Work by Zhilin Stepan - 2nd place
Scientific advisor-consultant: Burtsev Sergey Alekseevich, MSTU. N.E. Bauman
Introduction
The flight of the Wright Brothers marked the birth of air transport - new, mysterious and unknown. The emergence of the ability to move through the air became a symbol of the 20th century. More than a hundred years have passed since then... During this time, the airplane has transformed from a dangerous entertainment into a reliable and fast mode of transport, which has significantly reduced the distances between cities, countries and continents.
Since the 10s of the 20th century, almost all world powers began to pay great attention to aircraft construction. Several schools of aircraft construction and aeronautics were formed, and many machine-building plants began producing airplanes. The First World War became an “accelerator” for the development of aviation: during these four years, combat aircraft appeared, which determined the degeneration of clumsy “chicks” into machines that no longer had “toy” tactical and technical characteristics. The aircraft became capable of not only carrying weapons, but also transporting passengers and cargo over considerable distances much faster than a train or ship.
This is how aviation was born.
And the greatest credit for this belongs to the aircraft design engineers who created flying machines from scratch and made them perfect. The way we see them now.
England
Sir Geoffrey De Havilland
(1882-1965)
Born 27 July 1882 in Hazlemyre (Surrey). After graduating from Oxford University and the Higher School of Engineering, he worked in the automotive industry. In 1914 he became the chief designer at Airplane Manufacturing, where he created several D.H. series aircraft used in the First World War. In 1920 he founded the De Havilland Aircraft company. In 1944, Geoffrey De Havilland was elevated to the Knighthood.
Bombers designed by Geoffrey De Havilland were widely used by the British Royal Air Force in the First World War. The most famous of these was the D.H.4, a two-seat, two-strut braced biplane with fabric skin. The power plant consisted of an in-line Rolls-Royce Eagle engine producing 220 hp. Bombers D.H.4 of the latest series with an Eagle III engine with a power of 375 hp. superior in performance to many fighters of that time. The armament, as a rule, consisted of three machine guns (synchronized and coaxial turret), bomb load - 209 kg. During hostilities, these aircraft often received the most important and responsible missions, such as attacking the Zeebrugge dam.
Significant success was achieved by the D.H.88 Comet (the first with this name), specially designed for racing from Mildenhall to Melbourne. The aircraft featured an all-wood structure, a large-capacity nose fuel tank, and a manual landing gear retraction system.
The D.H.98 Mosquito bomber, along with the Spitfire, is rightfully considered one of the most famous and renowned English combat aircraft. When creating the Mosquito design, De Havilland had only one goal in mind - speed. The all-wood aircraft (here, by the way, the experience of D.H.88 was very useful) had a three-layer “sandwich” skin: veneer-balsa-veneer. Incredible survivability for a wooden aircraft was achieved through the full use of the strength and flexibility of the main material - plywood. The main feature of the design was that the aircraft wing was a single unit. Two Merlins XXI made it possible to reach a speed that was enormous at that time - 686 km/h. The aircraft's thrust-to-weight ratio was so high that it allowed it to spin upward “barrels” on one engine! “Mossy,” as the English pilots affectionately called him, became a real thorn in Germany: only at the end of 1944 did the Luftwaffe have an aircraft capable of intercepting it. Soon, aircraft similar in class to the Mosquito appeared in air forces around the world.
After the war, under the leadership of De Havilland, a series of jet fighters with a twin-boom design, atypical for this class of aircraft, was built, the first of which was the D.H.100 Vampire.
But it was the D.H.106 Comet aircraft that brought De Havilland world fame in 1949. Even at the height of the war in England, the Barbazon Committee was formed, whose task was to determine the prospects and priorities in the development of civil aviation. It was on the instructions of Lord Barbazon of Tara that a new airliner was designed. Until then, there was no practice in the world in creating jet passenger aircraft. For the de Havilland company, the development of high-speed aircraft was common practice: the D.H.88 Comet sports aircraft and the D.H.98 Mosquito bomber helped the designers accumulate colossal experience in designing aircraft with high performance characteristics. The “Comet,” designed for 44 passengers, was lifted into the air by 4 Rolls-Royce “Avon” RA.7 engines with a thrust of 33 kN, installed in the root part of the trapezoidal wings with a slight sweep angle. To ensure reliable takeoff from airfields of limited size, a Sprite liquid rocket booster with a thrust of 15.6 kN was used (never before used on aircraft of this type). The first series of "Comets" flew in many airlines until misfortunes began in 1954. As it turned out later, the cause of the disaster was fatigue failure of the metal. After this, the aircraft was carefully redesigned, and, at the same time, the wing area and the volume of fuel tanks were increased. Passenger capacity increased to 101 people. The modernized Comets IV served until 1965, when they were replaced by the American Boeing 707.
Reginald Joseph Mitchell
(1895-1937)
Reginald Mitchell was born in 1895 in the village of Take near Stoke-on-Trent. In 1911, he began working for Kerr Stewart & Co., a manufacturer of steam locomotives. Already in 1919, at the age of 24, he became the chief designer of the Supermarine company. In 1931, the S.6B racing aircraft of his design won the Schneider Cup. In 1937, he completed the design of his last aircraft, the Spitfire fighter.
From the memoirs of the Soviet designer A. S. Yakovlev: “...Visitors were not allowed close to the Spitfire aircraft: the fighter was the newest military secret of England. A rope was pulled around the machine, blocking access. No explanations related to this machine were given. And only Much later, during the war, I learned about the designer of the Spitfire aircraft, Reginald Mitchell. He died in 1937, when his aircraft was put into mass production. Translated into Russian, "Spitfire" means "firemaker." "Spitfire" The product of many years of painstaking calculations and wind tunnels, it was essentially the most compact fighter that could be built around a pilot, weapons and a 12-cylinder engine. The elliptical shape of its wing, although initially causing trouble for the technologists, allowed for a big gain in aerodynamics. During the war, the aircraft's armament increased from 8 machine guns to 4 cannons. Engine power increased from 1000 hp (Rolls-Royce "PV XII" engine, Merlin prototype) to 2035 hp. (Rolls-Royce Griffin engine). Here's what English pilot Bob Stanford said about the Spitfire: “...some people fall in love with yachts, some with women... or cars, but I think every pilot experiences a state of falling in love when he sits in this cozy little cockpit, where everything is at hand." In 1940, it was the only aircraft capable of opposing the German Messerschmitt Bf109E fighter, which embodied the “Spanish lessons”. The famous Soviet ace Alexander Karpov (30 victories) fought on the Spitfire Mk.IXLF, supplied under Lend-Lease. The quality of the design is also evidenced by the fact that the “firebreakers” flew until the mid-fifties (the last time they were used during the Arab-Israeli conflicts). The Spitfire is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful propeller-driven aircraft.
