What do a crater on Venus, a religious painting, a large helicopter, the railway line to Thangool, and a small amateur built aeroplane all have in common?
Answer: Vladimir Slusarenko
Vladimir Victorovich Slusarenko, was born at Tiflis, Russia in 1889, son of Victor Slusarenko, a general of artillery in the Imperial Russian army. Even when quite a youth he became interested in aviation, then in its early infancy. In 1911 the young Slusarenko gained the first aviation license to be issued in Russia and the thirteenth international license. From piloting aeroplanes he advanced to studying aircraft designs and construction. He established an aeroplane factory at Riga. During the First World War the factory was forced to close. He had a few crashes, but survived with a limp.
He re-opened a factory near St. Petersburg with the famous Igor Sikorsky. They were both forced to leave when driven out by the Russian revolution. Sikorsky emigrated to the USA to build huge flying boats and develop the first helicopters, examples of which are still made today.
Vladimir’s first wife in Russia was Lidia Zvereva. She was a balloonist when Vladimir met her, and with some training she became the first woman to become a pilot in Russia in 1911, and one of the first world-wide. She had a son, Igor, named after Vladimir’s best friend Igor Sikorsky. She died in 1916 while still quite young at the age of 26.
Lidia Zvereva and her Russian Pilots Licence
Many years later when the Russians sent a space probe rocket to Venus, they photographed a crater that had not previously been identified. They named it Lidia Zvereva in honour of the first woman pilot in Russia. Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with the Callide and Dawson Valleys? Here’s where it gets interesting.
Slusarenko’s departure from Russia led to many more adventures. Eventually, he arrived at Sandgate, just north of Brisbane, and took up ownership of the Sandgate Garage. He had not forgotten though, about his friendship with Sikorsky and his love of aeroplanes, so he set about building one of his own, a small high wing monoplane, the Heath Parasol. It had wood framed wings and steel tube fuselage, all covered with linen fabric.
The Heath Parasol “Miss Sandgate”, after many owners, finally found her way to Jambin, where she has now been restored to airworthy condition. In the meantime Vladimir was asked to submit a design for the new Russian Orthodox Church in Brisbane by the High Priest Fr. Valentine Antioneff. Now a refugee, Fr. Valentine had once been Chaplain to the Imperial Russian Army before the revolution. Since coming to Queensland he had worked on making the railway lines from Brisbane to Townsville and Rockhampton to Thangool. Some local Russians who worked with him then stayed, farming cotton.
There had been plans to construct a Russian Orthodox church in the area, however the cotton crops that year were poor because of drought, and the project could not go ahead. One of the local churches made the Orthodox Russians welcome, so much so that later Fr. Valentine commissioned an artist to produce a number of “Russian Icon” paintings in gratitude. These were gifted and blessed in a special service of worship by Fr. Valentine himself.
During his commissioning visit, Fr. Valentine stayed with a local Russian family. On the way to the service, he walked with the eight-year-old daughter of his host family. She had a pink dress, and a pink handbag. He had a tall black Kamilavkion hat and a huge Pectoral Cross with a long St. George ribbon around his neck. On the way she asked, “may I carry your cross Father”? So she carried the cross and he took the pink handbag as they walked down Kariboe Street. What a sight they made!
Vladimir Slusarenko died in 1969 without knowing the final fate of his beloved “Miss Sandgate”. He is buried in the Russian section of the Mount Gravatt Cemetery in Brisbane. It is rumoured though, that if you fly “Miss Sandgate”, you will get a distinct feeling that you are sitting in someone else’s seat. All this goes to prove the old adage, “That Fact is Stranger than Fiction”, and if you don’t believe me, just try Googling “Vladimir Slusarenko”, or “Lidia Zvereva”, “Fr. Valentine Antioneff”, or “Heath Parasol”, and see what you will find!
