The Western Front, and millions of men are locked in a life and death struggle, knee deep in Flanders mud. High above them, swooping and jousting are the knights of the air, the world's first fighter pilots, pratting about looking damned heroic but having no real impact on proceedings. Slightly below them are the observation aircraft. Slow, lumbering two seaters, taking photographs, directing artillery fire and dropping bombs. These men wield enormous influence over the battlefield. This also makes them flying targets.Julian Canning is a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps and a veteran of five months, assigned to fly the ridiculously out of date BE2 observation aircraft. Incompetent as a pilot and hopeless as a soldier, Canning maintains a state of perpetual inebriation as he endures having his nose broken by the brothel door, a malevolent squadron administrator seemingly intent on getting him killed, and creatively disposing of an inconvenient Frenchman. All this as he desperately tries to avoid becoming another trophy on the Red Baron's wall.April 1917 once again sees a crew of old men cheerfully seeking to bury a generation in the fields of France. The Royal Flying Corps throw large numbers of men and machines into supporting the Arras offensive, regardless of the cost. The slaughter in the sky and on the ground reaches a crescendo and the month will ultimately become known as 'Bloody April.' The average lifespan of an airman is two weeks...