The Red Baron «INSTANT × 2024»

: Despite being the war's most feared hunter, he was widely respected by his enemies for his perceived sportsmanship and habit of saluting downed foes. The Fall of the Baron

On , at age 25, the Red Baron’s luck ran out. While pursuing a novice Canadian pilot, Wilfred May, at a low altitude over the Somme River, he was struck by a single bullet. The Red Baron

: He was not just a pilot but a master strategist who prioritized high-altitude positioning and diving on his prey, a tactic taught by his mentor, Oswald Boelcke. : Despite being the war's most feared hunter,

: He painted his aircraft scarlet to honor his old cavalry regiment and to act as a psychological "challenge" to Allied pilots. : He was not just a pilot but

Born into the aristocracy, Richthofen originally joined a cavalry regiment before seeking a transfer to the Imperial Air Service in 1915 after finding trench warfare "boring". He initially served as an observer before training as a pilot, eventually becoming the leader of Jagdgeschwader 1 —a mobile unit dubbed the by the Allies due to its brightly colored planes and nomadic lifestyle.

Manfred von Richthofen , famously known as the , was the "ace of aces" of World War I, credited with 80 confirmed aerial victories . A Prussian nobleman who began the war as a cavalry officer, he became a global legend for his lethal precision in the air and his signature bright red Fokker Dr.I triplane . The Rise of a Legend