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DIDIER MASSON
Pioneer French-American Aviator

FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE
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Didier Masson was born at Asnieres, Seine, France, February 23, 1886. After his schooling he became an apprentice jeweler. At age 17 he enlisted in the Infantry. From 1906-1908 he worked for a magneto manufacturer, then in 1909 the firm sent him to London.
Later that year he returned to Paris where he met the famous aviator Louis Paulham. As a result Paulham hired Masson as mechanic and they came to the United States to fly at the first United States aviation meet at Los Angeles held January 10th to 20th, 1910. They arrived in New York on January 3d with two Farman biplanes and two Bleriot monoplanes. At Los Angeles Paulham was the "star" of the event and there Masson started to learn to fly with some instruction from Paulham. On January 17th he almost made a complete circuit of the course on a Farman biplane, then on the 20th he did better.
After the meet Paulham made a brief exhibition tour, with flights at Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Jamaica, Long Island, [[strikethrough]]New York[\\strikethrough]] then in mid-March he returned to France.
Masson liked it here and decided to stay. By that time he had a little flying experience and during the summer and fall of 1910 was able to get more flying time at Mineola, New York on different type planes but without much success. In