To the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

During the First World War, the role of military pilots changed greatly - from simple observation at the beginning of the war, they became a formidable offensive force. If previously pilots were either completely unarmed or armed only with a pistol, by 1918 they had machine guns and destructive bombs, and aerial photography became an indispensable tool in military operations.

Along with new technologies, old, exotic ones, such as balloons and kites, were also used on the front line. This article will be an interesting overview of WWI aviation. See also parts 1 and 2: "", "".

1. German pilots and the Hannover CL II - a two-seat biplane of wooden construction with good aerodynamics. (Photo by Carola Eugster):

3. German balloon. (Photo by National Archives | Official German Photograph):

4. German balloon. (Photo by Brett Butterworth):

5. Captured German Taube monoplane. (Photo by Bibliotheque nationale de France):

6. (Photo WWI Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection):

7. February 1918. Experiments with color photography. (Photo by Frank Hurley | State Library of New South Wales):

8. A completely exotic technique - kites at the front. (Photo by U.S. National Archives):

9. Plane with missiles from the First World War. (Photo: National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, USA):

10. German triplane Pfalz Dr.I. In total, about 40 aircraft were built. (Photo by San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive):

11. Balloons used to observe enemy territory. (Photo by Keystone View Company):

12. German soldier with a pistol in a balloon. (Photo by U.S. National Archives):

13. An American bomber drops bombs. (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo):

14. Downed German plane. (Photo by Carola Eugster):

15. Aviation of the First World War. Japanese pilot, 1914.

16. Morning meeting. (Photo by National Library of Scotland):

17. Farman MF.11 biplane from the First World War. (Photo by Library of Congress):

18. French military airship "Republic". (Photo by Library of Congress):

19. A balloon used to observe the territory. (Photo by National Library of Scotland):

21. I would like to go to heaven. The French cavalry is looking at new technologies with interest. (Photo by Keystone View Company):

22. Soldiers attach a 100-kilogram bomb to a German plane. (Photo by National Archives | Official German Photograph):

23. With the development of aviation, the means to destroy them began to develop - anti-aircraft guns. (Photo by National Library of Scotland):

24. An aircraft carrier of that time and the Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter taking off from it. (Photo by State Library of New South Wales):

25. Aerial photographer and his Graflex camera, 1917-1918. (U.S. Army photo):

26. British single-seat biplane Airco DH.2 is landing. (Photo by Nationaal Archief):

27. Airplanes of that time were already serious weapons. This is a photograph of the area after the bombing. (Photo by Australian official photographs | State Library of New South Wales):

28. Austrian combat aircraft, 1918. The first one shows a machine gun from above. (Photo by James Francis Hurley | State Library of New South Wales):

Application

In World War I, aviation was used to achieve three goals: reconnaissance, bombing, and destruction of enemy aircraft. Leading world powers have achieved great results in conducting combat operations with the help of aviation.

Aviation of the Central Powers

Aviation Germany

German aviation was the second largest aviation in the world at the beginning of the First World War. There were about 220-230 aircraft. But meanwhile, it is worth noting that these were outdated Taube-type aircraft; aviation was given the role of vehicles (then aircraft could carry 2-3 people). The expenses for it in the German army amounted to 322 thousand marks.

During the war, the Germans showed great attention to the development of their air forces, being among the first to appreciate the impact that the war in the air had on the war on the ground. The Germans sought to ensure air superiority by introducing technical innovations into aviation as quickly as possible (for example, fighter aircraft) and during a certain period from the summer of 1915 to the spring of 1916 they practically maintained dominance in the skies at the fronts.

The Germans also paid great attention to strategic bombing. Germany was the first country to use its air force to attack enemy strategic rear areas (factories, populated areas, sea harbors). Since 1914, first German airships and then multi-engine bombers regularly bombed rear targets in France, Great Britain and Russia.

Germany made a significant bet on rigid airships. During the war, more than 100 rigid airships of the Zeppelin and Schütte-Lanz design were built. Before the war, the Germans mainly planned to use airships for aerial reconnaissance, but it quickly turned out that airships were too vulnerable over land and in the daytime.

The main function of heavy airships was maritime patrol, maritime reconnaissance in the interests of the fleet and long-range night bombing. It was Zeppelin's airships that first brought to life the doctrine of long-range strategic bombing, carrying out raids on London, Paris, Warsaw and other rear cities of the Entente. Although the effect of the use, with the exception of individual cases, was mainly moral, blackout measures and air raids significantly disrupted the work of the Entente industry, which was not ready for such, and the need to organize air defense led to the diversion of hundreds of aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and thousands of soldiers from the front line.

However, the advent of incendiary bullets in 1915, which could effectively destroy hydrogen-filled zeppelins, eventually led to the fact that from 1917, after heavy losses in the final strategic raids on London, airships were used only for maritime reconnaissance.

Aviation Austria-Hungary

Aviation of Turkey

Of all the warring powers, the Ottoman Empire's air force was the weakest. Although the Turks began to develop military aviation in 1909, the technological backwardness and extreme weakness of the industrial base of the Ottoman Empire meant that Turkey faced World War I with very small air forces. After entering the war, the Turkish aircraft fleet was replenished with more modern German aircraft. The Turkish Air Force reached the peak of its development - 90 aircraft in service and 81 pilots - in 1915.

There was no aircraft manufacturing in Turkey; the entire aircraft fleet was supplied from Germany. About 260 airplanes were delivered from Germany to Turkey in 1915-1918: in addition, a number of captured aircraft were restored and used.

Despite the weakness of the material part, the Turkish Air Force proved to be quite effective during the Dardanelles Operation and in the battles in Palestine. But since 1917, the arrival of new British and French fighters in large numbers at the front and the depletion of German resources led to the fact that the Turkish Air Force was practically exhausted. Attempts to change the situation were made in 1918, but did not end due to the revolution that took place.

Entente aviation

Russian Aviation

At the start of the First World War, Russia had the largest air fleet in the world with 263 aircraft. At the same time, aviation was in its formation stage. In 1914, Russia and France produced approximately the same number of aircraft and were the first in the production of airplanes among the Entente countries that year, yet lagging behind Germany in this indicator by 2.5 times. Contrary to generally accepted opinion, Russian aviation performed well in battles, but due to the weakness of the domestic aircraft industry (especially due to the low production of aircraft engines), it could not fully demonstrate its potential.

By July 14, the troops had 4 Ilya Muromets, the only serial multi-engine aircraft in the world at that time. In total, 85 copies of this world's first heavy bomber were produced during the war. However, despite individual manifestations of engineering art, the air force of the Russian Empire was inferior to the German, French and British, and since 1916, also to the Italian and Austrian. The main reason for the lag was the poor state of affairs with the production of aircraft engines and the lack of aircraft engineering capacity. Until the very end of the war, the country was unable to establish mass production of a domestic model fighter, forced to manufacture foreign (often outdated) models under license.

In terms of the volume of its airships, Russia ranked third in the world in 1914 (right after Germany and France), but its fleet of lighter-than-air ships was mainly represented by outdated models. The best Russian airships of the First World War were built abroad. In the 1914-1915 campaign, Russian airships managed to carry out only one combat mission, after which, due to technical wear and tear and the inability of industry to provide the army with new airships, work on controlled aeronautics was curtailed.

