Adolphe Célestin Pégoud (13 June 1889 – 31 August 1915) was a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

who became the first

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

in history during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Biography

Adolphe Célestin Pégoud was born 13 June 1889 in Montferrat, France. Pégoud served in the French Army from 1907 to 1913. Discharged on 13 February 1913, he immediately began flying, and earned his pilot's certificate 1 March 1913. Using a sacrifice aircraft, Pégoud was the first pilot to make a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

jump from an airplane. During the first jump, observing the unexpected path of the plane and particularly a loop-like trajectory, he was convinced he could reproduce and control the same in flight. After landing, Pégoud addressed reporters: "I've seen him, alone, looping the loop. So you see that this is possible. Also, I will try!" As a test pilot for Louis Blériot, he devoted himself to this goal with a Blériot model XI monoplane in a series of test flights exploring the limits of airplane maneuvers. Having modified his airplane, and after realistic "head down" ground training, he then flew the first inverted flight on 1 September 1913. Then, on 21 September he flew a loop, believing it to be the world's first. Pégoud's feat was consequently widely publicized and believed by many to be the first loop, although Pyotr Nesterov, a Russian army pilot, had already flown the first loop on 9 September 1913, 12 days earlier in a

Nieuport IV The Nieuport IV was a French-built sporting, training and reconnaissance monoplane of the early 1910s. Design and development Societe Anonyme des Etablissements Nieuport was formed in 1909 by Édouard Nieuport. The Nieuport IV was a develop ...

monoplane at an army airfield near Kiev. Soon after his feat, Pégoud was invited by the Czar of Russia to perform in Moscow a series of demonstrations followed by student training. Pégoud became a popular instructor of French and other European fledgling pilots. At the start of

, Pégoud volunteered for flying duty and was immediately accepted as an observation pilot. On 5 February 1915, he and his gunner were credited with shooting down two German aircraft and forcing another to land."100 years ago: one of the first loops in history", Safran
''lebourget.safran-group.com'' Soon he was flying single-seat aircraft and in April claimed two further victories. His sixth success came in July. It is not known how many of Pégoud's victories involved destruction of enemy aircraft, as early air combat was rare enough to warrant credit for a forced landing. However, it is certain that Pégoud, rather than Roland Garros (four documented victories, and later), was the first pilot to achieve

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

status of any sort. On 31 August 1915, Pégoud was shot down and killed by Unteroffizier Otto Kandulski, who had been his pupil, while intercepting a German reconnaissance aircraft. He was 26 years old. The same German crew later dropped a funeral wreath behind the French lines. Two weeks later, Kandulski was shot down by the French pilot Roger Ronserail, earning Ronserail the title "''Le Vengeur de Pégoud''" ("The avenger of Pégoud").

Notes

References

Sources

* Norman Franks & Frank Bailey - ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918.'' (1992). * Annette Carson - ''Flight Fantastic: The Illustrated History of Aerobatics.''(1986)

External links

"Remembering Adolphe Pégoud, the First Ace Pilot" at Atlas Obscura
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegoud, Adolphe 1889 births 1915 deaths People from Isère French aviators Aerobatic pilots French World War I flying aces Aviators killed by being shot down French military personnel killed in World War I Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)