HASP3c Flown Willy
Coppens De Houthulst Signed himself WW1 Pilot Ace 37
20 May 1977 Roosevelt
Field Sta FDC on USA 13c The Cover’s
depicts Charles Lindbergh, his plane
the Spirt of St Louis at dawn over the Altantic in May 1927, BA Air
France Concorde. Flown over route taken by Col Lindbergh from San Diego to
Paris .Flown In Boeing 707 and Flown in Concorde F BYFD Washington to Paris .
Personally Signed by Colonel Baron Willy Coppens de Houthulst, DSO,
MC. The leading Belgian Air Force WW1 Fighter Pilot credited with 37 victories
and Major Wisbecq OC 1 sqn.
Willy Omer François
Jean Coppens de Houthulst joined the army in 1912 and served with the 2nd
Grenadiers before he transferred to the Compagnie des Aviateurs in 1915. At his
own expense, he and thirty nine other Belgians enrolled in a civilian flying
school at Hendon, England. After additional training in France, Coppens began
flying two-seaters in combat during 1916. The following year, he was assigned
to single-seat fighters and soon became an expert at shooting down enemy
observation balloons. After downing a balloon, Coppens would often perform
aerial acrobatic displays above the enemy. On one occasion, the balloon he was
attacking shot upward and Coppens actually landed his cobalt blue Hanriot HD.1 on top of it. Switching off his engine
to protect the propeller, he waited until his aircraft slid off the top of the
balloon, then restarted the engine and watched as the German balloon burst into
flames and sank to the ground. On the morning of 14 October 1918, his days as a
fighting pilot came to an end near Thourout in northwestern Belgium. Just as he
began the attack that would culminate in his 37th victory, Coppens was hit in
the left leg by an incendiary bullet. Despite a severed artery and intense
pain, he shot down his target and managed to crash land within the safety of
his own lines. His badly shattered leg had to be amputated. Nevertheless,
Coppens set a parachute jump record in 1928, which he held until 1932, jumping
from an altitude of about 19,700 feet. Before he retired from the army in 1940,
Coppens served as a military attaché in France, Great Britain, Italy and
Switzerland.
Details With photo of Col Lindbergh and Spirit of St
Louis. Certified Copy 0238 of 1300 signed Randle WW11 Wellington Pilot.
The Cover is in very good condition
Post and Packing reduction for multiple purchases.
Please see other items and check feedback for quality of service
Member of The Philatelic Trades Society
PTS