It's hard for me to find information about Russian WW1 pilots .... but I think I'm getting there ... this was the very first one I found !! Artseulov, Konstatin Konstantinovitch (1891-1980) test-pilot, one of the founders of the soviet gliderism, painter. Finished flight school of First Russian Association of Flying (1911). Participated in WWI. First to put Newport-21 into forced spin in Russia (1916). In 1923 tested first soviet fighter I-1 designed by N. N. Polikarpov. In 1923 was awarded diploma of pilot-gliderist #1. Designed five gliders. Participated in first photo- and ice recon flights. In 40s retired from aviation and became an artist. Member of the Union of the Artists of USSR. http://aeroweb.lucia.it/rap/RAFAQ/WhoIsWho.html One of the most outstanding representatives of Russian aviation was Konstantin Konstantinovich Artseulov, grandson of the famous artist I. K. Aivazovsky was born May 29 1891 died Mar 18 1980 Artseulov was in Gatchina from the autumn of 1910. His studies, which included gaining flying experience in gliders, went smoothly; on 25 July 1911 he passed his examinations and received his pilot’s diploma, becoming an “aviator of the All-Russian Imperial Aero-Club”. On 21 May 1916, Ensign Artseulov was ordered to Moscow to undergo training on aircraft equipped with destructive weapons. In September of that year he began the organisation of a destructive weapons department in the Sevastopol flying school. On the training programme there, high-altitude flying predominated. But because of errors in the trainee pilots’ technique, instances of planes falling into a spin – with tragic results – had become more and more frequent, which was a cause of great concern to Artseulov. While still at Gatchina aerodrome he had been reminded of the deaths of Captain Dmitriev and Lieutenant Serov; this melancholy roster was extended with the names of the aviators Stoyanovsky, Sinelnikov, Artemev and others. In Kacha, too, instances of spin became more frequent. Even after Artseulov’s arrival, six out of the school’s eight “Farman” planes had been destroyed as a result of spin, and all their pilots killed. Without going into details, and at the risk of some simplification, we may say that Artseulov rightly judged the essential point of the problem to be that when an aircraft has fallen into a spin, the airstream flows around it at too large an angle from below and from the side, and this is what causes the plane to rotate, without possibility of correction, around its own axis. To put his conclusions to the test, Artseulov deliberately put his “Niuport-XXI” plane into a spin and succeeded in coming out of it. Thus the talented aviator confirmed his assumptions and conclusions. Spin had been conquered! The lives of hundreds of aviators were saved thanks to this method, which he had deduced in theory and demonstrated in practice, of bringing a plane out of a spin. This event passed imperishably into the annals of aviation, and the name of Artseulov became immortal. http://history-gatchina.ru/town/krylia/asware.htm
DF had this list of Russian WW1 aces ...... I've been looking for them ..... it's hard ... honest !! Argeev, Pavel Vladimirovich 15 Artseulov, Konstantin Konstantinovich 18 Bagrovnikov, Ivan Mikhailovich 5 de Seversky, Aleksandr Nikolaivich Prokoviev 13 Fedorov, Viktor Georgievich 5 Gilsher, Iuri Vladimirovich 5 Ianchenko, Vasilii Ivanovich 6 Kazakov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich 17 Kokorin, Nikolai Kirillovich 5 Kruten, Evgraph Nikolaevich 15 Lachmann, 7 Mahlapun, Ian M 5 Marinovich, Paul 18 Orlov, Ivan Aleksandrovich 6 Paschenko, 5 Pishvanov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich 5 Pulpe, Eduard Martynovich 5 Safonov, Mikhail Ivanovich 11 Sergievsky, Boris 11 Smirnov, Ivan Vassilevich 12 Suk, Grigorii Eduardovich 7 Teter, Olgred I. 6 Tomson, Eduard M. 11 And I found this ..... which is a fabulous site ! http://jpgleize.club.fr/aces/ww1rus.htm http://jpgleize.club.fr/aces/ww1.htm
I think this is a peice of Soviet propaganda - suggesting the Russians invented everything! The first recovery from a spin was made by Wilfred Parke in 1912, four years earlier!
The definitive book on Russian aviation in The Great War is The Imperial Russian Air Service by Alan Durkota, Thomas Darcey and Victor Kulikov (ISBN 0 9637110 2 4). It's copiously illustrated, and packed with information on airmen (and airwomen!) aeroplanes, airships, kite balloons, medals, uniforms, etc. Gareth
Hi Adrian ! It seems a few people found new ways ... including .... Lindemann, Frederick Alexander (Viscount Cherwell) 1886–1957, British physicist and government official. He studied with W. H. Nernst and developed with him the Nernst-Lindemann theory of specific heat. His achievements also include the Lindemann melting-point formula and the Lindemann electrometer. During World War I he discovered how to recover an aircraft from an uncontrolled spin. Lindemann was scientific adviser to Winston Churchill during World War II, serving also as paymaster general from 1942 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1953. He developed Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, into a major research facility, and he was an important influence in the founding of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority But apparently he did his in 1915 !! I found this .... thought you may find it of interest !! http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/167616.html Annie
