question: If the first airplane was flown in 1903 in South Carolina, how was it possible that by the start of WW1 (1914) so many countries already had reliable fighting aircrafts?
comment: In a nut shell, your timeline is wrong. [Wikipeida has a lot of data]( URL_0 ) that might be useful but the good parts version is WW1 started with planes and pilots as Reconnaissance roles. over the next couple months the technology got better, because it was initially you know.. Pistol shots at each other. It developed up to interrupt gears, so that a machine gun could be fired, by a pilot, and snowballed from there. & #x200B; Granted, it was a very, very fast ramp-up, but it wasn't an overnight development of military air forces prior to world war one.
passages: Heavier-than-air aircraft were recognized as having military applications early on, despite resistance from traditionalists and the severe limitations of early aircraft. The U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased a Wright Model A on 2 August 1909 which became the first military aircraft in history. In 1911, the Italians used a variety of aircraft types in reconnaissance, photo-reconnaissance, and bombing roles during the Italo-Turkish War. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot, Captain Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on November 1, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by "Sottotenente" Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire.
   Although the airplane was invented in the United States, the need to produce other sorts of weapons prevented an indigenous U.S. design during the Great War. The principal U.S. scout/fighter was the "Wright", a modified copy of the German Albatros fighter, with the Martin one-decker being used earlier in the war. British and Canadian forces used the same front-line fighters in Europe and North America, such as the Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Pup.
   At the beginning of hostilities, legalistic Aviation was better served by aerial means. Military Aviation were mobilized: the Joint Aviation Group, with twelve aircraft Potez 25 TOE observation and bombing and five aircraft armed Waco CSO with machine guns and bombs door; the Military Aviation School, with a bomber Amiot 122 a Nieuport-Delage Ni-D 72 and eleven De Havilland DH 60T Moth trainers, updated in connection missions, observation and adjustment of artillery fire.
   The earliest recorded use of explosive ordnance of any type from an aircraft occurred on November 1, 1911, when Italian pilot Giulio Gavotti dropped several, grapefruit-sized "cipelli" grenades on Ottoman positions in Libya – Gavotti's raid caused no casualties, functionally only resulting in the earliest known case of air-delivered harassing fire—but marked the first known use of an aircraft for military combat purposes.
   BULLET::::- July 29 – Germany and Italy become the first countries to provide aircraft for service in the Spanish Civil War, when 10 German Junkers Ju 52 transports land in Spanish Morocco for service with the Nationalist faction and nine Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers arrive in Spain for Nationalist service; three other SM.81s crash during the flight to Spain.
  
  BULLET::::- July 29-August 5 – Ten, later increased to twenty, German Junkers Ju 52s ferry 1,500 Spanish Nationalist troops from Spanish Morocco to Spain in the worlds first major military airlift.
   BULLET::::- Fokker V 31 : One D.VII aircraft fitted with a hook to tow the Fokker V 30 glider
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker V 34 : D.VII development with BMW IIIa engine
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker V 35 : Two-seat development with BMW IIIa engine and undercarriage fuel tank
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker V 36 : D.VII development with BMW IIIa engine and undercarriage fuel tank
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker V 38 : Prototype Fokker C.I
  
  BULLET::::- D.VII: Production aircraft from Fokker; either from their wartime Schwerin/Görries headquarters, or post-Armistice, in the Netherlands.
  
  BULLET::::- D.VII(Alb): Production aircraft from Albatros Flugzeugwerke in Johannisthal, Berlin
   BULLET::::- 22 October – A military airplane makes an operational flight for the first time when an Italian Army Blériot XI piloted by Captain Carlo Piazza flies from Tripoli to 'Aziziya to carry out reconnaissance of Ottoman Army positions in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War. Later in the day, an Italian Nieuport flown by a Captain Moizo becomes the first airplane to be damaged by enemy forces in combat when it suffers several hits from Turkish ground fire.
  
  BULLET::::- 24 October – Orville Wright soars in a glider 9 minutes and 45 seconds over dunes near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
   Section::::Operational history.:Battle of the Netherlands.
  