Also, the Russian Empire became the first country in the world to use aircraft. At the beginning of the war there were 5 such ships in the fleet.

UK Aviation

Great Britain was the first country to separate its air force into a separate branch of the military, not under the control of the army or navy. Royal Air Force Royal Air Force (RAF)) were formed on April 1, 1918 at the base of the predecessor Royal Flying Corps (eng. Royal Flying Corps (RFC)).

Great Britain became interested in the prospect of using aircraft in war back in 1909 and achieved significant success in this (although at that time it was somewhat behind the recognized leaders - Germany and France). Thus, already in 1912, the Vickers company developed an experimental fighter airplane armed with a machine gun. "Vickers Experimental Fighting Biplane 1" was demonstrated at maneuvers in 1913, and although at that time the military took a wait-and-see approach, it was this work that formed the basis for the world's first fighter airplane, the Vickers F.B.5, which took off in 1915.

By the beginning of the war, all British Air Forces were organizationally consolidated into the Royal Flying Corps, divided into naval and army branches. In 1914, the RFC consisted of 5 squadrons, totaling about 60 vehicles. During the war, their numbers grew sharply and by 1918 the RFC consisted of more than 150 squadrons and 3,300 aircraft, eventually becoming the largest air force in the world at that time.

During the war, the RFC carried out a variety of tasks, from aerial reconnaissance and bombing to the insertion of spies behind the front lines. RFC pilots pioneered many applications of aviation, such as the first use of specialized fighters, the first aerial photography, attacking enemy positions in support of troops, dropping saboteurs and defending their own territory from strategic bombing.

Britain also became the only country other than Germany that was actively developing a fleet of rigid-type airships. Back in 1912, the first rigid airship R.1 "Mayfly" was built in Great Britain, but due to damage during an unsuccessful launch from the boathouse, it never took off. During the war, a significant number of rigid airships were built in Britain, but for various reasons their military use did not begin until 1918 and was extremely limited (the airships were only used for anti-submarine patrols and had only one encounter with the enemy)

On the other hand, the British fleet of soft airships (which numbered more than 50 airships by 1918) was very actively used for anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort, achieving significant success in the fight against German submarines.

Aviation France

French aviation, along with Russian aviation, showed its best side. Most of the inventions that improved the design of the fighter were made by French pilots. French pilots focused on practicing tactical aviation operations, and mainly focused their attention on confronting the German Air Force at the front.

French aviation did not carry out strategic bombing during the war. The lack of serviceable multi-engine aircraft constrained raids on Germany's strategic rear (as did the need to concentrate design resources on fighter production). In addition, French engine manufacturing at the beginning of the war was somewhat behind the best world level. By 1918, the French had created several types of heavy bombers, including the very successful Farman F.60 Goliath, but did not have time to use them in action.

At the beginning of the war, France had the second largest fleet of airships in the world, but it was inferior in quality to Germany: the French did not have rigid airships like Zeppelins in service. In 1914-1916, airships were quite actively used for reconnaissance and bombing operations, but their unsatisfactory flight qualities led to the fact that since 1917 all controlled aeronautics were concentrated only in the navy in patrol service.

Aviation of Italy

Although Italian aviation was not among the strongest before the war, it experienced a rapid rise during the conflict from 1915-1918. This was largely due to the geographical features of the theater of operations, when the positions of the main enemy (Austria-Hungary) were separated from Italy by an insurmountable but relatively narrow barrier of the Adriatic.

Italy also became the first country after the Russian Empire to massively use multi-engine bombers in combat. The three-engined Caproni Ca.3, first flown in 1915, was one of the best bombers of the era, with more than 300 built and produced under license in the UK and USA.

During the war, the Italians also actively used airships for bombing operations. The weak protection of the strategic rear of the Central Powers contributed to the success of such raids. Unlike the Germans, the Italians relied on small high-altitude soft and semi-rigid airships, which were inferior to zeppelins in range and combat load. Since Austrian aviation, in general, was quite weak and, moreover, dispersed on two fronts, Italian aircraft were used until 1917.

United States Aviation

Because the United States remained aloof from the war for a long time, its air force developed comparatively more slowly. As a result, by the time the United States entered the world war in 1917, its air force was significantly inferior to the aviation of other participants in the conflict and approximately corresponded in technical level to the situation in 1915. Most of the available aircraft were reconnaissance or "general purpose" aircraft; there were no fighters or bombers capable of participating in air battles on the Western Front.

To solve the problem as quickly as possible, the US Army launched intensive production of licensed models from British, French and Italian companies. As a result, when the first American squadrons appeared at the front in 1918, they flew machines of European designers. The only airplanes designed in America that took part in the World War were twin-engine flying boats from Curtiss, which had excellent flight characteristics for their time and were intensively used in 1918 for anti-submarine patrols.

Introduction of new technologies

Vickers F.B.5. - the world's first fighter

In 1914, all countries of the world entered the war with airplanes without any weapons except for the personal weapons of the pilots (rifle or pistol). As aerial reconnaissance increasingly began to influence the course of combat operations on the ground, the need arose for weapons capable of preventing enemy attempts to penetrate airspace. It quickly became clear that fire from hand-held weapons was practically useless in air combat.

At the beginning of 1915, the British and French began to be the first to install machine gun weapons on aircraft. Since the propeller interfered with the shelling, machine guns were initially installed on vehicles with a pushing propeller located at the rear and not interfering with firing in the bow hemisphere. The world's first fighter was the British Vickers F.B.5, specially built for air combat with a turret-mounted machine gun. However, the design features of aircraft with a pusher propeller at that time did not allow them to develop sufficiently high speeds, and intercepting high-speed reconnaissance aircraft was difficult.

After some time, the French proposed a solution to the problem of shooting through the propeller: metal linings on the lower parts of the blades. Bullets hitting the pads were reflected without damaging the wooden propeller. This solution turned out to be nothing more than satisfactory: firstly, the ammunition was quickly wasted due to some of the bullets hitting the propeller blades, and secondly, the impacts of the bullets gradually deformed the propeller. Nevertheless, due to such temporary measures, Entente aviation managed to gain an advantage over the Central Powers for some time.

On November 3, 1914, Sergeant Garro invented the machine gun synchronizer. This innovation made it possible to fire through the aircraft's propeller: the mechanism allowed the machine gun to fire only when there was no blade in front of the muzzle. In April 1915, the effectiveness of this solution was demonstrated in practice, but by accident, an experimental aircraft with a synchronizer was forced to land behind the front line and was captured by the Germans. Having studied the mechanism, the Fokker company very quickly developed its own version, and in the summer of 1915 Germany sent to the front the first fighter of the “modern type” - the Fokker E.I, with a pulling propeller and a machine gun firing through the propeller disc.

The appearance of squadrons of German fighters in the summer of 1915 was a complete surprise for the Entente: all of its fighters had an outdated design and were inferior to Fokker aircraft. From the summer of 1915 to the spring of 1916, the Germans dominated the skies over the Western Front, securing a significant advantage for themselves. This position became known as the "Fokker Scourge"

Only in the summer of 1916, the Entente managed to restore the situation. The arrival at the front of maneuverable light biplanes of English and French designers, which were superior in maneuverability to the early Fokker fighters, made it possible to change the course of the war in the air in favor of the Entente. At first, the Entente experienced problems with synchronizers, so usually the machine guns of Entente fighters of that time were located above the propeller, in the upper biplane wing.

The Germans responded with the introduction of new biplane fighters, the Albatros D.II in August 1916, and the Albatros D.III in December, which had a streamlined semi-monocoque fuselage. Due to a more durable, lighter and streamlined fuselage, the Germans gave their aircraft better flight characteristics. This allowed them to once again gain a significant technical advantage, and April 1917 went down in history as “Bloody April”: Entente aviation again began to suffer heavy losses.

During April 1917, the British lost 245 aircraft, 211 pilots were killed or missing, and 108 were captured. The Germans lost only 60 airplanes in the battle. This clearly demonstrated the advantage of the semi-monococcal scheme over previously used ones.

The Entente's response, however, was swift and effective. By the summer of 1917, the introduction of the new Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 fighters, the Sopwith Camel and SPAD, allowed the air war to return to normal. The main advantage of the Entente was the better state of the Anglo-French engine industry. In addition, since 1917, Germany began to experience a severe shortage of resources.

As a result, by 1918, Entente aviation had achieved both qualitative and quantitative superiority in the air over the Western Front. German aviation was no longer able to claim more than temporary local dominance on the front. In an attempt to change the situation, the Germans tried to develop new tactics (for example, during the summer offensive of 1918, air strikes on home airfields were first widely used in order to destroy enemy aircraft on the ground), but such measures could not change the overall unfavorable situation .

Tactics of air combat in the First World War

In the initial period of the war, when two aircraft collided, the battle was fought with personal weapons or with the help of a ram. The ram was first used on September 8, 1914 by the Russian ace Nesterov. As a result, both planes fell to the ground. In March 1915, another Russian pilot used a ram for the first time without crashing his own plane and returned to base. This tactic was used due to the lack of machine gun weapons and their low effectiveness. The ram required exceptional precision and composure from the pilot, so it was rarely used.

In the battles of the late period of the war, aviators tried to bypass the enemy plane from the side, and, going into the enemy’s tail, shoot him with a machine gun. This tactic was also used in group battles, with the pilot who showed the initiative winning; causing the enemy to fly away. The style of air combat with active maneuvering and close-range shooting was called “dogfight” and dominated the idea of ​​air warfare until the 1930s.

A special element of the air combat of the First World War were attacks on airships. Airships (especially of rigid construction) had quite numerous defensive weapons in the form of turret-mounted machine guns, at the beginning of the war they were practically not inferior to airplanes in speed, and usually had a significantly superior rate of climb. Before the advent of incendiary bullets, conventional machine guns had very little effect on the airship's shell, and the only way to shoot down an airship was to fly directly over it and drop hand grenades on the ship's keel. Several airships were shot down, but in general, in air battles of 1914-1915, airships usually emerged victorious from encounters with aircraft.

The situation changed in 1915, with the advent of incendiary bullets. Incendiary bullets made it possible to ignite the hydrogen mixed with the air, flowing through the holes pierced by the bullets, and cause the destruction of the entire airship.

Bombing tactics

At the beginning of the war, not a single country had specialized aerial bombs in service. German Zeppelins carried out their first bombing missions in 1914, using conventional artillery shells with attached fabric surfaces, and the planes dropped hand grenades on enemy positions. Later, special aerial bombs were developed. During the war, bombs weighing from 10 to 100 kg were most actively used. The heaviest aerial munitions used during the war were first the 300-kilogram German aerial bomb (dropped from Zeppelins), the 410-kilogram Russian aerial bomb (used by Ilya Muromets bombers) and the 1,000-kilogram aerial bomb used in 1918 on London from German aerial bombs. multi-engine Zeppelin-Staaken bombers

Devices for bombing at the beginning of the war were very primitive: bombs were dropped manually based on the results of visual observation. Improvements in anti-aircraft artillery and the resulting need to increase bombing altitude and speed led to the development of telescopic bomb sights and electric bomb racks.

In addition to aerial bombs, other types of aerial weapons were developed. Thus, throughout the war, airplanes successfully used throwing flechettes, dropped on enemy infantry and cavalry. In 1915, the British Navy successfully used seaplane-launched torpedoes for the first time during the Dardanelles Operation. At the end of the war, the first work began on the creation of guided and gliding bombs.

Anti-aviation

Sound surveillance equipment from the First World War

After the start of the war, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns began to appear. At first they were mountain cannons with an increased barrel elevation angle, then, as the threat grew, special anti-aircraft guns were developed that could send a projectile to a greater height. Both stationary and mobile batteries appeared, on a car or cavalry base, and even anti-aircraft units of scooters. Anti-aircraft searchlights were actively used for night anti-aircraft shooting.

Early warning of an air attack became especially important. The time it took for interceptor aircraft to rise to high altitudes during World War I was significant. To provide warning of the appearance of bombers, chains of forward detection posts began to be created, capable of detecting enemy aircraft at a considerable distance from their target. Towards the end of the war, experiments began with sonar, detecting aircraft by the noise of their engines.

The air defense of the Entente received the greatest development in the First World War, forced to fight German raids on its strategic rear. By 1918, the air defenses of central France and Great Britain contained dozens of anti-aircraft guns and fighters, and a complex network of sonar and forward detection posts connected by telephone wires. However, it was not possible to ensure complete protection of the rear from air attacks: even in 1918, German bombers carried out raids on London and Paris. The First World War's experience with air defense was summed up in 1932 by Stanley Baldwin in the phrase "The bomber will always get through."

The air defense of the rear of the Central Powers, which had not been subjected to significant strategic bombing, was much less developed and by 1918 was essentially in its infancy.

Notes

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Russian aviation gained its first combat experience in 1912 during the Balkan War. The air squad successfully operated during the siege of the Turkish fortress of Andriapol and during the battles at the Chataldzhin position; An experimental use of small bombs weighing about 10 kg was carried out, which caused fires in the fortress.

Instead of a preface

Much has been written about the formation and development of aviation in Russia before 1914, so let us turn to only a few episodes related to gaining experience in using airplanes for military purposes. In the autumn of 1911, five Farman aircraft, five Blériots and an airship took part in the maneuvers of the Warsaw Military District. The air squads were located in close proximity to the corps headquarters and, on their instructions, conducted reconnaissance of the “enemy’s” rear. From a height of 600 m (this height was considered safe from rifle and machine-gun fire) the pilots accurately determined the locations and number of troops. Lieutenant Dybovsky and Second Lieutenant Gelgar carried out aerial photography, the results of which were considered very positive. In addition to reconnaissance, aviators communicated between headquarters and large formations of troops, mainly cavalry, operating in isolation from the main forces. These maneuvers confirmed the ability of aviation to carry out combat missions. The effectiveness of the new type of troops was pointed out by the Chief of the General Staff in a special memorandum “On the participation of aviation detachments of the Air Fleet Department in the maneuvers of troops of the Warsaw Military District.” In particular, he emphasized that “... it was thanks to well-organized aerial reconnaissance that the command of the “southern group of forces” received reliable information about the location of the “enemy” troops.”

