Adolphe Célestin Pégoud (French pronunciation: [adɔlf peɡu]; 13 June 1889 – 31 August 1915) was a French aviator and flight instructor. He became the first fighter ace in history during World War I.
Charles Voisin (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl vwazɛ̃]; born July 12, 1882, in Lyon; died September 26, 1912, in Belleville-sur-Saône) was an early aviation pioneer from France. He was the younger brother of Gabriel Voisin, who was also an aviation pioneer.
Gabriel Voisin (French pronunciation: [ɡabʁijɛl vwazɛ̃]; 5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer. He helped create Europe’s first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft that could fly in a circle for 1 kilometer and be controlled. This flight, made by Henri Farman on January 13, 1908, near Paris, France, was a major achievement.
Henry Potez (Méaulte, September 30, 1891 – Paris, November 9, 1981) was a French business leader who worked in the airplane industry. He studied at the French Aeronautics School Supaéro. Along with Marcel Dassault, he helped create the Potez-Bloch propeller, which was used on most Allied planes during World War I after 1917.
Marcel Dassault (French pronunciation: [maʁsɛl daso]; born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and business leader who worked in making airplanes for most of his life. He also took part in government work, serving sometimes in both parts of the French Parliament from 1951 until his death in 1986.
Émile Dewoitine was born in Crépy-en-Laonnais. He began his career in aviation by working at Latécoère during World War I. In 1920, he started his own company.
Albert Irénée Caquot (French pronunciation: [albɛʁ iʁene kako]; 1 July 1881 – 28 November 1976) was a French engineer. He was awarded the “Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)” (a military honor) and received the Grand-croix of the Légion d’Honneur in 1951. In 1962, he was given the Wilhelm Exner Medal.
Gilles Jullien (around 1651 or 1653 – September 14, 1703) was a French Baroque composer and organist. He is credited with helping spread the style of French organ music from Paris to Chartres. Very little is known about Jullien’s life or training.
René Lorin (24 March 1877 – 16 January 1933) was a French aerospace engineer and the inventor of the ramjet. In 1908, Lorin patented (FR390256) the first subsonic ramjet design. From 1908 to 1913, he wrote articles in the journal L’Aérophile explaining how exhaust from internal combustion engines could be directed into nozzles to create jet propulsion.
Maxime Guillaume, born in 1888, was an agricultural engineer who applied for a French patent for a turbojet engine in 1921. This patent, numbered 534,801, was filed on May 3, 1921, and granted on January 13, 1922. It described the first idea to use a gas turbine to power an aircraft.