A lost monument to the flying ace Petro Nesterov — a monument to irresponsibility and benightedness

By the roadside of the M 09 (E 372) highway, near the town of Zhovkva rises a monument to the founder of aerobatics, Petro Mykolaiovych Nesterov.

Zhovkva. The monument to Petro Nesterov

Despite its neglect and ruined state, the monument astonishes with its sheer scale.

Its former grandeur is easy to imagine — monuments like this were raised only in capital cities.

Getting to it is not so simple: the path is barely visible, dry branches and rubbish everywhere. And yet once there was a memorial complex here, dedicated to the author of the closed loop in the vertical plane and to the feat he performed at the start of the First World War, on the very spot where the monument stands.

Zhovkva. The former museum of Petro Nesterov

Zhovkva. The grounds of the memorial complex

The future aviator, test pilot and designer was born in 1887 in Nizhny Novgorod, into an officer's family.

Petro Mykolaiovych Nesterov

Having graduated from an artillery school, Nesterov nonetheless gave himself to aviation. Flight so captivated him that in 1910 he built a glider and tested it in the air. Having passed his examinations, in 1912 Nesterov became a military pilot and commander of an aviation regiment in Kyiv.

Nesterov beside a "Nieuport IV"

His knowledge as an engineer and mechanic, his personal qualities and his obsession with the idea of perfect flight allowed him to carry out unprecedented experiments in the air. To the researcher's credit belong the first route aerial photography in the history of aviation, the performance of full banking turns, night flights, and groundwork in the tactics of aerial combat. Overcoming the so-called "critical angles of death" and constantly refining his skill at handling the aircraft, the fearless pilot proved that the airborne driver could hold his winged machine in any position.

In September 1913, after a year of preparation, Nesterov performed a flight along a closed curve in the vertical plane in the sky over Kyiv. Raising his "Nieuport IV" to a height of 800-1000 metres, he switched off the engine and began to dive. Having dropped to 600 metres, the pilot switched the engine back on and traced a vertical loop. Coming out of the dive, he levelled the machine out and glided smoothly down in a spiral.

The "dead loop" performed by Petro Nesterov. Drawing made by the author of the stunt himself

The military leadership not only failed to appreciate this feat of aerobatics — they very nearly arrested the daredevil for possible damage to state property. And a week later a French glider pilot repeated the difficult stunt, and the trailblazer had to prove his precedence. Nesterov's aim was to devote himself to theoretical work, but the First World War broke out. The talented aircraft designer and aerial fighter took part in it on the South-Western Front, in the battles for Lviv. His unit was quartered in Zhovkva Castle.

Zhovkva. The castle, 16th c.

The aerial scout was among the first to bomb enemy positions with artillery shells. The Austrian command put a large sum on the head of this nimble hawk. The pilot himself, though, called the first Russian ground-attack planes and fighters "crows" and nursed the idea of an aerial ram.

Staff Captain Nesterov beside a "Nieuport IV" aircraft

In those years aircraft were not adapted for aerial combat and served mainly for reconnaissance operations. Nesterov worked out a method of routing the enemy with a blow from above, using the wheels of his own plane. Every day, over the Russian positions, Baron Rosenthal — a former local landowner — would fly his "Albatros" biplane. The heavyweight Austrian could not be brought down by fire from the ground. Nesterov spotted the aerial scout circling above Zhovkva, took the controls and did not even strap himself in. On his light "Morane" the fearless pilot caught up with the enemy and meant to disable him with a blow of his undercarriage against the "Albatros"'s lifting surface. The blow was very strong; on colliding with the "Albatros", the engine of Nesterov's plane tore off and fell away.

Petro Nesterov's aerial battle over Zhovkva

The lightened "Morane" went on descending smoothly, while Nesterov leapt from the fragile aircraft and, overtaking it, fell to the ground. In those days aviators still had no parachutes.

Petro Nesterov's aerial battle over Zhovkva

At the moment of his death Petro Mykolaiovych was only 27. His comrades remembered him as a cheerful, erudite and well-rounded man. Not far off, in a marsh, the enemy plane was found with its dead pilot.

The "Albatros" rammed by Petro Nesterov

In 1914, on the site of P. M. Nesterov's death, the first monument was erected. In 1952 a new monument was put up. In 1979 a memorial complex was opened, which included a museum of the pioneer of aerial combat.

Zhovkva. The monument to Petro Nesterov

The 45-metre granite stele was faced with black marble.

On the right, adjoining it, is a 39-metre, titanium-clad depiction of the trajectory of the "dead loop".

Once a two-metre bas-relief portrait of Nesterov was fixed to the stele. You immediately notice the mismatch between the event and time of Nesterov's flight and the model of a jet aircraft mounted on the stele.

The monument's author, the sculptor L. D. Biganych, evidently meant in this way to convey the idea of the continuity of generations. During the Second World War, Soviet pilots carried out more than 600 rams, following Nesterov's example.

The museum housed an exhibition telling of the history of aircraft-building, the heroic deed of the winged warrior, and the feats of other aviators. In the round hall, under a cupola painted to look like a blue sky, the model of Nesterov's plane, the "Morane", was kept.

Local residents recount that in the 1980s the monument and the surrounding grounds were looked after by servicemen from the military unit. The 1990s proved fatal for the memorial complex. The museum was closed and looted, and its rare exhibits lost.

Zhovkva. The ruins of the Petro Nesterov museum

The bas-reliefs, panels and inscriptions vanished from the monument. Vandals tried to tear the aircraft down with a tractor, but the structure proved beyond the reach of human greed. The question arises: could the museum and this monument of monumental art have been saved? It was a popular tourist attraction; foreign and domestic visitors came here. Judging by the car park, a great many cars once stopped here.

Zhovkva. The ruins of the Petro Nesterov museum

No doubt, in the difficult time of endless economic reforms, when forms of ownership kept changing, it was not easy to maintain a memorial complex tucked away in the backwoods, far from the regional centre. And yet the exhibits could have been moved to Zhovkva or Lviv. Now these ruins are no longer a monument to the pilot and to aviation, but a monument to mismanagement and ineptitude, to greed and aggressiveness, to benightedness and recklessness. The list could go on.

The ruins of the memorial complex stand near the village of Volia-Vysotska, Zhovkva district, Lviv region.

Coordinates: 50°5’42 "N 23°53’53"E