Germany
Kurt Tank
(1898-1970)
Kurt Tank was born in Bromberg-Schwedenhöhe in 1898. He took part in the First World War, commanded a squadron of a cavalry regiment, and was nominated for awards for personal courage. In 1918 he was seriously wounded. He was educated at the Technical Institute of Berlin. In 1924 he began working as a design engineer at the Robach-Metalflugzeugbau company. In 1931 he headed the design bureau of the Focke-Wulf enterprise in Bremen. In 1945, after the end of the war, he emigrated to Argentina, then to India. Returned to Germany in 1970.
The most famous and widely known aircraft built by Kurt Tank is undoubtedly the Focke-Wulf FW-190 fighter. This fighter, whose mass production began in 1941, constituted the main striking force of the Luftwaffe. It was based on a fundamentally new concept of air combat, first put forward by Kurt Tank: the main thing was powerful weapons, rate of climb and speed (later the Soviet La-5, the English Typhoon and Tempest, and the American P-47D were designed on the same principle ). The aircraft was built as a bomber, torpedo bomber, photo reconnaissance aircraft, attack aircraft, fighter and interceptor. The design of the FW-190 included colossal survivability: the safety factor of the airframe structure was very high - 1.2. The FW-190 had a high wing load, the internal layout of which was particularly rational. The powerful “double star” BMW-801C engine, thanks to which the aircraft had excellent thrust-to-weight ratio, was good protection for the pilot even from cannon fire from the front hemisphere. The FW-190 was distinguished by a very high quality of assembly and post-assembly finishing - Kurt Tank himself insisted on this. The wide-gauge landing gear and low-pressure pneumatics made the aircraft unpretentious to the quality of airfield surfaces and allowed landing at a high vertical speed. The plane's cabin was a bit cramped, but had good visibility, especially to the rear. For the emergency reset of the canopy, Tank used a squib for the first time (since, due to the aerodynamics of the canopy, it was simply impossible to reset it manually at speeds above 370 km/h). The armament of the FW-190 changed several times during combat operations, but the standard was two 13-mm MG-131 machine guns and two 20-mm MG-151 cannons; provision was made for the suspension of bombs, external fuel tanks, Panzerblitz missiles and additional containers with guns. There was a night modification: the FuG-216 Liechtenstein radar was installed on the aircraft. The One Hundred and Ninety became the only German aircraft capable of resisting American heavy bombers. The FW-190 fighter was modernized several times, remaining the most formidable enemy for Allied aircraft throughout the war. In 1944-1945, the magnificent Ta-152 high-altitude fighter was created on its basis, which set a speed record of 746 km/h. During the flight on this plane, one incident occurred with the Tank, which perfectly illustrates the combat characteristics of the vehicle. In the spring of 1945, Tank, who was not a military pilot, but knew how to pilot a plane well, ferried the pre-production Ta-152 to a military airfield in the city. Cottobus. At an altitude of about two kilometers, four Mustangs from the 356th Squadron of the 8th Air Force of the United States were positioned behind the non-maneuvering aircraft. The Americans apparently realized that the strange aircraft was not being flown by a combat pilot, and decided to take the German into a “box” and land him. But the plan failed: the Tank simply turned on the afterburner and left the Mustangs with a climb, “like standing ones.”
No less famous was the reconnaissance spotter FW-189, which our soldiers nicknamed the “frame” because of its two-beam design. The cabin with a large glass area created excellent visibility and made the aircraft ideal for performing the assigned tasks.
One of the best airliners of that time was the FW-200 Condor, designed by Tank in 1936 on his own initiative. The plane was supposed to displace the American Dc-3 and replace the old veteran Ju-52. Aerodynamically, the FW-200 was very clean, and the Condor's flight characteristics were truly outstanding: during a non-stop flight from Berlin to New York, a distance of 6558 km was covered in 24 hours 55 minutes. Winston Churchill called this plane the “Scourge of the Atlantic.” An interesting fact is that Hitler and Goering chose the FW-200 as their personal transport. During the war, the aircraft was produced as a long-range naval bomber, minelayer and patrol aircraft. The anti-submarine version of the FW-200 was very effective. However, in battles, the main drawback of the Condors was revealed - the engines, and during their service accidents quite often occurred with them.
But Kurt Tank’s most outstanding aircraft, in my opinion, is the Ta-183 fighter, which unfortunately (or rather fortunately) remained under construction. Absolutely everything in the design of the Ta-183 was innovative: a swept wing and a turbojet engine located in the fuselage with a frontal air intake. The design chosen by the designer was used in a huge number of post-war combat aircraft, passed testing in Korea with honor and determined the shape of fighter aircraft for many years. After all, the direct descendants of the Ta-183 were the legendary MiG-15 and F-86 Saber fighters. It was on the basis of the Ta-183 that Kurt Tank built his first post-war aircraft in Argentina - the IAe "Pulka" II.
Italy, USSR
Bartini Robert Ludovigovich
(1897-1974)
Robert Ludovigovich (Roberto Oros di Bartini) was born in Fiume (Rijeka, Yugoslavia). In 1916 he graduated from officer school, and in 1921 from flight school, Milan Polytechnic Institute (1922).
In 1923 he immigrated to the USSR. In 1937, Bartini was unjustifiably accused of having connections with the executed “enemy of the people” - Marshal Tukhachevsky and was repressed. In 1956 he was rehabilitated.
In the fall of 1935, under his leadership, the 12-seat passenger aircraft “Steel-7” with a reverse gull wing was created. In 1936 it was exhibited at the International Exhibition in Paris, and in August 1939 it set an international speed record for a distance of 5000 km - 405 km/h. Subsequently, this aircraft turned into the Er-2 long-range bomber, beloved by pilots, which repeatedly opened bomb bays over Berlin during the war.
Bartini's designs were innovative, free and daring. One of these projects was the “P” aircraft - a supersonic single-seat experimental fighter, built according to the “flying wing” design with a low aspect ratio wing with a large leading edge sweep, a two-fin vertical tail at the ends of the wing and a combined liquid-direct-flow power plant. R-114 is an anti-aircraft fighter-interceptor with four liquid-propellant rocket engines designed by V.P. Glushko with 300 kgf of thrust each, with a swept wing with boundary layer control to increase the aerodynamic quality of the wing. The R-114 was supposed to reach an incredible speed of Mach 2 for 1942! But in the fall of 1943, for unknown reasons, the OKB was closed.
In the early 70s, Bartini proposed creating a suborbital interceptor fighter whose task was to destroy enemy reconnaissance and communications satellites. The system for entering orbit was unusual: one launch vehicle was supposed to launch 3 interceptors at once.
