The Armenian Air Force of 1918: Pilots, Planes, and a Desperate Fight

When the First Republic of Armenia was born in 1918, it had almost nothing: no army, no money, and barely a government. But within months, Armenian pilots were flying French and Russian planes over Yerevan, bombing Turkish columns and dropping leaflets. This episode tells the little-known story of the Armenian Air Force — a handful of daredevils, a few battered Nieuports and Farmans, and the desperate aerial battles that helped buy the Republic time. We meet the first Armenian pilot, Stepan Melkonian, who died in a crash in 1918; the Russian émigré pilots who joined the cause; and the mechanics who kept wrecked planes flying with wire and prayer. From reconnaissance flights over Sardarabad to bombing runs on Kars, we trace how a nation with no air force built one from nothing — and what happened when the Red Army arrived in 1920. This is a story of improvisation, courage, and the long shadow of empire. #ArmenianAirForce #FirstRepublicOfArmenia #StepanMelkonian #Sardarabad #Nieuport #Farman #AerialWarfare #CaucasusFront #OttomanEmpire #RussianRevolution #AirPower #MilitaryHistory #ArmenianPilots #1918 #1920 #History #FexingoHistory #AviationHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo