Imperial All-Russian Aero Club
The Imperial All-Russian[1] Aero Club (Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub or Императорский Всероссийсский Аэро-Клуб, period spelling Императорскій Всероссийсскій Аэро-Клубъ)[2] was Russia's most prominent early aeronautical society.
The All-Russian Aero Club was established in St. Petersburg, Russia, in late 1907 or early 1908. The date on its charter is 29 January 1908 (Gregorian).
It received official sanction ca. 3 Apr. 1909 when Tsar Nicholas II granted its members the honor of adding the prefix "Imperial" to the club's name; from then on, it was the Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub and known by its initials as IVAK (ИВАК). It was admitted to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) at the FAI's meeting 30 Sept. 1909. As the FAI member for Russia, it licensed all pilots in Russia.
Beginning in 1908 and apparently lasting until 1917, proceedings (Zhurnaly) were published in the journal Vozdukoplavetel. According to Braunbeck's, by early 1910 there were chapters in Odessa, Rostow on the Don, and St. Petersburg; 1910-1911 Jane's calls these branches. Hardesty states that by the end of 1912, there were affiliates in Moscow and Kiev and branches in such remote centers as Saratov, Irkutsk, and Vladiostok. IVAK appears to have become defunct with the Russian revolution in 1917. Russia did not attend the FAI Reunion (i.e., meeting) in October 1919 and at that time was in arrears of its dues and was not answering its correspondence. It was decided to keep the club on the FAI roster on the chance that it would reform and come to the aid of the FAI.
In 1909, the membership was drawn from the aristocracy and the upper levels of the bureaucracy. IVAK was reported to have from 700 to 874 members in 1910, of which only two percent had any direct ties to aeronautics. For a time there was a rivalry between the lighter-than-air camp, which possessed strong institutional resources, and the heavier-than-air camp, but it appears that ca. 1910, there developed a keen interest in heavier-than-air technology. The recruitment of engineers and mechanics who were essential to aviation activities meant the enrollment of individuals from the technical and commercial classes.
IVAK sponsored Russia's first major aeronautical event, the "First International Week of Aviation," 25 Apr.-2 May, 1910, Gregorian (9-15 May, Julian), patterning it after events held in Germany, From 8 Sept.-1 Oct., 1910 (21 Sept.-12 Oct., Julian), it held the All-Russian Aeronautics Festival at the recently completed aerodrome in St. Petersburg. Count Ivan Vasilievich Stenbock-Fermor was president in 1910; Count Y. Rostovoff was president, 1911; Vasilii Korn, the original founder, appeared to remain a member of prominence. However, membership declined to 360 in 1912.
On 18 June 1909, Count Chamberlin Palitsin was killed and his wife fatally injured in an accident involving the Army balloon General Wannowski. Two others were severely injured: the pilot, Captain Korbee, and Count Rostofftseff. Except for Korbee, all were inexperienced members of the St. Petersburg club. The accident was caused when the Count mistakenly pulled the rip cord. Gas escaped from the envelope, and the balloon dropped to the ground. By 1912, IVAK, the Moscow Society of Aeronautics, and the Aero Club of Odessa had each established a flying school and the military had agreed to pay a 500 ruble subsidy for each pilot graduated. The privately trained aviators fell short of military standards, however, and the military retrained the officers it had enrolled in the aero-club schools. According to Knox, in spite of Imperial and press encouragement, as of mid-1914, aeronautics in Russia had made no progress as a sport. He wrote that in January 1914, there were only 11 aero clubs in Russia, each sustained by a one keen local individual. Can't see what the 11 were. One of them would have been the IVAK which appears to have become defunct with the Russian revolution in 1917.
