M A L Y S H P U B L I S H E R S

T i d f c e here is, probably, hardly a day when you, dear reader, do not
see an airplane in the sky. Perhaps you have already flown yourself?
Arrived at an airport. Climbed on board a handsome air-liner. Sat down
in an upholstered seat, fastened your safetybelt and turned to look
through the window— the porthole. The engines began to hum and the
plane rolled along the cement runway.
Soon it took off and flew up, higher and higher, and then rose above
the clouds. How wonderful it is to fly! But do you know that airplanes
came into being rather recently, no more that seventy years ago?
Since time immemorial people dreamed of tearing away from the earth
and flying like birds. Legends were created about flying people. There is
an ancient Greek legend about an inventor and architect Daedalus and
his son Icarus. Using wax and feathers, they made wings and rose up
into the air to escape from the island of Crete where they were held in
captivity. To tear away from the long fam iliar earth and soar high in
the air like birds! It felt so marvellous that Icarus forgot about his
father’s warning not to get too near the sun. He flew up so high that the
rays of the sun melted the wax, and Icarus fell straight into the sea. But
Daedalus safely reached Sicily and later returned to Athens.
Or let us recall the Russian fairy-tales: the witch Baba-Yaga flies on a
broom, Ivanushka— on the Little Hunchbacked Horse, Tsarevich Ivan —
on a magic flying carpet.
But fairy-tales remained fairy-tales, whereas people wanted to fly in
real earnest.
 FLIGHTS ON LIGHTER TH A N A IR CRAFTS

Who Was the First

to Take to the Air

Nobody knows exactly w here and w hen th e first attem p t

to fly like a bird was made.
Most likely such attem p ts w ere m ade in d ifferen t coun­
tries a t th e sam e tim e. T here is no reliable inform ation on th e
subject. However, everyw here people dream ed of flying and
attem pted to do it.
It is known th a t in R ussia m an rose into th e a ir about
three hundred years ago.
T h at happened in th e town of Ryazan. A clerk, nam ed
K ryakutnoy, w atching th e smoke of a bonfire risin g up, asked
himself: “C annot one somehow catch on to th e smoke and go
up along w ith it?” He m ade a balloon w ith a loop attached to
it, filled the balloon w ith th e hot smoke, settled him self into
the loop and flew up... h igher th a n th e birch trees.
B ut people were very backw ard a t th a t tim e. All who saw
him fly decided th a t he did it w ith th e help of evil spirits.
They even w anted “to bury him alive or else b u rn him ”— th a t
is how th e chronicles recorded it. B ut th en they took pity on
him and m erely chased him aw ay from th e ir town.

The clerk K ryakutnoy’s flight in R yazan

 Who Built
the First Balloon?

People h ad long noticed

th a t not only sm oke b u t hot
a ir also rose up. Am ong th e
firs t to decide to use h o t a ir
for flying w ere two F re n c h ­
m en, th e M ontgolfier bro­
th e rs. They m ade a balloon
o u t of p ap er and linen, filled it
w ith h o t a ir and th e balloon
flew up. It rose to a h e ig h t of
ab o u t 500 m eters. T his took
place in 1783.
T he b allo o n of th e M on tg o lfier b r o th e r s T he M ontgolfier b ro th ers
se n t th e ir balloons up w ith
an im als on board and even
w en t up them selves.
T he F ren c h scien tist
C h arles m ade a n o th e r ex p eri­
m ent. H e filled a balloon w ith
hydrogen, a gas w hich is lig h t­
er th a n air. In 10 m in u te s his
balloon rose to an a ltitu d e of
1,000 m eters. T he flig h t of
th a t a irsh ip lasted over two
hours.
E v er since th e n free flying
balloons began to rise up into
th e sky m ore and m ore often.

C h a rle s’ a e ro s ta t
T h e firs t a ir flight
Controlled Aerostats

B alloons opened th e w ay to th e skies; th e y rose up because

th ey w ere lig h te r th a n air. B u t you could n o t g et fa r on a
balloon lik e t h a t because it w as a n obedient p la y th in g of th e
w in d s— it flew w h erev er th e w ind blew. A nd people w an ted
to fly in th e d irection of th e ir own choice. How w as one to
control th e flig h t of a balloon?
In th e fifties of th e la s t ce n tu ry th e R u ssia n in v en to r
A rk h an g elsk y designed a balloon w hich looked lik e a boat,
w ith a sail an d w ings; th e w ings folded up on th e asc en t and
sp read o u t on th e d e s c e n t. T he w hole m ech an ism w as p u t in
m otion by a steam engine.
F ifteen y ears la te r th e in v e n to r Sokovnin suggested
m aking th e envelope of th e aero stat, not of a soft fabric b u t
of som ething rigid, some special k in d of cardboard. The
aero stat w as provided w ith two ru d d e rs— one for ascending,
th e other, for tu rn in g to rig h t or left.
In 1875 th e R ussian scientist D m itri M endeleyev w orked
out a design for a controllable a e ro sta t w hich could rise as
h igh as 11 kilom eters and even higher. To safeg u ard m an
from perish in g a t such a h eig h t, M endeleyev provided a
special cabin w hich would not let th e a ir o u t— herm etically
sealed cabin.
A erostats w hich could rise up to 11 kilom eters an d h ig h er
came to be called strato sp h eric balloons.

T he d esign of th e a e r o s ta t m a d e b y A rk h a n g elsk y , 1851

A boat-lik e c ra ft p o w ered b y a ste am en g in e

T he c o n tro lla b le a e ro s ta t d esig n ed b y N. S ok o v n in , 1866

Dirigibles

A d irigible is a controlled a e ro sta t, th a t is, an a e ro sta t

provided w ith a n engine to w hich a th r u s t airscrew (propeller)
is attach ed .
T he en g in e gives speed to th e flig h t and m ak es it possible
to control its direction. In a ta ilw in d th e dirigible can fly w ith
th e en gine sw itched off.
The d irig ib les w ere co n tin u ally perfected. They w ere given
th e form of a cigar, w hich helped to in crease th e ir speed.
P a rtitio n s w ere b u ilt inside th e balloon, so th a t in case of
dam age to th e envelope, th e escape of th e gas w ould be
lim ited to only one co m p artm en t an d th e w hole of th e
co n tain er w ould n ot collapse.
D irigibles served people well. H ow ever it w as dangerous to
fly them . In those days th e envelope of th e dirig ib le w as m ade
of a soft m a te ria l w hich w as easily in flam m ab le. T he inside
w as filled w ith hydrogen, a gas w hich w ould ig n ite a t th e
sm allest sp ark . Such a g re a t n u m b er of d irig ib les m et w ith
accidents th a t people stopped producing them .
H ow ever, in our tim e, w hen th e envelope of a dirigible can
be m ade of lig h t a llu m in iu m alloys an d filled w ith an
u n in flam m ab le gas, h eliu m , th ey no longer hold any danger.
A nd th ey are ag a in b eg in n in g to be b u ilt in a n u m b er of
countries.
D irigibles can now be provided w ith very pow erful
engines. Such dirigibles w ould be able to lift up to 500 tons
and m ore of cargo.
S tra ig h t from a p la n t a dirigible could lift a huge heavy
m achine, or enorm ous pipes for some pipe-line, or b u lk y and
heavy b u ild in g m a te ria ls an d carry th e m th ro u g h th e a ir for
h u n d red s of k ilo m eters to th e desired d estin atio n .
T his g re a t liftin g capacity of th e dirigibles m akes it
possible to build th e m as p assen g er a ir-lin e rs w ith spacious
salons, sw im m ing pools, play-grounds an d cinem a h alls.

1. A w o rld r e c o rd fo r d u r a tio n of flig h t

w a s m a d e o n th is d irig ib le in 1936
2. D irig ib le of R e n a rd a n d K re b s, 1884
3. D irig ib le of G iffard , 1851
4. D irig ib le T h e S w a n , 1907
5. Z ep p e lin D irig ib le, 1906
6. D irig ib le of M a ly k h in , 1886
FLIG H T ON W ING ED C R A FT

