Stefan Stanisław Stec (November 21, 1893 - May 11, 1921) was a Polish aviator and military pilot, one of the pioneers of Polish aviation. He is also credited as the originator of the

Polish Air Force checkerboard The Air Force checkerboard ( pl, szachownica lotnicza) is a national marking for the aircraft of the Polish Air Force, equivalent to roundels used in other nations' air forces. It consists of four equal squares, of which the upper left and lower ...

. From 1916 he initially served as an observer in the Flik 3 reconnaissance squadron on the eastern front. In February 1918 he trained as a pilot and from May he was assigned to the Flik 3J fighter squadron, flying the Oeffag D.III on the Austro-Italian front. Between June 17 and July 4 he commanded Flik 9J. He participated in shooting down 3 aircraft (plus 4 probable kills) and ended the war as an Oberleutnant. He was among the first pilots to join the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...

. In November 1918 hostilities broke out between Poland and the Western Ukrainian Republic over the possession of East Galicia and Lwów. In March/April 1919 two

Fokker E.V The Fokker E.V was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The E.V was the last Fokker design to become operational with the ''Luftstreitkräfte,'' entering service in the last m ...

s were presented by the province of Wielkopolska to the defenders of Lwów. These aircraft were used by the 7th Eskadra Lotnicza, flown by Cpt. Stefan Bastyr and Stec, in operations against Ukrainian forces. He carried out the first bombing sortie on November 7. Later he flew the

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

fighter. In May 1919 the 7th Eskadra had three Fokker E.Vs, three Brandenburgs and a LVG C.VI. By June the flight had almost ceased to exist because of a lack of equipment. With war with the Soviets impending, Stec collected all

s together in the 7th Eskadra, transforming it into a fighter unit. In August the eskadra received 12 Albatros (Oef) D IIIs purchased from Austria. In 1919, flying E.V 185/18, he shot down a Ukrainian fighter

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in ...

and a balloon, becoming a

fighter 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 ...

. From April to October 1919 he was commander of the 7th Escadrille (later to become the Kościuszko Squadron). Later he went to France to study in Ecole Supérieure d'Aéronautique. After returning to Poland, he was involved in establishing Polish aircraft production. He died in an air crash in 1921. His personal emblem from the time of Austrian service, a red and white

checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...

, was adopted on December 1, 1918 as the Polish Air Force national insignia. Image:Roundel of Poland (1918–1921).svg, First form of the checkerboard, in 1918-1921 Image:Roundel of Poland (1921-1993).svg, The checkerboard with border, used in 1921-1993 Image:Szachownica.svg, Polish Air Force checkerboard - from 1993 to present

External links

Historia Lotnictwa: Stefan Stec
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stec, Stefan 1893 births 1921 deaths Polish flying aces Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Polish people of World War I Austro-Hungarian World War I pilots Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Lviv Polytechnic alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1921 Recipients of the commemorative badge Orlęta