There are numerous stories of the crew of rival reconnaissance aircraft exchanging nothing more belligerent than smiles and waves. This soon progressed to throwing bricks, grenades, and other objects, even rope, which they hoped would tangle the enemy aircraft's propeller. The first aircraft brought down by another was an Austrian reconnaissance rammed on September 8, 1914, by Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov in Galicia in the Eastern Front (both planes crashed as the result of the attack killing all occupants). Eventually pilots began firing handheld firearms at enemy aircraft The era of air combat proper, began as more and more aircraft were fitted with machine guns. Pyotr Nikolayevich Nesterov (27 February 1887 in Nizhny Novgorod - 8 September 1914 in Zhovkva, Lviv Oblast) was a Russian pilot, an aircraft technical designer and an aerobatics pioneer. The son of a military academy teacher, Pyotr Nesterov decided to choose a military career. In August 1904 he left the military school in Nizhny Novgorod and went to the artillery school, considered one of the best of its kind. He became a second lieutenant and served in the 9th East Siberian artillery brigade in Vladivostok. In 1909, he came into contact with aviation when he was sent to an aircraft manufacturer to work. He built his first glider and learned to fly it. In 1911 Nesterov began formal training as a pilot and graduated on 11 October 1912. A short time later he also passed the examination to be a military pilot. In May 1913 he became leader of a relay in Kiev, completing night flights at that time. Nesterov believed that 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 with a 70 hp Gnome engine over Syretzk Aerodrome near Kiev, before many watchers. He was then disciplined with ten days close arrest for risking government property. His achievement made him famous overnight and the punishment was reversed; he was promoted to staff captain and later awarded a medal. He founded the practice of aerobatics, stressing the value of these exercises for a military pilot. Nesterov improved the flight methods and designed new flight models without rudders. The First World War gave Nesterov the opportunity to test his air war theories in practice. He was particularly adept at controlling the bomb release Aircraft were unarmed at this early stage, and Nesterov became the first pilot to destroy an enemy airplane in flight in the history of military aviation. On 8 September 1914 he rammed an Austrian reconnaissance plane Albatros B.II of Observer Baron Friedrich von Rosenthal and pilot Franz Malina from FLIK 11. Eager to destroy enemy aircraft, he probably intended to hit it with a landing gear of his Morane-Saulnier monoplane, but he hit it with propeller and as a result, both planes fell. Both pilots and Observer died.The town of Zhovkva (currently in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine) near the famous air fight was renamed Nesterov, though it has since reverted to Zhovkva. Nesterov was buried in Kiev, Ukraine. His ramming method was used during the Second World War by a number of Soviet pilots with success and without their loss of life. The air-combat technique of ramming Nesterov pioneered became known in Russian as "Taran". In honor of Nesterov the Soviet Union established the Nesterov's cup for the best aerobatics crew. The cup was donated to the International Aeronautics Federation in 1962. It is awarded to the Men's World Team Champions of the World Aerobatic Championships
Nesterov was flying Morane-Saulnier G No 281 when he rammed the Albatros. There's a good account of the action, as well as lots of other information on Russian fliers, in The Imperial Russian Air Service by Durkota, Darcey and Kulikov; ISBN 0 9637110 2 4. If you're at all interested in the air war over the Eastern Front, it's essential reading. Gareth
