From January through 26 March 1917 he flew defensive patrols with Schutzstaffel 4, and he trained to fly single seat fighter aircraft.
[2] On 1 April 1917 he joined the Prussian Jagdstaffel 12, which was soon commanded by Oberleutnant Adolf Ritter von Tutschek.
[3] He was assigned an Albatros fighter to fly, which he personalized with his good luck insignia of a pre-Nazi swastika.
[4] On 30 April, he downed a Sopwith Pup for his first victory; his victim was Royal Naval Air Service ace Flight Sub-Lieutenant John Joseph Malone.
With them, he flew a Fokker Dr.I[6] and scored once in August, twice in September, was wounded on 7 October, and claimed victory number eight on 12 December.
On 7 February 1918, Billik led his new unit, by now nicknamed the "Black Squadron", to Bersée to support 6 Armee.
[citation needed] On 25 July, Billik was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern.
[7] In evaluating Billik's achievements as a fighter ace, he triumphed over few opponents in inferior airplanes, and many in superior ones.
He died in a landing accident in Staaken, Berlin, while piloting one of the world's first passenger liners, the Junkers F.13.