ABSTRACT
One of the most striking features of Russian aviation in the twentieth century has been its separateness, its evolution for decades as a parallel universe in the realm of aeronautics. Human flight acquired a trajectory into outer space, the Soviet Union again allocated enormous human energy and economic resources in the ceaseless quest to maintain parity with the West. The genesis of the Imperial Russian Air Force may be traced to one event the flight of Louis Bleriot across the English Channel in 1909. Ideological commitments only reinforced the estrangement from the outside world. The Russian approach to aviation acquired a peculiar style of its own, a blend of Western technology and indigenous engineering. The late czarist era constitutes a distinct phase in Russian aviation history, indeed a golden age, a reminder that the story of aviation in Russia is not co-extensive with the Soviet era.
