Soon after the end of the civil war and the defeat of the intervention, despite the devastation and famine, the question of the need for the rapid development of the national air fleet was raised in our country. It was necessary to create its own aviation industry, build airfields and hangars, and train flight personnel. All this required considerable sums that the Soviet government could not allocate from the state budget at that time. On March 1, 1923, Ryl's Izvestia published an article entitled "Urgent Undertaking", which raised the question of creating a Society for promoting the Development of the Air Fleet in order to popularize the ideas of aeronautics among the broad masses, to mobilize all forces ready to work in this field, and to collect the necessary material resources. For many days Izvestia published a proclamation in every issue at that time: "Our air fleet must be worthy of the Soviet Republic. Its service is diverse. We need it in peacetime, in order to establish rapid communication between individual points of our vast republic, and in wartime, in order to protect the interests and rights of the Russian people, We call on all conscientious citizens of the Soviet Federation to exert all their strength and sacrifice for the creation of a powerful Red Air Fleet. We appeal to the party organizations, Soviet institutions, commercial and industrial institutions, public organizations, and all citizens, firmly convinced that our appeal will not be in vain and that by common efforts we will help build air squadrons that will plow the sky and defend our land." Every day the newspaper published a list of organizations and individuals who donated money for the construction of aircraft. The newspaper's call to create an organization to promote the development of the air fleet did not go unnoticed. On March 8, a meeting dedicated to the establishment of the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ODVF) was held in the premises of the Higher Military School of Comm ... Read more