On 7 March 1918, he was appointed to command of Escadrille Spa95 ('Spa' meaning Spad).
However, not until the squadron transitioned in June from Nieuports to the sturdy SPAD series did he hit his stride.
To design its second aircraft, a single-seat fighter, it acquired the services of Frenchman Etienne Dormoy, a member of the French Aeronautical Mission to the United States, who had previously worked for SPAD.
The model was purchased in small numbers by foreign clients, and Deperdussin aircraft were also built at Highgate in London by the British Deperdussin Company, run by D Lawrence Santoni and John Cyril Porte.
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They also established factories at Le Havre and Juvisy to build motor boats and waterplanes, as well as three flying schools.
Willi Gabriel was eventually stationed in Schutzstaffel 15, where he and his observer shot down a Spad on 22 March 1918.
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Erich Schütze first came to notice in his first combat assignment with Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 201, when he and his observer were credited with an aerial victory over a SPAD on 27 May 1917 over Craonne, France.
With Gefreiter May manning the observer's guns in the rear seat, he and May shot down a SPAD over Corbeny on 16 April 1917.
The factory, located at Mourmelon was temporarily forced to close when the outbreak of World War I saw most of its workers conscripted into the army, but Borel re-opened in November 1915 to produce military aircraft for France under licence from other manufacturers including Caudron, Nieuport and SPAD.
On 21 April, he finally scored his first accedited victory, when he downed a SPAD over Tricot.
On 21 February, he capped his career with his tenth win, when he shot down a Spad over Wavrin.