 In May 1912 he was promoted to frigate-Lieutenant.One month later he began pilot training in the flying school in Wiener Neustadt, and in August he obtained his flying licence.Enthused with aviation like his older brother, who had already become a well-known aviator, he was chosen to be among the first pilots of the Austrian navy, and went off to perfect his training at the Donnet-Lévèque pilot school in France, where his trainer was the company's chief pilot, the naval lieutenant Jean-Louis Conneau, a pilot famous at the time for having won many air contests under the pseudonym of "Beaumont".