Henri Pequet

Henri Pequet (center) in Moscow (June 1914)

A summer 1910 biplane as it was used by Pequet in Allahabad as a mail plane on February 18, 1911.

Postcard of the airmail transport by Pequet on the occasion of the art and trade exhibition in Allahabad in 1911

Henri Pequet (born February 1, 1888 in Bracquemont , † March 13, 1974 in Vichy) was a French pilot and aviation pioneer .

Life

Pequet made his first flight in Hamburg in 1909. On June 10, 1910, he received the pilot's license in France with the number 88.

At the age of 23, on February 18, 1911, he made the first official mail flight in an airplane . The young French pilot transported around 6,500 letters as part of an air show in India . It started in Allahabad and landed in Naini, about eight kilometers away. Henri Pequet needed about 13 minutes for this short distance with his summer 1910 double-decker (approx. 37 kW).

These documents, which are very popular with philatelists today , were stamped First Aerial Post, UP Exhibition Allahabad 1911 .

During the First World War he was employed by Morane-Saulnier . In this position he was sent to Russia to help deal with newly acquired aircraft. In 1918 he returned to France and became chief pilot at Morane-Saulnier. Before the Second World War he became director of the Vichy-Rhue airfield. During the German occupation he worked for the Resistance, was caught and deported in April 1943. After the war he became the director of Vichy Airport.

Web links

• Early Aviators: Henri Pequet (English)
• The First Postal Flight / Le premier vol postal ( Canadian Museum of Civilization )