The Blue Devil: Willy Coppens

Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst (born July 6, 1892, in Watermael-Boitsfort, died December 21, 1986, in Antwerp) was a Belgian aviator of the Aviation Militaire Belge. He was the leading Belgian fighter ace during World War I and one of the most renowned "balloon busters" in general.

Coppens achieved 37 aerial victories, 34 of which were balloon kills. Due to his fondness for painting his aircraft in blue hues, he was nicknamed by the enemy as Der Blaue Teufel — The Blue Devil.

Coppens was also a strong advocate for Hanriot aircraft, and his highly favorable opinion led the Belgian Air Force to purchase them (previously, the Belgians flew Nieuports, while the French were offering SPADs at that time). The Hanriot proved to be a fast and highly maneuverable plane, making it ideal for attacks on observation balloons, which were heavily guarded by machine gun positions. Its agility helped pilots avoid anti-aircraft fire.

The Belgians' relentless attacks on observation balloons caused heavy losses, forcing the Germans to change their tactics. They began deploying balloons at lower altitudes (900 meters instead of 1,200 meters) and farther from the front lines (9 to 12 km instead of 6 km). They also tripled the number of machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons, but this did little to thwart the attacks. Reportedly, the Germans even attempted a trap by launching an empty balloon loaded with explosives as bait. Coppens shot it down, and the balloon exploded like a bomb—but the Blue Devil was already at a safe distance.

In September, Coppens received two new aircraft, numbers 23 and 45. As he described it, number 23 had a terrible and impractical camouflage pattern painted in Calais, so he decided to repaint it entirely in blue. He achieved several victories with this aircraft in September and October, enjoying success until October 14, 1918.

On that day, he destroyed a balloon near Praatbos and then attacked his planned target in Torhout. However, he was shot in the leg during the mission. Despite the injury, he continued the attack and fired on the target, though he admitted he lacked the strength and time to verify if the attack was successful. As a result, he was credited with only one victory that day.

Coppens managed to crash-land on the friendly side of the front, but the injury was severe enough to require the amputation of his leg. Although he never returned to flying, he set a parachute jump record in 1928, which remained unbroken until 1932, by jumping from a height of approximately 5,000 meters. Before retiring in 1940, Coppens served as a military attaché in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland.