It's easy to forget about the human element what with all the interesting technical aspects. But you're right, when it came down to it, they were up in the sky

It's easy to forget about the human element what with all the interesting technical aspects. But you're right, when it came down to it, they were up in the sky, putting their lives in the hands of their machines, with someone else in a very similar machine armed with machine guns and cannons trying to essentially murder them. I suppose you might get somewhat used to it after a while, but I can't imagine the fear ever really truly went away completely.