French World War I Ace Fighter Pilot and Adventurer. He is credited with 43 official aerial victories during his military service. After attending the Ecole des Arts et Metiers, he travelled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in search of a missing relative and then on to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he was employed as an automobile mechanic before becoming a professional racer. His pastime eventually led him to flying airplanes and he learned to fly with the help of a friend who owned an airplane. When World War I broke out in 1914 he returned to France and enlisted in the French Army and transferred to the Service Aeronautique at his request. He shot down his first enemy aircraft in July 1915 and in November of that year he was transferred to the Escadrille 65th Squadron and was later attached to the famous Lafayette Escadrille, composed of American volunteers. On February 6, 1916, he suffered a very bad crash that broke both of his legs, and he would be injured many times during the course of the war, to the point where he required assistance to get into his cockpit. By the end of 1916 he had claimed 21 aerial victories. While a superior aerial fighter, he disliked strict military discipline and was occasionally placed under house arrest for disobeying orders and had a fondness for alcohol and women. His rugged good looks, flamboyant personality, and appetite for danger, beautiful women, wine, and fast cars melded perfectly in with the stereotypical flying ace. In early 1917 he returned to the hospital for treatment of his injuries but managed to avoid being grounded and by August of that year he had increased his aerial victories to 30. By May 1918 he had 35 victories and in August of that year he increased his number to 43, finishing the war with the third highest number among French fighter pilots behind Rene Fonck and Georges Guynemer. Among his military decorations and awards include the Legion d'Honneur, the Croix de Guerre with 28 Palms, the Medaille Militaire, the Croix de la Couronne de Leopold (Belgium). The Distinguished Service Cross (US), the Croix de Guerre (Portugal), the Cross of Karageorgevitch (Russia), and the Cross of Bravery (Serbia). After World War I the economic recession had left many World War I aces without employment and he attempted to organize a private flying school but did not attract enough students. He then turned his attention to cinema in the US and appeared in the 1930 movie "The Dawn Patrol" (his flying scenes were actually filmed in 1926, four years prior to the movie's release) which gave him the idea of making a transatlantic flight. In late 1923, on an invitation by the secretary to Cuban President Jose Manuel Cortina, he headed up an ill-starred voyage to Havana, Cuba, bringing four World War I Spads aircraft with him along with two fellow veterans. Believing that he had an official tender from the Cuban government, he proposed that the Cubans purchase 40 or more airplanes from him but the Cuban Army declined for lack of funding. In 1927 he teamed up with Francois Coli, a navigator who was already known for his historic flights across the Mediterranean Sea, to perform a transatlantic flight. They departed Le Bourget airport near Paris on May 8, 1927, heading for New York City, New York in their L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird) aircraft, a Levasseur PL.8 biplane painted with his old World War I insignia. The plane was last seen heading past Ireland and when they never reached their final destination, it was assumed their aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, or possibly in Maine or Newfoundland. Neither the aircraft or its occupants were ever recovered. Only two weeks later, American aviator Charles Lindberg would successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean from New York City, New York to Paris, France.