Solar Impulse’s first international flight

Andre Borschberg took off from Switzerland, flew across France,then Luxembourg, and Belgium, and finally landed safely thanks to the sunlight-powered HB-SIA Solar Impulse in Brussels in the evening of May 13, 2011. Bertrand Piccard was there:

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WWI REMEMBRANCE DAY

WW1 remembrance flanders book
Flanders Fields Poem, John McCrae - Photo © Wikipedia user: Lx_121

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae (1872-1918) – Ypres battlefield 1915. Photo: Lx 121Wikipedia courtesy

The WWI armistice came into effect at the eleventh hour (Paris time) of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The War to End All Wars left 37,000,000 casualties – 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The Allies lost 5.7 million soldiers. May their souls rest in peace

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May 8th 1945 – VE-Day veteran remembers + 1st American-British-French-Russian parade in Moscow

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Guynemer’s motto – « FAIRE FACE »

WWI French ace Georges Guynemer used to say:

  • « Il y a une limite à toute chose, et il faut toujours la dépasser. » « Everything has a limit which has always got to be surpassed. »
  • « Lorsque l’on n’a pas tout donné, on n’a rien donné. » « Until one has given all, one has given nothing »

Last but not least, Captain Guynemer’s most famous phrase – « Faire face » « Face up to it » was then adopted by the French Air Force Academy (FAFA) as their motto. A few words that well expresses the French pilots’ bravery.

Loyal to these principles, the French ace took part in several hundreds of aerial combats, crediting 53 victories. He was shot down seven times, and he was admired for he always survived, but that September 11… The hero took off once again. Outnumbered by German warplanes in a last dogfighting over Belgium. Then, he fell.

RIP

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