Ernst Udet joined JG1 “Richthofen’s Flying Circus” in 1917 and served under Manfred von Richthofen later, Hermann Goering. Udet was awarded the ‘Blue Max’ and was the top German ace to survive the First World War. With charisma , daring, and a keen sense of humor , Udet promoted himself into an international celebrity in the world of aviation. He made three successful mountain/aviation movies in Germany with Leni Riefenstahl. He traveled widely and flew camera planes for German expeditions into Africa and Arctic. Udet made friends with several WWI adversaries , including Eddie Rickenbacker, Bert Hall, Billy Bishop, and Rene Fonck. Udet competed at the 1931 National Cleveland Air Races at Cleveland and was friendly with aviation personalities like Roscoe Turner and Hollywood stars like Harold Lloyd. Wherever there were beautiful women and champagne, the happy – go-lucky Udet was welcome. In 1934 the Nazis were in power and Goering persuaded Udet to head the technical office of the new Luftwaffe. Udet was unsuitable for bureaucracy or ruthless intrigues among men he had befriended like Goering and Erhard Milch. Udet’s role in promoting the Ju 87 Stuka is well known, but he also chose the Messerschmitt 109 for production, earning the enmity of his then-deputy Milch, who hated Willy Messerschmitt. Geneva was the biggest aviation event in Europe, and Germany planned to dominate it in 1937. Udet was to fly the 1560-hp Bf 109 V-14. The German team easily defeated their competition, but in the big race, Alpenrunflug Kategorie A : Einsitzer on 27 July 1937, Udet’s V-14 crashed heavily with a cracked oil line. The fuselage broke in half just behind the cockpit but he suffered only minor injuries. He continued his work to build the Luftwaffe, promoting new types like the Fw 190 , Me 163 and Me 262 against the opposition of Milch, who made him the scapegoat for Luftwaffe failure in the Battle of Britain. In August 1941 Udet tried to resign but Goering refused. Reportedly Udet became depressed and shot himself on 17 November 1941. But some blamed Milch, claiming Ernst Udet loved life too much to kill himself and arranged “suicides” were a popular Nazi method of eliminating those with too much prestige to be challenged publicly or executed.