The Great Flight

The pictures taken of the Il’ya Muromets in 1914 necessarily show the aircraft at low altitude, because few other aircraft could position themselves to match the Sikorsky giant at 1,800m (6,000ft), an altitude already achieved by the summer. Any doubts about its performance, however, were quickly dis­pelled. On 30 June of that year, the Il’ya Muromets, with a crew of three as well as Sikorsky in command, flew from St

The famous picture of the Il’ya Muromets —probably the Russian Knight prototype — flying low over the airfield at St Petersburg in 1913 or 1914. (photo: United Technologies)

Petersburg to Kiev, with only one stop, to refuel, at Orsha. Taking off at 1.00 a. m. from Korpusnoi airfield, the crew arrived triumphantly at Kiev in the early afternoon of the next day. On 12 July, they returned to St Petersburg, this time covering the 1,060km (660mi) in only 13 hours.

But a month later, the Lights Went Out in Europe, and Russia was swept into the Great War. The Sikorsky aircraft were put into production, to be used for reconnaissance and for bombing, and gave a good account of themselves.

ІГуа Muromets

6 SEATS ■ 80km/h (50mph)

Argus (4 x lOOhp) ■ MTOW 4,200kg (9,2601b) ■ Normal Range 170km (105mi)