Petr Nesterov
Petr Nesterov took off from the Syrets airdrome in Kyiv at 6:15 p.m. on August 27, 1913, and for the first time in the history of aviation accomplished a feat, a closed circle in vertical plane known as the deadly loop-the-loop or Nesterov loop.
In 1906 19-years old Petr Nesterov graduated from the Mykhailivske Artillery School and, commissioned a Second Lieutenant, went to Vladivostok for military service in the Ninth East Siberian artillery brigade. At those times many progressive Russian people were excited by the problems of aeronautics and aircraft industry development. Newspapers and magazines abounded in information about recent developments in those relatively new branches of science and engineering. There was an aircraft depot near the artillery battery where Nesterov served, and the young artillery officer did his best to transfer to that unit.
In fall 1912, Nesterov passed to perfection his qualification exam for his pilot's license and as a military pilot. The new pilot finished the school and got an appointment to the Third Aviation Company in Kyiv.
The airplanes of those days like Fahrmans, Newports, Bleriots, etc. were imperfect and lacked sufficient maneuverability. However, Nesterov was keen to prove that it was possible to execute difficult figures with such planes. Precise mathematical calculations made him certain he was right. But after Nesterov did execute the deadly loop-the-loop an unhealthy atmosphere was created around his feat and the pilot himself was blamed for being a dashing fellow and stunt pilot.
Sadly, when two weeks later French pilot Adolf Pegou repeated the deadly loop-the-loop the social opinion hurried to give him the palm. But the French are famous for beigng generous. In May 1914, in the Hall of the Polytechnic Museum Pegou made a public statement hailed by repeated bravos to a large audience including Prof. M. Zhukovsky that Captain Nesterov was the father of the deadly loop-the-loop. Sometime earlier the brave pilot was given a gold medal by the Aeronautics Society of Kyiv.
The Russian pilot perished at the age of 27. For the first time in the world aviation history he executed an air ram in an air fight with an Austrian Albatross. Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, Petr Nikolaevich Nesterov is buried in Kyiv in Lukianivsky Cemetery. In 1951 the Ukrainian town of Zhovkva near which the genius of flight died was renamed for him (now the town is renamed back to Zhovkva).







