Lieutenant Cleo Francis Pineau was a World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with six aerial victories. He later became an executive in the steel industry.

Early life

Pineau was the son of Thomas L. and Adele Gstalder Pineau. He was a restless youth, and dropped out of school in sixth grade. He was a motorcycle racer before World War I. He raced Flying Merkel and Indian Motorcycle

Indian (motorcycle)

Indian is an American brand of motorcycles. Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Manufacturing Company in 1928. The Indian factory team took the...

s, once defeating Barney Oldfield

Barney Oldfield

Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield was an automobile racer and pioneer. He was born on a farm on the outskirts of Wauseon, Ohio. He was the first man to drive a car at 60 miles per hour on an oval...

. He also rode in the "Globe of Death" motordrome as a vaudeville performer.

World War I

He joined the Royal Flying Corps in December 1917, and trained at the Curtis Aviation School in Buffalo, New York. He was assigned to 210 Squadron on 2 June 1918. Between 6 September and 8 October 1918, he used a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 to destroy four Fokker D.VII

Fokker D.VII

The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...

s and drive down two others. Following his sixth win, he was shot down by a Fokker Triplane near Roulers and fell into captivity as a prisoner of war.

Postwar

Pineau went back to motorcycle racing in the 1920s, winning many world motordrome records. Pineau did not leave aviation behind. He was instrumental in founding the Williamsport-Lycoming County Airport, and fostered it through his connections in the aviation community, including a friendship with Wiley Post

Wiley Post

Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...

.

He began the Radiant Steel company in 1927 or 1928, as a spinoff from Darling Valve and Manufacturing Company. By 1948, he was its president; he served in this capacity until he retired in 1969. He died in 1972.

Reference

• Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0948817194, 9780948817199.
• Williamsport: Boomtown on the Susquehanna. Robin Van Auken, Louis E Hunsinger. Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0738524387, 9780738524382.