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|u/shnoopy - 13 hours
|
|He not only did that shit and went on to survive the whole war, but also
|lived to be 94. He saw everything from balloon warfare to the F-117 in
|one lifetime.
|u/BitOfaPickle1AD - 11 hours
|
|I bet the F-117 blew his fucking mind
|u/AveragePeppermint - 11 hours
|
|No he died of old age.
|u/daveDFFA - 11 hours
|
|Jesus Christ
|u/JonWoo89 - 11 hours
|
|No, Willy Coppens.
|u/VerticalYea - 9 hours
|
|Nope. Chuck Testa.
|u/McQuiznos - 5 hours
|
|Holy shit I haven’t heard that since like. Sophomore year of
|highschool 14 years ago. What an old meme to revive.
|u/GraeWraith - 5 hours
|
|Perfection.jpg
|u/scardien - 11 hours
|
|Did not die of old age
|u/Paul-Smecker - 10 hours
|
|To be honest I’d much rather be f117’d than how he died.
|u/CubitsTNE - 9 hours
|
|It's OK though, he got better.
|u/scardien - 9 hours
|
|Willy Coppens?
|u/Random_User_499 - 9 hours
|
|No, Jesus Christ. Still waiting to see if Willy will be
|the second coming.
|u/LCDJosh - 9 hours
|
|It's Jason Bourne
|u/TheCarrzilico - 11 hours
|
|That's what they want you to believe.
|u/PigSlam - 11 hours
|
|Imagine what he could see with two lifetimes!
|u/Lexinoz - 17 minutes
|
|Bro had a real life Battlefield moment and lived long enough to see
|that become a term.
|u/WesHarrison - 13 hours
|
|The man turned aerial combat into a Looney Tunes episode and lived to
|tell the tale.
|u/IljaG - 10 hours
|
|Wikipediast1tes: he was promoted to sous lieutenant, thus becoming an
|officer. His royal blue plane with its insignia of a thistle sprig
|wearing a top hat became so well known that the Germans went to
|special pains to try to kill him. On 3 August he shot down a balloon
|booby-trapped with explosives that when detonated from the ground
|narrowly missed killing him. The flaming wreckage of the balloon "fell
|swift as doom on the watching [German] staff officers, killing many
|and injuring the rest". That is so roadrunner and coyote.
|u/odaeyss - 9 hours
|
|Lot of the world 100 years ago was kinda slightly drunk aaallll the
|time
|u/florinandrei - 8 hours
|
|As opposed to the perfectly normal and sober world we have today.
|/s
|u/Popular-Row4333 - 8 hours
|
|My buddy who works at a gas station said you wouldn't believe
|how many empty alcohol containers are in the trash bin when he
|cleans it out at the end of the day.
|u/everything_is_bad - 13 hours
|
|Han fucking Solo.
|u/Saedraverse - 10 hours
|
|I was going to post, he literally did the millennium Falcon on the
|back of the star Destroyer. Only way it could have been more literal
|was if it was behind the bridge & he left when they threw the rubbish
|out
|u/DeathMonkey6969 - 12 hours
|
|Lost his leg in the war then went on to set a parachute jumping record
|in 1928 of 19,700 feet (6,000 meters)
|u/Joe4o2 - 6 hours
|
|Well, 19,699 feet, seeing as he was missing one.
|u/hambergeisha - 4 hours
|
|Good day, sir.
|u/LigmaDragonDeez - 13 hours
|
|Them crazy Belgians, first waffles and now this!
|u/ZorakOfThatMagnitude - 13 hours
|
|Don't forget the fresh frois!
|u/lo_fi_ho - 1 hour
|
|And the pedos!
|u/itsRocketscience1 - 12 hours
|
|Belgian fries are superior to French fries as well. Fries in Belgium
|are just as popular as their waffles if not more.
|u/Grandpa_Edd - 4 hours
|
|Fries are definitely more popular. Every town has at least two
|"Frituren" (fry-shops) and it's a once a week kinda deal for many
|people. (and for many even more) Fresh waffles are for special
|occasions or market days. Every market usually has someone selling
|fresh waffles (Liège waffles the ones with with pearl sugar in it)
|Sometimes public spaces like train stations, town squares or
|shopping streets in cities have waffle stands as well. (And by that
|I don't mean the dry pieces of cardboard overloaded with whipped
|cream and other crap they sell in Brussels, only tourists buy those)
|Also if you're gonna talk about things being popular in Belgium you
|must not forget our beer. We most definitely like our beer better
|than we like our waffles as well.
