Valerian Abakovsky
In 1917, Soviet engineer Valerian Abakovsky came up with the idea to slap the best parts of an (early) airplane onto the best parts of an (early) railcar and use the resulting newfangled device to carry Soviet officials around Russia. The resulting “Aerowagon,” pictured above, barely lasted four years before it was shelved for good.
On the 24th of July, 1921, Abakovsky was conducting a trip from Moscow with a handful of international delegates when the vehicle suddenly derailed, killing seven of the 22 people on board. Abakovsky was among the dead, and only 25 when he was killed in the crash.
