Training Aviation Park (УВП)
The Training Aviation Park (УВП) (February 1885 – May 1910) was a military school of the Imperial Russia Army on the outskirts of St. Petersburg (Volkova village) dedicated to the training of aviation officers.
On December 22, 1884, the famous Russia reformer and Minister of War, General Vanowsky, addressed the Military Council: "...... His Majesty the Emperor deems it necessary to provide...... funds for the systematic development of issues related to aviation, carrier pigeon posts and various towers developed and applied for military purposes in our country, and supreme instructions: to organize a special fund ......, the use of which is subject to the approval of the Minister of War, ...... formation of the ranks of aviation officers......"
Air Force
In December 1884, under the General Engineering Administration of Russia, under the chairmanship of Major General Boleskov, head of the electrical department, a "Commission for the Application of Aviation, Pigeon Postal and Alert Towers for Military Purposes" was formed. The secretary and clerk were Lieutenant Kovanko, a former graduate of the Nikolaev Engineering Institute.
According to the conclusions of the commission, in February 1885 the aviation corps was formed, the first regular aviation unit in the Russia army, headed by Lieutenant Kovanko. The contingent consisted of two warrant officers and 20 soldiers. The aviation team was placed in the barracks of the old artillery test site in the Volkovo field in the south of the village of Volkova.
On October 6, 1885, the first successful flight from Volkova to Novgorod was made in a France hot air balloon. The crew consisted of 3 people and was commanded by Lieutenant Alexander · Kovanko, the founder and leader of the air force. From here two hot air balloons were lifted off for the first time, named "Eagle" and "Falcon".
In 1887, the air force had 6 officers and 51 enlisted men. The officers taught soldiers such skills as gymnastics, telegraph code, photography, telephone use, construction of hot air balloons, inflating methods, making signal balls from parchment, operation of gas production devices and the use of steam winch.
The launch of the balloon "Falcon". St. Petersburg, 1885
On May 18, 1886, Kovanko conducted the first experimental aerial shooting over St. Petersburg. This marked the beginning of the development of aerial photography in the USSR. The first photo taken by Kovanko was taken at an altitude of 800 meters, and the second at an altitude of 1200 meters. Both photographs were taken with an ordinary telescopic camera in an inclined position on the optical axis, with a simple instantaneous shutter speed, and the photo size is 12 x 16 cm. The third photo was taken at an altitude of 1350 meters above the Petropavlovsk fortress with an approximately vertical axis of light.
This is the first Soviet aerial photograph taken by Lieutenant Kovanko. St. Petersburg, May 18, 1886.
There is the first pigeon station in the aviation park. Postal pigeons are used for long-haul balloon and airship flights to inform in the event of an emergency. Even carrier pigeons were carried on early airplane flights.
Training Aviation Park
In April 1887, the Air Corps was renamed the Aviation Park for Training Cadres, and in May 1890, the regulations for the Aviation Department were approved, and the Training Aviation Park was officially established by Military Order No. 126 of July 14, 1890. The name was also used for a shooting range for training officers and soldiers. Tests of "aerial bombs" were also carried out here, as well as the production of equipment for aviation units. To this end, the park has a balloon and net making workshop, a pigeon training station, a weather station, a machine shop and various laboratories.
The St. Petersburg newspaper Novo Zeit, May 16 (3), 1901, reported:
"On May 1, at the suggestion of the Chairman of the International Meteorological Commission, Dr. Geesel, the seventeenth international balloon flight was held from many locations in Western Europe (Paris, Strasbourg, Berlin, Munich, etc.), as well as from St. Petersburg. The balloon carries only the necessary automatic recording instruments for recording temperature, air pressure and air humidity at different altitudes...... The balloon lift-off took place at 8 a.m. sharp, in the grounds of the Training Aviation Park (Volkovo). ”
(View of the Aviation Park) This photograph was taken between 1900-1910.
In 1902-1903, the servicemen of the training aviation park took part in exercises in Red Village, Brest, Kursk and Vilnius, during which methods of using balloons to provide artillery services (reconnaissance, fire correction) and conduct aerial reconnaissance (observation) were tested. Having confirmed the feasibility of the use of tethered balloons, the Military Department decided to create specialized detachments with 65 balloons in the fortresses of Warsaw, Novo-Dalin, Brest, Kaunas, Osovets and the Far East. Observation balloons were used in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
Balloons in the training aviation park during the Kursk exercises, 1902-1903 years
Balloon "St. Petersburg". Lushun. Fort 6. 1904 year
Soldiers of the Balloon Company of the Training Aviation Park prepare the balloon for flight, on the right are Emperor Nicholas II and a group of officers. June 19, 1904.
