Welcome to the Journey

I’m Patrick, and I’m writing a book about the Soviet aviation industry: how it grew, changed, and finally came apart. The story runs from the first years after the Russian Revolution to the end of the Cold War. It’s full of inventors, pilots, and politicians who were trying to build something extraordinary under difficult and often dangerous conditions.

This blog grew out of that project. I started by looking at the Soviet Air Force in the Second World War, but the deeper I went, the more I saw that the roots and the aftermath mattered just as much. What began as a narrow study turned into a much wider look at how the Soviet Union built, used, and thought about air power.

In most Western accounts, the Soviet role in the air war is a side note. The people who designed and flew the aircraft are often missing from the picture. Their work, their ideas, and their losses tell a story that deserves more space.

Here, I post research notes, short profiles, bits from the archives, and reflections on the writing itself. If you’re interested in aviation history, the Eastern Front, or the larger Soviet experiment, you may find something here worth your time.

And if you see something wrong or have another view, please reach out. I’d love to have a conversation.

If you want to read more, subscribe to my Substack newsletter for new historical aviation stories and behind-the-scenes research. It’s free and every subscription helps support my project.

—Patrick Kinville