Estrella WarBirds Museum

In 1944, being a five year old in Brussels was an experience rich in sensations. Jean-Luc's memories began during the turmoil of Belgium's liberation by the American, the British and the Canadian armies. His world was suddenly filled with colorful Allied flags, white stars, new words, and the unique smell of Lucky Strikes. His grandparents' home was alive with a constant flow of G.I.'s and Tommies and at the piano, his mother played boogie woogies and swing tunes.

A young and impressionable Jean-Luc swallowed his first piece of chewing gum during this time and discovered the pleasures of Hershey and Milky Way bars. For months, he was taken to school in a jeep or sometimes even in a Bren carrier. In 1945, he saw his very first movie: "Pinocchio". He was finally able to touch a P-51 "Mustang" and a Piper Cub when they were put on public display in the "Parc du Cinquantenaire" in Brussels. To Jean-Luc, this was like a trip to Disneyland before such a place ever existed. There was a star in young Jean-Luc's future, in fact 50 bright stars, and some red and white stripes. His childhood dream of becoming a U.S. citizen was proudly realized years later.

It is no wonder that Jean-Luc's love for aviation and the U.S. Army Air Force found its source in all the fascinating flying machines crisscrossing the skies during World War II. He had already started drawing airplanes in kindergarten and continued throughout his school years. At age 10 Jean-Luc went to his first air show near Brussels. Armed with his mother's Agfa camera, he took his very first pictures of airplanes (The USAF Skyblazers flying P-80s "Shooting Stars").

Drafted in 1960, he served for one year as an illustrator for the Belgian equivalent of "Yank Magazine". His greatest pleasure was to draw and to drive an army jeep. He married Rita-Marie, his childhood sweetheart, who also shared his passion for aviation. In 1969, Jean-Luc was put in charge of the aviation section of "Spirou Magazine", a weekly published in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Holland and Canada. His love of photography led him to become the official "GAF View-Master" aerial photographer in Europe.

In 1970, he signed a contract with the Belgian Air Force and started working for the B.A.F. Flight Safety Magazine. This gave him the opportunity to fly as a passenger and a photographer in a variety of aircraft: TF-104 "Starfighter", Mirage, T-33 "T-Bird" and the "Fouga Magister", to name a few. He was made honorary member of 350 Fighter Squadron (B.A.F.), 439 Fighter Squadron (Canadian Armed Forces) and the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion (U.S. Army). His other childhood dream came true when his friend Pierre Dague, an Air France 747 Captain, gave him an unforgettable 20 minutes of combat maneuvers in a P-51D "Mustang" at La Ferté near Paris.

Jean-Luc's first visit to the United States took place in 1972 when he went to Cape Kennedy to see the Apollo 16 lift off. Back in Belgium, he started specializing in cockpit renditions. His "You are in the cockpit" perspective reached its ultimate elegance and detail in his black line lithograph of the famous Douglas C-47 "Skytrain". At the end of 1976, Jean-Luc, Rita-Marie and their three children, Nathalie, Caroline and Jean-François, moved to California. Since then, Jean-Luc's main ambition has been to illustrate the history of the U.S. Army Air Force, mostly by way of his cockpit view perspectives. He is also currently working on a graphic novel about the G.I. in Europe during World War II.