The very first ace

The Aerodrome mentions Boelcke and Hawker as the first aces of respectively Germany and the British Commonwealth. But who was the very first ace of the world?

[Vigilant]

Adolphe Pegoud or Roland Garros would be my guess.

Vigilant

i thin maybe Garros

Pegoud kicked the proverbial can around August 1915, right? So I would guess that makes him first.

[Rod_Filan]

Sous Lieutenant Adolphe Celestine Pegoud (Medaille Militaire, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, Croix de Geurre), a man of many firsts.

Officially an 'As' (Ace), on 26th January 1915 after he became the first pilot to shoot down five (German) aircraft. His sixth and final victory occured 28th April 1915 when he shot down an Aviatik B1 near Mulhouse. On the 31st August 1915 Lt. Pegoud was the first French ace to be killed in aerial combat; Shot down in his new Nieuport Bebe at Petite Croix near Belfort in the Alsace-Lorraine area by the German Corporal Kandulski who was a former student of Lt. Pegoud.

Pegoud is said to be the first man ever to intentionally loop-the-loop although Peter Nesterov and Gustave Hamel are also said to be the first. Pegoud is certainly the first man to jump with a parachute from a flying aeroplane, a Bleriot XI, in August 1913; He descended from the plane above a crowd of astonished onlookers. The plane crashed but Pegoud landed safely in a field near Versailles. Pegoud was also the first pilot to fly an aeroplane in sustained inverted flight (1913).

VBR
Ro§bud

[Brad]

I wouldn't argue who shoot down five planes first, but I believe the term ace was a direct reference to Roland Garros who was proclaimed the "ace of pilots" by the french when his record reached five.

[Rod_Filan]

It is generally accepted that the term appeared first in 1915 when French newspapers described Lt. Pegoud as a 'Volant As' (Flying Ace)

VBR
Ro§bud

[Barrett]

I hate to sound Clintonesque, but "What does 'ace' really mean?" Pegoud evidently is the first credited with five victories but not all were destroyed or apparently even forced to land. Without easy reference to the GOGS volumes right now, I think Immelmann was the first credited with five enemy aircraft destroyed.

[Barrett]

I lied. Turns out that I do have the GOGS info in another form.
Fifth victories (with some uncertainty):
Pegoud 5 Apr 15
Gilbert 17 June
Immelmann 16 Oct
Boelcke 20 Oct
Buddecke 12 Jan 16
Guynemer 3 Feb
Navarre 26 Feb
Berthold 16 Apr
Nungesser 25 Apr
von Althaus 30 Apr

Brits (under Brit system)
Hawker Aug 1915
Rees 30 Sep
Medlicott 7 Nov
Bell 30 Nov
Grenfell 17 Jan 16
Wilkinson 18 June
Ball 25 June

Wilkinson and Ball were the first British aces with five or more destroyed/captured