Dobrolet

the Russian Voluntary Aviation Society, organized in Moscow in 1923 with an initial capital of 2 million rubles in gold. The main purpose of the society was to create a civil aviation to service different branches of the USSR national economy on a commercial basis. (Among other things, Dobrolet was to organize passenger, mail, and freight airlines; produce aerial photographs; and assist navigation.) The Ukrainian Voluntary Civil Aviation Society (Ukrvozdukhput’) and Zakavia, similar in nature to Dobrolet, were created at the same time. Among Dobrolet’s remarkable accomplishments are the participation in the rescue of the crew and passengers of the dirigible Italia in 1927, aerial reconnaissance of ice for the Karskoe expedition in 1929, and the rescue of the crew and passengers of the ship Stavropol in 1929.

Dobrolet built a great amount of equipment for air transport. The total length of its air routes was 26,000 km in 1930. In seven years Dobrolet’s aircraft flew 10 million km and transported 47,000 passengers and 80 tons of cargo. In late 1930, Dobrolet, Ukrvozdukhput’, and Zakavia were merged into the All-Union Civil Aviation Society.