But the 27th was under standing orders to destroy German observation balloons.
It would be seven more months before his second win, when he helped down an observation balloon on 30 May 1918.
He had never before laid eyes on an observation balloon, but he'd heard about them.
By war's end, he had destroyed five more enemy aircraft and an observation balloon.
On 14 August, he shot down four observation balloons for wins 39 through 42.
He then began to choose British observation balloons for his targets.
On 24 March 1917, he shot down an observation balloon for his first victory.
The next day marked a change of focus for him; he shot down an observation balloon.
The first task was to shoot down German observation balloons.
He had scored 37 victories, 34 of which were observation balloons.
Wörterbuch für Begriffe aus dem Bereich Meteorologie