Victory Through Air Power Page #4

an airplane.

At ten,

his military education began.

He graduated from the ImperiaI

Russian NavaI Academy...

as a lieutenant and saw

service with the fleet in 1914.

With a firm belief

in the future of aviation...

he became

a full-fledged pilot...

in both Army

and NavaI aviation...

and was assigned to flying duty

with the Baltic fleet.

While on

a night bombing mission...

he was shot down...

and suffered the loss of

his right leg-

an invalid at 22.

Ignoring his handicap and

determined to fight again...

he returned to the front as

Chief of Pursuit Aviation...

in the Baltic,

with the rank of commander.

He fought

57 aeriaI combats...

became the leading ace

of the navaI air forces...

and was awarded

the highest honors...

his country could bestow.

In 1918,

he came to America...

and later served

as aeronauticaI engineer...

and test pilot for

the United States government.

He became a friend,

advisor, and disciple...

of GeneraI Billy Mitchell.

Having become a citizen...

in 1928 he was

commissioned a major...

in the United States Air Corps.

He invented the first

fully automatic bombsight...

and many other instruments

and devices...

all contributing

to the greater efficiency...

of military aviation.

He designed, built, tested...

and himself

flew his new planes.

Among them,

an all-metaI amphibian plane-

in which he set a world speed

record that still stands-

the first low-wing all-metaI

basic training plane...

and the first all-metaI

single-seater fighter plane...

of cantilever construction...

adopted by

the United States Army.

In 1937...

to prove long range could be

built into pursuit planes...

he set a new nonstop record

from New York to Havana.

In an Army pursuit ship

of his own design...

he was the first officially to

cross the country east-west...

with a record

of 10 hours, 5 minutes.

His planes

won the Bendix race...

three successive years.

In 1940, he was presented

the Harmon Trophy...

by President Roosevelt...

for being the Outstanding

Airman of the Year.

With his background

as a combat pilot...

aeronauticaI designer,

engineer, manufacturer...

and military strategist...

Major Seversky's advanced

viewpoint and opinions...

are of vitaI importance

to every citizen.

Under the pressure of war...

the science of aviation

is making terrific strides.

As soon as the airplanes-

which are already...

on the drafting boards of

all the warring nations-

take to the air, there will

not be a single spot...

on the face of the earth

immune from overhead attack.

The enormous flying range...

and destructive power of

these planes will transform...

the entire surface of our planet

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