Alexander Karpeka - a pioneer of domestic aviation

On March 26, 130 years have passed since the birth of the pioneer of domestic aviation, Alexander Karpeka.

He was born in 1894 on the estate of Lovra, near the village of Yanivka in the Chernihiv Governorate (now Pervomaiske, Sumy Oblast). The Karpeka family descended from Cossack nobility. Alexander's father, Danilo, founded a successful business: he was involved in the production of sugar and vodka. Although he did not become a great sugar magnate, he amassed a considerable fortune.

In the early 1900s, the family moved to Kyiv. While studying at the Naumenko Private Gymnasium, Alexander joined the aviation club of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and later became an active member of the Kyiv Aeronautical Society. Between 1909 and 1911, he built up to a dozen flying models of airplanes and even received several awards for his work.

Under the influence of Igor Sikorsky, the young man began to engage in the creation of aircraft of his own design. The first Karpeka airplane, built in Sikorsky's workshop, was presented in the spring of 1911. It was a truss biplane with a 35 hp engine. Since Alexander himself did not yet know how to fly, other amateur pilots from Kyiv flew his airplane. Notably, that summer, his friend Serhiy Hromov made a flight lasting 22 minutes and reached an altitude of over 100 meters, which was a remarkable achievement for an airplane constructed by a high school student.

Between 1911 and 1913, Karpeka modernized his first aircraft and created two more, which he began to fly himself. The most advanced was the two-seater biplane "Karpeka-3". Its high flying qualities were noted by professional aviators, including military pilot Petro Nestorov, who soon gained worldwide fame after performing the "dead loop". Karpeka had the opportunity to build aircraft of his own design thanks to his family's wealth. However, shortly before the First World War, his father's business declined, and it seems that this prevented Alexander from continuing his design work.

In 1912, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the University of St. Vladimir in Kyiv. However, in 1914, his studies had to be interrupted due to the outbreak of war. In a year, Alexander graduated from the 1st Kyiv Konstantinov Military School. He was wounded on the front and after treatment was sent to the Aviation Officer School in Gatchina, near St. Petersburg.

Becoming a military pilot, Karpeka served in a separate aviation unit in the fortress of Revel (now Tallinn), and from July 1917, in the 4th fighter aviation unit on the Romanian front. During his military service, he piloted various aircraft, including "Codron", "Moran Parasol", and several types of "Nieuports". In total, he managed to accumulate 122 flight hours.

After the Bolshevik revolution, Alexander managed to return to Kyiv under the pretext of completing his higher education. However, on December 26, 1918, he died of the "Spanish flu". He was buried at the cemetery of the Pokrovsky Monastery, with the date of death indicated on the grave cross according to the "old style" - December 13. In the early 1930s, his sister moved his burial to the Lukyanivske cemetery, but the date of death on the cross was not corrected. This mistake still remains both on the grave and in most publications about Alexander Karpeka.