In 1911, the Kingdom of Italy invaded the Tripolitania Vilayet (modern day Libya) of the Ottoman Empire, using aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing missions for the first time in aviation history (on 23 October 1911, an Italian pilot[*] flew over Ottoman lines for reconnaissance; and the next day Italian dirigibles dropped bombs on ground targets, both of which represented the first effective use of aircraft in combat.)
[*] On November 1, 1911, Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti of the Italian Army bombed an Ottoman military encampment at the Taguira oasis in Libya from his Bleriot aircraft. But he used hand grenades and not the "dedicated" boms fitted with stabilizer fins. So dubious honor of being world's First Airbomb Power goes to Bulgaria.
Mavi Boncuk |
The first flights in Bulgaria started in Plovdiv. During the first international exhibition there three Bulgarians made a demonstration flight with balloon[1]. The year was 1892. On that year Tsar Ferdinand created the Bulgarian military aviation with a decree.
In October 1912, at the start of the First Bakan War, Bulgarian air force maintained 23 airplanes, mostly French Bleriot and Farman. At the moment, there were 99 military planes in Russia, 46 in Germany, 23 in Great Britain and 22 in Italy. Immediately after the start of hostilities Bulgarian pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of aircraft to drop bombs or grenades on Ottoman positions.
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Radul Milkov[2] in the Albatross F2 plane after the first military flight on October 16, 1912.
On this day during the Balkan war two Bulgarian lieutenants have implemented their first spy and bombarding mission over Edirne.
The two men had to reconnoitre the Turkish army in the Adrianople (now Edirne) stronghold. In the last moment before the flight, Milkov and Tarakchiev decided to place two bombs in hampers on both sides of the aircraft.
Later, they dropped the bombs over a military target - the railway station of Karaagach. The news made a splash in world press. The two Bulgarians had disproved some military men's belief that airplanes had nothing to do with the army. Tarakchiev died in 1957, and his mate passed away five years later. Since 1963 October 16 has been celebrated as Bulgarian Aviation Day.
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A group of pilots from the aviation school of Louis Bleriot among whom are Hristo Toprakchiev and Simeon Petrov
[1] The history of the Bulgarian Air Force can be traced back to the end of the 19th century, when in 1892 at the Plovdiv International Fair two lieutenants of the Bulgarian Army flew with the ‘La France’ airship of the Frenchman Goddard. Later, being inspired by the flight, they succeeded to convince the General Staff that the Bulgarian Army should build a balloon force. The Imperial Aviation School in St. Petersburg enrolled Lieutenant Vasil Zlatarov as a student, following numerous refusals from military schools around Europe to teach Bulgarian officers to use airships. On 20 April 1906 “Vazduhoplavatelno Otdelenie” (roughly translated as Aviation Department) was created to operate observation balloons for the army. After graduation Lt. Zlatarov was appointed its first commander. The first generation of Bulgarian aviators were trained on a balloon named ‘Sofia-1’, constructed by Zlatarov with materials bought from Russia. In 1910 a Russian aircraft engineer, Boris Maslennikov, was invited to Bulgaria, where he presented his airplane, a modification of the French Farman III. Following his demonstration assisted by Vasil Zlatarov over the hippodrome in Sofia, the Bulgarian Government decided to acquire airplanes for The Aviation Corps.
In early 1912 thirteen army officers were sent abroad for training as pilots and orders were placed for five French, British and German airplanes. In June 1912 Lt. Simeon Petrov[1], training at the school of Louis Blériot in France, for the first time in the history of aviation succeeded to land an airplane with a stopped engine. The event was praised in the French newspapers and La Poste, and the French mail service acknowledged it by publishing a stamp. The officers sent to France completed their training first and returned to Bulgaria in July 1912. The same year Bulgaria received its first airplane – Bleriot XXI with which on 13 August 1912 Simeon Petrov flew to become the first Bulgarian to pilot an airplane over Bulgaria.
