**5. About the origin of the Robert Bartini**

The six-dimensional universe by Bartini is parallel streaming of times [1]. Of course, such revolutionary ideas caused him great problems, and they did not want to publish his article (he basically was not a physicist and was quite unknown in the world of science). However, Bruno Pontecorvo advocated for Robert Bartini and his article. Bartini gave to this article great importance; he signed as the author with the full name Robert Oros di Bartini [12]. It is interesting that the article even promised the proof of author's theory, but he soon died. Bartini used this physical theory to deal with his aerodynamic problems and came to excellent solutions. What is more, Bartini developed an entire philosophy on his physical theory of time. Therefore, his six-dimensional universe was named Bartini's universe. The second part of the article presents a table, a kind of periodic system of physical quantities expressed with the potentials of time and space, which Bartini developed together with Kuznetsov [13]. The most interesting part of this table is that some parts were an introduction into unpublished physical quantities such as the surface of time and

*Environmental Impact of Aviation and Sustainable Solutions*

Bartini drew pictures in his lifetime; some were on the walls of his apartment for his well-being and better concentration at work. He had three children, two sons and a daughter and three grandchildren [15]. The first son Gero was a climber and died in 1959; the second son Vladimir lives in Taganrog and is an engineer. In 1967, Bartini got the Order of Lenin for his life achievements. In 1957, he got the Order of

Quite speculative and almost incredible or unbelievable but very interesting claims or mysterious stories appeared about the life and work of Robert Bartini in

• Bartini in the 1920s and 1930s founded and headed a secret group ATON which

• Bartini was also the prototype for the book *The Little Prince*. A writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Robert Bartini met in their youth and both were

• Bartini was mentioned as the mysterious aircraft designer "Dunaev" that

• The whole story of Bartini's youth was invented, so the NKVD was very

• Altshuller summarized the ideas of Bartini to develop his own method of TRIZ,

• Robert Bartini and Leo Szilard—a physicist who discovered a chain reaction—

manuscripts are sealed and opened in 2197 (at 300th anniversary of his birth).

were sitting at the same table in high school in Budapest.

• Before his death, Bartini wrote a will in which he demanded that his

members were renowned Soviet writers (sci-fi) and scientists.

time, Bartini was imprisoned as well.

impressed by aviation.

suspicious about him.

as they were in contact.

**202**

constructed the invisible plane.

• Bartini was as a prototype for Woland from the novel *The Master and Margarita*, since its writer Bulgakov was also a member of the ATON. The novel was written at a time when Stalin put in prisons and killed the "blossom" of Soviet intelligence (writers, engineers, scientists, officers), and during this

the volume of time [14].

October Revolution.

Russia [2]:

It is still quite unclear today where exactly was Robert Bartini from and who exactly his parents were. The official version from his biography in the book of Igor Chutko from 1978 [3] is that he spent his youth in Fiume and his father was vicegovernor of Fiume Baron Lodovico Oros di Bartini, one of the richest and most distinguished people of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was a young barely 17-year-old girl, an orphan, who had an origin in a poor and impoverished Hungarian noble family from Miskolc. When she gave birth to her son, they told her that the baby died at birth, which was not true. In fact, Robert was secretly sent to a peasant family. The young woman did not believe and 6 months later she found her son. She wanted to show him to his father, the young Lodovico. However, when she came to Fiume with a child, she found out that her boyfriend had already married. She returned home at night, left her son and drowned at dawn. The child was again given to the same farmer family. Later, the farmer who adopted the child went to work as a head farmer at the residence of the vice-governor Lodovico Bartini, the child's father. His wife Paola could not have children, and she wanted to adopt the young 3-year-old Robert, but then the gardener suddenly escaped with a child. She was persistent, so she hired a detective and realized that the child's father was her husband. Later they adopted the child and raised him with all the love. Robert had his own teacher at home, family doctor Dr. Baltazar, who taught him natural science (chemistry, biology), music, and foreign languages.

