Alexander P . de Seversky Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky ( ) ( June 7 , 1894 – August 24 , 1974 ) was a Russian – American aviation pioneer , inventor , and influential advocate of strategic air power . Early life . Of noble Russian parentage , Seversky was born in Tbilisi , then part of the Russian Empire ( now Georgia ) and called " Tiflis " . He entered a military school at age 10 . Seversky ' s father was one of the first Russian aviators to own an aircraft ( a modified Blériot XI built by Mikheil Grigorashvili ) and by the age of 14 , when Seversky entered the Imperial Russian Naval Academy , his father had already taught him how to fly . Graduating in 1914 with an engineering degree , Lieutenant Seversky was serving at sea with a destroyer flotilla when World War I began . World War I . Seversky was selected for duty as a naval aviator , transferring to the Military School of Aeronautics at Sebastopol , Crimea . After completing a postgraduate program on aeronautics in 1914 – 15 , he was reassigned as a pilot in the summer of 1915 to an aviation unit in the Baltic Fleet . While stationed in the Gulf of Riga , on his first mission , he attacked a German destroyer but was shot down by enemy anti - aircraft fire before he could drop his bombs . The bombs exploded in the crash , killing his observer and badly wounding Seversky . Doctors amputated his leg below the knee and although he was fitted with an artificial leg , despite his protests , authorities deemed him unfit to return to combat . To prove to his superiors that he could still fly , Seversky appeared unannounced at an air show , but was quickly arrested following his impromptu spirited aerial performance . Tsar Nicholas II intervened on his behalf and in July 1916 , de Seversky returned to combat duty , downing his first enemy aircraft three days later . In February 1917 , he assumed command of the 2nd Naval Fighter Detachment , until he was seriously injured in an accident where a horse - drawn wagon broke his good leg . After serving in Moscow , as the Chief of Pursuit Aviation , Seversky returned to combat duty . On October 14 , 1916 , he was forced down in enemy territory but made it back to the safety of his own lines . He went on to fly 57 combat missions , shooting down six German aircraft ( his claims for 13 victories would make him Russia ' s third - ranking World War I ace although the claims are disputed ) . Seversky was the leading Russian naval ace in the conflict . For his wartime service , Seversky was awarded the Order of St . George ( 4th Class ) ; Order of St . Vladimir ( 4th Class ) ; Order of St . Stanislaus ( 2nd & 3rd Class ) ; Order of St . Anne ( 2nd ; 3rd ; and 4th class ) . Emigration to the United States . During the 1917 Revolution , Seversky was stationed in St . Petersburg and remained in uniform at the request of the commander - in - chief of the Baltic Fleet . In March 1918 , he was selected as an assistant naval attaché in the Russian Naval Aviation Mission to the United States . Seversky departed via Siberia and while in the U . S . , decided to remain there rather than return to a Russia torn apart by the Revolution . Settling in Manhattan , he briefly operated a restaurant . Aviation career . In 1918 , Seversky offered his services to the War Department as a pilot with General Kenly , Chief of the Signal Corps appointing him as a consulting engineer and test pilot assigned to the Buffalo District of aircraft production . After the Armistice , Seversky became an assistant to air power advocate General Billy Mitchell , aiding him in his push to prove air power ' s ability to sink battleships . Seversky applied for and received the first patent for air - to - air refueling in 1921 . Over the next few years , 364 patent claims were made , among them the first gyroscopically stabilized bombsight , which Seversky developed with Sperry Gyroscope Company in 1923 . After joining the Army Air Corps Reserve , Seversky was commissioned a major in 1928 . Seversky Aircraft Corporation . Using the $ 50 , 000 from the sale of his bombsight to the U . S . Government , Seversky founded the Seversky Aero Corporation in 1923 . Concentrating on making aircraft parts and instruments , the small company was unable to survive the stock market crash of 1929 . On February 16 , 1931 , with the backing of Wall Street millionaire Edward Moore and other investors , he resurrected the enterprise as the new Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Long Island , New York . Moving into the former EDO Corporation ' s float plane factory at College Point , Long Island , Seversky ' s patents were the primary assets of the new company . Resolved to invest in research and design rather than relying on licence - manufacturing , many of Seversky Aircraft ' s designers were Russian and Georgian engineers , including Chief Engineer Michael Gregor and Alexander Kartveli . Along with Seversky , the designers embarked on an advanced all - metal , multi - place monoplane amphibian , the SEV - 3 . This ground - breaking design would go on to set numerous speed records at the 1933 – 1939 National Air Races , often piloted by Seversky himself , who was the company ' s greatest " pitchman " . On September 15 , 1935 , flying at a speed just over 230 mph , Seversky set a world speed record for piston - engine amphibious aircraft . Seversky also set a transcontinental speed record in 1938 . The SEV - 3 was eventually the progenitor of a family of advanced aircraft including the SEV - 3XLR and 2 - XP ( two - place , experimental ) fighter , the BT - 8 trainer and SEV - 1P ( single - seat ) fighter . The most radical conversion occurred when the fixed - gear SEV - 1P was fitted with a rearward retracting main undercarriage to produce the prototype of the successful P - 35A fighter series . The Seversky Aircraft design office led by Seversky was responsible for 25 different innovative projects , many of them " still - born " including the " Seversky Super - Clipper " , an eight - engine , 250 ft span transoceanic transport and the four - place , tricycle gear " Seversky Executive " high speed personal aircraft . The Sev - S2 , virtually identical to the P - 35 , which was undergoing trials in 1937 , dominated the last three Bendix Trophy air races , beginning in 1937 when Frank Fuller won at an average speed of 415 . 