File talk:Shakhovskaya 3438464314 f17e5201c3 o.jpg

Peter Supf claims in his book "Das Buch der deutschen Fluggeschichte" (The Book of German Flight History) that this photo shows the Wright flight instructor Abramovich and Princess Shakhovskaya prior to their fateful flight on April 24, 1913. Someone added this statement to the description of this photo. However, this negative is one out of a series of shots. Almost exactly the same photo appeared over a year earlier in Issue No. 8 of April 17, 1912 of the Deutsche Luftfahrer-Zeitschrift (German Aviation Journal) on page 182 in an article about the Allgemeine Luftfahrzeug-Ausstellung ("Ala") (General Aircraft Exhibition) held April 3 to 14, 1912 in Berlin. On that photo you see the very same persons with almost identical facial expression and posture and the propellers in exactly the same position as on this negative. The photo's caption in that article reads: "New Wright biplane, led by Princess Shakhovskaya at the controls; Passenger: the chief pilot of the Wright Works, Abramovich."

The article section about the "Rekord-Doppeldecker" of the German Flugmaschine-Wright GmbH reads: "The whole arrangement of the aircraft indicates its determination as a racing machine, above all, the wings are much smaller than in the ordinary touring machine - namely, only 30 m² total area - and the vertical distance is only 1.2 m. The nature of the elevation and lateral control surfaces has the characteristic Wright shape, as well as the overall concomitant twist of the upper and lower wing pairs have been maintained, which is well proven and by which the Wright apparatus has earned its reputation as a „storm plane“. Although the engine is powered by a 55 HP engine, the engine develops an hourly speed of 90-100 km. The load capacity is sufficient to carry 2-3 people. The gas tank is in the body; a special oil tank is not required in the N.A.G. engines which are provided with pressurized oil lubrication. Since this aircraft type is intended primarily for military purposes, it was equipped with a station for wireless telegraphy, system Dr. Ing. Huth, who was said to have delivered very favorable results in the experiments made in March. The pilot's seat of the apparatus finally shows the usual equipment: altimeter, map table with electric lighting, Deuta tachometer, clock, tool bag and fire extinguisher. The control levers show a slightly different equipment, they are all provided with a hand wheel, which is responsible for the operation of the twist. But the biggest difference between the two machines probably lies in the constructive execution of the struts. The old Wright machine is made entirely of wood struts, etc., while the new hardly shows any wooden parts in the scaffold except the runners. Steel tube has been provided everywhere, which of course achieves a lower air resistance, a lower weight and also the risk of splintering is prevented. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted in the end that for cooling a N. J. W. cooler is placed in front of the engine and that the gasoline is supplied to the engine by air pressure that this constantly generates by means of a small piston pump."

So, the description should read something like this: New racing-biplane "Rekord" of Flugmaschine Wright-Gesellschaft mbH, the German subsidiary of the Wright company in Berlin-Reinickendorf and Johannisthal. The photo is showing Russian Princess en:Evgeniya Shakhovskaya at the controls and the chief pilot of the Wright Works, en:Vsevolod Abramovich right next to her in early spring 1912.

I will change the description back to the original version for the time being. --Flügelstier (talk) 16:25, 19 June 2019 (UTC)