Piotr Nikolaevich Nesterov was born in the military school officer - tutor's family in Nizhniy Novgorod on 15 February (27), 1887. On 10 August (23), 1904 he graduated from Arakcheev military school in Nizhniy Novgorod. In 1906 he was one of the best graduates of Mikhailovskaja artillery school and received the first officer rank second lieutenant. Till 1909 he served in the 9-th East-Siberian artillery brigade in Vladivostok.

In 1909 he was sent to an aeronautic company. In 1911 he got acquainted with professor N.E.Joukovski - P.P.Sokolov and soon became a member of Nizhniy Novgorod society of aeronautics. He built a glider together with Sokolov . The flight on this glider is considered as the beginning of Nesterov's flight activity.
In October 1911 lieutenant Nesterov joined the aerostatic school for officers in St. Petersburg, and on August 29 (September 11) 1912 - Gatchinskaja aeronautic school. On September 28 (October 11) 1912 Nesterov received the rank of a pilot - aviator, and on October 5 - the rank of a military pilot and was sent to the air group of the 7-th aeronautic company. On April 26 (May 9) 1913 Nesterov started to act as the Chief of 11 case air group of 3-rd air company in Kiev.

He was the leader of a group flight by the route Kiev - Oster- Kozelez- Nezin- Kiev. He carried out distant flights Kiev - Odessa - Sevastopol and Kiev - Gatchina. He made night flights.
Ignorance of the major laws of stability of an airplane, inexplicable accidents on turns caused in aviators of that time fear of rolls. It was shown in the official instructions on flight training and in practice of flights. The turns were done by avoiding the increased roll. Nesterov came to a conclusion, that the turn always should be accompanied by the appropriate roll and that " how great the roll of a vehicle was, it was not dangerous, if a roll angle corresponded to steepness of turn ". " In the air there is a support everywhere", - were his words. Nesterov's idea of the turn of the aeroplane with a roll, let alone his statements, that the airplane can make " a dead loop " in the air, not only the designers, but also his comrades considered as wild. This inertness and stagnancy could be overcome only in practice.

On August 27 (September 9) 1913 for the first time in the world Nesterov carried out " a dead loop " which nowadays is named after him on an airplane "Neuport-IV". Nesterov's feat was the admiration of the whole world. Kiev society of aeronautics awarded Nesterov with a gold medal. But the military heads were categorically against " a dead loop ". The pilot was sure, that " acrobatic flights are a school for a pilot ".

Nesterov continued to fly, participated in maneuvers, was given the rank of captain, became the chief of an air group. Despite the prohibitions, Nesterov repeated " a dead loop " on March 31, 1914.

Nesterov executed first in the world attack of an enemy’s airplane in military maneuvers in September 1913. He practiced take-offs and landings in darkness, developed application of the acetylene floodlight on monoplanes for night reconnaissance, considered an idea about reorganization of a tail unit as "swallow-like tail ", dreamed about resignation and the wholle devotion to designing of airplanes (see the Appendix). But in June 1914 the war began.

Nesterov was appointed commander of 11 case air group ( the 3rd air company, the 3-rd army, Southwest front). He got an opportunity to check his ideas in battle conditions. The practice of war proved many of them. He continued to improve tactics of night reconnaissance in battle conditions, searched for new ways of battle application of an aircraft, dropped bombs so effective, that the Austrian command promised a award the anyone who brought down Nesterov ‘s aeroplane. The Russian pilot insisted on the idea of necessity of air battle, which, because of absence of a machine gun on an airplane in that time, saw in a ram (enemy’s machine had to be brought down from above). Soon Nesterov executed this method in practice. On August 26, 1914 the famous ace’s “Moran” took off for the last time. The small Nesterov’s monoplane fired and overtook a bigger and more powerful "Albatross" of Austrian pilot Rosenthal, which conducted air reconnaissance of movement of Russian troops. "Albatross" continued to fly for a while, then tumbled on the left side and promptly fell down. Nesterov did not survive.

The brave pilot was burried as a national hero in Kiev. Not only Russian, but also global press wrote about his immortal feat. He posthumously awarded with an award St. George Order.

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His talent of the pilot - innovator has opened a new page in the history of aviation. His “dead loop " and air ram were repeated by the Soviet pilots during World War II many times, and made them more successful, having saved more than a half of battle machines. They proved correctness of Nesterov’s judgments, that attacking at a ram was not a suicide and he could escape.
The remarkable Russian pilot Nesterov was also interested in design of aircraft. Nesterov dreamed to construct a fast-running, steady, maneuverable airplane, in which some features of a structure of a bird would find useful application. The development of this idea was expressed in the projects of his airplane (fig. 1) and in parts of a design. Partially Nesterov checked his ideas on a serial re-manufactured by himself airplane. To realize the project the war and the pilot’s death at the beginning of the war hindered.
Fig. 1. Nesterov’s airplane design.

A - a final version of the airplane design (except for a landing gear);
B- the control circuit an airplane in the project;
C - the scheme of change of a corner (angle) of wing setting in the project
First Nesterov’s projects, relating to 1909, concerned flight controls. The project of the whole airplane was shown on August 31, 1911 and from 1912 to 1914 was put to small changes. The control system of his airplane, where the wings could change the angle of the setting and the additional wing levers allowed to increase the value of this angle at the ends twice by a skew, was interesting. Both halves of horizontal tail units could deviate in the different parts and thus replace.
Fig 2. Nesterov’s airplane (without a vertical tail)
Vertical tail was not on an airplane. In a horizontal tail there were air-controlled brakes for reduction of run and the offered scheme of a landing gear corresponded to same purpose.

This project characterized Nesterov as an innovator, a thoughtful and attentive researcher. His idea of aerodynamic brakes was progressive which in twenty years’ time was put into practice as drag flaps for a speed restriction of diving, and also as the parachute opened on landing. Recommended by Nesterov the idea of wing setting on is quite vital now.

At the end of 1913, when Nesterov became a well-known pilot - innovator, he partially managed to realize the project and to check up some clauses. First of all Nesterov tested a tail unit made by his scheme (fig. 2). The fuselage an airplane "Neuport-IV" was shorten by 0,7 m and the tail unit was removed. The elevators were left, their sizes were strongly increased and the large area of aerodynamic balance was put. The shape of control surfaces and their control were made under the project in general, axes of their rotation – at an angle. Nesterov and his mechanic Nelidov in Kiev made the alteration personally in the beginning of 1914. Nesterov carried out some flights on a re-manufactured airplane in spring in 1914, attentively studying the behavior of an airplane at deviations of control surfaces. In general the tail unit worked regularly and the turns were made, however, there was not a full effect because of difficulties of the coordination of new control surfaces with Neuport skew of the wings, which was made by pedals. Nesterov was not satisfied with this test and considered, that the further improvement of a tail unit was necessary. In summer in 1914 he was given means and opportunity to build his airplane in a factory "DUX", but the war hindered this project.

Being the officer and military pilot, Nesterov also thought about peaceful application of aviation, dreamed of an airplane accessible to many people. If he had not died untimely he could have become a gifted designer with wide erudition in both the theory and practice of aviation.