Rain, wind and controversy at the first aviation week in
Russia
The Julian calendar was still used in Russia in 1910,
so the dates were different from those used in
western Europe.
Visitors in front of Baronesse de Laroche's
hangar. (1)
Léon Morane posing in his hangar while his machine is
being prepared. (2)
Edmond's Farman. "Edmond" was a
pseudonym, his real name was Edmond Morelle. (2)
Edmond in front of his Farman - note the big fan
shroud of the air-cooled Renault V-8. (2)
Joseph Christiaens in front of his Farman. (3)
Popoff's Wright has been placed on the starting
rail and is being prepared. "Nicolas
Popoff" was the name used in the Western press,
his given name was Nikolai Popov
(Николай
Попов). (1)
Morane, Popoff and Christiaens flying at the same
time against an unsettled sunset sky, probably on
Wednesday 11th. Christiaens' Farman in
recognizable by the short lower wing panels. (4)
Eugen Wiencziers in the cockpit of his Antoinette.
(1)
Christiaens striking a relaxed pose in front of the
"cockpit" of his Farman. The three tanks
are a characteristic feature of his machine. (1)
Edmond's Farman in front of Wiencziers'
crashed Antoinette. (1)
De Laroche as passenger in Edmond's Farman. (5)
Popoff. (2)
Baronesse Raymonde de Laroche, in the cockpit of her
Voisin but hardly dressed for flying... The
"baronesse" also flew under pseudonym, her
real name was Élise Deroche. (1)
Christiaens and de Laroche arm in arm, accompanied by
Morane. (1)
In 1910 St Petersburg was the capital of the Empire of
Russia, and after Moscow its second biggest town. The
population had doubled during the last thirty years and
reached around 1.9 million. It was an administrative,
commercial, industrial and cultural centre. It was also
an important harbour and naval base, despite the icy
winters when the river Neva and the Baltic were often
covered by thick ice.
The aviation week of May 1910 was organized by a
specially formed Aviation Committee under the auspices of
the Imperial All-Russian Aero Club. The venue selected
was the Kolomyazhsky racecourse, which was situated north
of the city centre. It had been used for flying since
1908, and in November of 1909 the French automobile racer
and pilot Albert Guyot displayed his Blériot there.
The meeting was an invitation event and six flyers were
contracted. Since aviation wasn't very advanced in
Russia at the time the majority were foreigners:
- Joseph Christiaens (Belgium), Farman
- "Edmond" (France), Farman
- "Raymonde de Laroche" (France),
Voisin
- Léon Morane (France), Blériot
- Nicolas Popoff (Russia), Wright
- Eugen Wiencziers (Germany), Antoinette
Christiaens, Popoff and Edmond had all participated
successfully in the Cannes meeting one month earlier.
"Baroness" de Laroche had participated in the
Heliopolis and Tours meetings, but in all fairness not
really achieved much there. Morane was to become a famous
pilot and constructor, but he had only been granted his
licence the month before and this was his first meeting.
The situation was similar with Wiencziers, who shortly
before the meeting had made a spectacular flight over
Strasbourg, circling the cathedral.
In the weeks before the meeting there were some
preliminary events. The first flights were made already
on the evening of April 25th, when Nicolas Popoff flew
several laps. He flew also on the 27th and the 28th,
particularly on the first day in sunny weather and in
front of big crowds. On May 4th Hubert Latham, who was
contracted to appear at the clashing Lyon meeting,
displayed his Antoinette, but without much success. A
huge crowd had gathered, but Latham only managed to get
into the air at the fourth effort. After flying for
around a minute one of the wings hit an earth mound left
after track maintenance work, causing the machine to
crash to the ground. The damages made further flights
impossible and the spectators had to leave
unsatisfied.
Sunday 8 May
The opening day of the meeting was attended by the grand
duke. Before the opening the aeroplanes were blessed by a
priest who sprinkled holy water on them, but it
apparently didn't help much, since the day was windy
and a light rain was falling.
The first flight was made by Christiaens, who only made a
short jump before touching down again. It was followed by
a three-minute flight by Edmond and a seven-minute flight
by Morane, who reached an altitude of 120 metres.
Christiaens followed, with a seven-lap flight of eleven
minutes. Edmond took off again, and soon disappeared from
the airfield, to everybody's surprise. Where was he
going? Morane made another flight, of ten minutes. Around
five o'clock the rain had stopped, but the wind
increased to 10 m/s, forcing the white flag to be flown.
There was still no sign of Edmond and people were
anxiously speculating over what could have happened to
him.
Towards the end of the afternoon the wind dropped to a
more manageable 5 m/s and the flights were possible, but
the six o'clock curfew was very close. Popoff's
crew, headed by Melvin Vaniman, the American explorer,
balloonist and photographer who would two years later be
killed in the explosion of the airship "Akron",
had been trying to start his engine all day and finally
managed. The local hero could finally take off, to the
tones of the brass band playing the national anthem. He
flew lap after lap while the crowds cheered wildly.
While Popoff was flying, Edmond's Farman suddenly
reappeared. He crossed the field, made a turn and landed
in the middle of it. He had decided to make a flight over
the islands in the Neva estuary, but a control cable had
broken and forced him to make an emergency landing in a
field, where he narrowly missed a ditch and immediately
was surrounded by curious locals. Despite not knowing a
word of Russian he managed to find two men who could rush
to the airfield and find his crew. The field where he had
landed looked awful, with bumps, potholes and ditches.
The mechanics thought it would be better to disassemble
the machine and tow it back to the airfield, but Edmond
refused and ordered them to make repairs on the spot, so
that he could return by air. He would only have one
chance, but he said that when he was a car race driver he
took risks like that all the time and this was no worse.
The takeoff went well and he could return to the
field.
Popoff finally landed after a 14-lap flight of almost 26
minutes, which unfortunately didn't count for the
official results, since it was make after the end of
official flying hours. The crowds were in uproar and the
organizers tried to make Popoff go in front of the
grandstands for celebrations, but the reserved Popoff
refused.
The race committee took a very dim view of Edmond's
escapade, since it was strictly forbidden to land outside
the airfield. They fined him 100 francs for the offense
and disqualified all his flights of the day. One of
Morane's flights was also disallowed, since he had
cut a pylon.
Monday 9 May
Official flights started at five o'clock on weekdays
and since the winds were still strong nobody wanted to be
first. Popoff had an excuse, since his crew had found a
broken landing skid that needed to be repaired. At around
half past five action started: Morane tried to take off,
but landed immediately after takeoff. Then Wiencziers in
his Antoinette collided on the ground with Edmond's
Farman, causing considerable damage to both machines.
Popoff's Wright lurched after leaving the starting
rail and hit the ground. The landing skids and the right
wing were damaged again, but according to his crew they
would soon be repaired. Within seven minutes three
machines had been put out of action!
Christiaens flew for just under ten minutes, the longest
flight of the day, and was followed by Morane. After two
days of flying the total official time was exactly one
hour: 32 minutes by Christiaens, 26 minutes by Morane and
two minutes by Edmond.
Tuesday 10 May
The weather improved on the third day of the meeting and
there was considerably more flying. Christiaens made
several flights totalling one hour and 28 minutes. During
one them he flew out over the Baltic towards the
Kronstadt naval base on the island of Kotlin, some 30 km
west of central Saint Petersburg. He flew over the
anchored ships and reached an estimated altitude of 200
metres.
Popoff was in the air during a total of one hour and
eleven minutes and reached an altitude of 454 metres
before a cylinder of the engine failed and he had to make
an emergency landing, touching down heavily. Morane flew
one hour and five minutes and reached 270 metres, but
since neither Popoff's nor Morane's flights were
officially measured they couldn't be counted for the
altitude prize. After the end of the day's official
flights Christiaens made some passenger flights, one of
his passengers being the Spanish dancer Tamara, who was
treated with a flight at 100 metres altitude. The
machines of Wiencziers and Edmond were still being
repaired and the Voisin of "Baronesse" de
Laroche had still not been seen.