Emperor Nicholas II and his entourage visit the gas tanks of the training aviation park. June 19, 1904.
Badges awarded to graduates of officer courses who graduated with a first-class grade.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a hangar was built in Volkovodan for the storage of balloons and airships - a huge building, and passengers on the Nikolaev Railway, as soon as they saw it, knew that they were approaching the station "Aviation Park".
Military personnel and spectators pose for photos with the airship next to the hangar. Volkovo. 1909 year.
Military airballoonists learn how to operate balloons, conduct tethered balloon experiments, and release sounding balloons. The birth of meteorology as a science is due to Russia: its founder was Mikhail · Mikhailovich · Pomoltsev, who in 1885-1906 taught at the military school in the Aviation Park, organized balloon lift-offs to study atmospheric phenomena and wrote the first Russian textbook on meteorology (1889).
Balloon release in Volkovo. 1909 year.
During this period, the Training Aviation Park (УВП) was headed by Alexander · Matvevivich · Kovanko, who rose from lieutenant to lieutenant general.
Alexander · Matveevich · Kovanko
In 1904, the Military Aviation School was established in the Training Aviation Park, with which Dmitry · Ivanovich · Mendeleev and Nikolai · Egorovich · Zhukovsky cooperated.
On July 18, 1907, the St. Petersburg newspaper Novo Zeita reported: "The balloon 'Training Aviation Park' (volume of 1,500 cubic meters), which was released on July 14, successfully landed south of Lake Ladoga, 40 versts from the station of Wojbakara, along the Vladimir railway line in the new Ladoga district of St. Petersburg province. The balloon crew (Captain Agapov, Lieutenant Cherpakov, Ensign Samoilo and Umants) flew in a straight line of about 85 versts, reaching a maximum altitude of 2050 meters and a minimum temperature of +5 ° C. ”
In 1908, the first Russia airship "Training" was built and tested on August 28. This is the first step taken by Russia in the creation of airships. It was built by the team of the Training Aviation Park, and the design was carried out by Captain Shabsky.
The airship "Training" is in flight. August 1908.
By the fall of 1909, the training aviation park received permission from the royal department for the use of test flights and airplanes at the airport. In the same year, the engineering department proposed to train the head of the aviation park, Major General Kovanko, to build 5 aircraft. Soon, two hangars were built in the designated area, and on September 22 the aircraft under construction were placed in the hangar in Volkovo.
“…… To carry out this, the engineering department ordered planes from the Wright brothers and Woison in France...... At the same time, 7 gasoline engines were purchased for installation on the aircraft and testing the suitability of different types of engines. The construction of five aircraft at the training aviation park is nearing completion, which will be tested at the Gatchina military airfield in the fall......"
The head of the General Directorate of Engineering, General of Engineering Aleksandrov, reported to the Military Council.
In 1910, the Training Aviation Park was reorganized into the Officers' Aviation School with aviation and balloon departments. On July 30 of the same year, the Russia airship "Thrush" made its first flight here, which was built entirely of domestic materials, except for the engine. The engine was originally ordered from the Lesnar plant in St. Petersburg and later changed to the Parnar-Lewasel plant in France. The balloon shell was made by the "Triangle" plant, and the four-bladed propeller was manufactured by the First Russia Airlines in St. Petersburg. "Thrush" became the first domestic airship to be accepted by the Russian army. The person responsible for the construction of the "Thrush" was Kolpicev.
"Balloons are made in one of the workshops of the 'Triangle' factory. 1909 year. ”
Airship "Thrush". Test flight in Volkovo on August 12 (July 30), 1910.
Aviation Park Senior Aviation Officer Group. In the center is Kolpicev (one of the first designers of the bombing sight, head of the construction of the Thrush), and in the second from the right is Kovanko. St. Petersburg, 1910
In 1911, after the construction of the Legion Airfield (now the Pilot's Park) in St. Petersburg, the Aviation Training Department was formed. On June 25, 1911, the airship "Swan" was launched from this airfield. This is the first airship ordered by the military department abroad.
Airship "Swan". Flight preparation. 1911 year.