Russian aviation gained its first combat experience in 1912 during the Balkan War. The air squad sent to Bulgaria was formed from civilian volunteer pilots (Agafonov, Evsyukov, Kolchin, etc.), since the Minister of War forbade military pilots from participating in hostilities. The air squad successfully operated during the siege of the Turkish fortress of Andriapol and during the battles at the Chataldzhin position. Russian pilots conducted reconnaissance, dropped leaflets, and provided communications. At the same time, an experimental use of small bombs weighing about 10 kg was carried out, which caused fires in the fortress. The enemy's use of rifle and artillery fire against aircraft forced them to fly at altitudes of 1000 m or more. The combat experience gained was carefully studied by the command of the Russian army, and aviation began to be prepared for war.

1914 Campaign

On the eve of the war, Russia had the largest air fleet among the warring powers: 244 aircraft in 39 air squadrons. However, here one of the laws of dialectics cracked: the quantitative advantage did not develop into a qualitative one, the material was badly worn out, the detachments went to the front with airplanes and engines that had been in operation for two years. The vehicles (convoys) turned out to be completely unsuitable for transporting aviation equipment, and there were not enough trucks, which had a negative impact in the first months of the maneuver war.

The 1914 campaign opened in the Russian theater of operations with the East Prussian operation. Here it is of interest to consider the work of the aviation of the 2nd Army of General Samsonov. The army consisted of five corps air detachments, of which the 1st, 13th, 15th and 23rd were distributed among the army corps, and the 21st served the army headquarters. The aviators began combat work already during the deployment of troops, and from August 1, their reports began to be used by army headquarters in compiling “Summaries of Information about the Enemy.” The 1st air squadron, which explored the Mlawa-Soldau-Lautenberg area, was especially successful. During the offensive, the pilots conducted daily reconnaissance, revealing escape routes and concentration areas of enemy troops. Thus, on August 9 and 10, it was possible to detect movement on railways and highways, large concentrations of enemy troops on the left flank of the 2nd Army in the areas of Doitsch-Eylau, Gildenburg and Allenstein. However, this very timely aerial reconnaissance information was questioned by the command, for which they soon had to pay with a hasty retreat. In total, in August, air detachments of the 2nd Army carried out more than 80 combat missions. From the very beginning of the war, Russian pilots used aerial photography as an effective method of aerial reconnaissance. So, for example, in the report of the head of the Osovets fortress air squad dated September 18, it is reported that “... private Alexei Litvin-Litvinenko, despite being hit by 16 bullets in the airplane, continued taking photographs and thereby contributed to clarifying the situation on the Johannisburg-Byala-Shchuchin front.” Aerial photography of enemy positions to control and increase the effectiveness of artillery fire was used during the siege of the Przemysl fortress in the fall of 1914. This was reported by the head of the organization of aviation in the armies of the Southwestern Front, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich in his report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated November 28, 2014: ".. ... determined by special photographic photographs of the snow cover where our shells hit... revealed some defects in determining targets and distances."

In the siege of Przemysl, the 24th Corps and Brest-Litovsk air squads united into a group, led by one of the most experienced military pilots, Lieutenant E. Rudnev, were involved. The group’s task, in addition to reconnaissance, also included bombing the fortress. During the siege, about 50 different bombs weighing from 6 pounds to 2 poods 30 pounds (2.7-46.4 kg) were dropped. “Particularly energetic activity was developed on November 18... During this day, 13 flights were made, 14 photographs of the fortress and its forts were taken, 27 bombs were dropped with a total explosive weight of 21 pounds 20 pounds (353 kg). The bombs were dropped from a height of 1700 -2200 m..., and as a result of the explosions, fires started in many places. All those flying were shot by enemy shrapnel..." With the help of aerial reconnaissance, the Russian command monitored all the actions of the besieged garrison, which surrendered on March 5, 1915.

An example of the successful use of aviation is the work of air detachments of the 3rd and 8th armies of the Southwestern Front in the Galician operation. The limited range of aircraft forced the use of aviation mainly to solve tactical problems. However, the correct organization of the work of air squads provided materials on an operational scale: army headquarters exchanged air reconnaissance data and regularly informed front headquarters about all the most important information collected by the pilots. When the 8th Army's offensive began, the aviators brought important information from reconnaissance missions about enemy groups and their escape routes. These data were confirmed by the further course of events - the troops of the 8th Army moved forward without encountering serious resistance. The air detachments of the 3rd Army advancing on Lvov were no less successful. During the Battle of Galicia from August 6 to September 13, the 9th and 11th Corps Aviation Units (CAO) of the 3rd Army carried out over 70 sorties, and four units of the 8th Army (7th, 8th and 12th 1st corps, 3rd field) - over 100. During this period, things were worse for the pilots of the 4th and 5th armies. There were few flights, and poor organization of aerial reconnaissance led to unpleasant surprises during combat operations.

In general, in the 1914 campaign, the highest level of aviation performance was on the Southwestern Front. Here the aviators successfully coped with the tasks assigned to them, and their work was often highly appreciated by the ground command. This is evidenced by the order of the Front Commander-in-Chief, General N.I. Ivanov, dated January 11, 1915: “Pilot officers and lower ranks, regardless of the difficulties of the situation, regardless of any weather, fulfilled their duty with honor and brought due benefit with their courageous reconnaissance to their corps and armies."

Things were different on the Northwestern Front. In September, here, by decision of the commander-in-chief, the air detachments were removed from the corps and consolidated into aviation groups subordinate to the chiefs of army staff. However, this reorganization turned out to be ineffective, since air group control bodies were not created, and the limited range of the aircraft made it difficult to use them in the interests of the army command. Moreover, such a structure did not take into account the complex geographical (swampy and forested terrain) and weather conditions that existed in the northwest. The aircraft of each group assembled at one airfield under poor weather conditions were doomed to inactivity, whereas if the air squads were dispersed across sites there would be a chance to take advantage of short-term local improvements in the weather.

A study of the dynamics of the loss and receipt of aircraft in the Russian Army as a whole shows that the losses of aircraft were significant and amounted to at least 45.8% over 2 months. Most (sometimes 90%) of this loss was caused by the failure of worn-out airplanes and engines. The capacity of Russian aircraft factories was not enough to make up for these losses - from the beginning of the war until January 1, 1915, they sent 157 aircraft to the active army. Moreover, these vehicles often had defects and were rejected during assembly in detachments and companies. The planes produced by Shchetinin caused particular criticism. Thus, Nieuport monoplanes had a negative wing angle, which resulted in a number of accidents. French aircraft made at Russian aircraft factories were distinguished by their greater weight and poor workmanship compared to their imported “brothers”.