51 km / h . The Seversky Aircraft Company began operating out of new facilities in Long Island in 1936 , purchasing three factories , a flying field and hangar along with a seaplane assembly base at Famingdale and Amityville , Long Island . Despite landing several government contracts , Seversky Aircraft was never able to turn a profit under Seversky ' s management and by September 1938 , the company had to be bailed out again by Paul Moore ( Edward ' s brother and heir ) . His financing of a rescue came with the proviso that Seversky , as President , would have his personal budget cut , while the board of directors transferred more power to managing director Wallace Kellett . A controversial contract Seversky negotiated in secret with the Japanese for 20 SEV - 2PA - B3 fighters created antagonism with the War Department , leading inevitably to the U . S . government putting pressure on the USAAC to limit the P - 35 order to the initial batch of 76 aircraft . When Seversky left for Europe on a sales tour in the winter of 1938 – 39 , the Board reorganized the operation on October 13 , 1939 , renamed as Republic Aviation Corporation with Kellett becoming the new president . Seversky sued for redress but while legal actions dragged on , the board of directors voted him out of the company he had created . Republic Aviation would become an industrial behemoth during World War II designing and producing the Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt and in postwar years , a continuing line of successful fighter aircraft before being acquired by Fairchild in 1965 . Air power advocate . As World War II approached , Seversky became engrossed in formulating his theories of air warfare . Shortly after the December 7 , 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor , he wrote " Victory Through Air Power " , published in April 1942 , advocating the strategic use of air bombardment . The best - selling book ( No . 1 on the New York Times bestseller list , appearing first in mid - August 1942 and remaining in first place for four weeks ) with five million copies sold . The book ' s popularity and hard - hitting message led to Walt Disney adapting the book into an animated motion picture ( 1943 ) of the same name where Seversky ( who also served as the film ' s technical consultant ) and General Mitchell provided live - action commentary . The Disney animated film received a lukewarm reception at the box office and from critics who felt it was an unusual departure from the standard Disney studio fare , sending out a powerful propaganda message based on an abstract political argument . The influence of both the book and film in wartime , however , was significant , stimulating popular awareness and driving the national debate on strategic air power . Seversky was one of a number of strategic air advocates whose vision was realized in the 1946 creation of the Strategic Air Command and the development of aircraft such as the Convair B - 36 and Boeing B - 47 Stratojet . Seversky continued to publicize his ideas for innovative aircraft and weaponry , notably the 1964 Ionocraft which was to be a single - man aircraft powered by the ionic wind from a high - voltage discharge . A laboratory demonstration was acknowledged to require 90 watts to lift a two ounce ( 60 g ) model , and no man - carrying version was ever built . In postwar years , Seversky continued to lecture and write about aviation and the strategic use of air power , following up his landmark treatise with " Air Power : Key to Survival " ( 1950 ) and " America : Too Young to Die ! " ( 1961 ) . Personal life . Seversky married New Orleans socialite Evelyn Olliphant ( 1907 – 1967 ) in 1923 . She was also well known as a pilot . The two settled in New York City ( at 40 Central Park South ) . In 1927 , Seversky became a naturalized citizen of the United States . In 1967 , Mrs . de Seversky died at her country home at Asharoken Beach , Northport , L . I . at the age of 60 . Often described as " flamboyant " and a " showman , " Seversky was always good at capturing the public eye , and was considered a newsworthy celebrity . In 1942 " The New York Times " even published one of his residences , reporting that " Airplane Designer Rents Apartment : Major Seversky One Of Seven New Tenants in 40 Central Park South . " Seversky was a founder and trustee of the New York Institute of Technology , which in 1972 acquired an elegant mansion originally built by Alfred I . du Pont . It was renamed " The DeSeversky Center " in his honor , and is a popular venue for weddings . Death . Seversky died in 1974 at New York ' s Memorial Hospital , and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx . Honors . He received the Harmon Trophy in 1939 for advances in aviation . For his work on air power , Seversky received the Medal of Merit in 1945 from President Harry Truman and the Exceptional Service Medal in 1969 in recognition of his service as a special consultant to the Chiefs of Staff of the USAF . In 1970 , Seversky was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame . Seversky aircraft . Before the genesis of the Republic Aircraft Corporation , the Seversky Aircraft Corporation produced the following aircraft , which were all variations on the same theme :