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158:. He gathered speed and forced the plane down and through the Arc. He did not have much clearance – the width of the Arc is 14.50 m (47.6 ft), not much more than his aircraft's wingspan of 8.21 m (26.9 ft). He passed at a low level over a tram in which passengers threw themselves to the ground, and many passers-by ran away frightened. Godefroy then flew over the
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Mortane had the whole event filmed and photographed. The film screening was banned by the
Commissioner of Police. Godefroy stayed officially in the background, but his name could not be kept secret for long. The authorities disapproved of the event and were afraid of it being imitated, but Godefroy
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on 14 July 1919 to mark the end of hostilities in World War I. The military command ordered airmen to participate "on foot", like the infantry. This was a provocation to the pilots, who regarded themselves as "heroes of the air". At a meeting at Le
Fouquet's, a bar on the Champs Élysées, a group of
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Godefroy, who had 500 flying hours at the time, volunteered to make the flight in
Navarre's stead. With journalist Jacques Mortane, his close companion, Godefroy inspected the Arc de Triomphe several times to examine the air route and the air currents. He practiced at the bridge over the Small
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and returned to the airfield, where his mechanic checked over the engine. No one at the airfield had taken any notice of the flight, which had lasted half an hour.
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aviators decided to address this affront by selecting one of them to fly through the Arc de
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He was called up for military service in 1914 at the age of 26 years. After being wounded and a stay in hospital, he entered the
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After this exploit, Godefroy had to promise his family to give up flying. Thereafter, he attended to his wine trade in
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On 7 August 1919, three weeks after the victory parade, under cover of secrecy and dressed in his
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November 1918. Because of his abilities as a pilot, he quickly became a flying instructor.
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with 12 air victories. But
Navarre died in a practice flight on 10 July.
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There have been two subsequent flights under the Arc, in 1981 and 1991.
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Enter Arc de
Triomphe in the search term, along with 1919, 1981 or 1991
290:« Aéronautique : l'inutile exploit du sergent Godefroy »
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280:« Un avion, ce matin, est passé sous l'Arc de Triomphe »
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uniform, Godefroy took off at 7:20 a.m. from the airfield of
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Memorial stone in rue
Charles Godefroy at Soisy-sous-Montmorency
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Articles have since been published in many newspapers.
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from 1919/08/09, morning edition, p.3, column 4 - 5.
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on 1 September 1917. He completed his training on a
260:« Un avion passe sous l'Arc de Triomphe »
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181:. He died shortly before his 70th birthday at
93:Godefroy passing through the Arc de Triomphe.
270:« L'Acte insensé d'un aviateur »
205:Les débuts de l'aviation: Charles Godefroy
199:La vie d'un Pilote de Chasse en 1914-1918
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54:who became famous for flying through the
383:French military personnel of World War I
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239:, Le Figaro, 1919/08/09, p.3, column 5.
102:France planned a victory parade on the
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256:from 1919/08/08, p.1, column 3 - 4.
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201:, Flammarion, Paris, 1978.
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16:French aviator (1888-1958)
156:Avenue de la Grande-Armée
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38:) – 11 December 1958 at
23:Charles Godefroy in 1919
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210:Exploits de l'Aviation
183:Soisy-sous-Montmorency
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85:Arc de Triomphe flight
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373:People from La Flèche
324:July 5, 2009, at the
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213:→ Film of the flight
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197:Melville Wallace —
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148:sesquiplane
145:Nieuport 27
62:World War I
357:Categories
274:L'Humanité
224:References
173:Later life
113:flying ace
98:Background
44:Val d'Oise
32:La Flèche
322:Archived
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254:Le Matin
72:Nieuport
192:Sources
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