Look in the forums aces section and see the signature descriptions attributed to fonck by his flying peers and himself to get an idea of the complexity of the man. W hile shooting down 75 german planes, rene fonck was never wounded and claimed that only one enemy bullet ever hit his airplane. See all 4 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Apr 15, 2012 rene fonck highest scoring allied ace, 75 kills. Fighter aces by john sadler overdrive rakuten overdrive. After the war, i met a very interesting old french pilot, robert lepetit, who had been a squadron commander in world war i. This acclaimed book by john sadler is available at in several formats for your ereader. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The storks, by norman franks and frank bailey, and ace of aces, by rene fonck.
Rene fonck is recognized as one of the greatest french air fighters since. Ace of aces is a title accorded to the greatest active flying ace in a nations military. On 26th september 1918 i obtained permission to take off. Reconnaissance and bomber aces of world war 1 by jon guttman. Its ranks included numerous other famous aces, such as renes dorme, alfred heurteaux, albert deullin, and american volunteers edwin parsons and frank l.
Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2. Not only are rene fonck s observations about equipment, tactics, and combat sharp, but he is honest about his emotions and views of war. Here with a piece of the plane he shot down north of poperinge. Rene fonck was a french aviator who ended the first world war as the top allied fighter ace, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, fonck still holds the title of alltime allied ace of aces. On september 21, 1926, he set out from new york on a nonstop transatlantic flight attempt to paris, but his overloaded sikorsky s. Rene fonck he is a tiresome braggart, and even a bore, but in the air, a slashing rapier, wrote claude haegelen of squadron mate rene fonckand he was one of foncks best friends aviation history magazine. Ace of aces, the title of rene foncks autobiography. Starting in the may 1932 issue of flying aces and running almost 4 years, eugene frandzens lives of the aces in pictures was a staple of the magazine. The idea of the ace continued after the 1918 armistice, but. The writing is straight to the point and clear as water.
Wwi aces and airplanes new weapons of the great war. Colonel rene paul fonck 27 march 1894 18 june 1953 was a french aviator who ended the first world war as the top allied fighter ace, and. Born in saulcylemeurthe on march 27, 1894, rene paul fonck grew to be a rather short. Over the course of the war, the quality of allied fighters, or scouts, generally matched the. Rene paul fonck was a french aviator who ended the first world war as the top allied fighter ace, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, fonck still holds the title of alltime allied ace of aces. Ace french ww1 pilot rene fonck aircrew remembered. On the return of his mission, fonck was wounded in the head. So, too, did eddie rickenbacker, who would go on to an extensive career in american aviation, including service as an executive with american airways later american airlines, north american aviation, and eastern airlines. Jul 08, 20 1915 then tony fokker, a dutch airplane builder and entrepreneur working for the germans, installed interrupter gear, permitting a machine gun to fire through the prop with much more reliability. Originally published in the september 2009 issue of aviation history. Ace of aces by rene fonck ace of the iron cross by ernst udet, ace books. Ulanoff edits this air combat classic by the man who was easily the finest fighter pilot produced by the aviation services of any nation in world war i charles j. But still, the pilots who swirled and danced in hurricanes and spitfires over southern england in 1940 were, and remain, feted as.
In 1915 the term ace was coined to denote a pilot adept at downing enemy aircraft, and top aces like the red baron, rene fonck, and billy bishop became household names. The site was started by aven member derp in september of 2007, shortly after the technical failure of. Rene paul fonck extract from the book, allied aviation of world war i by hugh w. In that museum you may find a section dedicated to wwi aces. It was as if i were really experiencing the war as rene fonck did. Ace of aces, the title of a biography of marmaduke pattle. Ace of aces mass market paperback january 1, 1968 by capt. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change. With 75 confirmed victoriesand 52 unconfirmedfonck was the undisputed allied ace of aces, yet he never received the adulation bestowed upon guynemer and nungesser. This book does cover a very specific period though. After the war he wrote a book about his experiences called ace of aces. Fonck was the highest scoring ace for france and the allies.
