Korolev's mother Maria married Grigory Balanin in 1916-1917 and moved to Odessa, Ukraine (9)(17). Luckily for Korolev, World War 2 brought military aircraft to the city. Korolev made regular trips to look at the aircraft from behind chain fences. Korolev got lucky one day. An engineer had been observing Korolev and knew about his fascination, and he allowed Korolev to assist him with his work on plane motors. When the fighting ended in 1921, Korolev quickly got back into classes, studying drafting (10) and math at the local school. There were still military aircraft stationed in the city, and by now Korolev was known throughout the military installment, and was even taken on airplane rides from time to time. Korolev joined an aviation club in 1921. In the aviation club Korolev designed his first glider, the K-5, named after himself.
Picture: potemkins stairs (62)