Victor Dibovsky
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Victor Vladimirovich Dibovsky | |
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| Born | January 25, 1884 Smolensk, Russian Empire |
| Died | December 29, 1953 (aged 64) London |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire |
| Service/ | Imperial Russian Navy, Imperial Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1901–1917 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Unit | 20th Corps Air Detachment |
| Awards | Order of Saint George, Order of Saint Vladimir, Order of Saint Stanislas, British Order of St Michael and St George |
Victor Dibovsky (Russian: Ви́ктор Влади́мирович Дыбо́вский tr. Viktor Vladimirovič Dybóvskij; January 25, 1884 – December 29, 1953), was a Russian aviation pioneer.
Early life[edit]
Victor Dibovsky was born in Smolensk into a gentry family. He started naval service in 1901, seeing action in the Russo-Japanese War, including the Battle of Tsushima. He served in Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian navy. He started studying aeronautics in 1909.
Aviation career[edit]
Dibovsky was the first pilot to detect a submerged submarine in 1911.,[1] and first Russian to use radio on an aircraft. In 1912 he covered the distance between Sevastopol and St Petersburg in 25 flight hours, a record at the time. In 1913 he designed an airplane, “Dolphin”, remarkable for outstanding aerodynamic qualities.[2]
World War I[edit]
During World War I, Victor Dibovsky fought in the 20 Corps aviation group, earning orders of St George (Russia's highest award for valour), St Stanislaus, St Vladimir and a number of medals. He was the inventor of the Scarff-Dibovski synchronization gear, used by the UK Royal Naval Air Service[3]
In 1916 he was promoted to commander and came to London as the head of Russian naval air mission.
Emigration and death[edit]
The revolution prevented Victor Dibovsky from coming back to Russia. He lived in UK, France, USA and later in Britain again. He patented some new inventions [4][5] and his research received media coverage.[6][7] In 1953 he died of tuberculosis in London and was buried in a paupers’ grave at St Pancras and Islington Cemetery. In 2019, the place of his burial was marked with a memorial.
Honours and awards[edit]
- Order of Saint Vladimir, 4th class
- Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov), 3rd and 2nd class
- Order of St. George, 4th class
- Order of St Michael and St George
References[edit]
- ^ "Первый лётчик-противолодочник ("Курьер ВПК") (in Russian)". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ "Dibovsky's airplane technical data (in Russian)". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ "National Archives entry for the patent". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ Patent Office, United States (1919). "Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 261, page 68". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ "UK patent GB127840A for Improvements in or relating to Cartridge-belts". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ "Popular Flying magazine, July 1938, page 194". Retrieved 2019-10-27.
- ^ "The Western Argus, 13 March 1928". Retrieved 2019-10-27.