Air Forces sources on the Air Forces of Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Polish, Romania, Soviet in WWI.

World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Austrian.
 
Avram, Valeriu.
Crucile negre": aviatia Puterilor centrale deasupra României (1916-1917)
Editura Pro Historia, 2001. ISBN:9738520630.

Connors, John F.
Albatros, fighters in action.
Squadron/Signal Publications, 1981. ISBN:0897471156.

Lichem, Heinz von
Der Tiroler Hochgebirgskrieg, 1915-1918 im Luftbild: die altösterreichische
Luftwaffe.
Steiger, 1985. ISBN:3854230524.

O'Connor, Martin D.
Air aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1914-1918.
Champlin Fighter Museum Press, 1986. ISBN:0912173033.

Pitsch, Erwin.
Italiens Griff über die Alpen: die Fliegerangriffe auf Wien und Tirol im 1.
Weltkrieg.
Karolinger, 1995. ISBN:3854180667.

Schiemer, Peter.
Die Albatros (Oeffag)-Jagdflugzeuge der k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppen.
H. Weishaupt, 1984. ISBN:3900310157.

Schupita, Peter.
Die k. u. k. Seeflieger : Chronik und Dokumentation der
österreichisch-ungarischen Marineluftwaffe 1911-1918.
Bernard & Graefe, 1983. ISBN:3763754261.

Steinböck, Erwin.
Bewaffnung und Ausrüstung der österreichisch-ungarischen Flugzeuge.
H. Weishaupt, 1983. ISBN:3900310114.


World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Belgian.

Boschmans, Raymond.
Avec les as français; souvenirs de guerre aérienne.
A. Dewit, 1923.

Coppens de Houthulst, Willy, baron.
Days on the wing.
Arno Press, 1979, 1934. ISBN:0405121571.

Lampaert, Roger.
Van pionier tot luchtridder: geschiedenis van het Belgisch militair
vliegwezen voor en tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog.
De Krijger, 1997.

Mathieu, E.
Les débuts de l'aviation militaire belge.
Imprimerie typo. de l'Institut cartographique militaire, 1938.

Nélis, G.
L'expansion belge par l'aviation.
L'expansion belge, 1919.

Pieters, Walter M.
Above Flanders' fields: a complete record of the Belgian fighter pilots and
their units during the Great War, 1914-1918.
Grub Street, 1998. ISBN: 1898697833.

Vrancken, Ludo.
De geschiedenis van de Belgische militaire vliegerij, 1910-1918: een
geïllustreerde geschiedenis.
Musée royal de l'Armée, 1999. ISBN: 9071936163.


World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Hungarian.
 
Die Wegbereiter der österreichisch-ungarischen Luftfahrt.
1918-1938?

Boksay, Antal, vitéz.
A felhok katonái: a magyar hadirepülok története.
Aquila, 2001. ISBN: 9636791384.

Földi, Pál.
Harcosok az égen.
Anno, 1999. ISBN: 9639199311.

A József foherceg úr o cs. és kir. fensége fovédosége alatt renezett Hadi
repülogép kiállitás tárgymutatója.
Joseph, Archduke of Austria,
Honvédelmi Minisztérium. Magyar aero szövetseg.
A Kiállitás végrehajtó bizottsága, 1917.

Tesar, Petr Aharon.
Albatros D. II & D. III oeffag.
JaPo, 1998.


World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Polish.
 
Zajac, Józef.
Dwie wojny: mój udzial w wojnie o niepodleglosc i w obronie powietrznej
Polski.
Veritas, 1964.

Zajac, Józef.
W Szkocji i na Srodkowym Wschodzie.
Veritas, 1967.


World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Romanian.
 
Avram, Valeriu.
"Crucile negre": aviatia Puterilor centrale deasupra României (1916-1917).
Editura Pro Historia, 2001. ISBN: 9738520630.

Ionescu, Corneliu C.
Poetul înaltimilor, aviator Mircea Zorileanu.
Editura Militara, 1983.

Nicolau, Constantin.
Proba de foc: aminitiri: lunie 1916-ianuarie 1918.
Editura Albatros, 1983.


World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, Russian and Soviet.
 
