Alexander Procofieff De Seversky
Alexander Prokofieff De Seversky (born June 7, 1894 in Tbilisi , † August 24, 1974 in New York City ) was an American aeronautical engineer of Russian origin.
He was the son of a variety artist and his real name was Prokofieff-Seversky. The form of the name "de Seversky" was probably chosen by him to give the appearance of an aristocratic descent. He received his school and flying training at the Russian Navy Academy in Saint Petersburg and the School for Military Aviation in Sevastopol . During his first deployment in an FBA flying boat in World War I, one of the bombs he was carrying exploded on landing, killing his companion and losing a leg.
After his recovery he was entrusted as a naval officer with the supervision of the construction of naval aircraft of the designer Grigorowitsch . In 1916 he returned to active service and flew escort for flying boats with the Nieuport Scout . During this time he shot down four German aircraft and was awarded the Order of St. George 4th class for this.
In March 1918 he came to the United States to head a group of Russian businessmen . Since two revolutions had now taken place in Russia, he stayed in the USA and became a test pilot and also assistant to Billy Mitchell . In 1922 he founded the Seversky Aero Corporation and produced the first automatic bomb sight . He sold the rights for this to the US government for $ 50,000.
In 1931 he founded the Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Long Island (New York) together with his chief engineer Alexander Kartweli . He designed many different aircraft , including the SEV-3 and the P-35 . In October 1939 the company was reorganized as Republic Aircraft without Seversky involvement. Fairchild Hiller bought the company in 1965.
Serversky wrote books called America: Too Young to Die! , Air Power: Key to Survival and Victory Through Air Power , which was also filmed.
Seversky died in 1974 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery .
Web links
- Biography on AIAA.org
- Newspaper article about Alexander Procofieff De Seversky in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
literature
- K. Aitken: Fathers of World Aviation No. 16, Alexander Seversky . In: Airplane Monthly, June 1995, p. 69
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | De Seversky, Alexander Procofieff |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | De Seversky, Alexander Prokofieff |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American aerospace engineer of Russian origin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 7, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tbilisi |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 1974 |
| Place of death | New York City |