How Man Learned

to Glide

W hile some in v en to rs w ere busy p erfectin g th e airballoons,

others trie d to b uild m achines w hich w ould rise in th e sky freely
like a bird.
In R ussia, some th re e h u n d re d y ears ago one m an asked th e
ts a r to give h im eig h teen roubles to m ak e w ings like those of a
crane an d by flap p in g th e m rise up into th e air. He w as given
th e m oney and h e did m ake th e w ings b u t did not fly up. He
explained h is fa ilu re by th e fact th a t “those w ings w ere m ade
too h ea v y ”. He did not realise th a t m a n ’s m uscles are not a
sufficiently pow erful engine. T his fact h a d been proven long
before h is tim e by th e g re a t Ita lia n a r tis t an d scien tist Leonardo
da Vinci who h a d m ade a th o ro u g h study of m a n ’s anatom y.
W atching th e birds, people noticed th a t th ey can fly or soar
in th e a ir on w idely spread m otionless w in g s— t h a t is, th e y can
glide. A nd m an trie d to im m ita te th e birds.
The shop a s s is ta n t O strovkov from th e village of P ek h letse
n e a r R yazan co n structed w ings out of a b u ll’s bladder, giving
th em th e form of a steep-pitched roof. A nd th e chronicles have
it: “a stro n g w ind carried h im up, over people’s h ead s and th rew
him a g a in st th e top of a tre e ” . O strovkov’s w ings w ere h eld up
by a n a tu ra l a ir c u rre n t. H is flig h t w as of a so arin g kind.
Providing them selves w ith w ings m en w ould jum p down
from h ig h places and some of th em succeeded in gliding th ro u g h
the air. This kind of soaring or
gliding flight led to th e creation
of the g lid er— a flying m achine
with wings b u t w ithout any
propulsive engine.
It is a known fact th a t
Leonardo da Vinci made
sketches and b u ilt a model of a
glider, which was probably the
first in th e world.
The very first gliders were
very simple, alm ost like kites.
You m ust have seen kites being
flown or m aybe even have
flown them yourself—you ru n L ilien th al’s glider, 1894
holding th e end of a strin g in
your hand and th e kite, a t­
tached to th e strin g ’s other end,
rises higher and higher.
There were all sorts of glid­
ers built: w ith one wing, w ith
two wings and even w ith three,
the so called triplanes.
In our country th e first
glider was constructed in 1874.
But glider flying began to
develop particularly widely
about seventy years ago.
N estero v ’s glider, 1911
In 1910 th e fam ous R ussian

/
pilot Pyotr Nesterov boldly flew
a glider in th e town of Nizhny
Novgorod. However, gliders
could not fly any faster th a n th e
n a tu ra l air currents which held
them up in th e air. In the
m eantim e people w anted to fly
faster th a n th e wind, they
w anted to fly high and f a r — for
m any thousand kilom eters.

A sp o rts glider, 1948

M o z h a is k y ’s a ir p la n e , 1883
M o z h aisk y ’s a irp la n e ,
W rig h t a irp la n e , 1903

From Gliders to Planes

I t is now over a h u n d re d y e a rs ago t h a t th e R u ssian

in v en to r A lex an d er M ozhaisky th o u g h t of c o n stru c tin g a
controlled “fly in g m ach in e” h e a v ie r th a n air.
F or a n u m b er of y e a rs he stu d ied th e flig h t of b ird s and
constructed an d te ste d v ario u s m odels of fly in g crafts.
A nd a t la s t th e long aw aited m o m en t cam e.
M ozhaisky in sta lle d a n en g in e on h is c ra ft w ith th e help
of w hich th e c ra ft “could n o t only fly b u t ru n over th e ground
and float in w a te r,” as th e
R ussian n av al new spaper
Kronshtadt Vestnik
w rote in 1877.
M ozhaisky’s m achine h ad
all th e five essen tial p a rts of
th e m odern plane: w ings,
fuselage, engine (steam ) w ith
a propeller, ta il fin to en su re
th e sta b ility of th e craft, and
ch assis— th e lan d in g g ear
w ith w heels a tta c h e d — on
which th e fuselage of th e a ir­
plane rests.
The craft designed by A lex­
ander M ozhaisky is considered
to be th e firs t airp lan e in th e
world constructed in full size
and able to fly w ith a m an on
board.
Only 20 y ears la te r w ere
sim ilar airp lan es constructed
by other people: th e F ren c h ­
m an Ader, th e E n g lish m an
M axim , and th e A m erican s— B le rio t's m o n o p la n e, 1909
W rig h t brothers.
The W rig h t b ro th ers in ­
stalled on th e ir a irp la n e an
engine w hich used petrol for
fuel. T h a t engine w as sim ilar to
an autom obile one.
It w as m uch lig h te r th a n a
steam engine w hich w as heavy
and req u ired a heavy fuel. T he
W right b ro th ers m ade a
n um ber of m ore or less long-
range flig h ts an d convinced
people th a t th e fu tu re of av ia­
tion belonged to airp lan es.

