Thursday, March 19, 2020

Brief Biography of Alexander de Seversky


Alexander de Seversky was born in Triflis, Russia on June 7, 1894, to an aristocratic family. He learned how to fly by age 14 from his father who owned one of the first airplanes in Russia. De Seversky earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Imperial Russian Naval Academy in 1914  and became a second lieutenant in the Imperial Naval Air Service the following year.

 In 1918, de Seversky went to the United States as an assistant naval attaché to the Russian Embassy. This was a fortuitous assignment, as it gave him the chance to escape the Bolshevik Revolution by remaining in the U.S. Soon, he was working at the War Department as an aeronautical engineer and test pilot, acting for a time as a special consultant to the famed general, Billy Mitchell.

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1927, de Seversky received a commission in the Army Air Corps as a major. De Seversky made numerous contributions to aviation. He filed a patent for aerial refueling in 1921 and developed the first bombsight stabilized with a gyroscope, and invented many other aeronautical instruments.

He organized a new company, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Farmingdale in 1931, with Wall Street backing, and with himself as President and Chief Test Pilot. This new company was to specialize in long-range high-speed pursuit planes. Their first aircraft was an amphibian in which he set several speed records.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s he wrote and lectured extensively on military theory and airpower, always promoting strategic bombardment and a strong Air Force. He was considered a leading expert on the tactics and strategy of aerial warfare and he considered global airpower as the solution to America’s security needs.

He was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1970 for "his achievements as a pilot, aeronautical engineer, inventor, industrialist, author, strategist, consultant, and scientific advances in aircraft design and aerospace technology." De Seversky was married to New Orleans socialite Evelyn Olliphant, who was also well-known as a pilot. She, in fact, learned to fly as a surprise for her husband, and the two of them flew on many trips together. De Seversky died on August 24, 1974.

Sources:

“Alexander De Seversky at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.” Cradle of Aviation Museum, www.cradleofaviation.org/history/history/people/alexander_de_seversky.html

 “Alexander De Seversky: Influential World War II Air Power Advocate.” National Air and Space Museum, 22 Mar. 2017, airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/alexander-de-seversky-influential-world-war-ii-air-power-advocate