A Song of the Plane: An Aviator’s Awe of the Flying Machine

Black and white photograph of an American Soldier with a British Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter biplane in a field in front of two buildings. There is a pilot wearing goggles in the seat and the plane's engine is running.

Through the exploration of a poem written by WWI pilot, Gordon Alchin, students will discover one perspective of the life a pilot during the Great War. Students will analyze the positive and negative aspects of being a WWI aviator, while also considering what they might have felt flying aircraft that were so new in their design.