Aviation
According to some reports, the first person who attempted to create an aircraft in Georgia was Shalva Eristavi (1835, Karaleti, present-day Gori district). Despite many attempts, Eristavi's aircraft could not fly due to its weight. In 1907, V. Basenski, a mechanic from Batumi, built the first aircraft, which flew without a pilot at a height of 20 m. In 1908, the German aeronaut H. Taylor (Blackstein) arrived in Georgia. He and his brother organized several demonstration flights in Batumi and Kutaisi (Taylor died tragically in Kutaisi in 1910). A. Shiukashvili was one of the first in the Russian Empire to build a glider and he flew off Makhata Mountain on May 5, 1908. In 1909, V. Kliui, the pilot of the Batumi harbor, the long-distance sailing captain, made a model of an airplane, sent the designs to Moscow and received the privilege. On December 9 of that year, the Union of the Aeronauts of the Caucasus was formed in Tbilisi, which united engineers, doctors, technicians and others, including women. In 1910, this union built the “Delone” system glider in Tbilisi under the leadership of N. Delone, the Russian scientist. B. Keburia, S. Utochkin and A. Vasilev organized demonstration flights on the Vake field under the leadership of the Tbilisi Aeroclub. The working model of the airplane was built by A. Kldiashvili. Other Georgian pilots also contributed to the development of aviation: M. Machavariani, M. Abashidze, G. Avaliani, V. Eristavi, G. Grigorashvili, brothers Al. and An. Iakobashvili, K. Tsomaia, A. Sagharadze and others. In 1923, the civil aviation joint-stock company “Zakavia” was established in Georgia. In 1931, the division of the Georgian air force was established. In 1934, the Aeroclub was founded (Chief — N. Jibladze).
Georgian scientists have made a certain contribution to the development of aviation in the USSR. A. Nadiradze stands out among them. He is the founder of a new direction of building aircrafts and machines. V. Mikeladze, head of the scientific-research department of the Central N. Zhukovsky Institute of Aerohydrodynamics, was engaged in fruitful work in the field of aerodynamics of aircrafts. R. Kinasoshvili has done a lot of work in the field of aviation engine research. The work of A. Kartveli (A. Kartvelishvili), the outstanding aircraft designer and scientist in the USA, is worth noting. Under his leadership, several types of world-famous aircraft fighters were created. The development of the aviation industry in Georgia is connected with the Tbilisi Aviation Union.
In 1969, the Department of Aircraft Construction was established at the Georgian Polytechnical Institute to train aviation engineering personnel. Aviation Institute of the Georgian Technical University was founded in 1992 on its base.
Literature: იაკოვლევი ა., ცხოვრების მიზანი, მე-2 შევს. გამოც., თბ., 1969; ჩორგოლაშვილი მ., სამამულო ავიაციის კარიბჭესთან, «მეცნიერება და ტექნიკა», 1968 №4; Микеладзе В. Г., Основные геометрические и аэродинамические характеристики самолетов и ракет. Справочник, М., 1982 (თანაავტ.: В. М. Титов); Немирова М., Авалиани Ю., Сквозь годы на крыльях, Тб., 1973; Хечинов В. К., История летания в Грузии, ч. 1, Тб., 1935.
R. Kacharava
