René Fonck
Boastful and arrogant were words used to
describe Fonck but no one could dispute his abilities as an aviator and deadly marksman.
The only problem was that most of what he claimed was true or soon became so. He once shot
down 3 German planes with one 10 second burst and on two occasions he brought down six
planes in a single day. When he first became an ace in 1917, he claimed the event to be
"my new-found glory." By his seventh victory he considered himself to be a
"virtuoso". His 75 confirmed kills (Fonck claimed 120) place him second only to von Richthofen in WWI
victories though he could never claim to be the tactician von Richthofen was and he never
claimed the hearts of his French countrymen the way Georges Guynemer
did.
Fonck survived the war and went on to become a celebrated exhibition pilot.
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