  On 10 May 1940, when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands, 23 G.1 aircraft were serviceable while production of Spain's order of the G.1 Wasp variant continued with a dozen aircraft completed, awaiting armament.
   The first use of airplanes in war was the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, when the Italians carried out several reconnaissance and bombing missions. During WWI both sides made use of balloons and airplanes for reconnaissance and directing artillery fire. To prevent enemy reconnaissance, some airplane pilots began attacking other airplanes and balloons, first with small arms carried in the cockpit, and later with machine guns mounted on the aircraft. Both sides also made use of aircraft for bombing, strafing and dropping of propaganda leaflets.
   Aeroplanes were first used in warfare during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912. The first operational use took place on 23 October 1911, when Captain Carlo Piazza made a flight near Benghazi in a Blériot XI. The first aerial bombardment followed shortly afterwards on 1 November, when Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti dropped four bombs on two oases held by the Turks. The first photographic reconnaissance flight took place in March 1912, also flown by Captain Piazza.
   Almost as soon as they were invented, airplanes were used for military purposes. The first country to use them for military purposes was Italy, whose aircraft made reconnaissance, bombing and artillery correction flights in Libya during the Italian-Turkish war (September 1911 – October 1912). The first mission (a reconnaissance) occurred on 23 October 1911. The first bombing mission was flown on 1 November 1911. Then Bulgaria followed this example. Its airplanes attacked and reconnoitered the Ottoman positions during the First Balkan War 1912–13. The first war to see major use of airplanes in offensive, defensive and reconnaissance capabilities was World War I. The Allies and Central Powers both used airplanes and airships extensively.
   Section::::History.:Powered.
  
  Soon after the first flight of the Wright Flyer, several militaries became interested in powered aircraft. In 1909 the US Army purchased the Wright Military Flyer, a two-seat observation aircraft, for the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps. It served until 1911, by which time powered aircraft had become an important feature in several armies around the world.
  
  Section::::Combat.
  
  Combat aircraft, or "Warplanes", are divided broadly into "multi-role", "fighters", "bombers", "attackers", and "electronic warfare support".
   BULLET::::- Westland Wapiti "army co-operation"
  
  Section::::List.:United States.
  
  BULLET::::- Beechcraft Model 18 "transport & trainer"
  
  BULLET::::- Berliner-Joyce F2J "carrier-based fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Berliner-Joyce OJ "observation"
  
  BULLET::::- Berliner-Joyce P-16 "fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing XB-15 "heavy bomber"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "heavy bomber"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing FB/PW-9 "fighter/carrier-based fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing F2B "carrier-based fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing F3B "carrier-based fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing F4B "fighter/carrier-based fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing NB "trainer"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing P-12 "fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing P-26 Peashooter "fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated O-17 Courier "observation"
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated P-30 "fighter"
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated P2Y "patrol flying boat"
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated PBY Catalina "patrol flying boat"
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated PT-1 "trainer"
   Fighter development stagnated between the wars, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where budgets were small. In France, Italy and Russia, where large budgets continued to allow major development, both monoplanes and all metal structures were common. By the end of the 1920s, however, those countries overspent themselves and were overtaken in the 1930s by those powers that hadn't been spending heavily, namely the British, the Americans and the Germans.
   BULLET::::- Fokker D.VII
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker F.VIIb-3m
  
  BULLET::::- Fokker S.IV
  
  BULLET::::- Morane-Saulnier AR / MS.35
  
  BULLET::::- NVI F.K.31
  
  BULLET::::- Pander D
  
  BULLET::::- Vickers Viking
  
  Section::::Aircraft.:1936–1950.
  
  BULLET::::- Brewster B-339C/D (export Brewster Buffalo)
  
  BULLET::::- Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann
  
  BULLET::::- Commonwealth CA-6 Wackett
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated Model 28-5MN
  
  BULLET::::- Consolidated Model 28-5AMN
  
  BULLET::::- Curtiss P-40E/N Kittyhawk
  
  BULLET::::- Curtiss Model 75A-7 (export P-36 Hawk)
  
  BULLET::::- Curtiss-Wright CW-21B
  
  BULLET::::- Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcon
  
  BULLET::::- Douglas C-47 Dakota
  
  BULLET::::- Dornier Do 24K
  
  BULLET::::- Douglas C-54 Skymaster
  
  BULLET::::- Douglas DC-3
  
  BULLET::::- Fairchild F-24R-9
  
  BULLET::::- Glenn Martin 139/166 (export B-10)
  
  BULLET::::- Hawker Hurricane IIb
  
  BULLET::::- Mitsubishi Ki-57 "Topsy"
  
  BULLET::::- Koolhoven F.K.51
   BULLET::::- An ironsmith "kalfa" (journeyman) named Manojlo who "came to Belgrade from Vojvodina" attempts to fly an ornithopter. Forbidden to take off from the belfry of St. Michael's Cathedral by the authorities, he clandestinely climbs to the rooftop of the Đumrukhana (Import Tax Head Office) and jumps off, landing in a heap of snow and surviving.
  
  BULLET::::- 1842
   Aero Ae 02
  
  The Aero Ae 02 was the first fighter aircraft to be designed and built in Oshowitz. The Aero aircraft first flew in 1920.
  
