Jaan Mahlapuu

Jaan Mahlapuu (11 November (or 9 November) 1894 in Valga – in Riga) was an Estonian fighter pilot for the Imperial Russian Air Service in World War I. He is known for being the first ace of Estonian origin who flew over Riga where he reputedly shot down five or six German airplanes.

In 1915, he was enrolled in the Pskov Flight School. After graduating in August 1916, he was transferred to the front of Riga with the 12th fighter air detachment of the Northern Front. He was assigned to a twin seater scout plane (the Nieuport 10), in which he took down a German escaping plane on 4 September. Between Early august and early September, Mahlapuu flew 18 combat sorties, rising to the rank of Senior Non-commissioned-officer and was awarded the Cross of St. George 4th class. By the end of October he was promoted to the rank of Feldfebel. The Nieuport 10 was not made for fighting and did not possess a synchronised machine gun, meaning the machine gun (adapted Colt or Maxim guns) had to be placed on the top of the wing. On New Year's Eve, long awaited Nieuport 11 aircraft arrived, equipped with a proper Lewis gun on the upper wing.

On 3 August 1917 at 8:35am, Jaan Mahlapuu died during an airplane accident where his plane turned into a uncontrollable corkscrew and crashed, killing Mahlapuu.