[1] He was born in Paris and earned French license #177 from the Aero Club De France.

[3] Simon had been flying over Lake Michigan in a monoplane when his plane accidentally went into the water but did not sink.

Pilot Hugh Robinson in a Curtiss hydroplane spotted him and offered to fly him back to shore, but Simon, who was comfortable and smoking a cigarette,[4] preferred to wait for a boat to come and tow both him and his plane back to dry land.

[5] In February 1911 the Mexican government engaged Simon to reconnoiter rebel positions near Juarez, Mexico.

[6][7] During World War I he commanded a squadron that taught acrobatic tactics to fighter pilots.