NASLEĐE / HERITAGE 1910. Aleksandar Karađorđević, prvi Srbin koji je leteo
Dugo se nagađalo ko je bio prvi Srbin koji je leteo avionom. Pretpostavljalo se da je to bio neki od oficira koji su nad Banjičkim poljem decembra 1910. kod Beograda leteli sa mladim ruskim pilotom Maslenikovim. Relativno skoro potvrđeno je ipak da se prvi Srbin vinuo u vazduh u avionu nešto ranije te godine, sredinom aprila, i da je to bio niko drugi do srpski princ i prestolonaslednik Aleksandar Karađorđević, tad budući kralj Jugoslavije. Princ je tokom boravka u Francuskoj prihvatio ponudu jednog od najpoznatijih avijatičara toga vremena grofa De Lambera (obavio je senzacionalni let preko Ajfelovog tornja) da poleti avionom flajer br. 1 koji je bio jedan od aviona koji su konstruisala i njime pilotirala braća Rajt. Mada je krug koji su napravili oko letilišta iznosio samo nekoliko kilometara, bilo je to dovoljno da princ impresionira svetsku javnost. Tadašnja štampa, između ostalog, piše: „Princ Srbije Aleksandar, koji trenutno boravi u Parizu, može se podičiti da je prvi budući vladar koji je preduzeo let aeroplanom. U vazdušne brodove (cepelin) već je ušlo dosta moćnika, ali nestabilnom i nesigurnom aeroplanu još nijedan član neke kraljevske familije nije poverio život“.
Grof i njegov kraljevski gost u trenutku kad se njihov aeroplan diže u vazduh The Count and his royal guest at the moment their plane rises into the air
ALEKSANDAR KARAĐORĐEVIĆ, THE FIRST SERB TO FLY
It was long speculated who the first Serb to fly a plane was. It was assumed that this would have been one of the officers who flew over the Banjica Field near Belgrade in December 1910, with a young Russian pilot called Maslenikov. It was confirmed relatively recently, however, that the first Serb to soar through the air aboard a plane, earlier that same year, in mid-April, was none other than Serbian Crown-Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, the future king of Yugoslavia. During a visit to France, the prince accepted an offer from one of the most famous aviators of the time, Count de Lambert (who conducted a sensational flight over the Eiffel Tower) to fly in the “Flyer No. 1”
plane, which was one of the planes constructed and piloted by the Wright brothers. Although the circuit they made around the airfield covered only a few kilometres, it was enough for the prince to impress the world public. The then European press reported, among other things, that: “Serbian Prince Alexander, who is currently residing in Paris, can boast of being the first future ruler to take a flight in an aeroplane. Airships (Zeppelins) have already been boarded by a lot of powerful people, but no single member of any other royal family has entrusted their life to these unstable and uncertain aeroplanes”.
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