Russia, USSR
Lavochkin Semyon Alekseevich
(1900-1960)
Semyon Alekseevich was born in 1900 in Smolensk. In 1927 he graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School, and in 1939 he became the chief designer of aircraft; from 1956 - general designer. In 1943 and 1956 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. In 1950, its design bureau was reoriented to the production of missiles.
The most famous aircraft designed by Semyon Alekseevich Lavochkin is the La-5. The famous fighter was created as a result of “docking” the airframe of the not very successful LaGG-3 aircraft with a powerful star-shaped air-cooled engine M-82 (ASh-82) designed by Shvetsov. Finally, our Air Force received an aircraft capable of fighting German fighters “on an equal footing.” The new engine made it possible to achieve excellent performance at low altitudes - the Lavochkin exceeded the Fw-190A in speed by 60 km/h. An important advantage was that most of the aircraft's structure was made of delta wood, which was durable and cheap. The armament of the Laiba, as the pilots called it, was improved compared to the LaGGs and consisted of two ShVAK-20 cannons with 170 rounds of ammunition per barrel. The pilots greatly respected the La-5 for its excellent combat capabilities, ease of operation, and excellent survivability. It was on the La-5 that the best Soviet aces, such as Ivan Kozhedub, Alexey Alelyukhin, Sultan Amet-Khan and Yevgeny Savitsky, won most of their victories. And near Kursk, Alexander Horovets destroyed nine Ju-87 bombers in one battle (this record has not yet been broken). One day, the commander of the famous Normandy, Louis Delfino, made a test flight on the Lavochkin, after which he was indescribably delighted and asked to give the French the La-5, not the Yak-1. The Germans called the La-5 “Neue Rata”, “New Rat” (“Rat” is the nickname assigned by the Nazis to the I-16 fighter back in Spain). After the development of the uprated ASh-82FN engine with direct fuel injection into the cylinders, a new modification of the fighter was released, the La-5FN, which was distinguished by a lower garrot and a cockpit with all-round visibility, as well as some modifications to the fuselage design. The best Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War, the La-7, was obtained as a result of blowing the La-5FN model in a wind tunnel, identifying and subsequently correcting deficiencies. The aircraft's airframe has become lighter and aerodynamically cleaner. The armament was increased to three B-20 cannons (although early La-7s were still equipped with ShVAKs).
The most secret work of the Lavochkin Design Bureau was the Burya MCR, a carrier of a thermonuclear charge, which was far ahead of its time. The huge projectile aircraft was equipped with ramjet and rocket engines. Navigation was carried out automatically by the stars. Several successful launches were made. But the program was closed due to the fact that the state could not simultaneously finance the “Storm” and the R-7 rocket designed by S.P. Korolev.
In my opinion, the La-250 Anaconda interceptor, created in 1956, made a huge contribution to the development of modern aviation. By design, the La-250 is a mid-wing with a delta wing; the air intakes and engines were located along the very long fuselage. It was planned to install a special radar with a detection range of 40 km and a K-15U sight. On this aircraft, powerful hydraulic boosters were one of the first to be widely used and studied (for all controls). To fine-tune the aircraft, an electronic modeling stand was built for the first time in the USSR. The La-250 was ahead of its time by about 8-10 years. Despite some troubles, which were later easily resolved, the aircraft was very successful, but never went into mass production. The main reason for this is problems with the development of AL-7F engines. But this aircraft served as a model for the next generations of our interceptors - Tu-128, MiG-25 and MiG-31.
Of course, Lavochkin’s noteworthy work is the S-25 anti-aircraft missile system, Moscow’s air defense system. It consisted of two rings with radii of 50 and 100 kilometers, respectively. Single-stage rockets were positioned vertically. The guidance radar was twenty-channel - it could simultaneously “guide” and fire at up to twenty targets flying at speeds up to M = 4.5. There was active interaction between the missile units, which made it possible to conduct “dagger” fire. The system was unique. There were no others like them in the world.
Ilyushin Sergey Vladimirovich
(1894-1976)
Sergei Vladimirovich was born near Vologda into a peasant family. Since 1919 he was an aircraft mechanic, and in 1921 he became the head of an aircraft repair train. In 1926 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. N.E. Zhukovsky (now LVVIA). During his studies at the academy, he built three gliders. The last of them, "Moscow", received first prize for flight duration at competitions in Germany. In 1933, Ilyushin headed the Central Design Bureau at the Moscow plant named after V.R. Menzhinsky, whose activities were related to the development of attack, bomber, passenger and transport aviation. Since 1935 Sergei Vladimirovich has been the chief designer, and from 1956-70 he was the general designer.
The aircraft that made its designer famous throughout the world was the Il-2 attack aircraft. The fundamental novelty of the aircraft was that the layered armor not only protected the crew and vital organs of the aircraft, but was also part of the power structure of the airframe. A very significant advantage of the aircraft was that it had one engine (Am-38, 1720 hp). Thus, Ilyushin saved the country a huge amount of resources and time. Initially, it was planned to produce a two-seat version of the attack aircraft, but Stalin, who always understood everything better than any specialist, intervened in this matter, and a single-seat aircraft was put on the assembly line. The absence of a gunner led to huge losses: even bombers hunted defenseless from the rear hemisphere of the Ilya, and attack pilots received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for 10 sorties (usually 100). Only by 1942 the pilot’s back was covered by a gunner with a UBT machine gun. After installing the 23-mm VYA Il-2 cannon, they were able to fight German light tanks, and the new NS-37 cannon even penetrated the top of Pz.Kpfw.VI tanks, the famous “Tigers”. There was also a torpedo-carrying modification of the attack aircraft, the Il-2T. Throughout the war, Germany was never able to create an aircraft capable of comparable combat and operational characteristics to the Ilami. The Germans called Soviet “flying tanks” the “black death”, and Goering said that the Il-2 was “the main enemy of the German army.” IL-2 became the most popular aircraft in the world. About 40,000 of them were built. The Il-2 became the founder of a new class of combat aircraft, the modern representatives of which are the Su-25, Su-39, A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
After the War, the Ilyushin Design Bureau designed the Il-12 passenger aircraft, intended to replace the Li-2. During the construction of the next aircraft, the Il-14, and the development of the Il-12, the design bureau began to solve a complex and completely new problem in the world aircraft construction of that time, the problem of ensuring the take-off of a twin-engine aircraft after the failure of one engine on takeoff, during the take-off run, or immediately after take-off. land. The IL-14 turned out to be an extremely successful airliner, unpretentious and reliable; it operated flights on short-haul routes for a long time.
The first Soviet wide-body aircraft, the Il-86, is considered one of the safest in the world. A special feature of the design is its amazing quality for aircraft of this class - unpretentiousness to the airfield surface, as well as a relatively short pre-flight preparation time.
Currently, the Ilyushin Design Bureau is working on promising civil aircraft Il-96, Il-114, Il-103.
