Talk:Valentine Baker (pilot)

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Military history: Aviation / Biography / British / European / World War I

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This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
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	Military aviation task force
	Military biography task force
	British military history task force
	European military history task force
	World War I task force

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A fact from Valentine Baker (pilot) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 4 May 2009 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that British flight instructor Valentine Baker taught such noted pupils as Edward, Prince of Wales, Amy Johnson, and Lord Londonderry of the Air Ministry?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2009/May.

Wikipedia

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on August 24, 2017.

Rating and improvements[edit]

Dod is listed as 1942 but life events occurred after end of WW2 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:6C44:1A3F:D14F:54FB:B5E4:FF1F:1A49 (talk) 15:20, 22 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I have completed the assessment of this article for the Military History project and believe that it is currently a Start class article, although it is close to a B class. I believe that addressing the following points could help improve it:

Query about service in the Royal Flying Corps — the article mentions RFC service after WWI, shouldn't this say Royal Air Force? I believe that the RFC became the RAF in April 1918. I might be mistaken, though;
Referencing: almost there - needs a couple more citations in my opinion. I have added the tags where I feel they are necessary. Also, you might consider creating a separate Notes and References section and use the notes section for the basic in line citations, and the References section to provide the full bibliographic details;
Supporting materials: the article might be improved by adding a military service infobox, for an example see Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay.
Coverage: could more information be added about the subject's early life? This might serve to balance the article and provide a bit of context.

Just a couple of ideas. If you would like more in depth comments you might consider putting the article up for peer review. This can be done by going to WP:MHPR. When you feel it is ready for re-assessment, please add it to the list at WP:MHA. Good work so far. Cheers. AustralianRupert (talk) 04:29, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're right, and the funeral brochure didn't actually refer to the RFC after the war, which was my mistake there. I've also added the requested citations. Unfortunately, I have not been able to discover anything about his life prior to his military service. howcheng {chat} 05:55, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well done with the citations. I have updated the B class checklist to reflect this, but I don't think I can rate it a B without details about Baker's early life. If I did it would probably get reviewed later anyway. Sorry. AustralianRupert (talk) 09:05, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Death? He's in Category: Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England, but there's no mention of anything after 1934.Nickpheas (talk) 15:30, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

No evidence of acedom[edit]

There is no evidence that Val Baker scored five or more confirmed aerial victories; therefore there is no evidence he is a flying ace. Linkage to is thus false. Use of the term flying ace to describe Baker is sloppily bogus.

Georgejdorner (talk) 22:06, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Martin-Baker funeral brochure states he was "reputed" to have shot down 15-20 German aircraft, and List of World War I flying aces states that the Military Cross (which he received) was usually given to those who had shot down 5 or more planes. Since "flying ace" is not an official designation or award, I think it's safe to say he qualifies, unless you think that violates WP:SYN? howcheng {chat} 06:40, 3 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]