Wednesday 11 May
The weather was warm and there was not a cloud in sight.
Popoff was eager to improve his results, but his engine
again refused to run. Christiaens took off, landed and
started a second flight while the Wright crew was
working, Vaniman in despair remarking that
"Christiaens can fly when he wants to".
Popoff's engine didn't want to cooperate until
seven o'clock, but then he took off for what would
stand as the longest flight of the meeting. Morane was
also allowed to take off, making it three aeroplanes in
the air against the sunset
"reflecting on
themselves its golden glow and, intoxicated by its beauty
and grandeur, boldly cut through the air in all
directions" according to a reporter.
Comparing the three flyers, another reporter likened
Morane's flying with subtle watercolour painting and
Popoff's with a master painter capturing wide broad
impulses, while he thought little of Christiaens'
unspectacular workmanlike flying. Similar observations
were made at other meetings, but reflecting on it in
technical terms Christiaens simply flew a Gnôme-engined
Farman, probably the best machine available in the end of
1909 and the beginning of 1910; reliable and neither
underpowered nor inherently unstable...
Morane was first to land, followed by Christiaens, while
Popoff kept flying and flying. The sun had set, but
around the field torches and bonfires were lit. After two
hours and eight minutes the engine failed again and he
had to land. Delirious celebrations broke out and people
carrying torches broke through the barriers to greet
their hero. Popoff, however, wanted none of it, declaring
that he was terribly tired and needed to rest, and
finally managed to escape to his hangar. He was
disappointed that the engine had again given up,
depriving him of the chance to break the world endurance
record. Christiaens longest flight of the day was 1 h 37,
while Morane's several shorter flights added up to 2
h 02.
In the local press there were complaints that Popoff had
to fly the old-fashioned and unreliable Wrights, and
particularly with inferior French-built Barriquand &
Marre engines instead of the better engines of the
German-built Wrights, while the foreigners had access to
better machines. A subscription campaign was started in
order to provide better aeroplanes for the Russian
pilots.
Thursday 12 May
The strong winds returned and only very short flights
were made. The only one to reach any altitude was Popoff,
but his effort ended after two minutes. He crashed
heavily from fifteen metres when he was caught by a gust.
People rushed to the accident site, but were relieved to
see Popoff manage to get out of the tangled wreckage
without aid. He wasn't badly injured, but complained
about some chest pain. The accident reinforced his status
as the lone hero who flies when none of the paid foreign
professionals dares. Popoff said that the accident was
his fault for underestimating the wind, but added that
the team had a second machine, a brand new one that had
never flown, that could be readied in a couple of
hours.
Christiaens and the other foreign flyers protested this
and demanded that if he used a second machine the flights
made on the first machine should be disqualified from the
competitions. Heated discussions followed and the foreign
pilots declared that they would not fly if Popoff's
times were allowed.
Friday 13 May
The strong winds continued all day and nobody could make
any flights, so the threatened pilot strike never really
came to happen. The controversy about Popoff's new
machine continued on the airfield and in the press, which
naturally supported Popoff's case and condemned the
unsportsmanlike foreigners. The organizers, faced with a
blackmail situation and conflicting opinions, finally
sent a telegram to the International Sports Commission in
Paris, requesting them to urgently give their
judgment.
Saturday 14 May
The reply from Paris arrived during the morning: Time may
be counted for flights on different machines if the
contracts for the meeting were concluded for individual
pilots rather than for certain aeroplanes, and if there
were compelling reasons. Faced with this decision from
the highest authority the foreign flyers had to give up
and accept the humiliation of defeat.
The descriptions of the mayhem of the last three days of
the meeting are rather sketchy and conflict somewhat in
the reports of the meeting, but the following is an
attempt to make sense of the events. If you know of an
accurate report please contact us so that the text can be
corrected!
