Édouard de Niéport, often called Édouard Nieuport (1875–1911), was one of the founders of the Nieuport Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which he started with his brother Charles in 1909 in Issy-les-Moulineaux. He was an engineer and athlete, and he was among the top airplane designers and pilots during the early days of aviation, from the late 1800s until the start of World War I in 1914.

As a pilot, he set a world speed record of 74.37 miles per hour (119.69 kilometers per hour) on May 11, 1911, in Mourmelon, flying his Nieuport II monoplane, which had a 28 horsepower engine he designed. Later that year in Châlons, he improved this record to 82.73 miles per hour (133.14 kilometers per hour). During a race for the Gordon Bennett Trophy in July at Eastchurch, he finished third. An aircraft made by his company, piloted by American pilot C. T. Weymann, won first place.

Biography

He was born on August 24, 1875, in Blida, Algeria. His father was an officer in the French army, and his brother was Charles de Niéport, who also flew airplanes. He died on September 16, 1911, in Charny, France, when the wing of his airplane stopped working during a turn while performing during a military display.

Records set by his aircraft

In 1910, pilot Gobé set a new closed-circuit distance record of 459.968 miles (740.247 km) using a Nieuport airplane. During the Gordon Bennett Trophy race, his airplane designs finished in first and third places.

As a designer, Gobé’s airplanes earned many awards, prizes, and competition wins in 1910 and 1911. His designs also achieved important firsts. For example, the Nieuport II (Roman numeral two, not the later famous type eleven) was flown at Rheims in July 1910 and was considered the best by many people. On October 24, 1911, a Nieuport IVG, piloted by Capitano Moizo for the Italian Army Air Corps in North Africa, completed the second military airplane reconnaissance flight in history and may have made the first bombing run. In October and November 1911, a Nieuport monoplane flown by Weymann won the French Military Aircraft trials competition.

Legacy

His brother, Charles de Niéport, who continued his work, died in a crash landing on January 24, 1913. Édouard's aircraft designs were still built by the company and used by other countries for production. His aircraft were monoplanes, not the biplanes the company later became known for during World War I. His monoplanes were sold across Europe and were part of many important aviation achievements:

• The first round trip over the Mediterranean Sea in 1913, completed by Lieutenants Destrem and de l'Escaille of the Marine Nationale, traveling from St. Rafael to Ajaccio, Corsica, and returning.
• A world altitude record of 20,079 feet (6,120 meters), set by Georges Legagneux at St. Raphael.
• A seven-week flight from Villacoublay to Cairo, completed by pilot Marc Bonnier and a passenger.
• Some of the earliest tests of attaching machine guns to aircraft.
• The first successful loop, performed by Lieutenant Pyotr Nesterov of the Imperial Russian Air Service on August 20, 1913.

In January 1914, Gustave Delage joined the company. He changed the Type 10 monoplane into a sesquiplane ("one and a half wing" aircraft) by adding a full-chord upper wing and a single-spar, half-chord lower wing. This design helped create the highly successful aircraft for which the Nieuport company became famous during World War I.