Affiliated with FAI on 30 Sept 1909. Address: 6 Mohawaia (or 6 Mohavia or Mochovaia), St. Petersburg (from at least 1909-1910); 10 Liteiny, St. Petersburg (1910-at least 1917); 11 Mochovaia, Petrograd (1918). Cable address=Aero-Club (1910)
References
- ↑ Palmer refers to this club as All-Russia or All-Russian; Nowara uses All-Russia; Hardesty uses all Russian. Here: All-Russia, the term used by Maj.-Gen. Alfred Knox, who served as British military attache in Russia from 1911-1917. "Всероссийсский" is an adjective, which would seem to settle this issue decisively for "All-Russian" if one needs to decide. "Pan-Russian" would work as well. "All Russia" is всё Россия.
- ↑ Viktorov, 1909, Aerial navigation in Russia, p. 57.
Sources
- 1909 NYT, 19 June; 1909, 1909 FAI Conference Statutaire Proces-Verbaux 12 (1910); FAI Conference Statutaire Proces-Verbaux (1910, 1912); FAI Conference Extraordinaire, 19-21 May 1919; Sommaire, FAI Reunion, 23-24 Oct 1919, in 1:1 Bulletin Officiel de la FAI (Jan. 1920); 1:1 Bulletin Officiel de la FAI (Jan. 1920); 1910-1911 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 298 (Nov. 1910); ACA annuals (1910-1917, 1919); 1910 Annuario dell' Aeronautica Primo 381 (Sept. 1910); Braunbeck's Sport-Lexikon: Luftschiffahrt 170; Aéro-Manuel 1911 223 (1 Oct. 1910); 1910-1911 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 298; 1911-1912 Annuario dell' Aeronautica 423 (Sept. 1911);1913 Aviation Pocket-Book 159 (Jan. 1913); 1918 Aviation Pocket-Book 274; Knox, With The Russian Army, 1914-1917 (London, 1921), xxiv; Ackerman and Blume, "Early Russian Aviation, Aero Clubs and Exhibitions," in 52 Yamshcik, The Post Rider (Toronto, June 2003) 46-48; Hardesty, "Early Flight in Russia," in Higham et al, Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century (1998), 22-28; Palmer, Dictatorship of the Air (20060, 20, 24-26, 31, 47-48, and 61-63 ; WorldCat.org and WorldCat-OCLC
- Palmer, 1995
| Organization names | Imperial All-Russia Aero Club; Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub (IVAK); Kaiserlich Russischer Aero-Club; Aéro-Club Impérial de Russie; Императорскій Всероссийсскій Аэро-Клубъ |
|---|---|
| Entity type | |
| Country | Russia |
| City | St. Petersburg |
| Affiliated with | FAI |
| Scope | National |
| Started aero | 1908 |
| Ended aero | 1917 |
| Keywords | |
| Key people | Ivan Vasilievich Stenbock-Fermor, Vasily Vasilievich Korn, Yakov Nikolayevich Rostovtsev |
| Wikidata id |
People affiliated with IVAK or Imperial All-Russian Aero Club or Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub or Императорскій Всероссийсскій Аэро-Клубъ
- Boris Nikitich Vorobiev (Occupations: Publisher • Engineer • Teacher, Tech areas: Airplane)
Organizations affiliated with IVAK or Imperial All-Russian Aero Club or Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub or Императорскій Всероссийсскій Аэро-Клубъ:
- Aero Club of Irkutz (City: Irkutz, Siberia)
- Aero Club of Rostow (City: Rostow on the Don)
- Imperial All-Russia Aero-Club, Odessa Branch (City: Odessa)
- Imperial All-Russia Aero-Club, St. Petersburg Branch (City: St. Petersburg)
- Saratov Aero Club (City: Saratov)
Publications by or about IVAK or Imperial All-Russian Aero Club or Imperatorskii Vserossiiskii Aero Klub or Императорскій Всероссийсскій Аэро-Клубъ
- Semenov, 1910, On the aerodrome of Gatchina (Simple title: On the aerodrome of Gatchina)
- Lebedev, 2014, First Airfields of Saint Petersburg (Simple title: First Airfields of Saint Petersburg, Journal: 29th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences)
