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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Ukraine’s First Aviator

29 January, 2002 - 00:00

The writer Aleksandr Kuprin, whose life and creative work were inseparably linked with Ukraine (the long story Olesia, the short stories Gambrinus, The Listrigons, Kyiv Types...), was very fond of flying. Once, a flight in Odesa with a novice pilot nearly cost him his life: the airplane broke up. There really were too few high class flyers in the year 1910. Fortunately, both the pilot and the passenger survived.

In spite of this mishap, Kuprin liked spending time in the company of aviators. After watching flights in Gatchina, outside St. Petersburg, he wrote, “...These daring, lively, and proud men have a great deal of something that relates them to free and strong birds... Continuous risk, daily danger of crashing, being injured, dying, ...constant alertness, the sensation of an awesome height, depth, and ravishingly easy breathing, which is out of reach for most people, one’s own weightlessness and breath-taking rapidity — all this seems to burn out of the heart of a true flyer such common base feelings as envy, stinginess, meanness, peevishness, being quarrelsome, and lies...”

These beautiful words are fully applicable to Ukraine’s aerial pioneer Mykhailo Yefimov (also referred to as Efimoff in Western sources — Ed.). M. N. Yefimov was born November 1, 1881, into the family of a peasant in Smolensk region. The family soon moved to Odesa which would figure prominently in the further life of the three Yefimov brothers: Volodymyr, Mykhailo and Tymofiy.

After graduating from a railway engineering college, middle brother Mykhailo worked as electrician. Yet, most of his time he devoted to sports. A bicycle race enthusiast at first, he won the 1908 and 1909 Russian championships in motorcycle racing. Odesa newspapers wrote that “Yefimov is gaining the fame of Russia’s first motorist.” But Mykhailo had already been thrilled by press reports about the first flights of heavier-than-air machines in France. Of special importance for him was the fact that the first aviators had like him earlier practiced bicycling and motorcycling.

In 1908 Odesa opened its first aeronautics club. Club members flew balloons and built a glider. Alas, as nobody managed to fly the latter, the glider was put out on a public square for all to see. And then Mykhailo, who had by that time read all the available literature on aeronautics, suddenly decided to try his luck. To everybody’s surprise, he took off at the very first attempt and was airborne for a few seconds. And soon after, Odesa newspapers called this young man the record holder in the number of flights in a glider. Following his suit, other sportsmen, including prominent cycle racer Sergei Utochkin, also went aloft.

At last, the club received the first airplane ordered in France by its owner Xidias. But, unfortunately, nobody managed to fly it, and Xidias decided to send his best glider pilot Yefimov to a French flying school for a three-year course, so that he, on return, would make demonstration flights at tremendous profit to the club. Since this was his only chance to learn to fly and become a professional pilot, Yefimov agreed.

At that time in France the development of aviation was burgeoning. Having quickly mastered the airplane, the trainee was slow to grasp the sophisticated rotary engine, the more so that he did not speak French. So the novice got a job at an engine factory. Mykhailo studied the engine to perfection. Highly appreciating the Russian trainee’s capabilities, a famous aeronautical pioneer Henri Farman offered to personally teach him.



On December 25, 1909, Yefimov took his first solo 45 minute flight. The newspaper Odesskiye novosti reported, “Of all Russian airmen, Yefimov is Paris’s first publicly-acclaimed aviation pilot.”

In January 1910 Russia’s first pupil at Farman’s school was awarded his pilot’s diploma. Odessky listok wrote, “Yefimov’s Gold-Medal-winning flights caused a sensation even among aviators.”

“Climbing to the altitude of over two hundred meters, he flew for more than a hour. Of all world- renowned aviators, only six — Latham, Paulhan, Orville Wright, Lambert, Rougier, and Yefimov — have managed to reach this altitude in an airplane,” Sport i nauka journal notes. On January 31 of the same year, at Chalon Champ, Yefimov broke Wright’s nonstop passenger flight record, covering 115 kilometers in one hour 50 minutes.

