Didier Masson Didier Masson ( 23 February 1886 – 2 June 1950 ) was a pioneering French aviator . He was born in Asnières , France . He died and was buried in Mérida , Yucatan , Mexico . Among his adventures was his life as a pioneering barnstormer , being the second flier in history to bomb a surface warship , as well as combat service in the Lafayette Escadrille with Edwin C . Parsons and Charles Nungesser . In one of the more unusual aerial victories of history , Masson shot down an enemy plane after his own plane ' s motor quit running . Later in life , he was a manager for pioneer Pan American World Airways , as well as a French consular officer . Early life and flying career . Didier Masson apprenticed as a jeweler for a short while in 1903 before joining the French army . He served in the 129e Regiment d ' Infanterie from 1904 to 1906 . After his enlistment ended , he worked for a magneto manufacturer for some years . In 1909 , he hired on as a mechanic with Louis Paulhan . Masson claimed to have soloed in 1909 while still in his native country . Pioneering barnstormer . When Paulhan made a barnstorming tour of the United States in 1910 , Masson went with him . The two of them were advertised as appearing at an air meet in Boston on 19 August 1910 . At Garden City , New York , Masson successfully test - hopped a biplane built by aviation pioneer E . Lilian Todd in the latter part of 1910 . With Paulhan ' s help , Masson continued to accumulate both solo and dual flight time even though too poor to own his own airplane . In January 1911 , he set out to simultaneously be the first aviator to deliver newspapers by air and to set a world ' s nonstop distance record in the process . The projected hour and 45 - minute flight was planned to carry the " Los Angeles Times " to San Bernardino , with an en route flyover of Pomona . On 7 January 1911 , Masson took off from Los Angeles in the aircraft " Pegasus " at 0700 hours . After a navigational error of 180 degrees , high winds , and an eventful forced landing , he finally arrived at San Bernardino at 1240 ; his actual flight time was about 80 minutes . Also in January 1911 , Masson won a prize for amateur pilots at Tanforan race track in San Francisco , California . He continued to fly in California , including a flight over Santa Barbara and an exhibition at Watsonville for May Day . He then relocated to Hawaii . On 3 June , Masson arrived in Honolulu accompanied by Clarence H . Walker and the latter ' s bride and Curtiss biplane . Walker staged an exhibition on 11 June that lost money for its promoter , although the pilot received his contracted fee of $ 1 , 250 . On 16 June , Masson ' s two monoplanes arrived on the ship " Sierra " . At 0611 hours , 18 June 1911 , Masson took off on the first of ten promised flights , from Leilehua to Kapiolani Park . As he had promised , he flew over Schofield Barracks to let the army officers see him . The return flight from Kapiolani Park at 1330 hours did not go smoothly . Even after servicing , Masson ' s new and untested plane did not depart , angering a crowd of spectators . Invidious comparison to an earlier barnstormer , J . C . " Bud " Mars , was made ; however , Masson was saved from the perturbed mob by local police and soldiers . Four days later , the French pilot crashed that same plane from 100 feet altitude , destroying the plane but sparing him injury . In October 1911 , Masson wowed Canadians in Alberta with his exhibition of flying despite a paucity of aviation gasoline . After several foiled attempts , on 20 October , he finally succeeded in flying over Victoria Park , and after buzzing several grazing horses to frighten them from a field , landed to greet a crowd of spectators . Towards the end of October , Masson planned a Canadian record distance flight following the railroad from Edmonton to Calgary . A special train full of paying spectators had paid $ 20 each to accompany Masson ' s epic flight . After several days of cold windy snowy weather , Masson took off , only to have his fuel tank break its mountings and drop on his head . The dazed aviator managed to land safely . On 18 and 19 May 1912 , Masson appeared at the fairgrounds at Lyons , Iowa as a member of the Ivan R . Gates flying circus . By January 1913 , he could qualify for Aero Club of America Certificate No . 202 at the Glenn L . Martin Flying School . Mercenary . Masson was working as an instructor for Martin in California when he was contracted by an agent of Venustiano Carranza to become a mercenary soldier . Masson hired on with the Mexican revolutionary leader for $ 5 , 000 as an airplane purchase fee , an allotment of $ 750 for equipment costs , $ 300 per month salary , $ 50 per flight for sorties flown in Mexico , and at least $ 250 for every bombing sortie flown . Masson flew a pusher airplane bought from Glenn Martin in 1912 and smuggled into Mexico through Arizona . The armed smugglers who forced their way into Mexico at the Nogales crossing included Masson and his mechanic , as well as Carranza underling Captain Joaquín Bauche Alcalde . The name of the aeroplane was " Sonora " . It could carry two people , or one person and of bombs . After a reconnaissance flight by Masson over Guaymas Harbor , he and Bauche used the aircraft to attack Federalist gunboat s for the first bombing of a surface ship in the Western Hemisphere . On 10 May 1913 , Masson and Bauche overflew at least five Mexican gunboats and dropping four improvised pipe bombs containing of explosives . They missed , but the gunboats , seeing themselves as defenseless , steamed out of Guaymas Harbor to safety ; indeed , some crew members leaped overboard in panic caused by the explosions . Masson also flew an unknown number of follow - up bombing missions . Masson ' s Mexican adventure came to an end when Masson quit flying for the Mexican Revolutionists on 5 August , claiming he had not been paid in a month , and that he had reservations about bombing cities . Masson returned to his newly adopted United States . World War I service . On 8 September 1914 , Masson re - enlisted in his old unit . After being transferred to the 36eme Regiment d ' Infanterie for a short while , Masson began military pilot ' s training at Pau . He earned his Military Pilot ' s Brevet on a Caudron on 10 May 1915 . He was then assigned to Escadrille 18 , which was operating Caudrons . In September 1915 , he received additional training , learning to fly Nieuport s . He was then forwarded to a Nieuport squadron , Escadrille 16 , in April 1916 , and passed through to start instructing at Cazeau on the 16th . He was in this assignment only two months , checking into the famed Lafayette Escadrille , Escadrille N124 , on 16 June 1916 . Though he never became an ace , Masson did manage the remarkable feat of having his Nieuport 17 ' s engine cut out while in a dogfight and still downing his German opponent , gliding to safety near the French front lines afterwards . His hasty departure from the wrecked airplane saved him from the German artillery fire that was rained down upon it . By the time Masson departed N124 , he was an Adjutant . Post World War I . Masson returned to Mexico and married . He worked as an airport manager for Pan American in Central America . He also served as a French consular officer until the German invasion of France in 1940 . Death . Didier Masson died in Mérida , Yucatan , Mexico in June 1950 .