However, researchers Olga and Sergei Buzinovsky discovered that this story has shortcomings. They wrote three books about Bartini after the fall of the communist system [1, 2]. They found that Bartini himself mentioned that his real mother's surname was Fersel (Fertsel), his real father was Austrian Baron Formaha, and he was born in Kanjiza. This information was obtained by the NKVD from Bartini, who was questioned in 1938 when he was imprisoned.

In their research, they got help with data from the Embassy of Croatia in Moscow and the workers of the city archives in Rijeka [2]. The director of the archive Goran Crnković reported that in September 1912, Russian pilot Chariton Slavorossov really flew in Fiume. It is possible that the famous pilot and young Robert Bartini actually met as stated in the biography [3]. However, the vicegovernor until 1902 was Francesco Vio, who was then appointed as the Governor and vice-governor became Andrea Bellen. Information about people named Bartini, Formaha, and Fersel was not found in the archive, but they found another trail. Near Fiume there was the estate of Baron Phillippe (Fülöp) Orosdy, Italian born, large landowner, and deputy of the upper house of the Hungarian Parliament. The Baron was also in the list of honorary members of the Hungarian Aero Club. He had a brother Lajos (Italian, Ludovico; German, Ludwig) in Budapest. So who was the father of Robert? Is it Baron Phillippe or his brother Lajos? Probably Lajos, because Robert was bearing his name (Robert Ludvigovich Bartini). He spent his youth with his uncle in Rijeka and probably attended high school (gymnasium) in Budapest and lived there with his father. This is most likely so, because when Robert Bartini was in sharaska, in 1939, Karl Szilard recognized him there. Karl was a distant relative of the nuclear physicist Leo Szilard [16]. It turned out that as a child Robert Bartini was sitting at a desk in the classroom with Leo Szilard, famous physicist [2].

Another researcher is Giuseppe di Ciampaglia, who wrote a book *La vita e gli aerei di Roberto Bartini* [17]. In 2015 [14], he wrote that Robert Bartini was the adoptive (and perhaps natural) son of Lajos Orosdy, the captain of the Hungarian border police in Fiume, later the doctor and the advisor of the governor. He moved to Rome after the annexation to Italy. The restless but excellent high school student Robert patented a "stabilizer" at the age of 18. On August 16, 1915, the governor of Fiume István Wickenburg recommended to the Honvéd (defense) minister to transferred Robert Bartini to aviation. He stayed in the infantry on the Russian front and finished in the prison in Siberia.

In October 2017, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, during her visit to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, highlighted two important people from Croatia who helped developing Russia in the past. The first was Robert Bartini, aviation designer, scientist, and visionary; the other was Matija Zmajević, Admiral of the Baltic Fleet of the Emperor Peter the Great.

Who was Robert Bartini? Hungarian, Italian, Austrian, Russian, Croat, or Serb? He himself answered the question, "If every particle in the human body is replaced every few years, then I am surely the Russian, since I have been living in Russia for decades" [2].

## **6. Conclusion**

The story of Robert Bartini is very interesting because he was unlike any other European scientists and researchers working in the Soviet Union. It is even more amazing that he was a son of powerful and rich Baron, and he decided for communism. Otherwise, the stormy first half of the twentieth century with two World Wars in Europe was not lenient to the fate of the people who are mutually intertwined in the most unusual combinations.

Early in his career, Bartini had luck and was rapidly promoted in the army and in the construction of aircraft, supported by his patron Marshal Tukhachevsky, former leader of the Soviet Armed Forces (Red Army). When Tukhachevsky, Bartini, and other officers were arrested before the Second World War, Bartini was lucky to survive. Since then, the authorities in Moscow did not support him any longer. After the war, he was able to realize only one idea—a prototype of the VVA-14 aircraft. With his work, Bartini was the most competitive of all his colleagues— Russian aircraft constructors. He was full of new ideas, so they were jealous, and probably Soviet authorities could not allow their planes to have an Italian name.

