AndersFedir

In 1911 around 10 p. m. on January 4 (Old Style), Kyiv citizens began to gather in the city public library at Hrushevskoho Street, 1 (now The National Library of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise) to take part in the “grandiose and unique”, according to the newspapers of that time, “Aeroball”, organized by the Kyiv Aeronaut Society.

Dances, orchestra, excerpts from ballets of the Kyiv Theater and the opportunity to see photos of various aircraft, touch the biplane designed by Igor Sikorsky and aircraft engine Anzani Moteurs d’Aviation (Sikorsky bought it in Paris), which made all Kyiv to envy and aviation monoplanes, aerostats by other engineers, winter garden, sideboard, lighting effects...

And all this was held to raise the funds Fedir Anders lacked for the launch of the first Ukrainian civilian non-rigid airship.

Today we would say that his crowdfunding campaign was successful, and the benefactors were motivated to fund the project because Anders designed and crafted almost all of the details at his own expense. On the other hand, in the early twentieth century, support for innovation was in trend, as it is now.

Like most startupers, Anders built his airship practically in the garage, in the backyard of his friends’ homestead.

The airship “Kyiv” had a classic design: a spindle-shaped envelope filled with hydrogen, which was lighter than air and was made to the order of the engineer in St. Petersburg in Society of the Russian-French factories of rubber, gutta-percha and telegraph productions “Conductor”, and the gondola connected to it by rope slings. An engine and other mechanical devices were installed on one side of the gondola, and a small metal basket for passengers was installed on the other. By the way, the engine which cost all the funds raised during the “Aeroball”, was of the same brand Anzani , had 25 horsepower and a water cooling system.

In the fall of 1911, the airship was ready.

It was first launched into the sky on a leash. A public display in the garden of Merchant Assembly (now it is Khreshchatyi Park near the National Philharmonic) was held on this occasion. And on October 22 (October 9 according to Old Style) “Kyiv” made the first controlled flight.

The next day, the newspaper Kievlyanin (Russian pre-reform: Кіевлянинъ) wrote:

“Due to lack of hydrogen, passengers did not take part in the flight, and the aircraft designer took to the air only with a mechanic.

The flight started at 5:15 p. m. in calm windless weather. Fedir Anders took the pilot’s seat, and Mr. Vesser took the mechanic’s seat. The engine was idling a few minutes before lifting and, having tested its operation, Fedir Anders gave the order to launch the airship.

The free ‘Kyiv’ gradually rose to a height of about 30 meters. Then the propeller was turned off and, following the keel, the balloon slowly floated through the air in the direction of Volodymyr The Great Monument. Then it turned right and flew over Podil.

For almost twenty minutes, Fedir Anders was performing various evolutions, describing circles, eight flight maneuvers and curves, then rose to a height of 200 meters and directed the airship to Vyshhorod. Gradually decreasing the distance, ‘Kyiv’ disappeared from view at approximately 6 p. m.”

Airship “Kyiv”

Arriving in Vyshhorod, the airmen circled over the city and returned to Kyiv, where they landed at about 7 p. m.

To recoup the cost of manufacturing and maintenance of the airship, Anders organized the first commercial flights in the then Empire. Anyone wishing for 50 kopecks and students for 27 kopecks could “fly over” the garden of Merchant Assembly to Trukhaniv Island.

At the same time, Anders was modernizing the airship: he increased the volume of the envelope to 1000 m³, installed a new 60 horsepower engine, and increased the number of passenger seats to four. But in the late summer of 1912 (Old Style), the newspapers published disappointing news:

“Fedir Anders took off on the airship ‘Kyiv’ in the direction of Chernihiv at 5 p. m. on August 29 from the Sports Ground in Kyiv. The airship ‘Kyiv’ was constructed by aircraft designer Fedir Anders, the father of pilot Viktor Anders... A telegraphic message from pilot Viktor Anders was received yesterday (on August 30, ed.) in Kyiv indicating that airship ‘Kyiv’ had burned down 10 versts from Ostroh, but the pilot was uninjured.”

The loss of the dirigible did not stop the engineer-inventor, and in October 1912 he demonstrated the members of the Kyiv Aeronautical Society a model of hydrodirigible of rigid construction “Kyiv-2”, and later, in 1921, presented the design of the airship with a capacity of 44,000 m³ and 100 passenger seats. The envelope of this airship was to be made of duralumin sheets and could change its volume during the flight, which allowed the airship to maneuver better. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds, these ideas remained a dead letter. The only airship Anders lifted into the sky was “Kyiv”.