The first months of the war also revealed the fact that senior military commanders often showed complete ignorance of the properties and capabilities of airplanes. Hence, either the lack of setting tasks and the inaction of aviation, or the setting of unrealistic combat missions for the pilots. To avoid such misunderstandings, detailed instructions were issued for the use of the new type of troops. The Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front showed special concern for the pilots, who issued order No. 6 of August 12, 1914: “Attaching great importance to the work of airplanes and recognizing all the risks and difficulties of carrying out tasks by pilots and observers, I order...”. Next came instructions to fly no more than once a day at a distance of no more than 200-230 miles, and to make flights in the morning. The headquarters were instructed not to send pilots for trifles, not to abuse the frequent sending of aircraft to the front line, to assign tasks to search for large enemy formations, not to instruct pilots and observers to scatter proclamations, because in case of capture they are not equated to prisoners of war and can be shot, etc. .d.

The scourge of Russian aviation in the first months of the war was the unrestrained shelling of aircraft by their own troops, which caused the death of several aviators. For example, on August 13, while flying over the front line, a military pilot of the 25th KAO, Lieutenant Gudim, was killed by his own troops; on August 27, the same fate befell a military pilot of the 11th KAO, Lieutenant Lemeshko, when landing, etc. Other cases had less tragic consequences. So, “On July 30, 1914, the head of the 7th corps aviation detachment, staff captain Stepanov, took off for aerial reconnaissance, flying over the town of Yarmolintsy, was subjected to volley fire... received holes in the stabilizer and wing.

The investigation showed... the companies of the 60th Zamosky Infantry Regiment were shooting." On the same day, a pilot of the same detachment, Lieutenant Sabelnikov, found himself in the same situation. The result was 4 holes. There were many similar examples, and this forced the command to issue orders prohibiting " shoot at friendly and gliding vehicles, fire only on the orders of an officer or when the enemy is throwing bombs." The gentlemen officers were ordered to study the signs of their own and enemy airplanes, to know their silhouettes.

The initial period of the war revealed poor organization in the supply of aviation detachments and companies with gasoline, castor oil, spare parts, tents and other aviation equipment. Airplanes and engines quickly broke down in harsh field conditions, especially with the onset of inclement autumn weather, when the shortage of tents and portable hangars and the use of unsuitable sites for airfields had an acute impact. After the first months of the war, many air detachments had to be withdrawn to the rear to supply airplanes with new systems and to retrain pilots on them. Thus, the pilots who flew the Nieuports mastered the Morans. Repaired captured aircraft were widely used to arm the detachments. The supply of aircraft and the assignment of personnel depended entirely on the aviation headquarters, headed by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. He often appointed as company commanders and squad leaders officers who were good at writing reports but had flown little. In this situation, the protected units were supplied with airplanes out of turn, while the units carrying out responsible and hard work were left without airplanes. Aircraft supply remained a major problem, which was often resolved at the highest level. So, on August 31, 1914, the commander of the 8th Army, General Brusilov, hit the Grand Duke with his forehead: “At the present time, we have completely lost airborne vehicles, so precious for reconnaissance, which puts the command and control of troops in an extremely difficult situation. ... I humbly ask Your Imperial Highness to provide "The army receives the greatest assistance from Farmans and Nieuports. The activities of pilots in reconnaissance are irreplaceable." Brusilov's request was granted, and the army received 4 aircraft from the Brest-Litovsk fortress air detachment. However, there were many such requests, and the shortage of aircraft and engines became a chronic disease of Russian aviation until the end of the war.

By the beginning of hostilities, there were 221 pilots in the Russian air fleet: 170 officers, 35 lower ranks and 16 volunteers (volunteers). On January 1, 1915, pilot losses amounted to 33 people or 14.9% of the total number. Of these, 6 died from enemy actions, 5 in accidents, 22 were captured and disappeared. Among the dead: staff captains Gruzinov, Nesterov, lieutenants Lemeshko, Gudim, senior non-commissioned officer Dobroshinsky and others. Missing: lieutenants Nikolaevsky, Shamin, Masherek and others. Wounded or crashed in the fall: captain Vitkovsky, guard staff captain Melnitsky , staff captain Muchnik, lieutenants Gorodetsky, Kornidov, Pavlov, volunteer Spitsberg. Some of them, for example, a volunteer pilot of the 16th KAO Spitsberg, subsequently died in hospital. One of the first to be included in the mournful list of combat losses was the military pilot, chief of the 14th KAO Efgraf Efgrafovich Gruzinov, who was mortally wounded by shrapnel in the air during a combat mission. On August 17, he flew out to reconnaissance the Kshchonov-Pilyash-Kowice-Bychow-Lublin area and did not return. The plane crashed in enemy territory, which was soon occupied by Russian troops. A fresh grave and a broken Nieuport were found near the village of Bykhovo near Yanov. Gruzinov’s body was found in the grave; a survey of local residents and captured Austrians gave an idea of ​​the circumstances of his death. It turned out that the plane flew over Austrian positions at an altitude of 1000-1200 m and was fired at first by infantry, then by an artillery battery, which fired three salvos. The first two goals were not achieved. After the third, the device trembled, turned over and, making a sharp turn, crashed into the ground with the engine running. Posthumously, by the highest order, Staff Captain Gruzinov was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

The first air battles also took place. The ramming and heroic death of the military pilot of the 11th KAO Pyotr Nikolaevich Nesterov on August 26 opened a new era of air combat. The only weapons the Russian aviators had were Mauser pistols and carbines. The chronicle of those years describes several cases of air battles. So, on October 28, in the vicinity of Petrokovo (near Warsaw), “an enemy airplane appeared. A few minutes later, two of our pilots rose and, after an air battle, dropped the Taube to the ground. The German aviators crashed. The enemy airplane was damaged.” Unfortunately, there was no confirmation of this newspaper report. But the air battle and joint actions with artillery, which brought success to the military pilot of the Grodno fortress air squad, Lieutenant Semenov, were confirmed by several reports stored in the Military Historical Archive. On August 27, Semenov with observer Cornet Nikolaev, while flying across Lake Meyer, in East Prussia, noticed an enemy airplane flying towards Letzen. Having bypassed the enemy on the right side, Semenov attacked him, forced him to descend lower and change the direction of his flight to the area of ​​​​Russian positions, where he was fired upon and fell near the lake.

1915 Campaign

In 1915, the German High Command decided to shift its main attack to the east, achieve the complete defeat of the enemy armies here and take Russia out of the war. The campaign turned out to be very difficult for the Russian army, including aviation, and required maximum effort. The main task of the aviators remained reconnaissance. It is impossible to talk about their participation in all operations in a short magazine article, so we will limit ourselves to individual examples showing the enormous importance of the data obtained by aerial reconnaissance and its impact on the course of hostilities.

One of the largest events was the breakthrough of the Russian front in the Gorlitsa area, undertaken with the aim of defeating the right wing of the Southwestern Front. The German-Austrian command made every effort to hide the concentration of its troops and ensure surprise of the offensive, but Russian aerial reconnaissance prevented this. Particularly valuable information was obtained by the pilots of the 11th Corps Aviation Detachment (CAS), who examined the Gorlica-Bieć area on April 15, 17, 19, 23 and 25. Using the data obtained, the command of the 3rd Army carried out a number of preventive measures that reduced the pace of the enemy’s advance. And although the Russian troops were pushed back from Galicia, they failed to encircle and defeat them.

