Willy Coppens died on 21 December 1986 aged 94 .... but not a lot is known about his later life ... apart from him being a military attache and a parachute jumper .... though I did see he signed Charles Lindbergh's record ( scroll to the last item ! ) FAI News (Air Sports): World Records We know a lot about him in WW1 but it would be interesting to find out about the rest of his life - does anybody know ?!
Looks like he was in America in 1967 !! .... how lucky Bill Fenton was !! :clapping: I wonder if he ever wrote about the experience at all ?? ... I haven't been able to find anything though !! First World War Ace Visits a Schoolboy SIOUX CITY, Iowa — (AP) A Belgian fighter pilot of World War I fame, paid a visit to a teenage youth here as a result of correspondence between the two in connection with the youth's hobby of learning about early aircraft and their pilots. Baron Willy Coppens de Houthulst, now in his mid-70's, spent a week visiting 15-year-old Bill Felton III and his family. The high school sophomore had written to the ace in his effort to find out all he could about World War I planes. Baron Willy is known in aviation circles for his 37 "kills" of enemy planes. The Bridgeport Post - Sunday, January 08, 1967
Annie you will find a lot of hits if you search for him on Aviation History - Browse the History of Flight from 1909 It's just a question of sifting through the stuff. However, he only gets a few mentions post-WW2
Thanks K ! ... I've been looking on that site already .... but as always - I get sidetracked ..... :brick: ... I need to sit and focus !!
He was a rich Flemish aristocrat and I believe he spent WW2 in Switzerland. Perhaps we shouldn't read too much into that, but is possible that his life after WW1 achieved little of note, possibly with an ambivalent attitude to the issues of WW2.
