This 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 inch black-paged photograph album, with captions in Russian, comes from the estate of Alexander de Seversky. It contains aerial photographs, images of the Russian officers and sailors, hangars and shipyards, and various float planes, some equipped with pontoons for use on ice. Aircraft seen in the photographs include the Sikorsky S-10 Hydro, Sikorsky S-5A, Sikorsky Il'ya Muromets on floats, Grigorovich pusher seaplane, Franco-British Aviation Co. Ltd. FBA Model C, and Maurice Farman M.F.11.
Scope and Contents:
This 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 inch black-paged photograph album, with captions in Russian, comes from the estate of Alexander de Seversky. It contains aerial photographs, images of the Russian officers and sailors, hangars and shipyards, and various float planes, some equipped with pontoons for use on ice. Aircraft seen in the photographs include the Sikorsky S-10 Hydro, Sikorsky S-5A, Sikorsky Il'ya Muromets on floats, Grigorovich pusher seaplane, Franco-British Aviation Co. Ltd. FBA Model C, and Maurice Farman M.F. 11.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
Arrangement:
The Alexander de Seversky Russian Photograph Album Collection is arranged in the collection's original orderby content type.
Biographical / Historical:
Alexander de Seversky (1894-1974) was born in Russian Georgia and graduated from the Imperial Russian Naval Academy. He took a postgraduate course at the Military School of Aeronautics where he learned to fly a Farman 4. Upon the outbreak of World War I, he began service with the Baltic Fleet as a naval combat pilot. Seversky shot down 13 German aircraft during the war and lost his right leg during a bombing mission in 1915. After the Russian revolution he became an American citizen and worked as a test pilot and inspector for the US government. In the 1930s he organized the Seversky Aircraft Corporation. Seversky set numerous speed records during the 1930s and is credited with playing a major role in important aviation technological breakthroughs.
Provenance:
Joshua Stoff, Cradle of Aviation Museum, Gift, 2005
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
