An aviette is a low-powered airplane for one or two people, which at first was a glider with a motorcycle motor.
After the USSR Society for the Assistance of Defense, Aircraft and Chemical Construction (Osoaviakhim) had been formed in the 1920s, gliding and air sports began to be extensively developed in the country. This entailed the need to supply flying clubs and civil aviation schools with low-cost aircraft, which had a simple design and were cheap to operate. It was necessary to create a lightweight and reliable engine for inexpensive aircraft. So, a competition was announced for local inventors. The news caught the eye of Liliya Yalmarovna Palmen.
Liliya-Mariya, a hereditary baroness, was born in 1900 in Saint Petersburg. She received an excellent education in mathematics and then graduated with a gold medal from the newly opened aircraft engine building faculty. However, despite her love for aviation, she had to start working at the design bureau of the Bolshevik plant, where she was engaged in building motor systems for tanks.
Liliya Yalmarovna, having studied the requirements in detail, began to create an engine, and, to her surprise, won the prize. The engines were made at the same Bolshevik plant, and aircraft for them were built at the same time. The process was supervised by the designers Mikhail Vladimirovich Smirnov and Yakov Lazarevich Zarkhi.
As a result, the first aviette in Leningrad was ready. It was named “LAKM” to honor the Leningrad flying club and museum. The engine that was installed on it was called “Palmen” and was later renamed “Bolshevik”.
A single-seat monoplane with a thick airfoil was equipped with supporting struts and two gasoline tanks. The main one — with a volume of 25 kg — was under the pilot’s seat, while the other — half as much — was fixed under the main one in case of a long flight.
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov, who at that time was a flight instructor at Osoaviakhim, was enthusiastic about testing this aircraft. He made a number of successful flights in the vicinity of Leningrad, and yet he still wanted to get from there to Moscow. They even began to prepare the aviette for this flight, but, unfortunately, it never took place for safety reasons: since the “Bolshevik” engine was not designed for long-distance flights, it was very risky to make such a trip.
Nevertheless, Chkalov and his colleague Adolf Karlovich Joost flew the LAKM aircraft 24 times with a total duration of over 10 hours.
After the USSR Society for the Assistance of Defense, Aircraft and Chemical Construction (Osoaviakhim) had been formed in the 1920s, gliding and air sports began to be extensively developed in the country. This entailed the need to supply flying clubs and civil aviation schools with low-cost aircraft, which had a simple design and were cheap to operate. It was necessary to create a lightweight and reliable engine for inexpensive aircraft. So, a competition was announced for local inventors. The news caught the eye of Liliya Yalmarovna Palmen.
Liliya-Mariya, a hereditary baroness, was born in 1900 in Saint Petersburg. She received an excellent education in mathematics and then graduated with a gold medal from the newly opened aircraft engine building faculty. However, despite her love for aviation, she had to start working at the design bureau of the Bolshevik plant, where she was engaged in building motor systems for tanks.
Liliya Yalmarovna, having studied the requirements in detail, began to create an engine, and, to her surprise, won the prize. The engines were made at the same Bolshevik plant, and aircraft for them were built at the same time. The process was supervised by the designers Mikhail Vladimirovich Smirnov and Yakov Lazarevich Zarkhi.
As a result, the first aviette in Leningrad was ready. It was named “LAKM” to honor the Leningrad flying club and museum. The engine that was installed on it was called “Palmen” and was later renamed “Bolshevik”.
A single-seat monoplane with a thick airfoil was equipped with supporting struts and two gasoline tanks. The main one — with a volume of 25 kg — was under the pilot’s seat, while the other — half as much — was fixed under the main one in case of a long flight.
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov, who at that time was a flight instructor at Osoaviakhim, was enthusiastic about testing this aircraft. He made a number of successful flights in the vicinity of Leningrad, and yet he still wanted to get from there to Moscow. They even began to prepare the aviette for this flight, but, unfortunately, it never took place for safety reasons: since the “Bolshevik” engine was not designed for long-distance flights, it was very risky to make such a trip.
Nevertheless, Chkalov and his colleague Adolf Karlovich Joost flew the LAKM aircraft 24 times with a total duration of over 10 hours.
