The Serb was the first to fly a plane. Everyone thinks that the Wright brothers were pioneers of aviation, but Ivan made the plane himself, but also his wife - a car!

Aeroclub "Ivan Sarić" marked the 110th anniversary of the first flight of the aviation pioneer Ivan Sarić (1876-1966) at the airport in Bikovo near Subotica.

Saric was a well-known versatile athlete, athlete, wrestler, cyclist and motorcyclist who competed throughout Europe, but he left a huge contribution in the world of aviation. He took off for the first time on October 16, 1910, in an airplane of his own construction and production, and the people of Subotica proudly celebrate his name. His plane was not catapulted, as was the case with the Wright brothers' plane and other world pioneers of aviation, but took off with its own engine to the heights.

In addition to the presentation of the club, members and the airport, a screening of a documentary about Saric, a flight program was held, however, the weather conditions were not in favor, and the arrival of the "eagle" was canceled, but guests enjoyed gaming, parachuting and airplane flights. . - The air show was opened by paratroopers with the flag of Ivan Sarić, and then we moved on to our regular weekend activities, which are training, school jumping. The aeroclub as it is now was founded in 1946, unfortunately, Ivan Sarić was no longer flying at that time. He stopped flying when World War II began, he was recruited to work as a constructor. His "Saric 2" plane was ready to fly, but it caught fire. After that, he rode a bicycle, made a car, a motorcycle and his wife was certainly the first woman to drive a car in Europe - says Bojan Burger, president of the Supervisory Board of AK "Ivan Sarić".

Ivan Sarić's heir is survived by his grandson and great-grandson Đordje Cvijanović. He lives in Norway and Cvijanović works in the Norwegian NATO department. The radio is a modification of the Norwegian F-16 for the needs of the American Air Force. Burger says that the club has been named after Sarić since 1975, and the first aviation staff of the Subotica airport was trained in Vršac. - Since 1969, we have had the first teacher of parachuting, the first manager was Mika Isaković, who is still active in the Air Force of Serbia, is the president of the sailing commission and has three sons who are pilots. Mihalj Kovač was our first parachuting teacher. Today, we have more than 100 members, about 70 percent are from Subotica, and 30 percent are people who come from abroad because we are currently the only club in Vojvodina that works very seriously. Sombor, Kikinda, Novi Sad are gravitating towards us, and Belgrade are coming to jump from Republika Srpska in large numbers - says Bojan Burger.

Miroslav Antelj is the author of a documentary about Saric. He recorded it in 2010, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first flight.

- It is good not to forget Ivan Sarić, and when a film is made and it is broadcast, only then do you get a lot of information that could fit into the film. So it was missing as his first flight went, and that wasn’t great, they also tried to sabotage his flight. Sarić marked with flags where he will fly at the then airport towards the settlement of Zorka. They broke his flags, the railway passed there and even the passengers came out there - says Antelj and adds that Sarić is not recognized as much as he deserves.

Branko Pokornić, the producer of the film, says that Sarić is the inventor of the wings with which the plane is controlled, landed, turned, lowered and raised. - Sarić made a candle with ceramics, which he gave to "Bosh", and they still produce his patent. He did very great things in life - concludes Pokornić.

Before the Wright brothers

The most interesting thing is that all historians and chroniclers say that the Wright brothers flew first in 1903. - But we need to correct a historical mistake. The flights before Saric's were such that the planes were catapulted and thrown into the distance, and Saric was the first in the world to lift the plane with his own engine. He lifted it to a height of about 30 meters, made two laps, in the second lap his cylinder fired and he lowered the plane like a glider. The Wright brothers did not succeed in that either - says Antelj.