Major General William Kepner, boss of the 8th Fighter Command, he got around in style in his P-47.

Before the war, Kepner was more associated with balloons & such rather than fighter aircraft. He held six ratings, most rather quaint: command pilot, combat observer, senior balloon pilot, zeppelin pilot, semirigid pilot, and metal-clad airship pilot.

What? How many pins did he have above his right breast pocket? Huh, only 1. In the Navy, you can wear at least 2 warfare pins

From 1909 to 1913, Kepner served in the US Marine Corps, then the Indiana National Guard. After a short spell in the US cavalry, in 1917 he transferred to the infantry as a captain and commanded a company at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry. He subsequently lead the 3rd Battalion of the 4th US Infantry in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

In 1920, at the age of 27, he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and trained as a balloon pilot, then subsequently as an airship pilot. 

From 1927 to 1929 he participated very prominently in several US national and international balloon races, most notably winning the prestigious Gordon Bennett Cup with co-pilot William Olmstead Eareckson in June 1928.

In the summer of 1934, Kepner took command of the joint National Geographic Society - US Army Air Corps Stratosphere Flight near Rapid City, South Dakota to make an attempt with the specially constructed balloon Explorer on the manned balloon altitude record.

Prior to leaving for Europe in 1942, Kepner demanded increased fuel capacity in aircraft like the P-38  and P-51. He demanded fuel be put into the wings of the aircraft, only to be told it couldn't be done by Lockheed. When he insisted they comply, complaints by the companies to Material Division (Wright Field) resulted in a threat to have charges laid against him for tampering with aircraft specifications. Fortunately, he was backed by Maj Gen Barney Giles and the modifications went ahead. These later proved critical in enabling the USAAF to introduce fighters with sufficient range to enable escort of bombers on deep penetration missions into Germany.

https://thejivebombers.com/2020/12/19/one-of-the-perks-of-being-a-general-is/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ellsworth_Kepner

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106566/lieutenant-general-william-e-kepner/

Anyone wanna bet that Brett Kepner is related to him? 

Once Charles Rolls discovered flying, he ditched his love for cars saying that up in the air there is no police to curb your joy.

Even before the famous meeting in 1904, the name Charles Stewart Rolls would have been known to Henry Royce thanks to his exploits at the wheel and reputation as a skilled motor racer. He held the unofficial land speed record in 1903 piloting his 80hp Mors to nearly 83 mph along the course in the Duke of Portland's Clipstone Park.

In his first race in France in 1899 – the Paris to Boulogne – Rolls had finished fourth in the tourist class, driving an 8hp Panhard and Levassor. In 1903 he competed in the fateful Paris to Madrid town-to-town, an event in which thirty-four drivers and spectators were to perish.

Rolls was a pioneer aviator and initially, balloonist, making over 170 balloon ascents. In 1903 he won the Gordon Bennett Gold Medal for the longest single flight time.

Following the formation of Rolls-Royce, Rolls turned his attention to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. After frustration in 1905, Rolls returned in 1906 winning in a Rolls-Royce Light Twenty.

By 1907 Rolls' interest turned increasingly to flying and he tried to persuade Royce to design an aero engine. He became the second Briton to go up in an airplane, and it was piloted by Wilbur Wright!

Their flight on lasted four minutes and twenty seconds.

He bought one of six Wright Flyer aircraft built by Short Brothers under license from the Wright Brothers and from early October 1909 made more than 200 flights. 

by 1909 Rolls' interest in the car business he made with Royce in 1904 was waning, and at the end of the year he resigned as Technical managing director and became a non-executive director.

He co-founded the ballooning club that became the Royal Aero Club in 1901, and in March 1910 he was the second person they licensed to fly an aeroplane. 

He became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane in June 1910. In July, he died in a plane crash, age 32

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rolls

https://www.facebook.com/dwrenched.george/posts/pfbid02d5VDpQKLA8JNYhMf6Rpr4rsfbifqebkMt8b36RM6TPQdEo4HTU8BSXrCkN4TkZi5l

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/charles-rolls-once-crossed-the-english-channel-from-uk-to-france-and-back-144335.html#agal_3

https://myautoworld.com/rolls-royce/cars/history/history-company/history-charles-rolls/history-charles-rolls.html

a desk ink set adaptation of a sculpture of German sculptor Wilhelm Fruick, loosely patterned after an a chain-drive Mercedes being driven in an early Gordon Bennett Cup race, but the hood and trunk open for inkwells

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/345090-memoribilia-to-view-a-guide/page/5/

1905 Gordon Bennett Renault

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10224753342199267&set=pcb.10224753343719305

1901-Henri Béconnais / Gordon Bennett

1904 - Gordon-Bennett. Camille Jenatzy with his Mercedes-Rennwagen.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1725834954412086.1073741883.100009567938826&type=3

racing in 1902-18, with good audio, and excellent foley

Thanks Steve!

1903 Winton Gordon Bennett team seen in Ireland.

From left is Alexander Winton at the wheel of his 80 hp "Bullet", and on the right is Percy Owen

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/lecyclecaristebelge/?fref=nf

Tires being cooled during the 1904 Gordon Bennett race

Found on http://www.carsandracingstuff.com/library/h/horselessage1904b.pdf

the 1905 Gordon Bennett race cars

Found on http://www.cparama.com/forum/automobiles-et-voitures-f158.html

Charles Rolls during the 1905 Gordon Bennett race

Found on https://www.facebook.com/marc.tudeau?fref=nf

a glimpse of Gordon Bennett trophy racing in 1904

Coincidentally http://theoldmotor.com/ just posted about the 1904 Gordon Bennett Napier racecar at http://theoldmotor.com/?p=26434

and also filled us in on the background of the GB Cup Race: James Gordon Bennett, the wealthy owner of the New York Herald newspaper in 1900 organized a race between teams, each representing their national automobile club. This for several years was the most important race of the year. The race was driven on public roads in the country of the previous winner. In 1902 the Gordon Bennett Trophy won by a British Napier. Auto Racing was not allowed on public roads in Great Britain, and the 1903 race was held in Ireland. Napier’s cars were painted green for this race, the national color of Ireland, in honor of the host country. Napier was as a result the first car that was painted in what we now refer to as “British Racing Green”.


found on http://books.google.com/books?id=zHnVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA544&dq=belgian++pipe&hl=en&ei=PchGTpqyGMapsAKPnrSSCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=belgian%20%20pipe&f=false