Charles Godefroy

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Charles Godefroy

Charles Godefroy (born December 29, 1888 in La Flèche , Sarthe , † December 11, 1958 in Soisy-sous-Montmorency near Paris) was a French pilot who became famous for his spectacular flight through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 1919 .

Military career

Charles Godefroy was drafted into the military in 1914 at the age of 26 and served in the 132nd Infantry Regiment. Awarded the Croix de guerre , he joined the airmen on September 1, 1917 after a stay in a hospital . He did his training on a Nieuport fighter plane in Miramas , which he completed on November 21, 1918. Thanks to his flying skills, he soon became a flight instructor.

To the prehistory

On the occasion of the great victory parade on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées on July 14, 1919, the military command had ordered that the aviators march along "on foot" - like the infantrymen. Those who viewed themselves as the “heroes of the skies” saw this as a provocation. At a meeting at the “Fouquet” bar on the Champs Élysées, a group decided that one of them should fly through the Arc de Triomphe during the parade. The choice fell on Jean Navarre, who was considered an ace among the pilots with 12 victories in the air. But on July 10th, Navarre had a fatal accident during a training flight. Charles Godefroy felt himself to be experienced enough with 500 hours of flight time to take his place. Until the victory parade, however, the project could no longer be achieved. But the task appealed to the young aviator. So he began to practice on the bridge over the Little Rhone near Miramas. With a journalist friend, Jacques Mortane (1883–1939), he inspected the triumphal arch several times in order to explore the flight route and the air currents. Mortane intended to capture the event in film for posterity. Because the flight violated all regulations, the preparations had to be made in the utmost secrecy.

The flight

Charles Godefroy - The flight through the Arc de Triomphe

In the early morning of August 7, 1919, Charles Godefroy appeared at Villacoublay airfield in his uniform as a sergeant major with the Croix de guerre pinned on . His mechanic had secretly prepared a “ Nieuport 11 Bébé” (Bébé = baby, because of its small wingspan of 7.52 m). With this biplane - a successful fighter aircraft - Godefroy took off at 7:20 a.m. Coming from the west, he reached the Porte Maillot shortly afterwards . He circled the Arc de Triomphe twice and began approaching via Avenue de la Grande-Armée. To pick up speed, he pushed the machine down and flew low over a tram, the passengers of which threw themselves to the ground. Many passers-by ran away in horror. He didn't have much space to fly through - the clear arch width of the triumphal arch is 14.60 m. Godefroy succeeded, he then flew over the Place de la Concorde and returned to the airfield, where his mechanic took care of the machine. The flight had only taken half an hour. Nobody had noticed anything at the airport.

Journalist Jacques Mortane had the whole event photographed and filmed. The pictures appeared in many newspapers and on newsreels . Godefroy officially stayed in the background. But his name could not be kept secret permanently. The authorities were uncomfortable with this incident and they feared imitators, but there was only one warning for Godefroy.

Next life

After this show, Godefroy gave up flying. It is no longer known whether he did it for the sake of his family or whether the military authorities forced him to do so. He settled in Soisy with his wife and daughter and ran a wine trade in Aubervilliers . His flight was forgotten. It was only after his death - he died shortly before his 70th birthday - that his flying masterpiece was remembered again. The Luftwaffe sent a delegation to his funeral, and the city of Paris awarded him a silver medal posthumously. The Soisy community named a street after him and put up a memorial plaque there. A day nursery also bears his name.

Charles Godefroy inscribed himself in the history of early aviation with the (forbidden) flight through the Arc de Triomphe. For over 60 years he was the only one who dared to fly through.

On Sunday, October 18, 1981, the certified flight instructor Alain Marchand (born 1934) managed to fly through the Triumphal Arch with a yodel machine with a span of 11.50 meters (according to other information with a Morane-Saulnier Rallye 880B , span 9, 75 m) - the machine and pilot's license were taken from him. In 1991 an unknown person tried to surpass this flying performance by flying under the Eiffel Tower beforehand .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Qu'est devenu Alain Marchand? (French) In: pilotes-prives.fr , March 2013 - December 2016, accessed on August 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ "I really have a crack": The daring role models of the Moscow aviator Mathias Rust * (1987-06-01) . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 1987, pp. 124-125 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Paris Pilot's $ 800 stunt. (English) In: The New York Times , March 12, 1982, accessed August 13, 2019.
  4. ^ UPI : Pilot flies under Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel. (English), September 15, 1991, accessed August 7, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Godefroy, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French pilot
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH La Flèche
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1958
Place of death Soisy-sous-Montmorency