Pioneering Russian wind tunnels and first experimental investigations, 1871-1915

A review of foreign and Russian sources is given mentioning the pioneering wind tunnels built in Russia at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries. The first wind tunnel in Russia was constructed by V.A. Pashkevich at the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg in 1871. In total from 1871 through 1915, 18 wind tunnels were constructed in Russia: 11 in Moscow, 5 in St. Petersburg and 2 in Kaluga. An overview of the pioneering Russian wind tunnels built by V.A. Pashkevich, K.E. Tsiolkovsky, prof. N.E. Zhukovsky, D.P. Ryabushinsky and prof. K.P. Boklevsky is given. Schemes, photographs, formulas, description of the research and test results taken from the original papers published by the wind tunnel designers are given. Photographs from the N.E. Zhukovsky Scientific and Memorial Museum and the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences are used in the article. Methods of flow visualization and results of their application are presented. The Russian scientists and researchers' contribution to the development of techniques and methods of aerodynamic experiment is shown, including one of the most important aspects - the wall interference problem.