of that balloon apron before. Very cool!