Ray
No, balloon attacks were obviously not for sissies. It required courage but no great flying ability to attack balloons because of the protection from groundfire and patrolling scouts, as you point out. These dangers aside, an easy shot. High reward but high risk. I agree with Kory’s assessment that he was a glory seeker. Balloons were a quick and easy way to rack up a score. The odds caught up with him very quickly. By the way, he may not have been as gung ho has the groupies would have you think. Look at
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/airserv2.htm
BG Gen William Mitchell suggests that Luke destroyed his balloons by straffing them on the ground after nightfall when they had been winched in rather than when in the air at work, so to speak.
If he is to be compared with others then it should be with Karl Schlegal (14 balloons out of 22 victories),
Oskar Hennrich (13 out of 20) or
Claude Marcel Haegelen (12 out of 22). All were more successful and the latter 2 survived the War. Comparisons with greats like Voss, Von Richthofen and Foncke are laughable.
If it wasn’t for that cock and bull yarn about the shootout, I doubt that the story would garner any notice in the 51 states.
Vin