Most of his ideas contributed to better aerodynamics of aircrafts resulting in lower energy and fuel consumption. In this way, his airplanes could achieve higher speeds. His theory of intercontinental transport on Earth also took into account the smallest needs of transport infrastructure. His "red wings" significantly contributed to sustainable aviation.

As a designer, he managed to make fly only four aircraft prototypes; nevertheless, his ideas and solutions were used by other aircraft designers. Like many other geniuses, he was not suitable for the implementation of mass production of aircrafts, but he was always looking for something new. His work includes about 60 aircraft designs and ideas for about 200 aircrafts. As a genius, Bartini had similar characteristics to Nikola Tesla, namely, he formed his devices in his head and then just draw what he saw in his mind. Above all, he was acclaimed as a very good teacher, because he was happy to share his knowledge with younger Soviet designers, who later created very successful aircrafts such as Beriev, Korolev, Simonov (chief designer of Su-27), and others.

**Author details**

University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

provided the original work is properly cited.

\*Address all correspondence to: sergej.tezak@um.si

*Red Wings Proposed by Robert Bartini for Sustainable Aviation*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85032*

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture,

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Sergej Težak

**205**

*Red Wings Proposed by Robert Bartini for Sustainable Aviation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85032*

Robert patented a "stabilizer" at the age of 18. On August 16, 1915, the governor of Fiume István Wickenburg recommended to the Honvéd (defense) minister to transferred Robert Bartini to aviation. He stayed in the infantry on the Russian front

In October 2017, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, during her visit to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, highlighted two important people from Croatia who helped developing Russia in the past. The first was Robert Bartini, aviation designer, scientist, and visionary; the other was Matija Zmajević, Admiral

Who was Robert Bartini? Hungarian, Italian, Austrian, Russian, Croat, or Serb? He himself answered the question, "If every particle in the human body is replaced every few years, then I am surely the Russian, since I have been living in Russia for

The story of Robert Bartini is very interesting because he was unlike any other European scientists and researchers working in the Soviet Union. It is even more amazing that he was a son of powerful and rich Baron, and he decided for communism. Otherwise, the stormy first half of the twentieth century with two World Wars in Europe was not lenient to the fate of the people who are mutually

Early in his career, Bartini had luck and was rapidly promoted in the army and in the construction of aircraft, supported by his patron Marshal Tukhachevsky, former leader of the Soviet Armed Forces (Red Army). When Tukhachevsky, Bartini, and other officers were arrested before the Second World War, Bartini was lucky to survive. Since then, the authorities in Moscow did not support him any longer. After the war, he was able to realize only one idea—a prototype of the VVA-14 aircraft. With his work, Bartini was the most competitive of all his colleagues— Russian aircraft constructors. He was full of new ideas, so they were jealous, and probably Soviet authorities could not allow their planes to have an Italian name. Most of his ideas contributed to better aerodynamics of aircrafts resulting in lower energy and fuel consumption. In this way, his airplanes could achieve higher speeds. His theory of intercontinental transport on Earth also took into account the smallest needs of transport infrastructure. His "red wings" significantly

As a designer, he managed to make fly only four aircraft prototypes; nevertheless, his ideas and solutions were used by other aircraft designers. Like many other geniuses, he was not suitable for the implementation of mass production of aircrafts, but he was always looking for something new. His work includes about 60 aircraft designs and ideas for about 200 aircrafts. As a genius, Bartini had similar characteristics to Nikola Tesla, namely, he formed his devices in his head and then just draw what he saw in his mind. Above all, he was acclaimed as a very good teacher, because he was happy to share his knowledge with younger Soviet designers, who later created very successful aircrafts such as Beriev, Korolev,

and finished in the prison in Siberia.

decades" [2].

**6. Conclusion**

of the Baltic Fleet of the Emperor Peter the Great.

*Environmental Impact of Aviation and Sustainable Solutions*

intertwined in the most unusual combinations.

contributed to sustainable aviation.

**204**

Simonov (chief designer of Su-27), and others.
