First Serb to Fly in Airplane

During his visit to France on April 5-27, 1910, Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjević, at the time Crown Prince of Serbia and King of Yugoslavia, flew onboard a Flyer 1 aircraft for which the French government had bought the manufacture license from the Wright brothers. Thus Prince Aleksandar was, definitely confirmed as the first Serb to fly onboard an aircraft.

By Čedomir Janić

Who was the first Serb to fly onboard an airplane in Serbia’s long aviation history that this year marks one hundred years of the first flights in airplanes on what is the territory of our country today has been the subject of longstanding speculation. It was believed that this was one of the officers or other officials that flew with young Russian pilot Maslenikov at the Banjičko Polje, near Belgrade, in December 1910. However, it was finally confirmed just a few months ago that the first Serb to fly in an airplane – a slightly earlier the same year - that this was none other than Crown Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjević, the future King of Yugoslavia. The event took place exactly one hundred years ago – in mid-April 1910.

This issue had also been debated at the about that time due to a short note carried by the Politika newspaper in April of 1910, but only recent research showed this note to be credible and that it may be claimed with certainty that Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjević had indeed flown onboard an airplane in April 1910.

These newly established facts discovered in the French and Austro-Hungarian press as well as in the Archives of Serbia, confirm that Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjević during his visit to France on April 5-27, 1910, had accepted an offer from one of the most popular airmen of the time, Count de Lambert, and that at the air field in Villacoublay, near Paris, Aleksandar and de Lambert had performed a flight on the Flyer 1 airplane. It is also noteworthy that this was one of the aircraft designed and flown by the Wright brothers. The license to manufacture Flyer 1 was bought by the French government from the Wright brothers during their visit to France in 1908 and 1909, and not long after that French pilots began flying on these aircraft, Count de Lambert included.

Prince Aleksandar had known from before Count de Lambert, who made a name for himself by flying around the Eiffel Tower and who in July 1909 participated in the race to cross the English Channel. On April 15 or 16, 1910 - the exact date still remains undetermined - the two of them drove to the air field just three kilometers outside Versailles, where the best known airplane in aviation history - the familiar biplane – awaited them. It had not wheels but relied on skis and was assisted by a catapulting device. Count de Lambert and Prince Aleksandar sat side by side, as there was a pair of commands. Although the circle they made around the air field was only several kilometers, this was enough for the prince to feel the appeal of flying.

This event invited great attention in the press in Europe at the time. Among others, this is how the Vienna-based magazine Wiener Bilder in its 19^th issue dated May 11, 1910, covered the event:

Serbia’s Crown Prince in Airplane

Serbian Crown Prince Aleksandar, currently visiting Paris, may boast of being the first future ruler to have undertaken a flight onboard an airplane. A number of prominent figures had already boarded blimps – we may recall the King of Wuerttemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden and many others. But no member of a royal family trusted unstable and unsafe airplanes with his life. The Crown Prince of Serbia, who has a longstanding interest in aviation, in Paris contacted Count de Lambert with a request to take him on one of the flights. Count de Lambert is the renowned airman that carried out the sensational flight several months ago around the Eiffel Tower. The Count was glad to be able to be of service to the young prince and took him on a fine flight. Here we can see the Count and his royal guest at the moment when their airplane is taking off. The photo was taken at the air strip at Villacoublay.

Crown Prince Aleksandar did another historic flight in the second year of World War I - on July 27/August 9, 1915, when, as the Serbian Army supreme commander, he visited the airfield at Banjica, used by the French airplane squadron since April the same year. This flying unit consisting of twelve Maurice Farman MF.11 aircraft had been sent to Serbia as allied assistance after the Serbian Army’s great victories in the Battles of Cer and Kolubara. Well-trained and equipped, the squadron -- after scoring several air victories -- soon took the upper hand in encounters with the enemy air force and control of the skies. It also met with great success in reconnaissance flights across the Sava and Danube Rivers. As supreme commander, Aleksandar wished to personally honor the members of the squadron by paying them a visit.

On July 27/August 9, the Crown Prince first reviewed the squadron, and then at his own request flew onboard a Farman aircraft as observer on a reconnaissance mission with Capt. Louis Paulhan. This seasoned pilot with gunner Lastrade downed an Austro-Hungarian aircraft north of Belgrade, above the Borča village, on July 10/23 and thus recorded the second allied air victory on the Serbian front.

So after the ‘rookie’ observer underwent a brief preparation, Paulhan flew with him at an altitude of 1,500 meters over the northern sections of Belgrade and the front line at the War Island. Austro-Hungarian fortifications could clearly be seen as well as monitors berthed at the Danube river bank, hidden behind Zemun from the Serbian artillery. The flight took 30 minutes.

Later, as king, Aleksandar Karadjordjević would extend significant support to the development of both civil aviation and air force in Yugoslavia.