title: Franz Piechulek
text: # Franz Piechulek
  
  Leutnant Franz Piechulek was a German World War I flying ace credited with 14 aerial victories.
  
  ## World War I military service
  
  He was assigned to Kampfeinsitzerstaffel 5 on 27 October 1917. He scored his first aerial victory there, downing a Nieuport on 22 November. He then moved on to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 41 on 14 December. On 5 January 1918, he set an enemy observation balloon afire for his second win. Four days later, he moved to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 56 to pilot an Albatros D.Va or a Fokker D.VII. He arrived the same day as his new Staffelführer, Franz Schleiff. Between 5 March and 4 October 1918, Piechulek rolled up another dozen triumphs, outlasting both Schlieff and his replacement, Dieter Collin.
  
  ## Sources of information
  
  * 1 2 3 4 Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. pp. 179–180.
  * 1 2 "Franz Piechulek". www.theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  * ↑ Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. pp. 200–201.
  * ↑ Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. p. 94.
  