|u/Overtilted - 10 hours
|
|Fries are wat more popular here. We rarely ear waffles. It used to
|be a thing for scouts etc to make money. And Grandma's used to make
|them for example. I think the average Belgian ears a waffle maybe
|once or twice a year. Most waffles are eaten by tourists. Fries on
|the other hand ...
|u/Skatchbro - 9 hours
|
|I could deal with one ear instead of eat but you did it twice. I
|award you no points.
|u/Mika9931 - 12 minutes
|
|The name French fries do not mean they were founded in France. I
|assumed this was basic knowledge by now? During World War I
|(1914-1918) American soldiers were fighting in Belgium. They were
|introduced to fries, of course. At that time the official language
|of the Belgian army was French, hency they nicknamed the fried
|potatoes “French fries”
|u/Locutus_is_Gorg - 12 hours
|
|And the Congo before that!
|u/greed-man - 11 hours
|
|Maybe not so much the Congo.
|u/BoatDaddyDC - 11 hours
|
|At first, he waffled, but then, he fried.
|u/LanceWindmil - 11 hours
|
|To be fair this was before the waffles.
|u/kelldricked - 4 minutes
|
|They always do funny shit. Talk a bit weird, build funny roads and the
|congo! Wait one of those isnt funny….
|u/Pudge__204 - 13 hours
|
|What a r/madlads
|u/fuhrmanator - 13 hours
|
|The Wikipedia page cites
|https://www.vieillestiges.be/files/memorials/MABCoppens-NL.pdf which
|shows some photos of the different planes he flew. WWI planes were so
|tiny, relatively. I can totally get how a guy who shot down 30+ balloons
|could pull this off.
|u/primalbluewolf - 11 hours
|
|Not that tiny overall, just tiny compared to airliners. Most
|aircraft ever made are closer to the size of those WWI fighters. A
|better way of putting it is that the aircraft most people are familiar
|with are the unusually large ones that make up a minority of aircraft.
|u/QTsexkitten - 10 hours
|
|Eh that's just not true. WWI Sopwith Camel: Length: 18 ft., 9 in.
|Height: 8 ft., 6 in. Wingspan: 28 ft. WWII Hawker Hurricane:
|length: 31 ft 5 in. Height 13.1 ft, wingspan: 40 ft. WWII P47
|thunderbolt: length: 36ft 1in, height: 14ft 8in, wingspan: 40ft 9in
|Current f22 raptor: length: 62ft, height: 16ft 8 in, wingspan: 44ft
|6in WWI aircraft were tiny compared to modern single engine
|fighters and WWII single engine fighters that were developed largely
|only 20-25 years later.
|u/OrangePeelsLemon - 10 hours
|
|By "most aircraft," the poster is referring to general aviation
|aircraft like the Cessna 172 (over 40,000 built). That aircraft,
|for example, has a length of 27 ft, 2 in; height of 8 ft, 11 in;
|and a wingspan of 36 ft, 1 in. Still larger than the Camel, but
|smaller than the Hurricane. The 150/152 variants are even smaller.
|u/primalbluewolf - 10 hours
|
|> Most aircraft ever made are closer to the size of those WWI
|fighters > Eh that's just not true. It really is. The world's
|most produced aircraft has a comparable wingspan and a comparable
|engine performance to the Camel: the C-172.
|u/QTsexkitten - 10 hours
|
|No is making comparisons between airplanes of completely
|different classes. That's a ridiculous comparison. WWI fighters
|were tiny compared to their analogs in all other conflicts. WWI
|bombers were tiny compared to their analogs from all other
|conflicts. Comparing a WWI fighter to a commercial airliner is
|irrelevant.
|u/primalbluewolf - 10 hours
|
|> WWI fighters were tiny compared to their analogs in all
|other conflicts. WWI bombers were tiny compared to their
|analogs from all other conflicts. 28 ft and 32 ft.
|u/primalbluewolf - 10 hours
|
|> WWI aircraft were tiny compared to modern single engine fighters
|and WWII single engine fighters that were developed largely only
|20-25 years later. 28ft to 40ft is not "tiny", its "smaller".
|As for the F-22, more camels were lost in training accidents than
|Raptors were even built - there's not enough of them. The
|mainstay aircraft of the USAF still only has a 32 ft wingspan
|today. 28 ft is tiny compared to that, is it?
|u/bambinolettuce - 10 hours
|
|stop arguing over semantics >Most aircraft ever made are
|closer to the size of those WWI fighters. Wrong. End of story
|u/primalbluewolf - 10 hours
|
|Refuted already ITT. The 172 is the most manufactured
|aircraft in the world. Same wingspan, similar engine
|performance and speeds. Much nicer handling, though.
