BUILT

N1571, S/Lt. Charles Nungesser, Escadrille N 65, Cachy, France, summer 1916

Charles Eugene Jules Marie Nungesser, born on March 15th, 1892 in Paris, volunteered for the French Army on May 18th, 1914. In January 1915, on his own request he was re-assigned to the air corps where he underwent a pilot training and as of April 1915 was transferred to Escadrille VB 106 where he flew 53 bombing missions. In November 1915,

after necessary training on Nieuports he was incorporated into Escadrille N 65 staff. Except of several breaks forced by the recuperation from numerous wounds he remained with

this unit until the end of the war. During the conflict he shot down 43 enemy aircraft and became the third top French fighter ace after Rene Fonck and Georges Guynemer. On May

8th, 1927 Charles Nungesser disappeared together with Francois Coli during the attempt to cross the Atlantic. The aviation history researchers offer two theories of their end. The

majority inclines towards the crash into the ocean due to rain, the minority opposes it claiming their aircraft crashed in Maine.

Charles Nungesser’s aircraft carried the personal marking in the form of black heart inside of which symbols of death were painted, skull with crossed bones and the coffin between

two funeral candles. This personal marking was carried by the airplanes Nungesser flew at VB 106. N 65 marking were oblique white stripes on the upper and lower wing surfaces,

the French tricolor was added to this marking on Nungesser’s planes.

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INFO Eduard - December 2019

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