POV: You Are Training to Be a WW1 Pilot (Life Expectancy: 17 Days)

You’re 20, you’ve flown only a few hours, and you’ve just been posted to a squadron in France. Your plane has no parachute. This video covers the rushed training of the Royal Flying Corps, unstable aircraft, and the policy of not giving parachutes to British pilots. We look at Bloody April 1917, when new pilots lasted very little. The famous “17 days” life expectancy is a commonly cited figure, but it is disputed, so we look at what the evidence really supports. We finish with what changed in pilot training afterward. #WW1 #BloodyApril #RoyalFlyingCorps #MilitaryHistory #AviationHistory