Duel in the Skies, Part II

Both Captain Luke Stirling and the Red Baron quickly land their planes and refuel before launching back into the skies. This time, there are no trenches to destroy, only the enemy. A true duel between the American Captain and the Red Baron.

Both pilots are more aggressive, nearly colliding in midair several times as try to gun the other down. The machine guns open up, and make contact with both planes. Luke lurches as a bullet connects with his shoulder. Nearly losing control of the plane, he takes a deep breath and realizes that the wound isn't fatal.

As they pass, Luke performs an Immelman turn, flipping the plane and leveling out in the Baron's kill slot. Bullets tear through the canvas, but Luke can't tell if he's done any significant damage.

The Baron makes the same play and once again the two planes charge straight for each other. A bullet pierces Luke's rudder, making a left turn impossible until he can unjam it, but thankfully the Red Baron's machine gun jams and falls silent.

A good thing too, as the Baron makes a sharp turn that would have set him up to do some damage.

The rudder unstuck, Luke turns his plane and again slides in behind the Baron.

The Baron slowly banks into him, and Luke thinks he can see him pounding on his machine gun to try and get it to work.

The Baron's gun unjammed, the planes wheel around each other in a dance of death.

The Baron miscalculates, and Luke again slides in behind him.

More bullet tear into the red plane, and smoke now trails it.

The Baron banks the wrong way, exposing the side of his plane to Luke's guns. Luke holds down the trigger, emptying the cartridge into the air and (hopefully) the enemy plane.

The Baron curses, his rudder shredded he can no longer turn right or left. The only place left to go is down, and so he does, streaming smoke and curses behind him.

Luke watches his arch enemy descend, and sees him straighten out and land in a field on the German side of the lines. An unexpected victory for the young American, but tainted with the knowledge that the Baron survives to find him again in the big blue sky.

Time to get that shoulder looked at Luke...

Duel in the Skies, Part I

April 1917, on the front near near the Aisne river.  The allies are on the offensive, pushing back the boche.  A machine gun nest is giving the boys a problem and Captain Luke Stirling is going to take care of it. Hopping in his SPAD XIII, he intends to silence the gun over the course of several strafing runs.

But Luke isn't alone in the sky this day. The infamous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthoven, has the same mission. Flying from the East, he intends to strafe the allied trenches, giving the Germans a chance to regroup.

The two planes fly straight at each other, and in the first shots Luke fires at the Red Baron while the Baron saves his fire for the trench.

The Baron maneuvers to avoid Luke's fire, and Luke shoots at the trench instead, silencing the German gun.

The two planes pass each other, and the Red Baron completes his run, destroying the allied machine gun.

Now it's a race to clear the area. Luke has a head start, and the Baron tries to come about to down the fleeing American.

But Luke's SPAD is too fast.

The Baron shakes his fist ineffectually at the surprisingly skilled American pilot.
"Next time Stirling, next time!"  Part II here.