Russia, USA
Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky
(1889-1972)
Igor Ivanovich was born in Kyiv in 1889 in the family of a famous psychiatrist. He entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, but did not finish his studies, as he began researching and designing aircraft. In 1920 he emigrated to France and then to the USA.
Sikorsky became famous for being the first in the world to prove the possibility of flying a multi-engine aircraft. The Russian Vityaz (Grand) biplane he built first took off from the ground in 1912. At that time it was the largest aircraft in the world. It was powered by two (later four) in-line Argus engines of 100 hp each. Unfortunately, the plane did not survive long. On September 11, 1913, a military airplane competition was held at the Korpus Airfield. The engine of the Meller-2 apparatus flying over the Russian Knight fell off and fell on its left wing box. The damage was so severe that they decided not to restore the plane. But in the meantime, Sikorsky was building the next aircraft, even larger. The new airplane No. 107, named Ilya Muromets, was equipped with new 220-horsepower Salmson engines. When the First World War began, the aircraft was first used as a reconnaissance aircraft, but then the IM became the world's first strategic bomber. Defensive weapons consisted of a 37-mm Hotchkiss cannon (later abandoned), 4 machine guns and 2 Mauser pistols. The bomb load was within 400 kg. One ship was equal to a field detachment and was assigned to the headquarters of armies and fronts. During one of the raids behind enemy lines, “IM” destroyed a train with 30,000 shells with a well-aimed hit from a 16-kg bomb.
After emigrating to the USA, Igor Ivanovich had to work hard to create his own new design bureau. This company consisted almost entirely of emigrants, so it was nicknamed the “Russian company.” Sikorsky's first success was the Clipper flying boat, and the S-42 aircraft set 10 world records.
Since the mid-30s, Sikorsky began developing helicopters. Initially, the emphasis was placed on a single-rotor design with a tail rotor. This was quite risky, since there was practically no experience in creating such machines capable of performing any tasks. The experimental helicopter VS-300 was created first, and was a development of the unfinished helicopter of the 1909 project. An order for an army communications and surveillance helicopter soon followed. The two-seat S-47 was ready in December 1941 and became the first helicopter to go into large-scale production. He was the only one in the anti-Hitler coalition to take part in World War II. After the end of the war, Sikorsky built the S-51 universal helicopter, which was widely used for both military and civilian purposes. Subsequently, Sikorsky’s company became the largest and most famous manufacturer of rotorcraft in the United States, and Igor Ivanovich himself received the nickname “Mr. Helicopter.”
USA
Donald Wills Douglas
(1892-1981)
“When you design it, think how you would feel if you had to fly it! Safety first!
Donald W. Douglas
“When you design an airplane, think about how you would feel sitting at the controls! Safety first!”
Donald Douglas
Donald Wills Douglas was born in Brooklyn, New York. After spending two years at the Naval Academy, he studied aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Already at the age of 23, Douglas became the chief engineer of the Martin company, and in 1920 Douglas founded his own aircraft manufacturing company. The company remained under his leadership even after Douglas reached retirement age, until financial difficulties forced him to sell it to McDonnell.
In 1934, TWA signed an initial contract with Douglas for 25 light transport aircraft. The Dc-2, or more precisely, the Douglas DST, became the prototype for the next aircraft of a new, improved design - the legendary Dc-3. The new passenger aircraft revolutionized air travel - passenger traffic in America increased by almost 600%! The reason for this popularity was the low ticket price and incredible flight safety. The plane was considered “non-falling”. Profitability was also excellent because the Dc-3 was incredibly convenient and inexpensive to operate (it took only 10 man-hours to replace the engine). The aircraft is built according to the classical design, low-wing; two Pratt-Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830 engines with 1,200 hp power. provided a cruising speed of 260 km/h and a maximum speed of 370 km/h. There was also a military transport modification of the Dc-3, S-47, which was distinguished by a more durable cargo compartment floor and minor modifications. One of the most unusual variants of the aircraft was the landing glider, the engineless Douglas. The release of Dc-3 under license was established in the USSR. The aircraft was named Li-2 (Ps-84), after the name of the chief engineer Lisunov, who set up its mass production. During the War, the Li-2 was used as a night bomber, headquarters, ambulance, landing and transport aircraft. Each air regiment was assigned at least one Li-2 transport aircraft. Although the plane did not have outstanding piloting abilities, it was simple and pleasant. The pilots said about the Douglas: “... the main thing is not to interfere with its flight.” The great advance of the Dc-3 is that its concept underpins most modern airliners. The aircraft turned out to be so successful that about five hundred Dc-3s (some of them were modernized by installing new fuel-efficient turboprop engines) are still flying today.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the creation of an aircraft lies almost entirely on the shoulders of aircraft designers, who get all the laurels if they are successful, I would like to pay tribute to the engineers, the result of whose work plays an equally, and perhaps more important, role. After all, as you know, “with a good engine, the cabinet will fly.”Famous aircraft engines
Rolls-Royce Merlin, due to its high power density, is considered one of the best in-line piston engines. "Merlins" were distinguished by excellent workmanship. These engines powered not only almost all British aviation during World War II, for example, Lancasters, Spitfires, Hurricanes, but also many American aircraft, such as the Mustang (starting with the P-51B modification). During use, the motor was repeatedly upgraded. An interesting fact is that the engine was developed by the company on its own initiative, without a government order. "Merlins" worked reliably even in the Arctic.
ASh-82 (M-82) designed by A.D. Shvetsov is one of the most advanced radial engines. This is due to its low weight, high power (1700 hp for the first series) and relatively small radius. There were three modifications of the engine. The last of them, ASh-82 FN, was distinguished by a system of direct fuel injection into the cylinders and the ability to use the afterburner mode. The engine had amazing survivability: there are known cases when, after a battle, planes returned to the airfield with engines missing 4 cylinders! The most famous aircraft on which the Ash-82 was installed are the Tupolev Tu-2 bombers and the Lavochkin La-7 fighters. Mi-4 helicopters also flew on these engines.
BMW-003 is the world's first production turbojet engine that fully meets the requirements for an engine for installation on an aircraft. Work on it began back in 1938, and in 1944 active combat use of the Messerschmitt Me-262 fighter, on which these engines were installed, began.
The best (in the post-war years) turbojet engine VK-1 in the world was obtained as a result of the deep modernization and (!) simplification of the design of the licensed English Rolls-Royce Nin engine carried out at the V.Ya. Klimov Design Bureau. The surprising thing is that after these measures were taken, the thrust of the VK-1 almost doubled compared to the Nin! MiG-15 fighters, as well as Il-28 front-line bombers, flew and fought on these engines.