R u s s i a A b ip la n e , 1911
 Higher, Faster, Farther

Thus people came to realize th a t airp lan es could fly to any

place and a t any m o m ent— w in ter and sum m er, day and
night, in tailw inds and headw inds. And above all, th e ir speed
was m uch g re ater th a n th a t of any other flying craft.
As a resu lt, th e building of airp lan es began to develop in
m any countries.
R ussian inventors and designers from th e very s ta rt b u ilt
m ulti-engined pow erful airp lan es according to th e stan d ard s
of those days. The first of them w as called T h e R u s s i a n
K n i g h t . It rose into th e a ir on May 13, 1913. It w as a
biplane w ith four engines. It w eighed 3,500 kilogram s. And
its liftin g capacity w as alm ost 1,500 kilogram s. It needed only
a 700 m etre-long ru nw ay to be airborne. And its flying speed
was 90 kilom eters an hour.
L ater an im proved model was b u ilt— The I l i y a
M u r o m e t s . In those days it flew h ig h er and fa rth e r th a n
any other. Several such airplanes w ere attach ed to th e Red
Arm y forces d u rin g th e Civil W ar. They bombed th e W hite
G uard cavalry, m ade reconnaissance flights, helped th e Red
arm ym en defend th e young Soviet Republic.
A fter th e October Revolution aviation began to develop
rapidly in our country. Test flights were m ade of a g ian t
airplane T h e S v y a t o g o r . The building of th a t powerful
craft had been started in 1913, b u t was delayed because of th e
F irst W orld W ar.
A num ber of fine airplanes w ere b u ilt in those days.
In 1934 in our country th ere rose into th e a ir th e g ian t
ANT-20, nam ed a fte r th e g re a t p ro letaria n w riter M axim
Gorky.
It was th e m ost pow erful flying craft in th e world. Its
wing span reached sixty-five m eters, th e len g th of its
fuselage— thirty-tw o and a h alf m eters. The airp lan e was
provided w ith eig h t m otors and could carry 80 passengers. It
could fly by day and by nig h t, in any w eather.

The I l y a M u r o m e t s a irp la n e
 In th e y ea rs before th e
Second W orld W ar our Soviet
a v ia to rs fly in g on airp lan e s
m ade by Soviet designers es­
ta b lish e d dozens of w orld re ­
cords for distan ce, a ltitu d e and
speed.
A ll so rts of a irp la n e s w ere
constructed. T hey began to be
used for sowing, for crop
d u stin g , for p u ttin g out
G rizodubov’s a irp la n e , 1910 forest and steppe fires, for
tra n s p o rtin g big and cum ber­
some cargoes.
T h en th e h elico p ter ap ­
peared, a m arv ello u s flying
craft. W here an o rd in ary a ir ­
p lan e h a s no chance of ta k in g
off or lan d in g , a h elicopter
saves th e situ a tio n . A n a ir ­
p lan e needs a ru n w a y b u t a
h elico p ter rises in to th e a ir
w ith o u t it. I t ta k e s off v e rti­
cally, from a fo rest glade, from
an ice-floe, or from th e deck
of a ship.
W ith every y e a r a irp la n e s
flew ever h ig h e r, fa s te r and
fa rth e r. A nd fin ally , th e m o­
m e n t a rriv ed w h en a n a irp la n e
ap p eared w hich flew a t a
speed of m ore th a n a th o u sa n d
k ilo m eters a n hour. T h a t w as
th e je t plane.

A irp lan e s:
1. ANT-20
2. MIG-21
3. IL-76
4. LA-5
S v y a t o g o r , 1916 5. PE-2
6. YAK-40
7. TU-144
 On M ay 15, 1942, th e Soviet A rm y pilot G rigori
B akhchivanadze m ade th e first je t p lan e flig h t.
Today m en are alread y le a rn in g to fly a irp la n e s a t speeds
of tw o an d a h a lf an d th re e a n d a h a lf th o u sa n d k ilo m eters
an hour. C om pare th ese m odern p lan es w ith those of tw en ty
or th irty y ears ago. T h eir speed is d iffe re n t, an d th e ir shape,
too, is noticeably d iffe re n t from t h a t of th e ir predecessors.
Tom orrow , an d th e day a fte r tom orrow , an d a h u n d re d and
two h u n d re d y ea rs from now m an w ill p e rsiste n tly continue
to storm th e skies. H e w ill le a rn to fly still fa s te r an d h ig h er.
As a m a tte r of fact, th e sto rm in g of th e skies h a s ju s t only
began.

