We will tell you about the talented Russian naval officer, scholar and
inventor. Long sidelined, he still remains the one who invented the world's
first airplane.
Alexander Mozhaisky was born in 1825 into a sailor's family. Following
in his father's footsteps, he made  a
highly successful naval career. In 1853 and 54 he circumnavigated the world
on board the frigate “Diana” reaching the Far East via the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. Losing the ship in stormy waters off the Japanese coast,
Mozhaisky suggested building a schooner and sail it back to Russia. He
made all the necessary blueprints, the Russian sailors got down to work
and, before long, the new ship was ready to set sail.
One reason why a professional sailor fell in love with the sky above is
that, standing on the deck of the still running “Diana” one day he caught
sight of the birds who were flying all around the ship. Watching their
flight, Mozhaisky started, for the first time in his life, thinking about
building something able to go up in the air and fly like a bird...
Quitting the Navy, Mozhaisky busied himself studying the fundamentals of
aeronautics. Looking at the stuffed birds in his office, he dreamed of
building an apparatus which, like a bird, would be heavier than air and
propelled by a motor. He eventually figured out the necessary design and
built a scaled down model of the world's first plane which he showcased
before a huge crowd in St.Petersburg in the fall of 1876. He put the model
on the table, wound up the spring which served as a motor and the plane
flew! Hundreds of people were watching in awe as the little winged aircraft
whizzed overhead. After that sensational show people realized that flying
was no longer an unattainable dream but something very real and not very
far away too.
Translating the project into life proved a near impossibility, though,
because Mozhaisky's brainchild was more than just an airplane, it was a
weapon and Russia was then at war with Turkey. Leading scientists were
busily developing new arms for the Russian army and hating to be the odd
man out, Alexander Mozhaisky joined in the effort designing a bomber for
Russia's fledgling Air Force. Fully aware of the danger posed by Mozhaisky's
new invention, Russia's enemies tried to put a damper on Mozhaisky's ideas
and enlisting the support of their high-placed friends in St.Petersburg,
they set up a panel which was working flat out to hold up Mozhaisky's effort
and even to belittle its importance. Unfazed by all that nagging interference,
Mozhaisky 
kept working on and eventually obtained a patent for his invention.
With that done, he moved on to build a life-size model. Because the government
refused to finance the project, he paid for everything from his own pocket
arranging for two steam engines of his own design to be built in Britain.
The long and arduous work was complete and, in 1882, the first plane was
finally in place braving official indifference and enemy intrigues.
Unfortunately, very little information has lived to this day to give us
a full picture of that groundbreaking test flight, but it is still enough
for us to say that Mozhaisky's was the world's first airplane that was
actually able to fly. The plane was very sturdy too. Mozhaisky's success
was a major boost to aircraft building everywhere with a slew of similar
projects following suit based on the underlying principle of a lift-producing
fixed wing. Britain and France were the first to embrace this method and
with a good reason too since it was a British magazine that blew the whistle
on the construction there of steam engines for Mozhaisky's plane.
After Alexander Mozhaisky's death, Russia's enemies tried hard to consign
his invention and his very name to oblivion giving all the credit to the
Wright brothers. And still, Mozhaisky's name lived on and, addressing members
of an international commission early in the 20th century, the President
of the Russian Technical Union hailed him as the man who invented the airplane...
08/24/05
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