zrakoplov

Serbo-Croatian

From zrak +‎ -o- +‎ ploviti.

Earliest attested use in 1859 by Bogoslav Šulek in a Gospodarski List article about hot air balloons.

zrȁkoplōv m (Cyrillic spelling зра̏копло̄в)

(Croatia) aircraft
- 1859, Bogoslav Šulek, “Obrtnost”, in Gospodarski List. Izdat troskom gozpodars, druztva hrvatsko-slavonskoga.‎^[1]:
  (Zrakoplov). Tri smjela amerikanska zrakoplovca plovila su nedavno zrakom iz države St. Louis u Newyork i prevalila 250 miljah za 19 satih i 40 minutah, dakle svaku milju za 5 minutah. Oni dokazuju, da u vi sini povrh zemlje uviek duva vjetar od zapada na iztok. Oslanjajuć se na to isti zrakoplovci , hoće da zrakom plove preko Atlantskoga mora u Evropu, jedno 1000 miljah daleko . Njihova zrakoplovka ili balun tako je velika, da nosi 80 centib, a pod njom je ladjica, koja se može upotrebiti na moru , kad bi se kojom nesrećom balun pokvario i sva sprava u more pala. Vidjet ćemo, hoće-li tim novim Ikarom za rukom poći taj vratolomni put.
  Three daring American aviators recently sailed from the state of St. Louis to New York and covered 250 miles in 19 hours and 40 minutes, so each mile in 5 minutes. They prove that at a height above the earth, the wind always blows from the west to the east. Relying on this, the same aviators want to fly across the Atlantic to Europe, 1000 miles away. Their zrakoplovka or balloon is so big, that it carries 80 centibars, and under it is a boat, which can be used at sea, if by some accident the balloon breaks down and the whole device falls into the sea. We'll see if this new Icarus will be able to make that breakneck journey.
(Croatia) airplane

Declension of zrakoplov