Early aerial combat consisted of aviators shooting at one another with hand held weapons. The first aircraft to be shot down by another aircraft, which occurred on October 5, 1914, was a German Aviatik. The pilot, Feldwebel Wilhelm Schlichting, was shot with a hand gun wielded by observer Louis Quenault, riding in a Voisin Type 3 piloted by French Sergeant Joseph Frantz.
The need to stop reconnaissance by enemy aircraft rapidly led to the development of fighter planes, a class of aircraft designed specifically to destroy enemy aircraft.
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