|u/JLee50 - 5 hours
|
|The 172 is 27 feet long. The Sopwith Camel is under 19 feet.
|That is not similar.
|u/primalbluewolf - 4 hours
|
|I disagree personally. They're not identical, but side
|by side they're similar. Certainly the 172 has a lot
|more space inside, what with the camel not really having
|an inside to begin with. Certainly Id not call them
|tiny, personally. Unless specifically comparing with an
|airliner.
|u/KatanaDelNacht - 10 hours
|
|More balloon kills than the F22!
|u/Amorougen - 8 hours
|
|These old planes did not have starters to my knowledge. If he shut
|down the engine how did it start again? Usually required a 2 man team
|to start: the grunt turning the prop, and the pilot handling the
|switch.
|u/Jaydee888 - 7 hours
|
|If he pushed the plane off the balloon by hand as the airplane
|descended the ram air would turn the prop. Not saying this is what
|happened just that it’s physically possible.
|u/fuhrmanator - 8 hours
|
|Y'all are busting the myths the WWI balloon busters :-D
|u/intet42 - 5 hours
|
|Those are exactly the facial expressions I would expect from this guy.
|u/Think_fast_no_faster - 13 hours
|
|That’s the smartest guy in the world
|u/HoneyButterPtarmigan - 13 hours
|
|So it would seem
|u/AssGagger - 7 hours
|
|Ballon guy could have shot through the top of the balloon.
|u/Physical_Pomelo_4217 - 13 hours
|
|Legen dairy
|u/bambinolettuce - 10 hours
|
|Im not sure about his tolerance for lactose
|u/DontBelieveTheirHype - 13 hours
|
|What is a ballon?
|u/pirat314159265359 - 12 hours
|
|A poorly inflated balloon.
|u/Jer_061 - 12 hours
|
|Clearly, it needs O2
|u/belay_that_order - 11 hours
|
|FUCK, ok
|u/Fertile_Arachnid_163 - 12 hours
|
|It’s French, you wouldn’t understand
|u/kikiacab - 12 hours
|
|German balloon.
|u/cjyoung92 - 9 hours
|
|Ballon d’or
|u/thatguy425 - 12 hours
|
|I wish we could get a movie on WWI dogfighting.
|u/greed-man - 11 hours
|
|See the movie 'Wings' (1927) the very first Best Picture Oscar.
|Directed by William Wellman, himself a WW I aviator, he hired dozens
|of WW I era pilots and filled the skies with them. Or see the movie
|'Hell's Angels' (1930) directed by Howard Hughes, who put even more
|aircraft into the air than Wellman did. But the dogfighting is a
|relative term. Kind of like comparing the Indy 500 race in 1915 with
|the Indy 500 race in 1945. No where near the speed, the armament, the
|diving, the pullout, etc. These were wooden and cloth aircraft with
|an engine of maybe 100-110 HP. Just different. And just like it WW
|II, aircraft development moved relatively fast during the war, so
|planes in 1914 were much different than in 1918. But still, relative
|to WW II, much slower.
|u/Isphus - 10 hours
|
|>maybe 100-110 HP Damn, that's not a lot of hit points.
|u/NigilQuid - 8 hours
|
|Depends on how much damage the bullets do, if it's 1 HP per,
|that's not so bad
|u/Intergalacticdespot - 11 hours
|
|There are some. One came out in 2012 or so? Now a realistic, good
|movie about it...that would be nice.
|u/westhouston_ - 13 hours
|
|This sounds like something out of Star Wars.. How would he have landed
|his plane without a runway? How did he take off without a runway?
|u/Potatoswatter - 13 hours
|
|WWI fighters were slow and nimble.
|u/maninahat - 13 hours
|
|Also, some planes can effectively fly and land on the spot as long
|as it faces a fast enough headwind across their wings.
|u/primalbluewolf - 11 hours
|
|Technically speaking, all planes can do this, provided the wind in
|question is sufficiently fast and steady.
|u/OIWantKenobi - 12 hours
|
|I literally pictured when Obi-Wan hides from Jango Fett by landing on
|an asteroid in the asteroid field.
|u/leginfr - 12 hours
|
|Not hot air balloons but hydrogen filled balloons.
|u/AmbitiousTrader - 12 hours
|
|This sounds like something outta BF1
|u/GeneralCheese - 12 hours
|
|Zeppelins were massive, some over 600ft
|u/ArtisticTraffic5970 - 12 hours
|
|Observation balloons were not zeppelins, they were classic hot air
|balloons, only *huge*.
|u/Nippelz - 12 hours
|
|Coppens: "Huge enough to land a plane on, eh? That gives me an
|idea..."