H elico p ters:
1. KA-15M
2. V-12

2
SPACESHIPS

D esign of a ro ck e t by K ibalchich D esign of a ro c k e t by T siolkovsky

Scientific Exploit

You have already learned th a t m an has risen into th e air

on lig h ter-th an -air and on winged h eav ier-th an -air m achines.
B ut m an has continued his researches and has succeeded in
creating a craft, th a t is heavier th a n a ir and possesses no
wings, and yet is able to fly as fa r as th e Moon.
 Yes, you h av e guessed rig h t.
We are sp eak in g ab o u t space­
ships.
L et u s go b ack to th e end of
th e la s t cen tu ry , to M arch,
1881. A young R u ssian in v e n ­
to r, N ik o lai K ibalchich, w as
sittin g in a so lita ry cell of a
priso n an d w ritin g . H e w as to
be executed th e n e x t day as a
rev o lu tio n ary . H e h a d m ade a
bom b an d th ro w n it a t th e
ca rriag e in w hich th e m uch-
h a te d ts a r rode. T he im p erial
court condem ned K ibalchich to
d eath . A nd so h e s a t in h is cell
h u rry in g to fin ish h is g re a t
project, for th e n e x t day th e
execution w ould be ca rried out.
W h at w as h is project? N ikolai
K ibalchich, for th e firs t tim e
in th e w orld, designed a jet-
propelled fly in g m achine. T he
design consisted of a p latfo rm
w ith m e ta l s tru ts to w hich a
powder rocket engine is a t ­
tached. W hen th e pow der in ­
side th e com bustion cham ber
blew up, a pow erful je t of
b u rn in g gases w ould s p u rt o u t
of th e nozzle of th e rocket,
th u s th ru s tin g th e m ach in e up
in to th e air.
U n fo rtu n a te ly , K ib alch ich ’s
in v en tio n becam e know n only
a fte r th e G re a t O ctober R e­
volution. T ill th e n i t lay
b u ried in th e arch iv es of th e
ts a ris t police.
A Great Scientist

At approxim ately th e sam e tim e, in th e sm all town of

Kaluga, a teacher of physics, K onstantin Tsiolkovsky,
also began to explore th e idea of rocket flight. He dream ed of
m an’s flight to d istan t planets and, like K ibalchich, saw
rockets as th e fu tu re of spaceships. He suggested using liquid
fuel in the rocket instead of powder. And he worked out and
drew th e design of such an engine. And to th in k th a t he did
th is a t the tim e w hen people were ju st learn in g to construct
the first airplanes!
Nobody took his projects seriously, b u t Tsiolkovsky con­
tinued working.
A t the very beginning of th e tw en tieth century he
designed an artificial island floating in space. This island,
assembled out of a num ber of rockets, was to become a sm all
artificial moon.
Tsiolkovsky lived a long life and m ade m any discoveries.
He became a scientist of world renown.

Space Flights

The dream s of th e g reat scientists have come true.

Hundreds of Soviet-made artificial satellite s— sp u tn ik s— orbit
the earth . They effectively serve th e people by forcasting the
w eather, locating m ineral deposits, w atching out for forest
fires. They also ensure radio and television com m unication
between far removed points on our planet. O ur country was the
first in th e world to launch a spaceship w ith a m an on board.
The nam e of th a t m an was Yuri G ag arin — th e world’s first
cosmonaut.
 It took th e chief designer of our spaceships Sergei Korolev
a g re at m any years to create such a rocket-propelled
spaceship. He lived th ro u g h m om ents of joy and m om ents of
b itte r disappointm ent. The rockets w ould blow up before
ta k in g off, th ey would plunge down, refuse to fly. B u t th e day
came w hen all troubles w ere left behind. And now m an w ith
th e help of pow erful m u lti-stag e rockets is storm ing outer
space. Spaceships have reached Moon, V enus, M ars. Every
new sp u tn ik , every new spaceship is la rg e r and b e tte r th a n
th e one before. Look a t th e sp u tn ik s and spaceships th e a rtis t
h as draw n in th is book and you w ill see th a t th is is so.
It m ay so hap pen th a t you, my d ear young friend, will
become a pilot or a spacem an, or w ill design or construct
airp lan es and spaceships. I w ish you th e g re a te st success. And
every tim e you fly an a irp la n e or a spaceship, or w atch them
fly rem em ber th a t our country is th e m o th erlan d of aviation
and space flight.
 A le x a n d e r B e ly a y e v
HOW MAN LEARNED TO FLY
Illustrated by M. R om adia
T ran slated by V alentina Ja q n e
M alysh P ublishers

Moscow
P rin ted in the USSR
© UaA ireucTBO - M o r a n * . 1977