At 15, Assen Yordanov already had his own studio in the family apartment in Sofia. There he not only assembled toys, but also tried to understand how machines worked. Later, his sister Milka said that as a child he tried to create a perpetual motion machine based on magnetic force as a constant source of energy.
This curiosity quickly turned into an obsession with flying. In the summer of 1912, his father Hristo Yordanov took him to technical exhibitions and museums in Italy, Switzerland and France. Then he sent him to study French at a boarding house in Geneva. However, young Assen did not stay there for long. He left without permission and ended up at the school of the famous French aviator Louis Bleriot near Paris.
“There were six children in our family - four sisters and two brothers, one of whom died at the age of six“, says Milka Markova in a memoir quoted by OFFNews. She describes their father as a busy engineer, chemist and public figure, who nevertheless encouraged the interests of each of his children. Milka herself later became a violin teacher and built a musical career in Bulgaria and France.
From the family studio to the first Bulgarian aircraft
In 1915, Yordanov created “Yordanov-1“ - an aircraft, built with the help of an engine provided by the Ministry of War. Work on the machine was carried out in the salon of a former restaurant in Knyazhevo. During World War I, he served as a pilot and flew 84 combat missions.
After the war, Yordanov headed for the United States. In 1921, he left with Alexander Stoyanov, with whom he planned to participate in a race to circumnavigate the world by plane. The race was postponed, but Yordanov remained in America. At first, he did not know English and supported himself by shoveling snow and working on construction sites. He learned the language on his own in the public library while reading books and technical manuals.
In America, Assen became Jerry Jordanoff. He worked as a designer, test pilot, flight instructor and author of aviation manuals. Among his books are “Your Wings“, “Flight in the Clouds“ and “Illustrated Aviation Dictionary“. The National Air and Space Museum “Smithsonian“ keeps his archive, including correspondence, articles, photographs and biographical materials.
Three marriages and a late connection with the homeland
The personal life of the aircraft engineer also went through sharp turns. In 1929, he married Alice Grant Patton, granddaughter of the President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant. The two are known as the “flying family“, because Alice also piloted airplanes. Their marriage ended in 1942.
This was followed by a brief second marriage to Diana, which ended in 1950. Five years later, Yordanov married Lucille Andrews, who remained his companion for the rest of his life. After financial difficulties and his retirement in 1962, he settled in a small house in Harrison, New York.
Yordanov did not break his connection with Bulgaria. In 1947, he managed to invite his mother and sisters to New York. In a letter to his friend Radul Markov, he wrote: “I have wanted and I want to leave my experience and knowledge in my homeland“. The quote was published by OFFNews.
Assen Yordanov died in the “St. Agnes“ hospital in White Plains on October 19, 1967. Radio Bulgaria indicates the same date, while a publication in “DUMA“ gives October 18. After his death, his ashes were scattered from a plane over America – a finale that brings together his most personal memory and the profession to which he dedicated his entire life.