Adolphe Pégoud
Adolphe Célestin Pégoud (13 June 1889 – 31 August 1915) was a French aviator and flight instructor who became the first fighter ace in history during World War I.
Adolphe Pegoud | |
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![]() Adolphe Pégoud | |
Nickname(s) | Roi du ciel (Eng: King of the sky) |
Born | 13 June 1889 Montferrat, Isère |
Died | 31 August 1915 26) Petit-Croix, France | (aged
Allegiance | France |
Service/ | French Army |
Years of service | 1907–1915 |
Rank | Second Lieutenant |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Awards | Knight of the Légion d'honneur Médaille militaire Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 |
Biography
Adolphe Célestin Pégoud was born 13 June 1889 in Montferrat, France.[1] 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[2] 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,[3] 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 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.
![](../I/m/Adolphe_P%C3%A9goud_Looping.jpg)
At the start of World War I, 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.[3] Soon he was flying single-seat aircraft and in April claimed two further victories. His sixth success came in July.
![](../I/m/Pegoud_croix_de_guerre.jpg)
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 status of any sort.[4]
On 31 August 1915, Pégoud was shot down and killed by one of his pre-war German students,[1] Unteroffizier Otto Kandulski,[5] 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 Roger the title "Le Vengeur de Pegoud".[6]
References
- "Adolphe Pégoud", The Aerodrome
- The South African Military History Society - Early Parachutes
- "100 years ago: one of the first loops in history", Safan
- This title appeared for the first time when newspapers described Pégoud as a "flying ace" after his five victories
- Marcel Catillon (1997). Qui était qui?: mémorial aéronautique (in French). 2. Nouvelles Editions Latines. p. 189. ISBN 9782723320535.
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
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adolphe Pégoud. |
- Pegoud's listing at TheAerodrome.com
- "Remembering Adolphe Pégoud, the First Ace Pilot" at Atlas Obscura
Preceded by none |
Top Flying Ace France, WWI |
Succeeded by Eugene Gilbert |