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Duesenberg in 1912 and struck out on his own as a race car driver. He soon established a reputation as a daring driver and won some races-- but not without numerous accidents and narrow escapes. After each crash, he telegraphed his mother, telling her not to worry.

Although Rickenbacker set a world speed record of 134 mph at Daytona in 1914, he was never able to win the big prize at Indianapolis. While preparing for the Vanderbilt Cup Race in California in November 1916, he had his first ride in an aircraft flown by Glenn Martin, who was beginning his own career as a pilot and aircraft manufacturer. Rickenbacker had a lifelong fear of heights, but he had not been apprehensive during the flight.

When America entered the war in 1917, Rickenbacker volunteered despite the fact he was making a reported $40,000 a year at the time. He wanted to learn to fly, but at 27 he was overage for flight training and had no college degree. However, because of his fame as a race car driver, he was worn in as a sergeant and sailed for Europe as a chauffeur. Contrary to legend, he was not assigned to General John J. Pershing but did wangle an assignment driving Colonel William "Billy" Mitchell's flashy twin-six Packard. He pestered Mitchell until he was permitted to apply for flight training, claiming to be 25, the age limit for pilot trainees.

After only 17 days as a student pilot, Rick graduated, was commissioned a lieutenant and assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron, under Major John Huffer, based at Gengoult Aerodrome near Toul, France. Equipped with Nieuport 28s, it was the first American-trained fighter squadron to draw blood, when 1st Lt. Douglas Campbell and 2nd Lt. Alan Winslow brought down a Pfalz D.IIIa and an Albatros D.Va on April 14, 1918.

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Rickenbacker was not accepted by the other squadron members-mostly Ivy League college graduates-at first. They considered him a country bumpkin without any social graces. In fact, he was described by one Yale graduate as "a lemon on an orange tree" who tended "to throw his weight around the wrong way."

Rickenbacker was happier tinkering with engines than socializing. Older than all the others, he was conservative in his flying and had to work to overcome a dislike for aerobatics. When first arrived at the squadron he was coached by Major Raoul Lufbery, the training officer, but he soon developed his