Canvas Wings, Wooden Props: Recollections and Reflections of a World War I Pilot

In early 1917, George Robert Christie was earning eighteen dollars a week as a fuel oil engineer. A few months later, he began training to become a pilot in the United States military. Christie s swift transformation from civilian to bomber pilot is recounted by his son, Robert William Christie, using personal accounts, letters, diary excerpts, and notations from his father George s air service Pilot s Log. A well-documented account of the pilots training for the fledgling Army Air Service in World War I, Canvas Wings, Wooden Props includes a vivid simulation of air combat over Germany in 1918. It also includes photographs taken during training in the slow, unreliable, wood-and-canvas JN-4 Jenny aircraft. Canvas Wings, Wooden Props reconstructs the World War I bomber pilots experience in the originally chivalrous but later vicious war in the air over France, Belgium, and Germany. The evolution of aerial bombing as a military tactic in World War I foretold the strategic role bombing has played in warfare since that time. George Christie was ninety-years old when he agreed to have his training and service memories preserved on tape. These accounts of his experiences make this World War I memoir an important addition to U.S. military history. Robert William Christie, M.D., served with an armored division as a tank platoon leader in Europe during World War II. He is a retired adjunct professor at Dartmouth Medical School and has written widely on medical, scientific, and military subjects. He lives in northern New Hampshire.