In the first half of September, the Germans made an attempt to bypass and defeat the right flank of the Western Front. Aerial reconnaissance, carried out mainly by the forces of the 34th KAO, which served the headquarters of the 10th Army, revealed in time the enemy’s preparations for the Sventsyansky breakthrough, discovering large concentrations of his troops in the Kovno-Yanov-Vilkomir area.

The highest orders commemorate the exploits of many aviators. Thus, the head of the 19th KAO, Lieutenant Vladimir Yagello, was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, “for the fact that, while carrying out aerial reconnaissance on February 21, 1915, of the enemy’s location in the direction of Rozhkova Volya, Tomashev and Rava, being fired at by enemy artillery..., obtained information of particular importance regarding the enemy’s movement towards the left flank of our army, which he promptly delivered to army headquarters, which made it possible to take action and successfully paralyze the enemy’s intentions.” The Knights of St. George were Lieutenant Smolyaninov from the 24th KAO, Second Lieutenant Ivan Orlov and others. Not all heroes received military awards: on September 16, during aerial reconnaissance, Lieutenant Markovich, “fixing a gasoline tank punctured by a bullet during a flight, was killed, a heroic death capturing the feat he accomplished." Died from wounds received in a fall during aerial reconnaissance, the head of the 2nd Siberian KAO, staff captain I.I. Aleksandrovich...

Volunteer pilots, who learned to fly airplanes in private schools or flying clubs even before the war, did not lag behind the career officers. Here is one example. “On May 12, during reconnaissance by the flight naval commander of the 19th KAO, second lieutenant Rudovich, an explosion occurred in the engine of the vehicle. There were 8 miles left to the front line. The pilot-hunter, Corporal Launitz, was not at a loss and began to glide under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. He managed to remove the device from the enemy's position and land near our combat positions. He saved the plane from being captured by the enemy and the officer from being captured. During planning, Corporal Launitz was wounded in the arm with a broken bone, but despite this he landed the plane.” By order of the troops of the 5th Army dated May 25, 1915, Vladimir Launits was awarded the soldier’s St. George Cross, 4th degree.

At the end of 1915, the war on the eastern front took on a positional character. The cavalry lost the opportunity to conduct reconnaissance. Only airplanes made it possible to penetrate into the depths of enemy troops in order to collect the information necessary for the command. At the same time, the tasks of aerial reconnaissance have changed: if in conditions of maneuver warfare it was primarily entrusted with monitoring large enemy forces and the direction of their movement, now aviators were mainly required to carefully study the enemy’s defense system and monitor its condition and development.

Aviation was also involved to perform other tasks. In the summer in Poland on the North-Western Front, German troops surrounded the border fortress of Novogeorgievsk. In early August, the command of the Russian garrison, in view of the danger of imminent capitulation, decided to use the services of pilots of the Novogeorgievsk fortress air squad. His boss, Captain Ivan Massalsky, organized the departure of all serviceable aircraft, having previously destroyed aviation property that could not be taken out. Pilots Lieutenant Konstantin Vakulovsky, Staff Captain Livotov, Captain Massalsky and others, on the orders of the commandant of the fortress, flew into bad weather under heavy enemy fire. Having broken through, they took away standards, St. George's crosses and secret documents. After flying for 4-5 hours at low altitude, the aviators landed safely at the location of their troops. For this feat they were awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, and the Arms of St. George.

In 1915, air battles remained rare. In most cases, crews went on missions with only carbines and pistols, but even with such weapons, some pilots achieved aerial victories. So, on February 25, volunteer pilot Frenchman Poiret with observer Lieutenant Shebalin flew in a captured Euler to reconnaissance of the Lovich-Neborov-Bolilov area. Above their positions between Kamion and Sulishev they attacked the German apparatus. From a distance of 40-50 m, 5 shots from a carbine were fired at him. According to the report of the pilots of the 2nd Army Aviation Detachment, “after the third shot, the enemy plane turned downwards and landed near Skvernevitsy.” On July 15, during reconnaissance east of Zolotaya Lipa, pilots of the 2nd Siberian KAO, Lieutenant Pokrovsky and Cornet Plonsky, noticed an enemy airplane. The only weapons they had were Mauser pistols. Despite this, they attacked the enemy and, after a short firefight, forced him to go down. The Austrian airplane "Aviatik" (tail number 31-13) was awarded as a prize in completely undamaged condition, along with two pilots from the 7th... air company. Both Russian heroes were awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. By the way, the Aviatik, like most other aircraft of that time, was a very weak machine. This is evidenced by the following fact: on November 27, the Austrian pilots Dreamer and Hubner took off to test the repaired camera, but a strong wind carried their airplane beyond the line of Russian trenches, where the aviators were forced to land. And then - captivity and a prisoner of war camp near Darnitsa.

The lack of weapons was largely compensated by the courage of Russian aviators. On March 18, the pilot of the 4th KAO, Lieutenant A.A. Kozakov, won his first victory. His Moran-Zh was equipped with a grapple with a pyroxylin bomb, but during the attack the cable got tangled, and Kozakov decided to ram the German Albatross. Moran's landing gear was broken on impact and his propeller was shattered, but he was still able to land. Although the plane crashed, the pilot remained alive. For this feat he was awarded the Arms of St. George.

In 1915, machine guns appeared on Russian airplanes. The most suitable for their use was the Voisin biplane, on which a Colt machine gun was often mounted. Such an aircraft became a formidable weapon; on June 24, pilot Warrant Officer Ivanov and observer Lieutenant Alekseev from the 26th KAO attacked an Austrian Albatross (tail number 21-01) from the 1st Air Company in the Tarnopol area, whose observer tried to shoot back with a carbine. The battle took place according to the knightly rules of that time. During this duel, the opponents met several times at a distance of 50-100 m, and during breaks in the firefight they exchanged greetings. Soon the position of the Austrians became hopeless - flying over the Russian airfield in Tluste, the observer dropped his carbine. In one of the following attacks, the Albatross caught fire and its pilot was apparently killed. The doomed observer tried to take control, but it was no use - the plane, tumbling, fell vertically to the ground, exploded and burned. A day later, Russian pilots dropped photographs and a message on the Austrian airfield that said: “The funeral took place with full military honors. Two almost new Integral propellers and an inscription in Russian were installed above the grave: to the Austrian pilots... who died heroically on June 24, 1915 in an air battle. The grave was also decorated with a wreath of artificial flowers with a white ribbon and with the inscription: In admiration of your courage - Russian air squad".

Summing up the results of the 1915 campaign, we note that although the German-Austrian troops managed to capture significant territories in the Baltic states, Poland and Galicia, they were unable to fulfill their main task. Russian aviation played a certain role in this, and was widely recognized as one of the most important reconnaissance means. It included new types of aircraft - “Voisin” and “Moran-parasol”. In total, at the end of the year there were 322 serviceable airplanes at the front. During 1915, Russian army pilots carried out 9,993 combat flights, spending 14,647 hours in the air. Significant problems of the air fleet were the shortage of equipment, which was especially acute in the summer, and the lack of trained flight personnel. To some extent, this was compensated by the intensive and courageous work of the aviators, but it became the cause of unnecessary losses, as evidenced by their percentage: 43% of the flight personnel died or were seriously injured as a result of equipment failures, another 22% due to piloting errors ; 33% were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery and 2% died in air battles.