Buzanov, D.
Dva primera operativnogo vzaimodeistviia voennykh vozdushnykh sil s
nazemnymi voiskami: (po opytu Mirovoi voiny 1918 g.). Voenno-nauchnyi
komitet TSentral'nogo soveta osoaviakhimi SSSR. Voennaia vozdushnaia
akademiia RKKA im. Zhukovskogo.
Izd. Akademii, 1935.

Durkota, Alan; Darcey, Thomas; Kulikov, Victor.
The Imperial Russian Air Service: famous pilots & aircraft of World War One.
Flying Machines Press, 1995. ISBN: 0963711024.

IUdin, Pavel IUr'evich.
Aviatsiia Rossii v gody pervoi mirovoi voiny: tekst lektsii.
Sankt-Peterburgskaia gos. akademiia aerokosmicheskogo priborostroeniia,
1994.

Machavariani, Mikhail Sergeevich.
Glaza - na iug.
"Merani", 1969.

Nikol'skoi, Sergei.
Na vozdushnom korable: iz dnevnika voiny 1914-1917 gg.
OMP-Press, 2001. ISBN: 5901300041.

Tageyev, Boris Leonidovich.
Aerial Russia; the romance of the giant aeroplane.
J. Lane, 1916.

Nastavlenie dlia boevykh dieistvii vozdushnoi divizii Baltiiskago Flota na
1917 god.
Tip. Morskogo Ministerstva, v Glavnom Admiralteistvie, 1917.

Early Sikorsky Aircraft Built In Russia

Igor Sikorsky

By Carl Bobrow

The work done by Igor Sikorsky in Russia between 1909-1917 is some of the most important in the annals of aviation development. During this period of time he designed, built and flew no less than twenty aircraft and as many variants.

Interestingly, the first area of aviation that Igor Sikorsky endeavored in was vertical flight, though his initial efforts in this area proved unsuccessful. Since there was very little known on the subject he was forced to design and build by intuition and rudimentary theories. After a lack of success with his first two helicopters he turned to the design and construction of airplanes, only to return successfully to helicopters some twenty five years later.

Sikorsky S-6

In April 1910, Sikorsky along with two other Russian designers, F.I. Bylinkin and V.V. Iordan, built a wooden biplane with a two cylinder 15 h.p. Anzani engine. Although it did not fly, since it was underpowered, it taxied and was the direct predecessor to the BIS No.2 which did fly in June of the same year. This original design, powered by a three cylinder 25 h.p. Anzani engine, was the third airplane of domestic design to fly in Russia. In November 1910, Igor Sikorsky started the long lineage of the 'S' series aircraft with the construction of the S-3. Equipped with a 35 h.p. Anzani engine the S-3 made a number of successful flights. This aircraft was soon followed by the S-4 biplane which was powered by a 50 h.p. air cooled Anzani engine. After an engine failure, which could have proved fatal for a less experienced pilot, Sikorsky recognized the necessity of utilizing a more reliable power plant. Incorporating the German built Argus engines, which were water cooled, Sikorsky constructed the S-5 in April of 1911. This was a very successful design and was capable of sustained flights up to an hour. It is interesting to note that Igor Sikorsky obtained his pilot’s license flying the S-5 as well as establishing four Russian records, for altitude (500 m/1,640 ft), distance (85 km/52.8 miles), speed (125 kmh/ 77.7mph) and duration (52 min.). One of the best examples of his early aircraft designs can be seen in the S-6 biplane. This original arrangement was tested in a wind tunnel to determine drag and other aerodynamic qualities. As a result its development proceeded quickly and was finished in three months. He made use of an aerodynamically clean airframe sporting a streamlined fuel tank as well as an aluminum radiator for the 100 h.p. Argus engine. Shortly after the S-6's first test flight Igor Sikorsky established a multiple world record for Russia when he took along three passengers and attained a speed of 111 kmh/69 mph. The award winning S-6A, which was a further development of his already successful S-6, proved even more successful and in March 1912, with four passengers, he attained a speed record of 106 kmh/65.9mph. 

