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Richthofen was slow to learn to fly, crashing on his first solo flight and only mastering the plane at last by sheer force of will. A Prussian, son of a Junker family, Richthofen was imbued with the usual ideas of a young nobleman. He flew spectacularly in his series of all-red planes which became an excellent flyer and a fine shot. But whereas many pilots flew with a kind of innocent courage which had its special kind of magnificence, Richthofen flew with his brains and made his ability serve him. Analyzing every problem of aerial combat, he reduced chance to the minimum. After his 57th victory, on July 6, 1917, Richthofen was shot in the head and nearly killed. It was less than a month before he was back in the air again, but never as his old self. Now he knew that death could reach him as well as the others. The Richthofen 'circus' or Jagdgeschwader, was composed of four staffels of five planes each. They moved back and forth along the lines, wherever the fighting was the thickest. One of the reasons Richthofen survived so long was his ability to keep guarding himself while he attacked. He was an excellent teacher, and young pilots who showed exceptional skill and courage were sent to his staffel to gain experience. After each battle , Richthofen would gather his officers for conference and discussion of tactics. He would censure pilots too aggressive, or too willing to pull away. He was not so much liked as admired. When he was around, parties were never wild, for the pilots felt constrained in his presence. Richthofen met his death in action April 21,1918, at the hand of Captain Roy Brown of the Royal Air Force. Brown flew a Sopwith Camel, Richthofen a Fokker triplane. Richthofen, all eyes on another Camel he was about to bring down, never knew what hit him. When his plane rolled to a stop near the Allied trenches in the Somme valley, he was dead from single bullet. The next day Richthofen was buried with full military honors.