Questions from the Cockpit: Daredevils and fools

Richard, a private pilot from Oregon, writes: I recently read that Charles Godefroy flew through the Arc de Triomphe in 1919. Of course, this kind of stunt is taboo nowadays, but do you have a short list of favorite spectacular no-nos from days gone by? 

Oh, boy. Do I ever. But before I get to my list of favorite stupid pilot tricks, let me recap Godefroy’s remarkable stunt for those who might not be familiar with it — which, by the way, was taboo even back then.

At the close of World War I, the French military planned a victory parade, and ordered their daring flying aces to hoof it in the parade along with everyone else. That didn’t sit too well with the Knights of the Air, so they cooked up a protest stunt over a few too many at the famous red-awninged Fouquet’s bar on the Champs-Élyseés.

As originally planned, 12-victory ace Jean Navarre was supposed to fly through the Arc de Triomphe during the victory parade, while his comrades trudged along beside the infantry. But while practicing for the stunt — by flying through a bridge over the Petit Rhône just four days before the parade— he crashed and was killed. 

You would have thought that that would’ve been the end of it, but once pilots hatch a good idea with high octane liquor, there’s no stopping it.

Godefroy stepped in, and three weeks after the parade his 27′ wide Nieuport flashed through the 48′ wide monument during the morning rush hour. Wish you could have been there to see that? Yeah. Me, too.

But while we can’t travel back in time, we can still watch the fly-through because the protest stunt was filmed by his co-conspirators — from both sides of the Arc. The films were banned by the authorities at the time, but the footage still exists and is easily found on YouTube.

And Godefroy? What happened to Godefroy? He was slapped on the wrist by officialdom, who were eager to keep the incident quiet, but his family forced him to give up flying. On the bright side, he lived to be nearly 70 years old working in the wine business. 

Cheers, Godefroy.

Of course, it could have ended differently, as Navarre’s failed practice session demonstrated.

Such stunts are dangerous. Dangerous for the target. Dangerous for the plane. Dangerous for people on the ground. And dangerous for your ticket.

All of that said, I can’t help but admire the airmanship and derring-do of some of our outlaw wild men, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. So, sure, I’m happy to share some of my favorite acts of derring-do and aeronautical foolishness; and while we are still in Paris, it’s worth pointing out that another iconic structure in Paris has seen some interesting flying action — the Eiffel Tower.

During World War II, two airplanes flew through… well, I guess it’s under… the Eiffel Tower. The plane in the lead was a battle-damaged German ME 109, with U.S. Army Air Corps Captain William Overstreet, Jr. in hot pursuit in his P-51C Berlin Express. Presumably, the German pilot had hoped to shake Overstreet by diving through the tower at the ground level arch, but — guns blazing — Overstreet followed him right on through.

How tight a squeeze is that? The tower is about 300′ wide at the base with 187 feet of airspace. Not even close to Godefroy’s margin of error. Plenty of room for a dog fight.

Or for a Beech Bonanza. 

Because while you’re at YouTube, you should check out the footage shot from inside the plane during Robert J. Moriarty’s 1984 unauthorized fly-through of the Tower. Moriarty, an ex-Marine fighter pilot, air racer, and record setter (and later in life, a convicted drug smuggler) had plenty of room. He himself said: “You could fly a 747 through the Eiffel Tower with a bit of room to spare.” 

Now that would be something to see. 

But even the grainy pre-GoPro cockpit footage from the Bonanza is pretty impressive. What happened to Moriarty? Nothing. The French authorities basically told him, “Don’t do that again, and don’t come back here for a while.” Ya gotta love the French.

Although, their patience has limits. In the late 1980s, a nocturnal Paris buzzer— dubbed the Black Barron by the press — toyed with authorities for weeks. But the French eventually got their man: Former jet pilot Albert Maltrret. He was fined a whopping $10K and lost his license. 

For a year.

That said, I should mention that the first attempt to fly under the Eiffel Tower actually ended in tragedy: In 1926, Leon Collet was killed when his biplane hit wires during an attempt to fly under the monument.

Of course, it’s not just monuments that attract a certain type of pilot. Bridges sing a siren song to some airmen. Pioneer airshow star Lincoln Beachey flew over Niagara Falls (easy), then under Honeymoon Bridge (not so easy) at the controls of a Curtis D pusher biplane in 1911.

But why fly under a bridge when you can loop around it? That’s exactly what Richard Bong did around the then five-year-old Golden Gate Bridge in 1942, flying a P-38 Lightning. Yep. He got reprimanded, and grounded. But it was another slap on the wrist.

The country was at war at the time and needed wild men. Bong went on to win the Medal of Honor, and became the country’s Ace of Aces — the highest scoring fighter pilot of the war.

What would I do if I let my outlaw wild side out? No question about it, I’d fly through St. Louis’s Gateway Arch. You gotta admit: The Arch just screams “Fly Through Me!”

As stunts go, the Arch would be a pretty easy target at over 600′ tall and about the same width at the bottom, a huge amount of airspace compared to the Eifel Tower or the much tighter Arc de Triomphe. An Arch fly-through would theoretically give a typical GA aircraft at least 250′ of air-to-spare on each side of the plane, unlike Godefroy’s 10 feet to spare, which ya gotta admit, is some pretty sharp flying.

Anyway, back in 1965, the eight-year-old FAA knew that the Arch was tempting, too. They let the word out that anyone who tried to zip through the newly completed monument would be severely punished. Despite this, the first confirmed fly-through happened just nine months later. Since then 11 pilots have buzzed through the arch, with only the final pilot — in 1984 — being identified and punished.

But bear in mind that the folks who got away with buzzing through the arch all did it in an era before everyone carries a cell phone, and every cell phone has a camera.

After that first buzz job though the arch, the FAA set up a 75-mile radius search that lasted for days, to no avail. Today they’d have your N-number in five minutes and, assuming you pulled it off without killing yourself, they would be waiting for you when you landed. Waiting with a pair of handcuffs for your wrists, and a pair of scissors for your license.

And it would serve you right.

Because while we fondly admire the moxie and flying skills displayed by these pilots, the truth is that success at this kind of stunt is rare. You don’t have to look very deep into NTSB accident statistics to find plenty of death and tragedy from stupid pilot tricks.