The empire-s last aces: Russia in the skies of World War I

The empire-s last aces: Russia in the skies of World War I

Long before the Soviet air force, Imperial Russia fought a brutal and largely forgotten war in the skies of WW1

When we think of WWI-era aviation, what usually comes to mind is the ‘Red Baron’ and Zeppelin raids—in short, most people think of the Western Front in all its fury. However, few people know that during the First World War, Russia was waging its own aerial war, full of challenges and drama.
Dreaming of the skiesAviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky didn’t plan to build a bomber. What he designed was a luxury passenger airliner—a flying hotel with four 100-horsepower engines, a lounge and bedroom. The interior of the plane was heated by an ingenious design that channeled exhaust gases from the engines into a special pipe. The plane even had balconies.In 1914, the aircraft was stripped of all its luxury and transformed into the Ilya Muromets- type long-range bomber. War broke out and Russia repurposed everything for the needs of the army. 
The development of Russian aviation started even before WWI. In the fall of 1911, a dozen aircraft and an airship took part in exercises in the Warsaw Military District (Poland was then part of Russia). The aircraft were used for reconnaissance and communications. The result was quite impressive: the aviators accurately reported the location of the simulated enemy. Soon enough, they had to fight a real enemy. In 1912, the Russians sent a detachment to fight the Turks jointly with the Bulgarian forces. Experiments with light aerial bombs were carried out at this time. In short, a foundation for the development of aviation was laid.
In general, aircraft development progressed quickly in Russia. Foreign aircraft were assembled under license, and later, Russians began experimenting with constructing their own aircraft models. Russian aviation was very lucky to have an influential lobbyist. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, the first cousin once removed of Russian Emperor Nicholas II, was very fond of aeronautics and actively advocated for the establishment of aviation schools, the purchase of aircraft, and the development of aviation. Before the war, the Russian Imperial Air Force had 244 aircraft and 300 pilots; this was the largest air force among the belligerent powers.
Russia’s main problem during the time (and in fact, this challenge persists to this day) is that it had plenty of bright minds capable of understanding the benefits of aviation; it had original designs and small-scale production of unique aircraft. However, it lacked the industrial base to create a large, continuously replenished air fleet, one that would be resilient to losses and that could decisively influence the course of military operations.
Staff Captain Pankratiev, Guard Staff Captain Nikolsky, and others including Pyotr Chchelov and Alexander Pankratiev, pose with the ‘Ilya Muromets II’ in June 1916. Photo from Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology archive. At the beginning of the war, the Russian air force was organized into corps-based aviation detachments. At first, airplanes had to compete with aerostats: the army command considered the latter the primary means of aerial reconnaissance. In fact, there was initially a prejudice against aviators. One of the tragedies of the early days of the war—the defeat of the Russian 2nd Army in East Prussia—was partly due to General Samsonov’s mistrust of aerial reconnaissance. Having received a warning from pilots about a German force on his flank, he ignored it and instead chose to believe the intelligence, which did not confirm this information. The outcome was tragic; despite possessing a formidable new weapon, the commander failed to utilize its capabilities.
However, aviation firmly established itself in the battle formations. The Russian army quickly adopted aerial photography and less conservative military commanders made good use of it.
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