The rapid development of aeronautics led to trials of airships and the choice of rigid types built by Zeppelin and Schutte-Lanz.

[7] The initial units of the Luftstreitkräfte, dedicated to observation, were known as Feldflieger Abteilungen (Field Flier Detachments) and had an official establishment of six unarmed, two-seat "A" (monoplane), and/or "B"-class (biplane) aircraft apiece.

[8] The Luftstreitkräfte organization changed substantially as the war progressed, to accommodate new types of aircraft, doctrine, tactics and the needs of the ground troops, in particular the artillery.

During this time the system of organisation and unit designations evolved that would form the basis of those used in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany, when it was revealed in 1935.

The buildup of the Eindecker fighter force rapidly progressed with regular lMG 08 "Spandau"-armed production examples of the Fokker E.I following the deliveries of the M.5K/MG airframes late in the summer of 1915, with early E.Is going to aces like Max Immelmann, who received IdFlieg serial number E.13/15 in August 1915.

Bavaria established the Royal Bavarian Jagdgeschwader IV on 3 October 1918, from Jastas 23, 32, 34 and 35 under Eduard Ritter von Schleich.

[citation needed] During the war, the Imperial Army Air Service used many types of aircraft, ranging from fighters (such as those manufactured by Albatros-Flugzeugwerke, Fokker, Pfalz Flugzeugwerke and Siemens-Schuckert), reconnaissance aircraft (Aviatik, Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke (DFW) and Rumpler), two-seat fighters from Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke and Hannoversche Waggonfabrik and heavy bombers, largely the twin-engined designs from the Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha) and the enormous, multi-engined heavy bombers produced by Zeppelin-Staaken and rigid airships from Luftschiffbau Zeppelin (the Zeppelin Company) and Schütte-Lanz as well as various types of airship from other firms.

During the First World War, German aircraft officially adopted for military service were allocated a designation that included (1) the name of the manufacturer, (2) a function or "class" letter, and (3) a Roman numeral.

[17] The "M" (for "Militär" or military) and "V" (for "Versuchs" or experimental, according to some source initially meant a Verspannungslos or "unbraced" airframe) designations of the Fokker firm were also internal.

The latter has no direct connection with the official Third Reich-era German "V" designation, also signifying "versuchs", for prototype aircraft, promulgated by the RLM from 1935.

Army and navy airships were individually numbered, in the same way as contemporary German destroyers and submarines, and were outside any system of "type" designation.

Other notable German pilots from the Fokker Scourge onwards included Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Werner Voss, Josef Jacobs, Lothar von Richthofen, Wilhelm Frankl, Hermann Göring, Max Immelmann and the master aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke (the latter pair were the first to be awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest decoration for gallantry for officers in the German Empire: simultaneously, on 12 January 1916, after shooting down eight Allied aeroplanes each).

[21] 69 airmen received the "Goldenes Militär-Verdienst-Kreuz" (Military Merit Cross), the highest Prussian bravery award for non-commissioned officers and enlisted men.

[25] By the end of the war, the German Army Air Service possessed a total of 2,709 frontline aircraft, 56 airships, 186 balloon detachments and about 4,500 flying personnel.