1916 Campaign

One of the most striking pages of the entire war was the Russian offensive on the Southwestern Front. During its preparation, aerial photography of enemy fortified positions was carried out for the first time on a large scale. This work began already in the first months of the year, and the materials received served as one of the main reasons for the command to make optimal decisions on the selection of front breakthrough sites. The aviators managed to reveal the enemy’s defense system down to the smallest detail, after which maps of its positions were drawn up, which were supplied to army units in 80-100 copies per corps. Russian artillery, thanks to aerial photography data, was able to fire at specific, precisely identified targets, which made it possible, with a low density of guns per 1 km of front (20-25 units), to achieve good results in suppressing fire weapons and destroying engineering structures. In general, the widespread use of photography increased the quality of aerial reconnaissance and the confidence in it on the part of the command.

With the beginning of the offensive, aviation launched surveillance of escape routes and places of concentration of enemy troops. For the entire period of the Brusilov breakthrough from June to August 1916. pilots of the Southwestern Front completed 1,805 combat missions with a total duration of 3,147 hours. Their activity peaked in August, when 134 pilots completed 749 combat flights with a total duration of 1224 hours. Simultaneously with the improvement in the quality of reconnaissance work, the intensity of flights also increased: if in 1915 an average of 28 sorties were carried out per day, then in 1916. -42.

For successful "aerial reconnaissance" many pilots and observers became Knights of St. George: the commander of the 11th Air Division (AD) Esaul Tkachev, the pilot of the Caucasus KAO Machavariani, the head of the 6th KAO Staff Captain Strelnikov, the observer of the 24th KAO Matson, etc. Among They should be noted for the outstanding courage and composure of the pilot-observer of the 1st Army Aviation Detachment, Lieutenant Lieutenant Georgy Kovenko. On July 3, 1916, he, together with the pilot junior non-commissioned officer Pushkel, flew on a Voisin from Dvinsk for long-range reconnaissance of the Rakishki station. In the area of ​​Abeli ​​station they were unexpectedly attacked by an enemy Fokker. Kovenko was wounded in the right arm by the first bullets. Ordering the pilot to turn towards the enemy and opening machine-gun fire, he forced the enemy to retreat, after which reconnaissance was continued. On the way back, the Russian plane was again attacked by a Fokker and received a lot of damage from its machine-gun fire, including a hole in the radiator, but this time the crew was able to fight back. “Second Lieutenant Kovenko, noticing water gushing out of the radiator pipe like a fountain, climbed into the narrow hole between the radiator and, lying on his back on the cylindrical surface of the engine roof, every minute at the risk of falling out of the apparatus, closed the hole in the pipe with his hand. “Fokker” soon returned for the third time attacked our apparatus. He began to fire at it with impunity from a machine gun and seriously wounded Second Lieutenant Kovenko in the stomach and thigh with bone fragmentation. Despite the severe pain to the point of cramps, bleeding, Kovenko closed the hole in the pipe with a glove and bandaged it with a binocular strap. Straining his last efforts, he returned to the machine gun, opened fire on the enemy and forced the Fokker to quickly descend. Losing consciousness, deciding to avoid landing on enemy territory at all costs, Kovenko ordered Pushkel to continue the flight to our lines, which the pilot accomplished at the cost of incredible efforts. All the way back The pilots made the journey and transition across the front line on a damaged aircraft under hurricane fire from enemy artillery at a low altitude. "

Along with reconnaissance, Russian pilots continued to bomb the enemy and attack his planes. Thus, the pilots of the 9th Army alone shot down 5 airplanes during the offensive, while their own losses amounted to one aircraft. By that time, the need to create special units to combat enemy aircraft was already obvious, and 1916 became the year of the creation of Russian fighter aviation. The formation of the first detachments began in the spring; it was assumed that each of the 12 armies would receive such a unit, however, due to the lack of fighter aircraft, this process was delayed for a long time. In the summer, the so-called combat air group (BAG) was created - a special formation of three air squads, the first commander of which was staff captain A.V. Zalessky. In August, this group, which included the 2nd, 4th and 19th KAO, was transferred to Lutsk, where the enemy had complete air superiority. The active work of the 1st BAG made it possible to radically change the situation: “The dashing actions of our pilots made the enemy forget Lutsk,” reported the acting aviation inspector of the Southwestern Front, Captain V.M. Tkachev.

In December, it was ordered to begin forming fighter squads under army and corps air squads. This was caused by the lack of fighter units at the front and the high activity of enemy fighters.

In 1916, a formidable enemy appeared in the skies over the Russian front - the famous Fokker E. This rather clumsy monoplane was the first aircraft equipped with a synchronized machine gun, which brought significant advantages in air combat. The vehicle performed well in the west, where it earned the nickname “Fokker Scourge” from Entente pilots. Now they decided to use these fighters in the east, where their first appearance was noted in January on the Southwestern Front. Fights with such aircraft often turned out to be not in favor of the Russians, who flew mainly on the Farman and Voisin, defenseless from the rear hemisphere. Thus, on June 27, pilots of the 4th Army Aviation Detachment Soloviev and Brutsevich were forced to descend into enemy territory after an attack by a Fokker. On July 11, the crew of the 3rd Army Aviation Detachment, Staff Captain Beridze and Lieutenant Rtishchev, engaged in battle with a Fokker during aerial reconnaissance. They tried to fire back with a machine gun, but at an altitude of 1200 m an enemy bullet hit the gas tank and the plane caught fire. The pilots died, it was written in the order for the army and navy about awarding the heroes with the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

And yet there are known cases of victories of Russian pilots over a new enemy. Thus, on March 23, the crew of the 13th KAO (flying lieutenant Barbas, pilot non-commissioned officer unknown) while photographing enemy positions was attacked by a formidable monoplane. Despite all the advantages of the enemy apparatus, Lieutenant Barbas himself went on the offensive - he ordered the biplane to be sharply turned towards the enemy. The pilot began to circle the enemy in turns, keeping the enemy under fire from the observer. After several minutes of battle, the Fokker was hit: first it fell, then went into a tailspin. About 40 meters from the ground, the Fokker leveled off for a few moments, but immediately went into a vertical vertical and, after a terrible impact on the ground, caught fire. Although he fell in the German position, the battle itself and the fall took place in front of our troops.> After this battle, the pilots became Knights of St. George.

In 1916, the Russian Imperial Air Force took its rightful place in the structure of the Russian armed forces. The aircraft fleet was replenished with new types of aircraft: “Moran-monocoque”, “Nieuport-10/11/12”, “Spad A.2”, “Farman-27/30”. By the end of the year, there were 724 aircraft at the front. In total, in 1916, Russian aviators made 15,435 combat flights with a total duration of 25,686 hours. Problems with equipment and personnel, characteristic of 1915, still remained, which continued to affect the nature of the losses: of all the dead, 52% were victims of equipment failures; 23% crashed due to pilot errors; 18% were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire and 7% died in air combat.

