Aircraft commander Pavel Fedoseenko (born 1898), a graduate of the Air Force School in Leningrad and Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow, was a career military aviator who logged over a hundred flights (377 hours) on tethered observation balloons in World War I and the Russian Civil War and later tested numerous free-flying balloons and airships.
In 1925 Fedoseenko and Alexander Friedmann set a national altitude record of 7,400 m (24,300 ft).

In 1927 Fedoseenko set a national solo endurance record of 23 h 57 m. His influence in the Leningrad branch of Osoaviakhim helped establish a balloon-making workshop at Leningrad's Stalin Plant, although they failed to beat their air force competitors.

Flight engineer Andrey Vasenko (born 1899), a native of Tsarskoye Selo, also fought on the Bolshevik side in the Civil War; in 1927 he graduated from the fledgling department of aircraft of the Leningrad Institute of Railroad Engineers, while working full-time as a school teacher in his hometown.
In 1929 Vasenko joined the staff of an observatory in Pavlovsk (later Aerological Institute) headed by Pavel Molchanov; two years later, after a string of successful meteoroligal studies, he was promoted to deputy director of the Institute.
Apart from Osoaviakhim-1, Vasenko designed a series of captive balloons for photographic surveys of large construction sites.

Instrument operator Ilya Usyskin (born 1910), son of a Jewish blacksmith from Vitebsk, studied at Moscow Technical University and Abram Ioffe's Physical-Technical Institute in Leningrad.
At the age of 20 he published his first peer-reviewed articles on biophysical experiments suggested by Ioffe, although he himself leaned towards nuclear physics.
In 1932–1933 Usyskin designed portable, lightweight scientific instruments for stratospheric balloons, and was a natural choice for the Osoaviakhim-1 crew.
At first Fedoseenko disliked Usyskin's personality but later changed his mind, assuring Ioffe of his full trust in Usyskin.
According to the Mezheninov commission report, Usyskin considered his role in the January flight unnecessary, because it turned out that his portable cloud chambers were unsuitable for high-altitude experiments in winter and had to be replaced with less sophisticated instruments.
Aircraft commander Pavel Fedoseenko (born 1898), a graduate of the Air Force School in Leningrad and Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow, was a career military aviator who logged over a hundred flights (377 hours) on tethered observation balloons in World War I and the Russian Civil War and later tested numerous free-flying balloons and airships. In 1925 Fedoseenko and Alexander Friedmann set a national altitude record of 7,400 m (24,300 ft). 
In 1927 Fedoseenko set a national solo endurance record of 23 h 57 m. His influence in the Leningrad branch of Osoaviakhim helped establish a balloon-making workshop at Leningrad's Stalin Plant, although they failed to beat their air force competitors.
Flight engineer Andrey Vasenko (born 1899), a native of Tsarskoye Selo, also fought on the Bolshevik side in the Civil War; in 1927 he graduated from the fledgling department of aircraft of the Leningrad Institute of Railroad Engineers, while working full-time as a school teacher in his hometown. In 1929 Vasenko joined the staff of an observatory in Pavlovsk (later Aerological Institute) headed by Pavel Molchanov; two years later, after a string of successful meteoroligal studies, he was promoted to deputy director of the Institute. Apart from Osoaviakhim-1, Vasenko designed a series of captive balloons for photographic surveys of large construction sites.
Instrument operator Ilya Usyskin (born 1910), son of a Jewish blacksmith from Vitebsk, studied at Moscow Technical University and Abram Ioffe's Physical-Technical Institute in Leningrad. At the age of 20 he published his first peer-reviewed articles on biophysical experiments suggested by Ioffe, although he himself leaned towards nuclear physics. In 1932–1933 Usyskin designed portable, lightweight scientific instruments for stratospheric balloons, and was a natural choice for the Osoaviakhim-1 crew. At first Fedoseenko disliked Usyskin's personality but later changed his mind, assuring Ioffe of his full trust in Usyskin. According to the Mezheninov commission report, Usyskin considered his role in the January flight unnecessary, because it turned out that his portable cloud chambers were unsuitable for high-altitude experiments in winter and had to be replaced with less sophisticated instruments.
Osoaviakhim-1