|u/Intergalacticdespot - 11 hours
|
|I don't think classic hot air balloons represent observation
|balloons which were the most common non-zepplin balloons? I don't
|know for sure and I have seen classic hot air balloons depicted,
|but most German stuff is depicted as dirigibles? Aka zeppelin
|shaped? Again I don't know how much of that is just media
|portrayal but...it does seem wildly more likely that you could
|take off and land on a dirigible than a balloon?
|u/greed-man - 11 hours
|
|Those planes were hardly speedy. They relied more on the lift
|(massive wings...two of them, and very light total weight being made
|of wood and cloth) than the engine. Most early WW I aircraft were
|operating with 90 to 110 HP engines (the most they could get out of
|that point in engine development). So flying into a strong headwind,
|your forward moving speed can literally be zero.
|u/Fertile_Arachnid_163 - 12 hours
|
|“Falling”
|u/primalbluewolf - 11 hours
|
|He had a runway, of sorts. The balloon.
|u/thatguy425 - 12 hours
|
|How did OP manage to misspell balloon twice in the title?
|u/MidnightMath - 11 hours
|
|For the last time, it’s a rigid air ship!!!
|u/NigilQuid - 8 hours
|
|Filled with non-flammable helium!!!
|u/Intergalacticdespot - 11 hours
|
|That's what she said...
|u/Overtilted - 10 hours
|
|Probably french autocorrection
|u/riktigtmaxat - 11 hours
|
|Three times.
|u/mrbeanIV - 13 hours
|
|It does, but I did some looking, and it seems to be true. Mind you
|when it says "balloon", think like a blimp. Plenty of room for a tiny
|ww1 biplane to land on
|u/ArtisticTraffic5970 - 12 hours
|
|No, it was probably more like an actual super giant air balloon, all
|round and silly looking. Classic hot air balloons were used
|*alongside* zeppelins in ww1, usually on a tether. In fact I believe
|they were much more common than zeppelins.
|u/MrDragonPig - 11 hours
|
|[This](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balloons_(WWI).jp
|g#mw-jump-to-license) is what a German Observation Balloon of WW1
|looked like.
|u/Soul_Acquisition - 9 hours
|
|Thank you, I was thinking no way did he land on a hot air balloon.
|Vital information left out.
|u/RoastedRhino - 13 hours
|
|But turn off the engine and then restart it?
|u/mrbeanIV - 13 hours
|
|According to most sources it was to keep the prop from getting
|damaged if it hit something.
|u/bobsnervous - 13 hours
|
|That sounds like the easiest part
|u/mrbeanIV - 13 hours
|
|I should clarify, i meant blimp it terms of shape, I should have
|specified. The one in question would likely have looked more like
|[this](https://images.app.goo.gl/buS8ivJFWwwK9BKz6)
|u/ByronsLastStand - 11 hours
|
|Incredibly based
|u/The_Band_Geek - 10 hours
|
|BF1 IRL
|u/Ezl - 3 hours
|
|“…and flew away.” makes it seem so whimsical.
|u/roshiface - 12 hours
|
|Why didn't he just shoot down the balloon?
|u/TacTurtle - 12 hours
|
|Same issue with Zeppelins: poking them full of holes with machine guns
|is not a very efficient way of shooting them down - machine gun
|bullets just makes 2 tiny holes as it goes in and out, so any leaks
|they cause are pretty slow (differential pressure is very low on light
|gas balloons or hot air balloons, so flow rates out holes are low).
|This is why later during WW1 they developed larger bore incendiary or
|exploding ammunition or even hand thrown hand grenade-sized bombs to
|drop on balloons or zeppelins.
|u/biggy-cheese03 - 12 hours
|
|He was trying to, he realized he was about to touch down on the
|balloon and cut the engine so it wouldn’t get tangled up
|u/Jaded_Ad8129 - 8 hours
|
|What a hero! That's one way to take out an enemy observation balloon for
|good
|u/PhilipLePierre - 35 minutes
|
|If you like this account, you should checkout another one from a Belgian
|pilot during WWII. Jean de Selys Longchamps went rogue, flew his plane
|in the streets of Brussels and attacked the Gestapo headquarters,
|killing several SS and Gestapo.
|u/frigatebird1968 - 10 hours
|
|BALLOON.
|u/Perfect-Cycle - 10 hours
|
|What’s a ballon?
|u/jrhooo - 9 hours
|
|Its a French soccer award.
|u/Perfect-Cycle - 9 hours
|
|Wow, he landed his plane on top of one of those?!
|u/PostwarVandal - 30 minutes
|
|Football, you mean.
|