Fire, flood or disaster · 14.04.1912
Utochkin flies over Raadi
On Saturday 14 April 1912 the Russian aviator Sergei Utochkin took a Farman biplane out onto the long, level training ground by Raadi manor on the edge of Tartu. As the newspaper Postimees described it, the machine was a wooden frame held together with wire, with linen-covered wings, a 50-horsepower petrol engine and a two-bladed wooden propeller, rolling on rubber wheels. After a run of about 50 yards it lifted off and covered a couple of miles in some six minutes, flying over houses and the barracks church tower towards the manor grounds. It was the first motorised flight in Estonia, and Utochkin flew again the next day. Two years later the manor's owner had his fields turned into a runway – the beginning of Raadi airfield.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Laupäeval, 14. aprillil 1912 viis Vene lendur Sergei Utotškin Farmani kaksiktasandiku Tartu servas Raadi mõisa juures asuvale pikale ja tasasele õppeväljakule. Postimehe kirjelduse järgi oli masin traadiga kokku seotud puitraam linase riidega kaetud tiibade, 50-hobujõulise bensiinimootori ja kahelabalise puupropelleriga ning veeres kummiratastel. Umbes 50-jardise hoojooksu järel tõusis see õhku ja läbis umbes kuue minutiga paar miili, lennates üle majade ja kasarmukiriku torni mõisa poole. See oli esimene mootorlend Eestis ja järgmisel päeval lendas Utotškin uuesti. Kaks aastat hiljem lasi mõisnik oma põllud lennurajaks muuta – nii sai alguse Raadi lennuväli.
Source: Military Heritage Tourism (after Postimees, 16 April 1912) ↗