Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.
- Eddie Rickenbacker

Nice quote dude.

Confirmed air victories of Eddie Rickenbacker

Number. Date Time Aircraft Opponent Location
26 Oct 30, 1918 1040 SPAD XIII Balloon. Remonville
25 Oct 27, 1918 1635 SPAD XIII Balloon St. Juvin
24 Oct 27, 1918 1450 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Grand Pre
23 Oct 27, 1918 1505 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Bois de Money
22 Oct 23, 1918 1655 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Grande Carne Ferme
21 Oct 22, 1918 1555 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Cléry-le-Petit
20 Oct 10, 1918 1552 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Cléry-le-Petit
19 Oct 10, 1918 1552 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Cléry-le-Petit
18 Oct 9, 1918 1752 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Dun-sur-Meuse
17 Oct 3, 1918 1640 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Cléry-le-Grand
16 Oct 3, 1918 1707 SPAD XIII Balloon Dannevoux
15 Oct 2, 1918 1740 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Vilosnes
14 Oct 2, 1918 1730 SPAD XIII Hannover CL Montfaucon
13 Oct 1, 1918 1930 SPAD XIII Balloon Puzieux
12 Sep 28, 1918 0500 SPAD XIII Balloon Sivry-sur-Meuse
11 Sep 26, 1918 0600 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Damvillers
10 Sep 25, 1918 0850 SPAD XIII Halberstadt C Foret de Spincourt
9 Sep 25, 1918 0840 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Billy
8 Sep 15, 1918 0810 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Bois de Warville
7 Sep 14, 1918 0815 SPAD XIII Fokker D.VII Villecy
6 May 30, 1918 0738 Nieuport Albatros C.I Jaulny
5 May 28, 1918 0925 Nieuport Albatros C.I Bois de Rate
4 May 22, 1918 0912 Nieuport Albatros D.V Flirey
3 May 17, 1918 1824 Nieuport Albatros D.V Ribécourt
2 May 7, 1918 0805 Nieuport Pfalz D.III Pont-à-Mousson
1 Apr 29, 1918 1810 Nieuport Pfalz D.III Baussant

Nice topic dude.

Great shot with the famous "Hat In The Ring" insignia. This is an early photo, as he's still flying the Nieuport 28. It was an average airplane at best, with a nasty habit of shedding its wing skins in high g maneuvers. It was also no match for the Fokker D. VII of course.

The American Air Service was desperate for airplanes, so they bought alot of these outdated Nieuports from the French. He managed to survive in the Nieuport for a number of months, and finally received his beloved Spad XIII, which was a perfect match of man and machine.

It's impressive that he mainly shot down D.VII's in his aerial combats which were the greatest German fighters to reach service. He entered the war very late as a pilot but he racked up alot of victories in a short 6 months.

"If a thing is old, it is a sign that it was fit to live. Old families, old customs, old styles survive because they are fit to survive. The guarantee of continuity is quality. Submerge the good in a flood of the new, and good will come back to join the good which the new brings with it. Old-fashioned hospitality, old-fashioned politeness, old-fashioned honor in business had qualities of survival. These will come back."

-Eddie Rickenbacker

From childhood, Eddie loved machines and experimented with them, encouraged by his father's words: "A machine has to have a purpose". According to Rickenbacker's autobiography, at age thirteen, his schooling ended in grade seven after the accidental death of his father on August 26, 1904.



Rickenbacker found jobs to help support the family, but driven by an intense admiration for machines, Rickenbacker taught himself as much as he could, including enrolling in a correspondence course in engineering. He aggressively pursued any chance of involvement with automobiles. He took work at a carriage works after lying about his age to escape child labor laws. Eddie showed the courage and responsibility to work hard and provide for his family after his father's death.

Eddie's enthusiasm for automobiles began in Columbus, Ohio. Before entering the Army in 1917 he had become a celebrated race car driver and already won the Indianapolis 500 Memorial Day race 5 times. His fearless approach to driving, when the sport's mortality rate was at it highest, was unmatched.