Figure 1.--After the success of the Wright Bros powered flight in 1903 Serbian secondary school children were encouraged to form aviation clubs and societies to develop an interest in aeronutics. The boys wear there regular school clothes to these meetings. Photographs show them wearing long trousered suits, caps and hats, white shirts, ties, jackets. In the work shops the boys wear boiler suit overalls. The Belgrade Aeronautical Musuem claims that these youngdsters became the nucleus of the future Serbian/ Yugoslav aircraft industry.

At the beginning of the 20th Century there was great interest in inventing a flying machine. The theory of powered flight had been developed by Sir George Cayley in the 19th Century. The Wright Brothers followed his principals and are credited with being the first to fly a heavier than air craft (1903). However there are other claimants who also developed aeroplanes at this time. The achievement at Kitty Hawk in 1903 is the one most history books chronicle as the beginning of powered flight. The Wright Brothers stimulated many others to develop aeronautical machines. There followed many firsts as the aeroplane flew the first faltering flights from one landmark to another. The activity stimulated a world wide interest in flying.

In Serbia secondary school children were encouraged to form aviation clubs and societies. Many built model gliders and enjoyed flying them in many parks and open spaces. However, in Belgrade there was a group of boys who set their sights on achieving greater things than flying kites and model glider in the suburbs of the city. They wanted to build a person carrying glider which they could fly and be pilots. There were 6 boys in the aeroplane club. The brothers, Alexsander and Joiser Deroko, Lzubisa Glisic, Djordje Ros, konstanha Petrovic and Strahiya-Bane Nusic. They built kites and model gliders all of which flew. Their most spectacular project was to build a glider that they could pilot. The project was begun in 1909. It took 3 years to complete. In 1912 the boys piloted their glider.

The interesting aspect and perhaps why these boys are remembered above all the rest is that there is a pictorial record of their achievement. It consists of newspaper clippings showing younger boys model building, the model they built became the full scale glider they flew. Several photographs show the boys working on their glider in their workshop, an older teenage boy is constructing a wing, a cartoon sketch, done at the time of the flight, shows them flying. There is also a photograph of the glider in flight and a boy pilot can be seen. The boys wore European clothes. The older teenagers wear caps and hats. They all seem to wear white shirts, ties and jackets. These appear to be their school clothes. They wear western styled shoes and socks. The younger boys in the drawing are shown to wear patterned socks.

Many aviation books tell of the history of flight. These stories are almost always about adult aeronauts and their achievements. Unfortunately the contribution made by schoolboy flyers to the history of flight is rarely mentioned. The Belgrade Air Museum credits the contribution made by these youngsters. They believe that these Belgrade school boys and many others like them became the nucleus of the future Serbian/Yuggoslav aircraft industry.

William Ferguson

Created: 10:55 PM 9/5/2007
Last updated: 10:55 PM 9/5/2007