When I started working on my essay, I thought a lot about who I should single out from the galaxy of talented aircraft designers in the world. By talking about famous aircraft engineers, I wanted to show how engineering thought developed, and behind it the history of aeronautics. In addition to special, historical, and biographical literature, I was interested in the opinions of people closely associated with aviation, its recent past and present. Probably, my choice is not only undisputed, but also to some extent biased, because it is impossible not to mention the outstanding scientists and engineers N.E. Zhukovsky, A.N. Tupolev, A.I. Mikoyan, P.O. Sukhoi, K. A. Kalinin, N. I. Kamov, A. Lippisha, M. L. Mil, K. Johnson, V. Messerschmitt, A. Kartvelishvili, V. M. Myasishchev, B. Rutan, F. Rogallo, and many others .
All the people I listed were (or are) not only talented aircraft designers and generators of ideas, but also outstanding leaders and organizers of large design bureaus, which employ competent and, perhaps, no less talented specialists, whose task is to develop individual components, mechanisms, and structural elements . Therefore, in my opinion, it is wrong to completely link the main designer and the main creator (who often remains in the shadows). Unfortunately, the talents of many engineers, due to political, economic, or other circumstances, were never able to fully develop.
Now the time for single designers is passing... All modern production aircraft are created by huge design bureaus, which include specialists of various profiles. Soon it will be impossible to determine the main thing - the team will merge into a single whole.
List of used literature
1. R. Vinogradov, A. Ponomarev. “Development of World Aircraft” - Mechanical Engineering, 1991.
2. Encyclopedia “Avanta +” “Technology” - 2003.
3. “Warplanes of the Luftwaffe” – Aerospace Publishing London, 1994.
4. “Unique and paradoxical military equipment” - AST, 2003.
5. Y. Nenakhov “Miracle Weapon of the Third Reich” - Minsk, 1999.
6. Directory “Aviation WWII” - Rusich, 2000.
7. P. Bowers “Aircraft of non-traditional designs” - World, 1991.
8. R.J. Grant “Aviation 100 Years” - Rosman, 2004
9. V.B. Shavrov “History of aircraft designs in the USSR. 1938-1950" - Mechanical Engineering, 1988.
10. I. Kudishin “Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Fighter” - AST, 2001.
11. A. Firsov “Messerschmitt Bf-109 Fighter” - AST, 2001
12. S. Sidorenko “Supermarine Spitfire Fighter” - AST, 2002.
13. A.N. Ponomarev “Designer S.V. Ilyushin” - Military Publishing House, 1988.
14. Walter Schick, Ingolf Meyer “Secret projects of Luftwaffe fighters” - Rusich, 2001.
15. Walter Schick, Ingolf Meyer “Secret Projects of Luftwaffe Bombers” Rusich, 2001.
16. A.S. Yakovlev “The Purpose of Life” - Publishing House of Political Literature, 1967.
17. A.A. Zapolskis “Luftwaffe Jets” - Harvest, 1999.
18. Jane`s Directory “Famous Aircraft” - AST, 2002.
19. Jane`s Directory “Modern Aircraft” - AST, 2002.
20. Encyclopedia “Aviation” - Scientific publishing house “Big Russian Encyclopedia”, TsAGI, 1994.
21. G.I. Katyshev, V.R. Mikheev “Aircraft designer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky” - Science, 1989.
22. “History of civil aviation of the USSR” - Air Transport, 1983.
23. Yu. Zuenko, S. Korostelev “Russian combat aircraft” - Moscow, 1994.
24. BEKM Multimedia Encyclopedia
25. Multimedia encyclopedia of aviation version 1.0 2001 KorAx
26. I. Shelest “Flying for a dream” - Young Guard, 1973.
27. Daniel J. March “British WWII military aircraft” - AST, 2002.
Internet using
1. http://www.airwar.ru
2. http://www.airpages.ru
3. http://www.airforce.ru
4. http://www.rol.ru
Magazines
1. “Aviation and Cosmonautics”, issue “Military Aviation of Russia” 8.2003.
2. “Aviation and Cosmonautics” 1.2003, p.21.
3. “Bulletin of the Air Fleet” (“VVF”) 07-08.2003, p. 98.
4. “VVF” 07-08.2000, p.45.
5. “VVF” 05-06.2002, p.14.
6. “VVF” No. 6.1996, p.42, p.48.
7. "B"
Sergei Vladimirovich Ilyushin was born in 1894.
Soviet aircraft designer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1968), colonel general of the engineering and technical service (1967), three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1941, 1957, 1974). In the Soviet Army since 1919, first as an aircraft mechanic, then as a military commissar, and since 1921 as head of an aircraft repair train. Graduated from the Air Force Academy. Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (1926).
Since 1935 Ilyushin - chief designer, in 1956-1970. - General designer. Under his leadership, mass-produced attack aircraft Il-2, Il-10, bombers Il-4, Il-28, passenger aircraft Il-12, Il-14, Il-18, Il-62, as well as a number of experimental and experimental aircraft were created.
Sergei Vladimirovich Ilyushin was awarded the FAI Gold Aviation Medal.
Bronze busts of the pilot were installed in Moscow and Vologda. The Moscow Machine-Building Plant bears the name of Ilyushin.
The great Soviet designer died in 1977.
Semyon Alekseevich Lavochkin - the most famous Soviet aircraft designer, corresponding member. USSR Academy of Sciences (1958), Major General of the Aviation Engineering Service (1944), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1943, 1956).
Graduated from Moscow Higher Technical School in 1927.
In 1940, together with M.I. Gudkov and V.P. Gorbunov presented the LaGG-1 (I-22) fighter for testing, which, after modifications, was put into production under the name LaGG-3 (I-301). When developing it, Lavochkin was the first in the USSR to use a new, especially durable material - delta wood. Converting the LaGG to a more powerful Shavrov ASh-82 engine saved the aircraft from being withdrawn from mass production. In September 1942, the first production La-5s were transferred to the Stalingrad area. Further development of this aircraft were the La-5F, La-5FN, La-7 fighters, which were widely used during the Great Patriotic War.
In the post-war years, under the leadership of aircraft designer Lavochkin, a number of serial and experimental jet fighters were created, incl. The La-160 is the first domestic aircraft with a swept wing and the La-176, on which for the first time in the USSR on December 26, 1948, a flight speed equal to the speed of sound was achieved. The La-15 fighter, produced in a small series (500 aircraft), became the last production aircraft designed by Lavochkin.
On June 9, 1960, Semyon Alekseevich Lavochkin suddenly died of a heart attack at the training ground in Sary-Shagan.
− Mikoyan - famous designer of MiGs
Artyom Ivanovich Mikoyan was born in 1905.
Soviet aircraft designer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1968; corresponding member 1953), colonel general of the engineering and technical service (1967), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1957). After serving in the Red Army, he entered (1931) the Red Army Air Force Academy named after. Professor N.E. Zhukovsky (now VVIA). Since 1940, chief designer of plant No. 1. A.I. Mikoyan is one of the pioneers of jet aviation in the USSR.
