Eric de Spoelberch

Eric Antoine Ghislain Joseph,^[1] Viscount de Spoelberch (15 February 1903 – 17 January 1939) was a Belgian pilot. He was born in Brussels and died in Nivelles.

Family

He was son of Guillaume de Spoelberch (1874–1947) and Colienne de Neufforge (1882–1929).^[2] He married Katharine Kelso Stewart 28 April 1932, in Haverford; Katherine's mother was Elsie Foster Cassatt (1875–1931), a sportswoman from a prominent Pennsylvania family, niece of artist Mary Cassatt and great-niece of president James Buchanan. The couple had two sons, Guillaume and Jacques de Spoelberch. He is a brother of Werner de Spoelberch.

Career

As a lieutenant in the Aéronautique Militaire he was one of two Belgian pilots sent to Britain to evaluate the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire.^[3] In the following January he was killed in an air accident while flight-testing the new Renard R.36 fighter.^[4]

As a bobsledder he competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen; he finished eighth both in the two-man and four-man events.

honours

• Knight in the Order of Leopold.^[1]
• Knight in the Order of Leopold II.

References

1. "Gedenkplaat Ltn Vl de Spoelberch – Hangar Flying". www.luchtvaarterfgoed.be. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
2. "Guillaume de Spoelberch – dumontdechassart – Geneanet". geneanet.org.
3. Belgian Wings.be Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine "In the summer of 1938 two Aéronautique Militaire Belge pilots (Capt. Pierre Arend and Lt. Vicomte Eric de Spoelberch) were sent on a mission to the United Kingdom to evaluate in flight the two best British fighter aircraft; the Hawker Hurricane I and the Supermarine Spitfire I."
4. Belgian Chamber of Representatives • Session of 19 May 1939 "... a été causée par le malheureux accident dont a, été victime, le 17 février, le regretté pilote Eric de Spoelberch; il n'était pas démontré que cet accident ait été dû à un défaut de construction de l'appareil. J'aurais voulu pouvoir lire à la Chambre des extraits d'un rapport d'experts, dont le ... experts désignés par le juge d'instruction de Nivelles, — et qui-concluaient d'instruction de Nivelles, — et qui-concluaient... "

• 1936 bobsleigh two-man results
• 1936 bobsleigh four-man results
• Eric Vicomte de Spoelberch's profile at Sports Reference.com