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Sous Lieutenant Eugène Gilbert (19 July 1889 – 17 May 1918) was a World War I
/ref> His mother, Henriette Françoise Gilbert was the daughter of a public works contractor; his father is unknown. He became interested in flight in his teens and attempted to build his own version of a flying machine around 1909. The effort appears to have been unsuccessful. That same year he entered the Bleriot flight school in Étampes, gaining his pilot's license on 24 September 1910"Eugene Gilbert, an Auvergne pilot in the Great War", Bibliothèque Clemont Universite
/ref> In 1911 Gilbert was called up for military service and with only eight flying lessons made a corporal-aviator. He was forced to leave the army after six months of service following a serious accident during a maneuver, and launched himself at once in sporting competitions where he quickly distinguished himself, flying a Bleriot XI. In theThe End of M. Gilbert
''Flight'' 23 May 1918
He was killed on 17 May 1918 when test-flying a new aircraft at Villacoublay.
Sous Lieutenant Eugène Gilbert (19 July 1889 – 17 May 1918) was a World War I flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
credited with five aerial victories. He had also been a famous pioneer pre-war racing pilot, flying in many countries throughout Europe.
Biography
Gilbert was born on 19 July 1889 inRiom
Riom (; Auvergnat ''Riam'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
History
Until the French Revolution, Riom was the capital of the province of Auvergne, and the se ...
, France.Sous Lieutenant Eugene Gilbert at ''The Aerodrome'' database/ref> His mother, Henriette Françoise Gilbert was the daughter of a public works contractor; his father is unknown. He became interested in flight in his teens and attempted to build his own version of a flying machine around 1909. The effort appears to have been unsuccessful. That same year he entered the Bleriot flight school in Étampes, gaining his pilot's license on 24 September 1910"Eugene Gilbert, an Auvergne pilot in the Great War", Bibliothèque Clemont Universite
/ref> In 1911 Gilbert was called up for military service and with only eight flying lessons made a corporal-aviator. He was forced to leave the army after six months of service following a serious accident during a maneuver, and launched himself at once in sporting competitions where he quickly distinguished himself, flying a Bleriot XI. In the
1911 Paris to Madrid air race
The 1911 Paris to Madrid air race was a three-stage international flying competition, the first of several European air races of that summer. The winner was French aviator Jules Védrines, although his win, along with the rest of the race, were ...
, Gilbert flew across the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
and was attacked by an angry mother eagle defending her young and nest; to ward off the large bird, he simply fired pistol shots at it rather than kill it.La Domenica del Corriere, cover painting depicting Gilbert's encounter with an eagle, 4 July 1911
In 1912 Gilbert organized an aviation festival with Dr. Antoine Dorel, president of the Automobile Club d'Auvergne. The newspaper ''Airline Journal'' reported that flying over Brioude, Gilbert was shot at by an eighty-three year old farmer who took him for "Baret Lou", a demonic bird of prey that casts a curse on crops. Gilbert responded by dropping pamphlets for an advertising campaign "Our future is in the Air" organized by the Michelin firm to promote the military use of aviation. These the farmer interpreted to be feathers of the bird raining down.
On 24 April 1913 Gilbert made a record nonstop cross-country flight of 826 km (523 miles) from Villacoublay, France, to 
Vitoria-Gasteiz
es, vitoriano, vitoriana,
, population_density_km2 = auto
, blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s)
, blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
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, Spain, in 8 hours 23 minutes. In June 1914 he won the International Michelin Cup completing a circuit of France in 39h 35m including stoppages.
By 1915, Gilbert was in uniform as a combat pilot with Escadrille MS23. Like fellow French pre-war pilot Adolphe Pégoud, Gilbert was one of the first pilots to become an ace, an aviator who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft. On 27 June 1915 Gilbert was interned
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
after force landing his Morane-Saulnier fighter in Switzerland after bombing the zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
sheds at Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
. He later succeeded in escaping from captivity and returning to France.''Flight'' 23 May 1918
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Eugene 1889 births 1918 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French aviation record holders French military personnel killed in World War I French World War I flying aces Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1918