History of development of domestic civil aviation: from special to complex researches

The problem of complex historical studies of domestic civil aviation is related to the issues of interpretation and popularization of history. The aim of the study is to demonstrate the prospect of complex studies of the history of civil aviation on the basis of a structural and functional approach on the example of the analysis of historical background of the domestic civil aviation formation. Within this approach civil aviation is understood as a self-regulating system of public relations, the integrity and functionality of which depends on the presence and development of its individual structural elements. The object of the research is the process of formation of the structural elements of civil aviation as a self-regulating system. The subject of the study is the historical background of the domestic civil aviation formation. The sources of the research include: the historiography of the formation of domestic civil aviation, historical and modern publications, materials of scientific conferences, archival documents. Specialized studies allow us to consider the formation of such structural elements of the domestic aviation system as: scientific and engineering thought, aviation development management structures, aviation education, and the aircraft industry. The synthesis of individual studies based on the structural-functional approach reveals the "blank spots" of national history and controversial historiographic issues that require the concentration of research attention. Even the anniversary of the domestic aviation, connected with the testing of the first model of the aircraft of A.F. Mozhaisky in full size, can be called into question. A general approach is needed to the criteria for determining the important historical stages in the development of aviation. From the point of view of the development of scientific and engineering thought as an essential element of the integrated aviation system, the date of the first grant for research in the industry - 1876 -is more important. The organization of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR in 1932 completes the long stage of the formation of civil aviation as a self-regulating system (1876-1932). During this time the main structural elements of the system had been formed. The proposed approach requires further discussion. There is a need to bring together specialists in selected fields of civil aviation history to comprehensively reconstruct the overall evolution of this system of public relations. This work is an attempt to determine the possibility of overcoming conceptual and ideological differences of individual historiographic sources on the basis of a structural and functional approach. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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