Historical  Information

Alfred Fronval, born August 11, 1893, in Neuville-Saint-Rémy (Nord) and died in an accident on June 28, 1928, in Villacoublay (Seine-et-Oise), was a French aviator.  He earned his pilot's license on April 10, 1917, as one of the favorite students of René Simon, who directed the Pau fighter school. He was then assigned to the Pau fighter school and remained there until 1918 due to his great skills as an instructor. As an instructor, Alfred Fronval favored the difficult-to-fly aircraft, because "he who can do more can do less... once the beginner has mastered a sufficiently refined aircraft, it will be very easy for him to fly any other aircraft," as he later declared to his successor and another great aerobatic pilot of the interwar period, Michel Détroyat. Demobilized, he joined Morane-Saulnier.

In 1919, he became the world record holder for loops in an airplane, completing 629 loops in 2 hours and 42 minutes. On May 26, 1920, he set a new world record with 962 loops.  In 1921, he became chief pilot at Morane-Saulnier.

In September 1925, Alfred Fronval participated in the National Air Tourism Competition, a 2,310-kilometer race initiated by the Undersecretariat of State for Aeronautics and the Aéro-Club de France, which aimed to prove that flying was the best means of transportation for sightseeing.

Morane-Saulnier MS.30E.1 On February 25, 1928, he set a new world record for loops, completing 1,111 loops.

On June 28, 1928, unable to unfasten his seatbelt and despite the efforts of rescuers who rushed from all sides to save him, Alfred Fronval was burned to death in a ground accident on the runways of Villacoublay Air Base.