Mid Air by Escort won't be First
James Gilbert in The World's Worst Aircraft gives a chapter to between WWI and WWII when the Russians designed what was then the world's largest aircraft, so large that it contained a printing press and a cinema.
The first public flight was a festive occasion with several family members embarked and a fighter escort laid on. One escort pilot got a bit bored following his charge about and hit upon the idea of a barrel roll which resulted in the CCCP's worst air disaster for many a year. The escort pilot's surname entered the Russian vocabulary as a synonym for selfish, impulsive action.
Can't find the book and can't recall the name of the a/c or pilot.