  Section::::Design and development.
   Only even through triangular operation in Buenos Aires in order to circumvent provisions of the Havana Treaty, it was possible to acquire ten aircraft (only 4 arrived in rebel aviation) Curtiss Falcon in the assembly plant of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in Los Cerrillos, Chile, the amount of US $292,500. Were robust aircraft equipped with engine Curtiss D-12 435 H. P., top speed of 224 km / h, action radius of 1,000 km and a ceiling of 4,600 m, capable of carrying out bombing attacks. Without a doubt, were the most improved aircraft that participated in the air battle.
  
  Section::::In popular culture.
   If the first step was to mobilize existing resources, the second, both loyalists as Constitutionalists, was acquiring complementary means necessarily imported, since the local industry was unable to produce them. Contracts negotiated by the federal government, only one, on the purchase of thirty-six Waco C90, materialized quickly enough to allow for operational use in the conflict. Of the thirty-six, only ten were mounted in time to have effective participation still with particularity. The intention was to use C90 Waco primarily as fighter aircraft, and secondarily as bombing and observation. The contract specified the installation 7mm machine guns, with the purpose of using ammunition ever made in the country for weapons of the same caliber used in the infantry. However, because air munitions and land have distinct characteristics, the machine guns of Waco C90, often jam after the first bursts. The aircraft then went to meet primarily bombing and observation missions, and the few whose guns accepted the autochthonous ammunition were intensely ordered and commuted to the three fronts, primarily performing fighter missions.
   No special plane was developed. Regular military aircraft were used. It was not unusual for many air forces to field dual role planes: bomber and transport.
  
  Section::::History.:Post colonial wars.
  
  By the late 1950s, French air operations in the Algerian War was decidedly counter-insurgent in nature, with helicopters such as the Piasecki H-21 being used not only to carry infantry, but also machine guns and rocket launchers on an "ad hoc" basis, to reach FLN guerilla positions on otherwise inaccessible mountain ridges and peaks.
   An initial order for 30 two-seat V-11Gs was placed by China before the end of 1935. This was followed by orders in 1939 for two versions (the V-12-C and V-12D) of the more powerful V-12 variant. The majority of these were planned to be assembled from kits at the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company factory at Loiwing near the China-Burma border, and while the first batch of 25 V-12-Cs were completed successfully, the factory was heavily bombed just after assembly of the first V-12-Ds commenced. This resulted in the part built airframes being evacuated to India, where it was planned that the aircraft be completed at the Hindustan Aircraft Limited factory in Bangalore. However, after a few were assembled, production was stopped as the factory was diverted to more urgent overhaul work.
   The earliest military role filled by aircraft was reconnaissance, however, by the end of World War I, military aviation had rapidly embraced many specialized roles, such as artillery spotting, air superiority, bombing, ground attack, and anti-submarine patrols. Technological improvements were made at a frenzied pace, and the first all-metal cantilevered airplanes were going into service as the war ended.
   The British advances had galvanised French researchers. In 1857, Félix du Temple built several large models together with his brother Luis. One of them was able to fly, first using a clockwork mechanism as an engine, and then using a miniature steam engine. The two brothers managed to make the models take off under their own power, fly a short distance and land safely
   BULLET::::- March 7–17 – The Aragon Offensive sees retreating Republican forces bombarded by German Heinkel He 111s and Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Fiat CR.32s, with German Dornier Do 17 reconnaissance planes assisting in the location of targets.
  
  BULLET::::- March 12 – Junkers Ju 52s carry German troops to Vienna during the German "Anschluss" against Austria.
  
  BULLET::::- March 16 – Belfast Harbour Airport in Northern Ireland is opened, with the inaugural commercial flight to Glasgow.
   Only five years after the German Dornier Do-X had flown, Tupolev designed the largest aircraft of the 1930s era, the "Maksim Gorky" in the Soviet Union by 1934, as the largest aircraft ever built using the Junkers methods of metal aircraft construction.
  
  In the 1930s development of the jet engine began in Germany and in Britain – both countries would go on to develop jet aircraft by the end of World War II.
  
  Section::::World War II (1939–1945).
  
presuppositions: There were reliable fighting aircraft at the start of WWI. There were widespread reliable fighting aircraft by the start of WW1.
corrections: At the start of WWI, planes were only used for reconnaissance. There were not widespread reliable fighting aircraft by the start of WW1.
raw_presuppositions: There were reliable fighting aircraft at the start of WWI. There were widespread reliable fighting aircraft by the start of WW1.
raw_corrections: At the start of WWI, planes were only used for reconnaissance. There were not widespread reliable fighting aircraft by the start of WW1.