Alexander Mozhaysky (1825-1890) was a Russian military leader, a Rear Admiral, and an inventor in the field of aviation.
Mozhaysky graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg with the rank of midshipman. He entered the navy service in 1841. For seven years, he continued to serve on various ships of the Northern and Baltic Fleets.
Mozhaysky participated in a sea voyage to the Far East on the Diana frigate. From 1856, he continued his service in St. Petersburg. He commanded a small squadron in the Baltic Flotilla. In 1858, he set off for the Khiva expedition, where he implemented the crossing of troops across the Amu Darya and the Aral Sea. He returned to St. Petersburg in the rank of captain lieutenant. Until 1861, he headed the crew of the Orel (Eagle) battleship.
In 1861, he began a career in the civil service, at which time he became interested in aircraft construction. Dreaming of creating his own flying machine, he studied schematics and engineering. In 1876, A. Mozhaysky became a professor at the Naval Cadet Corps; at the same time, he continued his aeronautical design experiments, and in 1883, a flying machine was assembled. Its weight was 950 kg, and there were strong doubts about its ability to get off the ground. Tests in 1885 only confirmed these reservations: during acceleration, the aircraft tilted, breaking the wing; yet, A. Mozhaysky went down in history as one of the world's first designers of a full-scale airplane.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Alexander Mozhaysky against the backdrop of a blueprint of a full-scale airplane.
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