Louis Noël (aviator) explained

Louis Noël was a French aviator and military pilot. He was born in 1872^[1] and died in 1939.^[2]

Noël learnt to fly in Great Britain at the Avro school at Brooklands, and was awarded Royal Aero Club pilot's license No. 119 on 17 August 1911.^[3] In June 1912 he became an instructor at the Grahame -White flying school at Hendon, where he also gave exhibition flights and took park in flying competitions.^[4] He was hired as a reconnaissance pilot in France in 1914, and conducted numerous missions along the Eastern front in World War I, including the Salonica-Bucharest route.^[1]

He competed in the 1914 Aerial Derby starting from Hendon Aerodrome with a Morane-Saulnier monoplane equipped with an 80 hp Le Rhone engine.^[5] Although he completed the course in the fastest time, he was disqualified for missing one of the control points.

In 1917 he served with Escadrille M.F. 88 at Salonica.^[6] He would receive the Croix de Guerre, the Médaille Militaire, the Legion of Honour, and the Gold Medal of the Aero Club of France.^{[7] [8]}

Noël made a speech recalling a "special mission" he flew with Robert de Flers over Romania during the war, at de Flers' funeral at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in 1928.^[9]

Notes and References

1. de Auer-Véran . Francine . 2008 . Archives de l'aéronautique militaire de la Première Guerre mondiale - Répertoire numérique détaillé de la série A (1914-1919) et guide des sources . Archives of military aviation of the First World War - Detailed Series A (1914-1919) Digital Directory and Guide to Sources . pdf . fr . Château de Vincennes . Service historique de la Défense . October 5, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110301084253/http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/ . March 1, 2011 . dead .
2. Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 10 October 1939: 'M. Louis Noel, the famous French airman, was killed near Paris to-day when his aeroplane fell 4,000 feet.'
3. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200738.html Official Notices to Members
4. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%201212.html Louis Noel
5. Web site: 1914 Aerial Derby . . 26 October 2010 . Grace's Guide . October 5, 2014.
6. . Dispatches . Flight: A Journal Devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport . Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom. 8. see p. 182 . 1917 . October 5, 2014 .
7. . Dispatches . The Aeroplane . Temple Press. 13. see p.1326 . 1917 . October 5, 2014 .
8. News: Unknown. October 20, 1917 . DANS LES CERCLES . In the (Social) Circles. 1160-8404. fr . Le Gaulois . Paris. October 5, 2014 .
9. News: Anonymous . 1928 . Robert de Fiers en " mission spéciale " . Robert de Flers -"special mission" . fr . Le Figaro . Paris. 0182-5852 . October 5, 2014.