On November 15, 1910, Russian pilot Boris Maslenikov carried out the first airplane flight in Bulgaria. He took off in a Farman-type aircraft from an improvised airfield near Sofia. In the days that followed, several more demonstration flights were performed, one of which included members of the royal family—Tsar Ferdinand I, Crown Prince Boris, and Prince Kiril.
The sensational event sparked tremendous interest among the citizens of Sofia and within Bulgarian military circles. A large-scale program for the development of Bulgarian aviation was drawn up. These efforts bore fruit only two years later—in 1912—when, during the First Balkan War, Bulgarian military pilots achieved their first aerial victories.
Over the years, aircraft manufacturing in Bulgaria has continued to develop, and its history is kept alive in two museums—the Aviation Museum in Krumovo (near Plovdiv) and the Aviation Museum in Burgas.
Read also:
Published and translated by Kostadin Atanasov
Photo: sofiahistorymuseum.bg
The church board of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church “Holy Trinity” in Madison, Illinois (USA), has announced on its Facebook page that it needs a priest to serve in the church. “We humbly ask all brothers and sisters in Christ – in the wider..
An archaeological expedition led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boni Petrunova – Director of the National Museum of History, discovered a massive bronze statuette of a goddess from the Greco-Roman pantheon. The artifact was found in residential premises in the..
13 ancient graves were discovered during archaeological excavations conducted on the premises of the National Academy of Art in Sofia. The excavation is led by archaeologist Elena Nikolova from the Regional History Museum. The excavations began on..
Partly Cloudy
Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy