Who was the first pilot to achieve five aerial victories in World War I?

Adolphe Pégoud was the first pilot to achieve five aerial victories in World War I and was widely recognized as history’s first fighter ace. French newspapers began calling him “l’as,” or “the ace,” after he reached the five-victory mark in 1915.

Pégoud was already famous before becoming a combat pilot. In 1913 he became the first person to make a parachute jump from an airplane, using an aircraft deliberately put into a dive. He also demonstrated an early loop and worked as a flight instructor, helping popularize aerobatic flying before the war.

When World War I began, Pégoud joined French military aviation as an observation pilot. On 5 February 1915, he and his gunner were credited with two German aircraft and another forced landing. He later flew a single-seat fighter and added further victories, reaching the threshold that created the modern idea of an ace.

Early victory records were less standardized than later systems. A forced landing could count, and some claims are difficult to verify. That is why “first ace” is the fairest historical description: Pégoud was the first pilot publicly associated with five victories, even though exact early-war claims remain debated.