Osprey Aircraft of the Aces Balloon-Busting Aces of World War I PB Jon Guttman

Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1Author(s): Jon Guttman, Mark Postlethwaite\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, United Kingdom\nImprint: Osprey Publishing\nISBN-13: 9781841768779, 978-1841768779\nSynopsis\nTethered balloons have been used for aerial observation since the French Revolution, but in World War I, they reached their zenith as a means of providing a stationary observation platform above the battlefield. It took a special breed of daredevil to take on such odds deep in enemy lines in order to destroy a balloon, with Balloon specialists such as Willy Coppens, Pierre Bourjade and Michel Coiffard rising to the challenge. This book covers the story of these 'balloon busters' from both sides in World War I through a mix of first-hand accounts and expert analysis, which compares tactics, theatres of operation, aircraft types and the overall odds for success.