portrait of the pilot

   ... Edgar Allen Poe style

There was something strange about the tall, gaunt figure. The face was remarkable, the head suggested that of a bird, and the features, dominated by a long, prominent nose that heightened the birdlike effect were long and bony... From behind the greyish blue depths of his eyes there seemed to shine something of the light of the sun. From the first moments of my conversation with him I judged Wilbur Wright to be a fanatic of flight, and I had no longer any doubt that he had accomplished all he claimed to have done. He seemed born to fly.

Daily Mail (17 August, 1908)

portrait of the pilot

   a very wild and wicked look
june 12th 1942
Posed from 9.30 a.m. until 6 p.m. for an English artist who had come to the squadron to make a pastel drawing of commandant Dupérier, Fayolle and me. My back hurts more than after two hours in a Spitfire. Clot! I have just heard it was the famous Kennington, the painter and sculptor who priced his work in peace-time at the modest sum of £500. Apparently I have come out well. I think I must have been thinking about yesterday's combat, for he has given me the very wild and wicked look of Donald Duck in a rage.

René Mouchotte, Diaries 1940 - 1943 (1956)

portrait of the pilot


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