Illustration copyright RIA Novosti Image caption The Ilya Muromets aircraft was intended as a passenger aircraft, but was converted into a bomber

On December 23, 1914, Emperor Nicholas II approved the resolution of the military council on the creation of the world's first bomber squadron. At that time, the Russian Empire had one of the largest aviation fleets.

However, the readiness of Russian aircraft for combat at the beginning of the war left much to be desired. After just a few months of hostilities, many squadrons found themselves in a critical situation due to worn-out airplanes and engines.

As aviation historian Vadim Mikheev notes, one of the reasons for the crisis was the so-called “engine famine,” since the production of aircraft engines in the Russian Empire clearly did not meet the needs of aircraft manufacturing.

Although the country was actively building factories for the production of aircraft engines, by the beginning of the war they had not yet been put into operation, and the engines had to be purchased abroad.

In addition, by the beginning of the First World War, there was also a personnel crisis in the aviation industry: for 263 aircraft there were only 129 qualified pilots.

All this led to the fact that in the winter of 1914-1915 the country's military leadership had to hastily rearm air squadrons and increase the production of pilots in aeronautical schools. However, even after this, Russia continued to lag behind its main enemy, the German Empire, in the field of aviation.

“While the Germans fly over us like birds and throw bombs at us, we are powerless to fight them...” wrote the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Mikhail Rodzianko, in June 1916.

"Air heroes"

The most original and advanced development of Russian aircraft manufacturers at the start of the war was the four-engine biplane Ilya Muromets. It was from these aircraft that the world's first bomber squadron was composed.

The aircraft was created under the leadership of Russian aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, who by that time had become famous for creating the world's first four-engine aircraft, the Russian Knight.

Initially, Ilya Muromets was created as a passenger aircraft. It was equipped with a comfortable cabin, a bathroom with a toilet and even a promenade deck, which it was assumed that passengers could go out on during the flight, since the plane was flying at a very low speed.

With the outbreak of war, it was decided to convert the flagship of the Russian air fleet into a heavy bomber. The planes were covered with steel armor, equipped with a weapon for firing at German Zeppelins and other weapons.

However, heavy armor and massive on-board weapons significantly increased the weight of the aircraft and made it more vulnerable in a combat situation. And among pilots accustomed to light and maneuverable aircraft, the huge Ilya Muromets did not cause much delight.

In addition, there was no complete clarity about what combat missions should be entrusted to the “air heroes.”

A participant in the First World War, aviation historian Konstantin Finne recalls an incident in 1915, when the chief of staff of one of the armies suggested to the commander of one of the biplanes, Captain Gorshkov, to raid a German airfield in the city of Sanniki, scatter the enemy with machine-gun fire and burn enemy planes and hangars.

“Captain Gorshkov responded to this proposal with humor that he would carry out this combat mission only if he was awarded the St. George Cross and that someone should deliver this award to the German airfield in advance so that Gorshkov could pick it up there,” writes Finne.

Exploits of a Polynesian

At the same time, the crews of the Ilya Muromets aircraft managed to successfully conduct both reconnaissance missions and combat operations during the war, and the attitude of the army command towards these bulky machines gradually changed for the better.

For example, in March 1915, one of the crews managed to bomb a railway station in East Prussia and sow panic among the German military. The German press wrote that the Russians had airplanes that caused great damage and were invulnerable to artillery.

Some aviators and gunners of the Russian "air heroes" were awarded the highest army awards. Among them were the commander of one of the crews, Joseph Bashko, and a mechanic-gunner of Polynesian origin, Marcel Plya, who was awarded the Cross of St. George, III and IV degrees.

While the Germans fly over us like birds and throw bombs at us, we are powerless to fight them... Mikhail Rodzianko, Chairman of the State Duma of Russia (1911-1917)

In April 1916, Plya took part in an air raid on the Daudzevas station fortified with anti-aircraft guns on the territory of modern Latvia and managed to repair damaged engines during the flight, for which he was promoted to rank.

In November of the same year, the Polynesian proved himself in another air battle. By that time, he had already established himself as a marksman, and he managed to shoot down two of the three German fighters that sat on the tail of the Ilya Muromets.

“The first fighter, having an elevation of 150 meters, began the attack from a distance of 300 meters. He opened fire in a dive. Almost simultaneously Plya answered him. The upper machine gun also spoke. The German jerked to the side, turned over and began to fall randomly. Then he went on the attack the second. The fly did not allow him to take aim and the first opened fire. The fighter, without changing the dive angle, slipped past the Muromets and rushed to the ground. The third walked in circles a little, turned around and departed on his own," - this is how the Polynesian’s feat is described in the book “Wings of Sikorsky ".

After this, Marcel Plea made several recommendations and comments regarding the design of the Ilya Muromets, which were taken into account by Igor Sikorsky.

The first Russian aces

The combat capabilities of Russian aviation at the beginning of the war were very limited. Unlike the Ilya Muromets, light aircraft were not armed with machine guns and were designed primarily for reconnaissance work. Therefore, the only effective way to shoot down an enemy plane was to ram it. The first person in the world who was able to do this was the Russian military pilot Pyotr Nesterov.

Before the start of the war, Nesterov became famous as the founder of aerobatics: in September 1913, he managed for the first time to perform the famous “dead loop” on the Nieuport-4 aircraft, which later became known as the “Nesterov loop”.

Nesterov assumed that it was possible to shoot down an enemy plane by hitting the wheels of his aircraft and at the same time land safely after the ramming was completed, but few took this idea seriously: the aviator’s colleagues and associates called this plan suicidal.

Nesterov also came up with other options for ramming: for example, he developed a special knife on the rear limb of the fuselage for cutting the skin of an enemy airship. He also proposed tying a long cable with a load to the tail of the plane, which could be used to entangle the propeller of an enemy machine.

In September 1914, Nesterov managed to put the idea of ​​a ram into practice. In the skies over Galicia, a Russian pilot attacked an Austrian reconnaissance airplane of the Albatross system in his plane, but it ended tragically for him.

“Nesterov’s plane, gliding steeply, rushed towards the Austrian and crossed his path; the staff captain seemed to ram the enemy airplane - it seemed to me that I clearly saw how the planes collided. The Austrian suddenly stopped, froze in the air and immediately somehow swayed strangely; its wings moved up and down. And suddenly, tumbling and turning over, the enemy plane quickly flew down, and I could swear that I noticed how it disintegrated in the air," the Quartermaster General of Headquarters 3 describes this battle 1st Army Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich.

As a result of the dangerous maneuver, Nesterov’s plane was severely damaged, and the 27-year-old aviator himself fell out of the car and crashed to death.

In March 1915, another outstanding Russian pilot, Alexander Kazakov, managed to ram an enemy Albatross for the second time and then land safely. For this feat, Kazakov was awarded the St. George's Arms. True, after Kazakov, until the very end of the First World War, not a single pilot dared to use this dangerous technique.