WWI pilots were known for their aerial combat skills and were called aces. This Belgian ace did one impressive feat during combat as a „Balloon Buster.“
The legendary aviators of World War I helped pave the way for the development of aerial warfare as a standard tactic of the 20th and 21st centuries. While people like Manfred von Richthofen, the infamous Red Barron who fought some of the most intense dogfights in aerial history, get most of the press, the war was filled with impressive ace pilots who managed feats that are almost impossible to believe more than a century later.
One such pilot was Belgium’s own Willy Coppens, who earned his ace status by taking on German observation balloons aboard his Hanriot HD.1 fighter. He began flying for Belgium in 1916, having paid for his own flying lessons in Hendon, England. This was followed by training in France where he started flying two-seat aircraft in combat, but it took him some time to achieve his first kill. Coppens enjoyed engaging in aerial maneuvers above the enemy’s heads, showing off and dazzling onlookers with his impressive skills.
Coppens shifted his focus to taking on German observation balloons, which was more dangerous than it sounds today.