The sky was clear and the winds had reduced somewhat on
the Saturday, so all fliers tried to make flights. The
day was still a disaster, because almost nothing was
achieved and all six fliers had damaged or unserviceable
machines at the end of the day. Popoff was the first to
take off, but didn't even manage a complete lap
before his machine began to "writhe in agony",
according to an observer. He lost control over his brand
new Wright during a tight turn and crashed into a
palisade. Fortunately he could once again miraculously
crawl uninjured from a mangled wreck - for the second
time in three days! The accident was blamed on a wire
that had come loose.
Soon thereafter Wiencziers' engine failed after a
flight of four minutes and forced him down immediately in
front of the grandstands. His landing gear was damaged,
but could be replaced in a couple of hours. Then Edmond
and Christiaens flew, Edmond with two passengers,
princess Sophia Dolgorukov and Baroness de Laroche.
Morane made a flight of eight minutes, the day's
longest, but he crashed into Christiaens' Farman
after landing. Edmond also broke the wheels of his Farman
when landing. The Baronesse, whose fancy clothing and
habits of drinking champagne with officers in her hangar
instead of flying had been the target of some ridicule in
the local press, finally made her first flight. It lasted
only three minutes, and the elevators were broken during
the landing.
Sunday 15 May
It rained torrentially all day. Edmond and Christiaens
had repaired their machines and tried to make flights in
order to please the crowds, but had to give up. The
organizers had to give the money back to the
ticket-holders and persuaded the flyers to stay on for an
extra day.
Monday 16 May
The extra day of the meeting was visited by the emperor,
Nicholas II, who was accompanied by prince Heinrich and
princess Irene of Prussia and a big entourage of
ministers and nobility. The emperor expressed great
interest in the event and despite strict security
measures made a thorough visit of the hangars, where the
crews described how the flying machines worked.
It was still quite windy, but several pilots flew despite
the tricky conditions. The longest flight was made by
Christiaens, who flew ten laps of the course. Baroness de
Laroche made a twenty-minute flight, reaching a height of
200 metres, claimed to be an altitude record for
women.
The meeting unfortunately ended with a nasty accident.
After a ten-minute flight Morane lost control over his
Blériot and crashed into Christiaens' stationary
machine, which was surrounded by interested visitors.
Several people were injured, particularly airship general
Alexander Kovanko and V. S. Krivenko, aviation writer at
the newspaper "Novoye Vremya". They were both
reported to be in very serious condition. Some reports
stated that Kovanko died from his injuries and obituaries
were published in several European aviation magazines.
This was not true, though, he continued to serve Russian
aviation and didn't die until 1919. The authorities
confiscated Morane's machine and prize money, and
ordered him to remain in St Petersburg at the disposal of
the police.
Conclusion
The meeting can hardly be called a success. The inclement
weather meant that there were really only two good flying
days, and the numerous accidents and resulting damaged
machines also restricted the amount of flying. The
foreign pilots' unsportsmanlike threats to go on
strike in order to remove Popoff from the contest were
very negatively reported and left a sour aftertaste. From
a financial point the meeting was a success, however: It
had cost 106,000 roubles to organize the meeting and the
income from ticket sales was 120,000.
After the meeting all the flyers were decorated with the
Imperial Order of St. Anne and the mechanics were given
silver medals. In addition, the czar gave the flyers
expensive gifts: Popoff got a gold watch and chain,
Morane and Edmond received gold cigarette cases,
Wiencziers and Christiaens got gold watches and chains
and Mme de Laroche was presented with a gold bracelet,
all the gifts decorated with diamonds and with the
Russian coat of arms.
The Farmans of Christiaens and Edmond were bought by the
Russian government after the meeting. Edmond was employed
to stay in Russia for two months in order to serve as
instructor for the officers who would use the machines.
Morane's machine also remained in Russia, bought by a
Mr. Vasiliev.
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