This is a newest part of my site, yet I have been interested in the topic for many years. My interest was divided between the early history of the Russian aeronautics, as I am an aviation engineer by education, and a history of a small Russian city Gatchina, as I was raised there. Surprisingly, the Gatchina was one of the places where the early aviation in Russia came to being. There was an airfield, one of the first in Russia, dirigable "America-II" made a stop near Gatchina on the way to the North Pole, 1st parachute was tested by Kotelnikov near Gatchina. I was an avid air-modeller back in 70s, thanks to my dad, who was (and still is) a head of a local technical club for children in Gatchina.

So, in this section, soon you will be able see the following:

- about 100 b&w photos about the aviaton history in Russia: pilots, aeroplanes, etc. 10 years ago I was working in one of the archives in Russia and that's how I found these pictures. There were printed from the glass original negatives. Very high quality for 1900s. Some of the photos were featured in my article in "Air&Space magazine in 1983." All photos are 7 in. x 9 in.

The photo below was taken at the entrance to the "1st Russian Aero Exhibition in St.Petersburg" in fall 1912. It was sponsored by the Grand Duke Alexander Michailovich and you can see his magnificent arrival and a greeting crowd of the highest militray ranking officers and policemen.