World War I brought the dawn of aerial combat, turning pilots into the new heroes of the sky. On November 23, 1916, German ace Manfred von Richthofen—known as the Red Baron—faced British ace Major Lanoe Hawker in one of history’s most iconic dogfights. For 35 minutes, their planes—Richthofen’s Albatros D.II and Hawker’s older DH.2—twisted and turned through the clouds. When Hawker’s engine failed, he made a desperate attempt to reach Allied lines but was shot down just 150 feet from safety. This