Russian aeronaut engineer born in Tbilisi, Georgia, naturalized American (1927), designer of amphibious aircraft. At age 14 he joined the Russian imperial air armada, became a naval pilot in the tsarist navy (1915) and was a pilot of Successful bombers in World War I, considered one of the most efficient pilots of the war, shooting down 13 planes enemies. Affected lost his right leg in combat, but with an artificial leg he returned to flying and participated in combats and victories in the Gulf of Riga. Due to the internal situation of the country resulting from the Bolshevik revolution, he left the Soviet Naval Mission on a visit to the U.S.A. (1918), and asked for political asylum in that country.
In the US he became a designer of planes of various types, including amphibians. His first major project was the SE-5 amphibious fighter plane. He soon became a consultant to the U.S. War Department and later founded (1931) the Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. He invented several devices used in airplanes, including a bombsight used by the US military air force. For World War II he developed the P-35 (1936), the first modern fighter in the US Air Force, and the P-47 Thunderbolt (1939-1940), the famous flying tractor.
The 1st Fighter Aviation Group - 1st GAVCA, created on December 18 (1943), was the Brazilian fighter unit that would use the P-47s in combat, during World War II, after training in Aguadulce, Panama, with Curtiss P-40 aircraft, and in Suffolk Field, Long Island, New York. These air war machines were responsible for the Allied superiority. He received many decorations and honors and in the year of his death in the United States, he was elected to the Aviation Hall of Fame. He wrote Victory Through Air Power (1942) and Air power: Key to survival and America: Too young to die.
Figure copied from the NAHF website:
http://www.nationalaviation.org
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order A - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/alexander-nicolaievich.htm
