Just tossing out some proof to Lou's point.. .Balloon Busting was indeed a death sentence to an unknowing/inexperienced pilot. To be a Balloon Busting ace, meant you had a brass set of balls. As stated below, you needed to know how to take them down without getting shreaded to pieces by flak and ground fire. Röth's method and choice of ammunition was a very good reciepe for success. His attack method was simple... come from above, straight down above the target balloon, using the balloon as your cover from enemy ground fire/AA.... and of course... pray to God that you remembered to give yourself enough room to pull out of the dive.
I do agree that it's a bit easy to take them down in WOFF, I've shot down my share on straight and level attacks without any thought to ground fire.
Here are the top two from Germany and Belgium. You can see by their person accounts how harrowing it was to make this your primary job. These boys were out of their freakin' minds...
Germany's top Balloon Busting Ace... Friedrich Ritter von Röth - 20 Balloon victories
(Wikiwpedia)
Röth did not enjoy any success as a fighter pilot until he decided to concentrate his effort on observation balloons. He was a poor shot, and took up firing upon balloons because they were a large target.[3] He also loaded his guns to maximize his effectiveness against balloons; his left-hand machine gun would be loaded with 80 percent incendiaries and 20 percent armor-piercing, and the right-hand gun vice versa.[4] His decision meant he took upon himself one of the most hazardous duties of World War I fighter aviation. Because balloons flew at a known altitude, antiaircraft guns ringing them were extremely accurate. The balloons were low enough that an attacker was exposed to small arms fire as well. Protective fighters also lurked in the vicinity.[5] The balloons were so well defended because they were an important part of the artillery fire direction systems of World War I.[6]
On 25 January 1918, as a member of Jasta 23, Röth scored his first victories, downing three balloons in eight minutes. He shot down a British observation plane on 26 February and downed another pair of balloons on 21 March. On 1 April, he downed four balloons in ten minutes, to become an Überkanone.[1]
Belgian Balloon Busting Ace.. Willy Coppens - 34 Balloon victories
(Wikiwpedia)
On 19 August Coppens was promoted to Adjutant. He continued his nervy but unsuccessful combat career against enemy aircraft until 17 March 1918. On that day he carried out his first attack on German observation balloons, as an aid to a ground assault by the Belgian Army. Though handicapped by lack of incendiary ammunition he punctured two balloons, causing the observers to bail out and the balloons to collapse to the ground.
Finally, on 25 April Coppens scored his first victory by downing a Rumpler two seater. On 8 May he finally found his metier, when he shot two balloons down in flames.
A week later, using his usual tactics of close range fire, Coppens cut a balloon loose from its ties. It bounced up beneath him and momentarily carried his Hanriot skyward. After his aircraft fell off the balloon, he restarted its engine and flew back to base. The balloon sagged into an explosion.
Later when on another attack run, he got shot at from a balloon. He parked his plane on top of the damaged balloon, shut down his engine in order to protect its propeller, and waited until the balloon descended to slide off the balloon and fly away.
From then on, Coppens' record was spectacular. Between April and October 1918 he was credited with destroying 34 German observation balloons and three airplanes, nearly as many victories as Belgium's other five aces combined. Unlike most fighter pilots of World War I, who used .303 caliber or 7.92 mm guns, Coppens used a larger bore 11 mm Vickers machine gun, having upgraded his weaponry prior to June 1918.
In June, he was promoted to sous lieutenant, thus becoming an officer. His royal blue plane with its insignia of a thistle sprig wearing a top hat became so well known that the Germans went to special pains to try to kill him. On 3 August he shot down a balloon booby-trapped with explosives that when detonated from the ground narrowly missed killing him. The flaming wreckage of the balloon "fell swift as doom on the watching [German] staff officers, killing many and injuring the rest".[2]
On his last mission, 14 October, Coppens downed a balloon over Praatbos and was attacking one over Torhout when he was severely wounded by an incendiary bullet, smashing the tibia of his left leg and severing the artery. Coppens crash landed near Diksmuide and was taken to hospital, where his leg was amputated.
OvS
