nesterov believed an aircraft could fly a loop, a feat not previously performed. despite the doubts of his peers, nesterov proved his theory on 9 september 1913 (27 august by the calendar then used in russia) and became the first pilot to fly a loop. this was done in a nieuport iv monoplane over syretzk aerodrome near kiev, before many watchers. for this he was disciplined with ten days of close arrest, ostensibly "for risking government property". his achievement made him famous overnight and when the feat was officially done by the famous french pilot adolphe pégoud, the punishment was reversed; he was promoted to staff captain and later awarded a medal. stressing the value of these exercises for a military pilot, nesterov improved russian flight methods through extensive training, both with cross country flights and steep turns, and designed a vee tail for the nieuport he was flying although its performance proved disappointing.