An engineer and sportsman, Édouard was also one of the pre-eminent aeroplane designers and pilots of the early aviation era (from the late 19th century to the outbreak of World War I in 1914).

As a pilot, he set a new world speed record of 74.37 miles per hour (119.69 km/h) on 11 May 1911 at Mourmelon, flying his Nieuport II monoplane, powered by a 28 horsepower (21 kW) engine of his own design.

Racing for the Gordon Bennett Trophy in July at Eastchurch, he finished third, beaten for first place by one of his own aircraft, flown by the American pilot C. T. Weymann.

As a designer, his aeroplanes won many awards, prizes, and competitions during 1910 and 1911, not to mention achieving some historical firsts: His early Nieuport II (Roman numeral two, not the later famous type eleven), was flown at Rheims in July 1910, and was judged by many as the best in the show.

On 24 October 1911 a Nieuport IVG, flown for the Italian Army Air Corps in North Africa by Capitano Moizo, made the second-ever reconnaissance flight by a military aeroplane, and perhaps the first bombing run.