1918 05 15 Balloon busters aces cover - Mark Postlethwaite
At 0807 hrs on the morning of 15 May 1918, Adjutant Willy Coppens of the 9eme Escadrille, Aviation Militaire Beige, attacked a German kite balloon over the Houthulst Forest, only to find the morning dew interfering with his efforts. After making three attacks through increasingly heavy anti-aircraft fire, he came in slowly at the Drachen's altitude and fired his last 30 rounds into it. Although he failed to set it alight, he did succeed in cutting its cables. As he climbed over it, the balloon suddenly shot upward, colliding with his aeroplane. Coppens immediately turned off his engine, lest his propeller foul in the fabric, and waited in terrified suspense as his Hanriot HD 1 slid and tumbled along the sagging gasbag until it finally fell over the side. At that point Coppens dove earthward, switched on the engine and, when it restarted, pulled away while the perforated balloon descended to earth and exploded. It was Coppens' fourth confirmed victory, and he would score his fifth over Houthulst four days later. HD 1 No 24 was destroyed in a German night bombing raid on the 9eme Escadrille's aerodrome at Les Moeres on 13 June 1918, but Coppens would fly a series of others to become history's leading balloon ace -and Belgium's ace of aces -with 35 Drachen and two aeroplanes to his credit
