Incredible WWI RAF training posters reveal how to avoid being shot down by German fighter jets
A FASCINATING set of photos used to teach young World War One pilots how to avoid being shot down by German planes have come to light - after more than 100 years.
The set of nine black and white posters, which feature illustrations and diagrams, are to go under the hammer this week.
And auctioneers expect them to fetch around £6,000.
The posters were issued by the Air Ministry in the final months of the First World War.
They would have been hung in training rooms at airfields to educate novice pilots ahead of their dogfights with the Imperial German Air Service, or the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte.
One poster with the title 'night flying' explains how to approach enemy territory in darkness and avoid being shot down.
Another, titled 'beware of the moon', warns against flying in front of white clouds.
Illustrations of German guns give a stark warning of the perils faced by the young pilots.
IMAGES EXPECTED TO FETCH £6,000
A third image tells the fighters not to use flares while landing in fog at night, as it obscures the ground.
Others explain how to land in a wind, as well as the dangers of turning too fast while taxiing - with an aircraft pictured on its side.
Yet more show how to land safely if the engine fails, and best practice for formation flying.
The images, which measure 40 inches by 27 inches, are being sold at auction by a private collector.
U.S.-based auction house owner Nate Sanders says he expects the set to fetch thousands.
He said: "These training posters were produced during the dawn of aviation.
"It was the first time that planes were used during combat.
"There were very few pilots, thus the Royal Flying Training Corps posters were essential for training new aviators."
At the outset of the war the Royal Flying Corps was made up of just five squadrons.
Within 10 months, the air service increased five times in size and there was 10 times the amount of pilots, but - because of the high number of casualties - still more airmen were needed.
British airmen always attacked even against superior numbers but their gallantry came at a very heavy cost.
More than 9,000 British airmen were killed during the war.
The RFC was amalgamated with the Royal Naval Air Service to create the RAF in April 1918.
The timed auction ends on Thursday.
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