All of Odesa seemed to come out to greet its famous highflying son. Everyone wanted to see their fellow countryman and the Farman-4 plane he had brought with him. After a demonstration flight over the city, club members placed a laurel wreath on the acclaimed pilot, reading “To the first Russian aviator.” Now free, Yefimov dreamt of going to Nice for an international competition to be participated by Hubert Latham, Jorge Chavez, Van den Born, et al. Mykhailo Yefimov won an absolute victory on the very first day, grabbing all the four prizes. In Verona, Italy, Yefimov was again successful: he climbed to 1096 meters. The next competition in Rheims, France, was attended by Grand Duke Aleksandr Mikhailovich, the Russian Empire’s chief patron of aviation. He suggested establishing an air fleet, supervised pilot training schemes, and ordered several airplanes in France.

But not only joy befell Yefimov. Nurturing plans to develop the training of aeronauts in Russia, he summoned to Mourmelon his elder brother Volodymyr who also had aviation intentions of his own. Having taught his brother to fly, the younger Yefimov relied on this so needed cooperation, but Volodymyr suddenly became ill and died. This being a hard blow for Mykhailo, he decided after his brother’s death to return home.

September 5, 1910, was chosen as the opening day of the all-Russian air festival in Petersburg. On this day “the famous Yefimov,” Niva reported, “showed the wonders of flight. He swooped down, only to stop falling and straighten out at the tree-top level, and then perform ordinary and eight-sided loops. He dived, took off from and landed on the ground with hitherto unheard of precision.” As always, he won all the prizes. Also of interest were the pilot’s daring night flights; he once even ventured to fly with two passengers in a thick fog.

The Grand Duke offered Yefimov the post of chief pilot at the newly-established aviation school. Mykhailo agreed on condition he would continue to design an airplane of his own. It was planned to place the school in Gatchina, but, there being a rainy climate there, it was decided to organize it in Sevastopol. Yefimov was appointed senior instructor. The school was soon transferred to Kacha. Owing to his kindheartedness and responsiveness coupled with high exactness and industry, Yefimov won the unbounded respect of all students. Here in Kacha, he also taught to fly his younger brother Tymofiy who took part in the 1912 First Balkan War as an air force officer and then became the follower of PСtr Nesterov, who first did the loop-the-loop.



When World War I broke out in 1914, Mykhailo Yefimov immediately volunteered to go to the front line. In his air force unit he was in charge of the materiel as well as carried out reconnaissance and bombing sorties. He was awarded four St. George Crosses for the successful accomplishment of combat missions. However, the Kacha School demanded that he be sent back “to reinforce the personnel.” Yefimov had to obey orders. He left the front line with the rank of lieutenant. Now he trained cadets, carrying out tests and introducing many innovations. He was considered one of the best aircraft designers. As early as 1912 Yefimov developed an instrument enabling the pilot to lift the machine in the air without outside help. In February 1916 he was sent to the Kyiv-based 25th Corps Air Force Unit to work on the design of a new fighter plane. However, he failed to finish this mission and ended up at the front line again. “In view of his outstanding ability to fly fast airplanes” he was transferred to the IV Fighter Unit on the Romanian front. Then again he returned to Sevastopol and seaplanes.

After the October Revolution, the Sevastopol Revolutionary Committee appointed him chief pilot of hydroplanes. When Gen. Denikin’s troops captured Odesa, Yefimov was in the city. He was arrested and executed by firing squad. Three months later his brother Tymofiy died of hunger.

Thus Mykhailo Yefimov was never destined to see his aircraft in the sky. Still less than forty years old, he never started a family. But what is still with us is the huge boundless sky and the penetrating words of the renowned aviation trailblazer:

“As soon as I climb to over a thousand meters, my whole self becomes permeated with a surprisingly serene calmness. At this moment I totally forget about my unavoidable connection with the earth and about the tremendous height I’ve reached... Perhaps, it is this indescribable sensation of bliss that most attracts and irresistibly draws me to the airplane. It seems to me that when aviation becomes accessible to all, many will see it not only as a practical gain but also as diversion from the toil and trouble of life.” Yes, Kuprin was right: Mykhailo Yefimov indeed bore a resemblance to a free and strong bird.

By Liudmyla MYKHAILOVA, Kyiv Photos by Y.I. POHOSSKY
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