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

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

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]