Fonck was credited with 75 victories, but with unconfirmed claims may have shot down 127 has anyone done an analysis of his claims to see if he indeed was the wwi ace of aces. With richard dix, elizabeth allan, ralph bellamy, theodore newton. Colonel rene paul fonck 27 march 1894 18 june 1953 was a french aviator who ended the first world war as the top entente fighter ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, fonck still holds the title of alltime allied ace of aces. Rene paul fonck the aerodrome aces and aircraft of world war i. In 1915 the term ace was coined to denote a pilot adept at downing enemy aircraft, and top aces like the red baron, rene fonck and billy bishop became household names. Reconnaissance and bomber aces of world war 1 by jon.
A sculptor who doesnt want to have any part of world war i is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army. Rene fonck is recognized as one of the greatest french air fighters since captain guynemer and is credited with bringing down no less than 75 enemy planes, out of a claimed 142bringing down six in one day twice. The idea of the ace continued after the 1918 armistice, but as the size of air forces increased, the prominence of the ace diminished. The author suggests that since about 73 of richthofens 80 kills had been confirmed by franks, that foncks score of 75 makes him the highest ace. He scored seventyfive official victories including two sextuples and was never even touched by a. The author suggests that since about 73 of richthofens 80 kills had been confirmed by franks, that fonck s score of 75 makes him the highest ace. Originally called adate, and residing on the domain, acebook was given its own name and domain in 2008 while initially acting strictly as an asexual dating site in its beginnings, acebook has since. Book french flying aces of the great war passion news. Ace of aces by rene fonck meet your next favorite book. This is the best of a series of books by ww 1 air aces.
Mar 28, 2014 in an old post about french aviation pioneers i had already written about rene fonck. Fonck would make an excellent research project that attempted to clear up the confusion related to his place in great war aviation as well as to who exactly was this man. After the war he wrote a book about his experiences called ace of. Ace of aces rene fonck first english translation of the autobiography of a top scoring french combat flyer of world war i. Captain fonck s record was published as mes combats in french in 1920, here for the first time in english. His victory total of 75 was almost as high as the red baron and fonck still holds recognition for being the alltime ace of ace on the allied side. He received confirmation for 75 victories 72 solo and three shared out of 142 claims.
Reading this book i was immediately absorbed to the point that the world around me disappeared. That date marks one of the toughest days of my fighting career. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. He took pride in using the least amount of ammunition necessary to bring down an enemy. Acebook is a free asexual dating and social networking site.
Shortly before his 18th birthday, he was commissioned as an officer in a german cavalry unit. Rene fonck, author of ace of aces, on librarything. Testament of youth by vera brittain gives a truly wonderful account of what it was like on the front as a vad the war that ended peace by margaret macmillan isnt really a book about the war itself, but does a beautiful job of setting up the stage and helps to make sense of why the war came to be and how it played out as it did a farewell to arms by ernest hemingway is a fictional account. While shooting down 75 german planes, rene fonck was never wounded and claimed. Its ranks included numerous other famous aces, such as renes dorme, alfred heurteaux, albert deullin, and american. On june 28, 1914, a bosnianborn slav nationalist named gavrilo princip, protesting the integration of his country into the austrohungarian empire, assassinated the heir. Rene foncks career as a fighter pilot was short not because he was shot down or injured, but because, unlike the other great aces of france, he had started late in the war, flying for only the last year in combat. Rene fonck, the topscoring of all allied aces with seventyfive, also lived to see the armistice. One book referred to fonck as a dreadful showoff, intolerable, always. The fact that richthofens score of 73 is so close to what he claimed 80, is impressive. Colonel rene paul fonck 27 march 1894 18 june 1953 was a french aviator who ended the first world war as the top allied fighter ace, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, fonck still holds the title of alltime allied ace of aces. He told me that he had heard about me almost every day during the war and now he wanted to meet me. Ace of aces book by rene fonck, world war i ace memoirs. The combat memoirs of the foremost allied fighter pilot.
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