Balloon buster
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Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven flying aces in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces.
Observation balloon being shot down by a German biplane
British balloon of the German Parseval-Siegsfeld type, 1916, typical of observation balloons in the first half of World War I
A Nieuport 11 armed with Le Prieur rockets and an overwing Lewis gun
The leading balloon buster, Willy Coppens, is personally decorated by his monarch, King Albert I.
Henry Woollett
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Henry Winslow Woollett, was a British flying ace and the highest scoring British balloon busting ace credited with 35 aerial victories, including eleven balloons, during the First World War. He continued to serve in the Royal Air Force until the 1930s.
Woollett's career in fighters was spent in Camels. Number D6402 was his mainstay.