The author and publisher of the album was Aleksandr Antonov, a famous photographer from Omsk. He also presented it to the West Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society, which later donated it to the museum.
The exhibition features a photograph from the album ‘The First West Siberian Agricultural, Forestry andTrade and Industrial Exhibition in 1911 in Omsk’.
The first Western Siberian Exhibition was held in Omsk from June 15 till August 15, 1911. Its main aim was to demonstrate the region’s natural resources, its vast industrial potential, and quick development at the turn of the 20th century.
The exhibition program included the flights of the famous pilot Aleksandr Vasiliev. The exhibition contractors wanted to organize them on June 26, 28, and 29, but the plane was transported to Omsk by a freight train, and it took more time than planned. Therefore the dates of the flights were postponed, and the first flight took place on July 3, at 5pm. The local hippodrome was turned into an airfield. People gathered to look at the flights of the well-known pilot. The first flight lasted only seven minutes but delighted the spectators. It was the first “air show” in Siberia. Over the next three days, Vasiliev made several more demonstration flights, which were also a great success with the audience.
Aleksandr Vasiliev was born in 1882 in the Tambov Governorate. The future aviator graduated from the Kazan University Faculty of Law. Once Vasiliev saw an airplane fly, he decided to change his life, and went to France to learn flying. He became the 17th licensed pilot in Russia who had the right to fly in public. In July 1911, Vasiliev set several aviation records during the first flight from Petersburg to Moscow. He covered this distance in 24 hours 41 minutes and spent 9.5 hours in the air, beating the previous record of the French pilot André Beaumont. Vasiliev was also the first to cover such a distance.
Since 1913, Vasiliev was a test pilot at the Saint Petersburg factory of the First Russian Aeronautical Association.
In 1914, World War I started, and the pilot volunteered for frontline duty. During his first combat flight, he had to make a forced landing in the enemy rear. Vasiliev was captured, tried to escape, but was caught and imprisoned in a strict-security camp. The pilot died in captivity.
The exhibition features a photograph from the album ‘The First West Siberian Agricultural, Forestry andTrade and Industrial Exhibition in 1911 in Omsk’.
The first Western Siberian Exhibition was held in Omsk from June 15 till August 15, 1911. Its main aim was to demonstrate the region’s natural resources, its vast industrial potential, and quick development at the turn of the 20th century.
The exhibition program included the flights of the famous pilot Aleksandr Vasiliev. The exhibition contractors wanted to organize them on June 26, 28, and 29, but the plane was transported to Omsk by a freight train, and it took more time than planned. Therefore the dates of the flights were postponed, and the first flight took place on July 3, at 5pm. The local hippodrome was turned into an airfield. People gathered to look at the flights of the well-known pilot. The first flight lasted only seven minutes but delighted the spectators. It was the first “air show” in Siberia. Over the next three days, Vasiliev made several more demonstration flights, which were also a great success with the audience.
Aleksandr Vasiliev was born in 1882 in the Tambov Governorate. The future aviator graduated from the Kazan University Faculty of Law. Once Vasiliev saw an airplane fly, he decided to change his life, and went to France to learn flying. He became the 17th licensed pilot in Russia who had the right to fly in public. In July 1911, Vasiliev set several aviation records during the first flight from Petersburg to Moscow. He covered this distance in 24 hours 41 minutes and spent 9.5 hours in the air, beating the previous record of the French pilot André Beaumont. Vasiliev was also the first to cover such a distance.
Since 1913, Vasiliev was a test pilot at the Saint Petersburg factory of the First Russian Aeronautical Association.
In 1914, World War I started, and the pilot volunteered for frontline duty. During his first combat flight, he had to make a forced landing in the enemy rear. Vasiliev was captured, tried to escape, but was caught and imprisoned in a strict-security camp. The pilot died in captivity.
