WWI Heritage of the Air Collection

[rabu 9]

Merv Corning died a few years ago, he was commissioned by the Leach company to paint a series of early aircraft stories from history, mostly WWI, and they are fascinating. You can still see them here.

 

Here's one of the Belgium ace, Willy Coppens near death when his Harriet collided with a German sausage baloon. He managed to survive with only a broken leg and went on to become the greatest Belgium ace of the war.

 

 

Enjoy!

[rabu 9]

Interesting, Uncleal, I didn't know that.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Sorry uncleal but I'm going to have to correct you Sir. Willy's first Hanriot had a 7mm Vickers mounted right square in front of him, and his second had a modified, cowl-mounted 11mm Vickers that was given to him to use due to his balloon busting successes.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[RAF_Louvert 101]

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BTW, for those interested, I have transcribed Willy's own account of the pictured incident, from his book, "Days On The Wing", which I just pulled off the shelf to check my facts about the guns.

 

 

"On the 14th, the weather cleared and I did a patrol. On the 15th, I attacked the Houthulst balloon at a height of 3,900 feet. It was at 8.07 a.m. Although I fired three times at point-blank range, it did not catch fire. To make more certain, I slowed down, flying horizontally, and approached -- firing at the last half-second. Then, as though relieved of a weight, it suddenly shot up and I collided with it. My wheels struck the gas-bag, which gave under the shock, although it capsized my machine and my tail rose up into the air. My right wing also touched the envelope and for a second I pivoted on my nose, while the balloon sagged and sank under the weight. I had the presence of mind to switch the engine off with the control-lever switch, and my aircsrew, which had been turning over slowly, stopped dead. At this moment, I said to myself (in the following actual words): "That's the end! It is bound to happen to those who risk too much."

 

The next instant my machine began to slide across the spongy thing that gave way beneath me as we advanced, until it plunged over the "side" nose-first, gathering speed as it fell. The propeller started spinning, like wings of a windmill in a puff of wind; I took my thumb off the button switch on the control-lever, opened the throttle, and -- my machine scarcely any the worse for its experience -- took to my heels for our lines, while the balloon, torn and leaking, fell to the ground, where it luckily burst into flames, to such good pupose that the conflagration was seen from our lines and the victory could be credited to me."

 

 

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[rabu 9]

Thanks, RAF-L, excellent account and quite amazing!

[Duce Lewis 3]

while the balloon, torn and leaking, fell to the ground, where it luckily burst into flames, to such good pupose that the conflagration was seen from our lines and the victory could be credited to me."

Great read, thanks Lou

I remember the issue of balloon confirmations came up a while back

Fireball could definately be seen quite easily, this balloon didn't burn til on the ground

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Asking for trouble or not, that is exactly how Willy did it. Le Prieur rockets were considered far more dangerous then incendiary ammo as, stated by Coppens himself, they literally enveloped the aeroplane in flame when they were lit. In his very first balloon attack at Bovekerke on March 18th of 1918, he fired more than 80 incendiary rounds from his Vickers, but was unable to get the balloon to catch fire. Also, all 37 of his victories were between April and October of 1918, so I imagine they had made some improvements in ammo loads by then as compared to the early war years.

 

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[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Well uncleal, I'm not so sure about the "no sweat", but yes, it would appear to be somewhat timeline. That being said, it's best to remember that Willy was a daredevil, (some would say a maniac), when it came to balloon attacks, and he was the only Hanriot flyer in the Belgian Air Service to shoot down a gas bag, (34 to be exact). In fact, he was nearly the only pilot in all the air services of the War to use this set up, with there being but a handful of Italian flyers to claim a balloon kill with the Hanriot/cowl mount Vickers/incendeary rounds combination, (Silvio Scaroni and Flavio Baracchini to name two). So it's quite possible that it was less related to ammo load improvements and more due to Willy's inclination towards risk-taking to get the job done. BTW, as an another little interesting aside, when he was knighted he became Sir Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst, in honor of his aerial achievements over the Houthulst Woods.

 

rabu, I just went through the entire gallery of prints at the link you posted. Merv Corning had quite a prolific career as an aviation artist. Thanks for sharing.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[DonL 0]

What a coincidence that you post this. A customer recently gave me most of this series unfortunately they spent years rolled up in a cardboard tube and I can't get them to lie flat. They are pretty neat pictures.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Hi Ya DonL,

 

Lucky dog. You can likely get those to flatten out again through a rehumidification process, (assuming they were printed with a colorfast ink), which is a fairly simple affair you can do at home.

 

BTW, welcome to the OFF skies. New lads buy the drinks.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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[shredward 12]

Thanks Rabu!

I'd lost that link, and now it's found.

Cheers,

shredward