Sikorsky S-6B

As a result of his many successes he was asked to join the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works (R-BVZ) as chief aircraft designer. The R-BVZ manufactured trains, airplanes, engines, and automobiles, and it was run by M.V. Shidlovskiy, who had insight into the importance of aviation's future. The engineering and technical staff at the R-BVZ was expanded by Sikorsky who brought many of them along with him from Kiev. This provided under one roof a wealth of knowledge and experience. The first airplane built by Sikorsky and his staff at the R-BVZ was the S-6B which was a modified version of the S-6A. It was developed specifically to enter the international military competition in July 1912, held by the Russian government. The S-6B featured a reinforced undercarriage as well as a gear for starting the 100 h.p. Argus engine from the cockpit, attaining a speed of 113 kmh/70.2mph with a load of 327 kg/720.9 lbs. Competing against other Russian designs, as well as foreign entries, the S-6B won first prize. This achievement not only set the stage financially and technically for the construction of the world's first multi-engine enclosed cabin aircraft which has come to be known as the 'Grand' but also established Igor Sikorsky as a world class aircraft designer.

Department of the Air Fleet

Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich

Whereas the prewar Russian military has generally been depicted as being technologically backward compared with the other great powers, this was not entirely true when it came to air power. After Louis Blériot’s flight across the English Channel in 1909, Tsar Nicholas II’s cousin, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, played an instrumental role in promoting aviation in Russia and was named the first commander of the Department of the Air Fleet, soon known as the Russian Imperial Air Service. In addition to raising funds for the purchase of French Blériots and Farmans, Grand Duke Mikhail sent Russian military officers to France for pilot training. By 1911, the Volkov Field Balloon School outside St. Petersburg had been expanded to include airplanes. Because harsh Russian winter conditions restricted the length of training, Grand Duke Mikhail saw the need to relocate to the warmer climate of the Crimea, opening the Sevastopol School of Aeronautics for army and navy officers. More significant, Russia possessed an innovative aircraft designer of its own in Igor Sikorsky, who prior to the First World War had designed one of the world’s first successful, large multiengine aircraft, the four-engine Ilya Muromet, which in June 1914 successfully completed a 1,600-mile round-trip flight from St. Petersburg to Kiev. As will be indicated later, however, Russia unfortunately lacked the industrial infrastructure needed to fulfill its own aircraft needs once the war began.

With the exception of Sikorsky’s Ilya Muromet, Russia’s aircraft were qualitatively inferior because most were older aircraft of foreign design that had already been decommissioned elsewhere, and the great variety of aircraft employed by the Russians created a logistical nightmare in terms of procuring parts and engines.

Although possessing an excellent aircraft in the Ilya Muromets, relied heavily upon imported French motors for its domestically produced aircraft as well as on French aircraft that had become obsolete on the Western Front.

Aircraft

Fighters

• Morane-Saulnier L
• Morane-Saulnier N
• Sikorsky S-16
• Sikorsky S-20
• Nieuport 10
• Nieuport 11
• Nieuport 17
• Nieuport 24
• Nieuport 27
• SPAD A.2
• SPAD S.VII
• SPAD S.XIII
• Sopwith Camel
• Sopwith Snipe
• Sopwith Triplane

Reconnaissance

• Anatra D
• Anatra DS
• Lebed XII
• Lebed XI
• Morane-Saulnier P

Bombers

• Sikorsky Ilya Muromets

 List of World War I flying aces from the Russian Empire

Pyotr Nesterov

Ramming attackperformed by Pyotr Nesterov

Stabs-Kapitan Petr Nikolaev Nesterov, flying Morane Saulnier G No 281 of the 11th Corps Detachment, Imperial Russian Air Service, rammed an Albatros two seater flown by Feldwebel Franz Malina (pilot) and Oberleutnant Baron Friedrich Rosenthal (observer), of Austro-Hungarian Flik 11 over the town of Zholkov on 26 August 1914. All three airmen were killed in the encounter.

Air Sport - "THE PETR N NESTEROV CUP"

Was donated to FAI in 1962 by the USSR in commemoration of Lt Petr Nikolaevich Nesterov, of the Imperial Russian Air Service. On September 9, 1913, Nesterov literally launched aerobatic history by performing the first loop in a Nieuport IV monoplane near Kiev. He was arrested for 10 days for taking undue risk with a government-owned machine, but later promoted to Staff Captain. The Nesterov Cup is an antique piece featuring intricate silver work and a depiction of Nesterov on the front. The trophy is awarded to the Men's World Team Champions of the World Aerobatic Championships. It was first awarded in 1962 to the Hungarian Team.

LINKS

Russian Aviationin WWI and Civilian War

WWI Aces ofRussian Empire