The son of Louis Moineau and Marguerite Moitrier, René Joseph Louis Moineau was born in
Lisieux on August 11, 1887. The family was originally from
Nièvre and
Lorraine. He spent his childhood in
Versailles, then in
Nancy, where he obtained his science degree in 1906 and the engineering degree from the Institute of Electrotechnics and Mechanics. From 1909 he built his first biplane gliders, before discovering the free balloon and the hot air balloon; he passed his free balloon pilot's license the same year. Moineau received his Brevet de pilote (French pilot's licence)- N° 544- in July 1911. In November of that year, he flew for Bréguet in the Concours d'Aviation Militaire de 1911 (
Reims Military Aviation Competition, 1911). Mobilized in August 1914 as a pilot, he was first assigned to the Bréguet 17 squadron (V103). After a stint at the Camp Retranché in Paris, he served in the SFA (Service des Fabrications de l'Aviation). In 1916 he joined the
Salmson establishments and designed the
Salmson-Moineau SM-1, an unusual reconnaissance aircraft with its engine placed transversely driving two propellers. Some 150 examples were built. In 1924, he created his company Avions René Moineau. He remains best known as the inventor (in 1930) of the
progressive cavity pump, which is still known by his name. He died in
Brussels, Belgium on October 5, 1948. ==Bibliography==