[2] Milkov Point is a conspicuous rocky point on the east side of Lanchester Bay formed by an offshoot of Chanute Peak on Davis Coast in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Situated 11.5 km east of Havilland Point and 8.5 km south-southwest of Wennersgaard Point. The point is named for the Bulgarian pioneer of aviation Radul Milkov (1883–1962) who, while on a combat air mission with Prodan Tarakchiev during the First Balkan War, used the first aerial bombs on October 16, 1912.
[*] On November 1, 1911, Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti of the Italian Army bombed an Ottoman military encampment at the Taguira oasis in Libya from his Bleriot aircraft. But he used hand grenades and not the "dedicated" boms fitted with stabilizer fins. So dubious honor of being world's First Airbomb Power goes to Bulgaria.
Mavi Boncuk |
The first flights in Bulgaria started in Plovdiv. During the first international exhibition there three Bulgarians made a demonstration flight with balloon[1]. The year was 1892. On that year Tsar Ferdinand created the Bulgarian military aviation with a decree.
In October 1912, at the start of the First Bakan War, Bulgarian air force maintained 23 airplanes, mostly French Bleriot and Farman. At the moment, there were 99 military planes in Russia, 46 in Germany, 23 in Great Britain and 22 in Italy. Immediately after the start of hostilities Bulgarian pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of aircraft to drop bombs or grenades on Ottoman positions.
Radul Milkov[2] in the Albatross F2 plane after the first military flight on October 16, 1912. On this day during the Balkan war two Bulgarian lieutenants have implemented their first spy and bombarding mission over Edirne.
The two men had to reconnoitre the Turkish army in the Adrianople (now Edirne) stronghold. In the last moment before the flight, Milkov and Tarakchiev decided to place two bombs in hampers on both sides of the aircraft.
Later, they dropped the bombs over a military target - the railway station of Karaagach. The news made a splash in world press. The two Bulgarians had disproved some military men's belief that airplanes had nothing to do with the army. Tarakchiev died in 1957, and his mate passed away five years later. Since 1963 October 16 has been celebrated as Bulgarian Aviation Day.
[1] The history of the Bulgarian Air Force can be traced back to the end of the 19th century, when in 1892 at the Plovdiv International Fair two lieutenants of the Bulgarian Army flew with the ‘La France’ airship of the Frenchman Goddard. Later, being inspired by the flight, they succeeded to convince the General Staff that the Bulgarian Army should build a balloon force. The Imperial Aviation School in St. Petersburg enrolled Lieutenant Vasil Zlatarov as a student, following numerous refusals from military schools around Europe to teach Bulgarian officers to use airships. On 20 April 1906 “Vazduhoplavatelno Otdelenie” (roughly translated as Aviation Department) was created to operate observation balloons for the army. After graduation Lt. Zlatarov was appointed its first commander. The first generation of Bulgarian aviators were trained on a balloon named ‘Sofia-1’, constructed by Zlatarov with materials bought from Russia. In 1910 a Russian aircraft engineer, Boris Maslennikov, was invited to Bulgaria, where he presented his airplane, a modification of the French Farman III. Following his demonstration assisted by Vasil Zlatarov over the hippodrome in Sofia, the Bulgarian Government decided to acquire airplanes for The Aviation Corps.
In early 1912 thirteen army officers were sent abroad for training as pilots and orders were placed for five French, British and German airplanes. In June 1912 Lt. Simeon Petrov[1], training at the school of Louis Blériot in France, for the first time in the history of aviation succeeded to land an airplane with a stopped engine. The event was praised in the French newspapers and La Poste, and the French mail service acknowledged it by publishing a stamp. The officers sent to France completed their training first and returned to Bulgaria in July 1912. The same year Bulgaria received its first airplane – Bleriot XXI with which on 13 August 1912 Simeon Petrov flew to become the first Bulgarian to pilot an airplane over Bulgaria.
[2] Milkov Point is a conspicuous rocky point on the east side of Lanchester Bay formed by an offshoot of Chanute Peak on Davis Coast in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Situated 11.5 km east of Havilland Point and 8.5 km south-southwest of Wennersgaard Point. The point is named for the Bulgarian pioneer of aviation Radul Milkov (1883–1962) who, while on a combat air mission with Prodan Tarakchiev during the First Balkan War, used the first aerial bombs on October 16, 1912.