Edwin C. Parsons

Edwin Charles Parsons (September 24, 1892 – May 2, 1968) was a Rear Admiral of the United States Navy, and former French Foreign Legionnaire, flying ace, Hollywood aviation technical advisor, FBI Special Agent, and author.

Early life Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Parsons graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1910 and after attending the University of Pennsylvania, moved to California, where he learned to fly at Dominguez Field, Carson, in 1912, then spent 1913–1915 in the Mexican Army's Aviation Corps. At one point, Pancho Villa wanted him to train airmen; however, Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico scotched Parsons' interest.

World War I Thus Parsons was an experienced combat pilot when the war began. In late 1915, he traveled to France. He served with the United States Ambulance service before enlisting in the French Foreign Legion. In 1916, he became a pilot in the Aéronautique Militaire (French Air Service) and, beginning in January 1917, he flew with the famed Lafayette Escadrille. He was credited with one victory and flew many times as Raoul Lufbery's wingman.

He later elected to stay in the French air service instead of transferring to the USAAS when his unit was Americanized in February 1918. Parsons was a tangential figure in a spectacular performance on May 9. It was sparked by a disagreement between René Fonck on one hand, and Parsons and his friend Frank Baylies on the other. Although Fonck's three dozen victories spoke for themselves, the American duo believed that the Frenchman's attitude in his actual speech was atrocious. Perturbed by Fonck's highhanded lectures on aerial success, the two Americans bet Fonck a bottle of champagne that one of them would shoot down an enemy plane before Fonck. Baylies took off despite hazy weather and shot down a Halberstadt CL.II. Back at the airfield, rather than pay off the bet, a sulky Fonck badgered the Americans to change the terms of the bet to whoever shot down the most Germans that day would win. Lingering fog kept Fonck grounded most of the day. It was well into the afternoon before it cleared enough for him to take off at 1500 hours.

List of aerial victories See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date. No.Date/timeAircraftFoeResultLocationNotes 1 September 4, 1917 @ 0940 hours Nieuport Rumpler reconnaissance plane Destroyed Neuilly 2 May 6, 1918 @ 1715 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed West of Montdidier 3 May 16, 1918 @ 0945 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed Montdidier 4 May 19, 1918 @ 1220 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed Montdidier Shared victory with two French pilots 5 May 20, 1918 @ 0915 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed Gratibus 6 August 26, 1918 Spad Fokker D.VII Destroyed Morchain 7 September 26, 1918 @ 1800 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed South of Tahure Victory shared with Pierre Pendaries and another French pilot 8 October 1, 1918 @ 1510 hours Spad German two-seater Destroyed Somme-Py

Between the World Wars When the war ended, Parsons returned to the United States and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent from 1920 to 1923, but left to form his own unsuccessful private detective agency.

With the help the film director and former World War I aviator William A. Wellman, Parsons was hired by Paramount as a technical consultant, working on the Oscar-winning Wings (1927), and on Howard Hughes epic Hell's Angels (1930), amongst others. Parsons also worked as a screenwriter, occasional actor, and technical director. and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.