Once trained, he shot down seven enemy fighter planes, winning five Medals for Bravery in the process.

The regiment went into action in the Carpathian Mountains on the Russian Front; Risztics was wounded on 23 November 1914.

[2][3] Once healed, Risztics joined the Airship Detachment of the Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops as a mechanic.

[2][4] During this time, Risztics received his second First Class award of the Silver Medal for Bravery in July.

Risztics formed a strong friendship with fellow pilots Fredrich Hefty and Ferdinand Udvardy, as all three of them won the Gold Medal for Bravery.

These three awards prompted the airmen of Fliegerkompanie 42J to nickname the trio the Arany Triumviratus (Golden Triumvirate).

[2][5] As the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved into smaller nations, Risztics elected for Hungarian citizenship.

In 1919, in defense of his new nation, he served with the 8th Fighter Squadron, Red Air Force during the ongoing turmoil post World War I.

[citation needed] On July 5, 1927, Junkers pilots Risztics and Zimmermann achieved a new world record for continuous flight with a W33L of 65hrs and 25 minutes.

[citation needed] On August, 14th 1927, Risztics, Edzard and the American journalist Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker on board the Junkers W 33 "Europa", and Koehl, Loose and Huenefeld with the W 33 "Bremen", took off from Germany for the first approach of the crossing.

Since one of the aims of the Challenge was to generate a progress in aircraft building, it was not only pilots' competition, but technical trials also included a construction evaluation.