Letter from István Dobos to the Mayor of Gyula
Record: 8-12-1912, Budapest (Aerodrom in Rákos)
Photograph: between 1914-1918
2 Pages, manuscript on paper, with stamps, 1 photograph
Békés County Archives
of the National Archives of Hungary
HU-MNL-BeML – XV – 77 – Dobos István
The history of flying is filled with adventure, invention and tragedy. The early decades of the 20th century were an especially lively and heroic age, witnessing major breakthroughs in aviation.
On 8 December 1912, István Dobos (1892-1937), born in the city of Gyula, in Hungary, and at the time a young and ambitious aviator, wrote to the Mayor of his home town. Dobos told that he had been carrying out experiments in the Rákos Airfield, but that results had been disappointing due to inadequate motors on the planes. He added that he did not have the finances to acquire the necessary materials to improve the motors. As a citizen born in the city of Gyula, he pleaded with the Mayor and other authorities to help him in his endeavours.
Dobos fulfilled his dream, bringing glory to his home town and nation with his aviation feats. Having sat his pilot’s exam in 1910, he became a member of the Hungarian Aero Club which had been founded in that same year, and started his career as a pilot. He was successful in several races and set some new records, reaching 1850 metres of altitude in 1914, breaking the previous record of 1240 metres. In 1919, he made a unique flight with a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I reconnaissance biplane, travelling twice the Kiev-Budapest trip in eight hours of flight time.
He died on 1 June1937, the result of an accident with an M19 type plane, designed by Ernő Rubik.