[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7952995.stm ]I offer Mick Mannock[/url]
Anyone read Alan Clark's book on the RFC?
I read that, then googled him and read [url= http://www.historynet.com/edward-mick-mannock-world-war-i-raf-ace-pilot.htm ]this[/url]
Sounds like a very interesting, complex person.
Here's one you may not have heard of.[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Beurling ]George "Screwball" Beurling[/url]
Apparently he wasn't a great pilot, his take offs in particular were awful, but in common with a lot of WWII aces he had extrodinary eyesight which meant he could see the enemy before they saw him. He wouldn't just spray bullets at at an aircraft but pick particular parts of it to shoot at.
Albert Ball
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Ah sorry didn't realise it was Great War fliers as apposed to great (as in really good) war fliers
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Draper ]Christopher Draper aka The Mad Major[/url]
Sorry, but I've just got to.....
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😉
My grandfather.
(Not officer class, so he couldn't be a pilot. But he was a rigger on SE5a's in the RAC)
He was the squadron librarian, and actually in the squadron that Biggles was supposed to be in. He was given WE Johns signed copies of all the Biggles books, but they disappeared after the war.
Liked the CFH quote from the BBC article on Mick Mannock:
"Mannock developed his own macabre way of conquering his nerves. Not dissimilar to the Captain Flashheart character played by Rik Mayall in Blackadder Goes Forth, Mannock too could be loud and brash. "