After the war, he developed high-speed and supersonic front-line jet aircraft, including the MiG-9, MiG-15, MiG-17 (which reached the speed of sound), MiG-19 (the first mass-produced domestic supersonic fighter), the famous MiG-21 with a delta wing of a thin profile and a flight speed twice the speed of sound. Since December 20, 1956, Mikoyan has been the general designer.
The latest aircraft created under his leadership are the MiG-23 fighter (the first in the USSR with an in-flight variable sweep of the entire wing) and the MiG-25 interceptor fighter with a flight speed 3 times the speed of sound.
The famous Soviet aircraft designer of supersonic MiGs, Artem Ivanovich Mikoyan, died in 1970.
− Mikhail Gurevich - creator of the MiG
Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich - a prominent Soviet aircraft designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1964), Hero of Socialist Labor (1957).
Graduated from the Kharkov Technological Institute (1925). He was engaged in the design and construction of gliders. Since 1929, he worked as a design engineer and group leader in various design bureaus of the aviation industry.
In 1940 A.I. Mikoyan and M.I. Gurevich created the MiG-1 fighter, and then its modification MiG-3.
In 1940-1957 Gurevich - Deputy Chief Designer, 1957-1964. chief designer at OKB A.I. Mikoyan.
During the war he participated in the creation of experimental aircraft, after the war - in the development of high-speed and supersonic front-line fighters, many of which were produced in large series for a long time and were in service with the Air Force.
Since 1947, he led the development and creation of cruise missiles at the Design Bureau.
The creator of the legendary MiGs, Mikoyan's comrade-in-arms, the legendary Soviet aircraft designer Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich died in 1976.
− Chetverikov - designer of flying boats
The famous Soviet aircraft designer Igor Vyacheslavovich Chetverikov was born in 1909.
After graduating from the air department of the Leningrad Institute of Railways (1928), he worked at the A.P. Design Bureau. Grigorovich, head of the naval department of the Design Bureau (1931), where the MAR-3 flying boat was created.
In 1934-1935 designed and built a light flying boat in two versions: a carrier-based aircraft (OSGA-101) and a folding aircraft for a submarine (SPL). Several world records were set at SPL in 1937.
In 1936, he built the Arctic reconnaissance aircraft ARK-3, which set a cargo flight altitude record in 1937. Under the leadership of I.V. Chetverikov in 1937-1946. Several modifications of the MAR-6 flying boat were produced: Che-2, B-1 - B-5. In 1947 he built the TA amphibious transport vehicle.
Since 1948 he worked as a teacher. Soviet aircraft designer Igor Chetverikov died in 1987.
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(1895-1985)
Soviet aircraft engine designer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1943), major general engineer (1944), Hero of Socialist Labor (1940). Studied at Moscow Higher Technical School, student of N.E. Zhukovsky. From 1923 he worked at the Scientific Automotive Engine Institute (from 1925 chief designer), from 1930 at CIAM, from 1936 at the aircraft engine plant named after. M.V. Frunze. In 1935-55 taught at MVTU and VVIA. In the early 30s under the leadership of Mikulin, the first Soviet liquid-cooled aviation engine M-34 was created, on the basis of which a number of engines of various powers and purposes were subsequently built. Engines of the M-34 (AM-34) type were equipped with the record-breaking ANT-25 aircraft, TB-3 bombers and many other aircraft. The AM-35A engine was installed on MiG-1, MiG-3 fighters, and TB-7 (Pe-8) bombers. During the war, Mikulin led the creation of boosted AM-38F and AM-42 engines for the Il-2 and Il-10 attack aircraft. In 1943-55 Mikulin is the chief designer of the experimental aircraft engine plant No. 30 in Moscow. 
(1892 – 1962)
Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Hero of Socialist Labor, USSR State Prize laureate, engineer major general.
V.Ya. Klimov studied at the laboratory of automobile engines, headed by academician E.A. Chukadov.
From 1918 to 1924, he was the head of the laboratory of light engines at NAMI NTO USSR, taught at the Moscow Higher Technical School, the Lomonosov Institute and the Academy of the Air Force.
In 1924, he was sent to Germany for the purchase and acceptance of the BMW-4 engine (in licensed production of the M-17).
From 1928 to 1930 he is on a business trip to France, where he is also purchasing a Jupiter-7 engine from the Gnome-Ron company (in licensed production of the M-22).
From 1931 to 1935, Vladimir Yakovlevich headed the gasoline engines department of the newly created IAM (later VIAM) and headed the engine design department of the MAI. In 1935, as the Chief Designer of Plant No. 26 in Rybinsk, he went to France to negotiate the acquisition of a license for the production of the 12-cylinder, V-shaped engine Hispano-Suiza 12 Ybrs, which in the USSR received the designation M-100. The development of this engine - the VK-103, VK-105PF and VK-107A engines were installed on all Yakovlev fighters and on the Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber during the war. At the end of the war, Klimov developed the VK-108 engine, but it never entered mass production. 
(1892 - 1953)
Soviet designer of aircraft engines, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1940), Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Technical Service (1948).
Born 12(24).01.1892, in the village. Nizhnie Sergi, now Sverdlovsk region. In 1921 he graduated from Moscow Higher Technical School.
In 1925–1926, in collaboration with metallurgist N.V. Okromeshko, he created the five-cylinder radial aircraft engine M-11, which, based on test results, won the competition for an engine for training aircraft and became the first domestic serial air-cooled aircraft engine.
In 1934 he was appointed Chief Designer of the Perm Engine Plant (1934).
In the period from 1934 to 1953, under the leadership of A.D. Shvetsov created a family of air-cooled piston engines, covering the entire era of development of this type of engine, from the five-cylinder M-25 with a power of 625 hp. up to 28-cylinder ASh-2TK with a power of 4500 hp. Engines of this family were installed on the aircraft of Tupolev, Ilyushin, Lavochkin, Polikarpov, Yakovlev, which made a decisive contribution to gaining air supremacy in the Great Patriotic War. Engines with the ASH brand (Arkady Shvetsov) have served and are still serving with great benefit in peacetime.
In the 30s under the leadership of Shvetsov, the M-22, M-25, M-62, M-63 engines were created for the I-15, I-16 fighters, etc.; in the 40s - a number of piston star-shaped air-cooled engines of successively increasing power of the ASh family: ASh-62IR (for Li-2, An-2 transport aircraft), ASh-82, ASh-82FN (for La-5, La-7 fighters, Tu-bomber 2, passenger aircraft Il-12, Il-14), engines for the M.L. Mil Mi-4 helicopter, etc. Shvetsov created a school of air-cooled engine designers.
Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd–3rd convocations. Hero of Socialist Labor (1942). Laureate of the Stalin Prizes (1942, 1943, 1946, 1948). Awarded 5 orders of Lenin, 3 other orders, as well as medals. Gold medal "Hammer and Sickle", five Orders of Lenin, Order of Suvorov 2nd degree, Order of Kutuzov 1st degree, Order of the Red Banner of Labor, medal "For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945."
Russia approached the First World War with the largest air fleet. But big things started small. And today we want to talk about the very first Russian aircraft.
Mozhaisky's plane
The monoplane of Rear Admiral Alexander Mozhaisky became the first aircraft built in Russia and one of the first in the world. The construction of the aircraft began with theory and ended with the construction of a working model, after which the project was approved by the War Ministry. Steam engines designed by Mozhaisky were ordered from the English company Arbecker-Hamkens, which led to the disclosure of the secret - the drawings were published in the Engineering magazine in May 1881. It is known that the airplane had propellers, a fuselage covered with fabric, a wing covered with balloon silk, a stabilizer, elevators, a keel and landing gear. The weight of the aircraft was 820 kilograms.
The aircraft was tested on July 20, 1882 and was unsuccessful. The airplane was accelerated along inclined rails, after which it rose into the air, flew several meters, fell on its side and fell, breaking its wing.
After the accident, the military lost interest in the development. Mozhaisky tried to modify the airplane and ordered more powerful engines. However, in 1890 the designer died. The military ordered the plane to be removed from the field, and its further fate is unknown. The steam engines were stored for some time at the Baltic Shipyard, where they burned down in a fire.
Kudashev's plane
The first Russian aircraft to be tested successfully was a biplane designed by design engineer Prince Alexander Kudashev. He built the first gasoline-powered airplane in 1910. During testing, the airplane flew 70 meters and landed safely.
The weight of the aircraft was 420 kilograms. The wingspan, covered with rubberized fabric, is 9 meters. The Anzani engine installed on the plane had a power of 25.7 kW. Kudashev managed to fly this plane only 4 times. During the next landing, the airplane crashed into a fence and broke down.
Afterwards, Kudashev designed three more modifications of the aircraft, each time making the design lighter and increasing engine power.
"Kudashev-4" was demonstrated at the first Russian International Aeronautical Exhibition in St. Petersburg, where it received a silver medal from the Imperial Russian Technical Society. The plane could reach a speed of 80 km/h and had a 50 hp engine. The fate of the airplane was sad - it was crashed at an aviator competition.
"Russia-A"
The Rossiya-A biplane was produced in 1910 by the First All-Russian Aeronautics Partnership.
It was built based on the Farman airplane design. At the III International Automobile Exhibition in St. Petersburg, it received a silver medal from the Military Ministry and was purchased by the All-Russian Imperial Aero Club for 9 thousand rubles. A curious detail: until that moment he had not even taken off into the air.
The Rossiya-A was distinguished from the French aircraft by its high-quality finishing. The covering of the wings and empennage was double-sided, the Gnome engine had 50 hp. and accelerated the plane to 70 km/h.
Flight tests were carried out on August 15, 1910 at the Gatchina airfield. And the plane flew more than two kilometers. A total of 5 copies of the Rossiya were built.
"Russian Knight"
The Russian Knight biplane became the world's first four-engine aircraft created for strategic reconnaissance. The history of heavy aviation began with him.
The designer of the Vityaz was Igor Sikorsky.
The plane was built at the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works in 1913. The first model was called “Grand” and had two engines. Later, Sikorsky placed four 100 hp engines on the wings. every. In front of the cabin there was a platform with a machine gun and a searchlight. The plane could lift 3 crew members and 4 passengers into the air.
On August 2, 1913, the Vityaz set a world record for flight duration - 1 hour 54 minutes.
"Vityaz" crashed at a military aircraft competition. An engine fell out of a flying Meller-II and damaged the planes of the biplane. They did not restore it. Based on the Vityaz, Sikorsky designed a new aircraft, the Ilya Muromets, which became the national pride of Russia.
"Sikorsky S-16"
The aircraft was developed in 1914 by order of the Military Department and was a biplane with an 80 hp Ron engine, which accelerated the S-16 to 135 km/h.
Operation revealed the positive qualities of the aircraft, and mass production began. At first, the S-16 served to train pilots for the Ilya Muromets, in World War I it was equipped with a Vickers machine gun with a Lavrov synchronizer and was used for reconnaissance and escort of bombers.
The first air combat of the C-16 took place on April 20, 1916. On that day, warrant officer Yuri Gilscher shot down an Austrian plane with a machine gun.
The S-16 quickly became unusable. If at the beginning of 1917 there were 115 aircraft in the “Squadron of Airships,” then by the fall there were 6 of them left. The remaining aircraft went to the Germans, who handed them over to Hetman Skoropadsky, and then went to the Red Army, but some of the pilots flew to the Whites. One S-16 was included in the aviation school in Sevastopol.
From the very beginning of the existence of the Soviet state, the party and government took every possible care to create the air fleet of the Country of Soviets. Issues of aviation development were the focus of attention of Soviet party and government bodies and were repeatedly considered at party congresses, special sessions and meetings with the participation of senior Soviet party and government officials.
Domestic aircraft manufacturing in the early twenties was based on the modernization and serial production of the best models of foreign-made aircraft. In parallel, work was carried out to create our own designs.
One of the first aircraft built in Soviet times was a modernized version of the English DN-9. Its development was entrusted to N.N. Polikarpov, and the aircraft in various modifications was called R-1. At the same time, based on the English Avro aircraft, a two-seat training aircraft U-1 was produced, intended for flight schools.
Of the domestic aircraft of original design created in the twenties, the AK-1 passenger aircraft by V. L. Alexandrov and V. V. Kalinin should be noted. Two aircraft were designed by pilot V.O. Pisarenko and built in the workshops of the Sevastopol pilot school, where he was an instructor. The design teams led by D. P. Grigorovich and N. N. Polikarpov, who worked on the creation of flying boats, passenger aircraft, and fighter aircraft, were very famous.
During this period, there was a transition in the domestic aircraft industry to the creation of aircraft made of metal. In 1925, the design bureau AGOS (aviation, hydroaviation and experimental construction) was created at TsAGI, headed by A. N. Tupolev. The topics of the AGOS work were very diverse, and teams were formed within the bureau. The engineers who headed them later became famous designers.
Many of the aircraft created at the bureau participated in international exhibitions and long-distance flights. Thus, ANT-3 (R-3) aircraft were used for flights across European capitals and the Far Eastern flight Moscow Tokyo. The heavy metal aircraft TB-1 (ANT-4) flew from Moscow to New York in 1929. Aircraft of this type were built in series and were used only in long-range bomber aircraft, but also in Arctic expeditions. The technical manager of the TB-1 project was designer V. M. Petlyakov. AGOS also designed the ANT-9 passenger aircraft, which made a long-distance flight of 9,037 km.
At the same time, the land aircraft engineering department (OSS), under the leadership of N. N. Polikarpov, built I-3 and DI-2 fighter aircraft. During the same period, the well-known U-2 (Po-2) aircraft was built, which served for about 35 years. One of the very successful was the R-5, created by the land aircraft manufacturing department, which was subsequently produced in various versions - as a reconnaissance aircraft, an attack aircraft, and even as a light bomber.
The department of naval aircraft construction, headed by D.P. Grigorovich, built naval aircraft, mainly reconnaissance aircraft.
Along with combat and passenger vehicles, airplanes and light aircraft were designed for sports organizations, among them the first aircraft of A. S. Yakovlev, called AIR.
In the early thirties, airplanes had the old forms - a biplane design and landing gear that was not retractable in flight. The skin of metal planes was corrugated. At the same time, a reorganization was taking place in the experimental aircraft manufacturing industry, and teams based on aircraft types were created at the Aviarabotnik plant.
Initially, the task to develop the I-5 aircraft was given to A. N. Tupolev, and later N. N. Polikarpov and D. P. Grigorovich were involved in its creation. This aircraft, in various modifications, was in service for almost ten years, and I-15, I-153, and I-16 fighters even took part in combat operations in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War.
The team of I. I. Pogossky designed seaplanes, in particular the maritime long-range reconnaissance aircraft MDR-3 (later its team was headed by G. M. Beriev, who built seaplanes for naval aviation until the seventies).
A brigade of long-range bombers under the leadership of S.V. Ilyushin somewhat later designed the DB-3 aircraft, and then the well-known Il-2 attack aircraft. S. A. Kocherigin’s team spent several years designing an attack aircraft, which, however, was not used. Under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev, heavy bombers were created, including the TB-3 - one of the best and most famous aircraft of this type.
Design bureaus led by A. I. Putilov and R. L. Bartini worked on the creation of all-metal steel aircraft.
The successes achieved in aircraft construction and especially in engine design made it possible to begin creating the ANT-25, a record-breaking flight range aircraft. This aircraft, powered by an M-34R engine designed by A. A. Mikulin, went down in history after its flights from Moscow through the North Pole to the USA.
By the beginning of the forties, in accordance with the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars “On the reconstruction of existing and construction of new aircraft factories,” several aircraft factories were put into operation, which were intended to produce the latest aircraft. During the same period, a competition was announced for the best design of a fighter aircraft. Talented design engineers S. A. Lavochkin, V. P. Gorbunov, M. I. Gudkov, A. I. Mikoyan, M. I. Gurevich, M. M. Pashinyan, V. M. Petlyakov worked on its creation. N. N. Polikarpov, P. O. Sukhoi, V. K. Tairov, I. F. Florov, V. V. Shevchenko, A. S. Yakovlev, V. P. Yatsenko. As a result of the competition in 1941, LaGG, MiG and Yak aircraft - well-known fighters of the Great Patriotic War period - began to enter service.
Pe-2 dive bombers designed by V. M. Petlyakov played a major role during the war. In 1939 under the leadership of V. M. Petlyakov, the ANT-42 (TB-7) aircraft, built at TsAGI in 1936 and renamed after Petlyakov’s death (1942) as Pe-8, was modified. This aircraft, along with the Su-2 bombers designed by P. O. Sukhoi and Er-2 designed by V. G. Ermolaev R. L. Bartini, was used in long-range aviation. The Er-2 aircraft had a long flight range, especially with the installation of heavy fuel engines (diesels) designed by A.D. Charomsky.
The words of K. E. Tsiolkovsky that the era of propeller airplanes would be followed by the era of jet airplanes turned out to be prophetic. The jet age practically began in the forties. On the initiative of the prominent Soviet military leader M.N. Tukhachevsky, who was at that time Deputy People's Commissar for Armaments, many research institutions working in the field of rocket technology were created.
However, it should be said that achievements in the development of Soviet jet aviation did not come suddenly, by themselves.
Theoretical developments and research conducted in the late twenties made it possible to come close to creating a rocket plane. Such a glider was built by B.I. Cheranovsky for the State Aviation Research Institute, and in 1932 the glider was modified for the experimental engine of one of the founders of domestic rocketry, engineer F.A. Tsander.
In April 1935, S.P. Korolev announced his intention to build a laboratory cruise rocket for human flights at low altitudes using air-rocket engines.
A major role was played by the tests carried out in 1939–1940, when a liquid rocket engine (LPRE) with adjustable thrust was created, installed on a glider designed by S.P. Korolev, later an academician, twice Hero of Socialist Labor. On February 28, 1940, pilot V.P. Fedorov, at an altitude of 2000 m, separated from the towing aircraft in a rocket plane, turned on the rocket engine, flew with the engine running and, after running out of fuel, landed at the airfield.
Ensuring maximum aircraft speed was the dream of every designer. Therefore, jet accelerator units began to be installed on aircraft with piston engines. An example is the Yak-7 WRD aircraft, under the wing of which two ramjet engines were suspended. When they were turned on, the speed increased by 60 × 90 kt/h. The La-7R aircraft used a liquid rocket engine as an accelerator. The increase in speed due to the thrust of the rocket engine was 85 km/h. Powder accelerators were also used to increase flight speed and reduce take-off distance during the take-off run of the aircraft.
Much work was done to create a special fighter aircraft with a liquid propellant engine, which was expected to have a high rate of climb and speed with a significant flight duration.
Young designers A. Ya. Bereznyak and L. M. Isaev, under the leadership of V. F. Bolkhovitinov, in August 1941 began designing a combat aircraft with a rocket engine, designed to intercept enemy fighters in the airfield area, on May 15, 1942, a pilot of the State Scientific Research Institute - Air Force Test Institute G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi, in the presence of designers and a commission, made a successful flight on this jet aircraft.
In the post-war period, new models of fighter aircraft with liquid propellant engines were created and tested in the country. For example, one of these models was controlled by a pilot who was in a prone position in the car.
During the Great Patriotic War, significant work was carried out to improve the flight performance of the Pe-2 aircraft using liquid rocket engines that had adjustable thrust.
However, neither fighters with piston engines and boosters installed on them, nor aircraft with rocket engines have found application in combat aviation practice.
In 1944, in order to increase speeds, it was decided to install a motor-compressor engine on the aircraft of A. I. Mikoyan and P. O. Sukhoi, which would combine the features of piston and jet engines. In 1945, the I-250 (Mikoyan) and Su-5 (Sukhoi) aircraft reached a speed of 814 × 825 km/h.
In accordance with the instructions of the State Defense Committee, a decision was made to create and build jet aircraft. This work was entrusted to Lavochkin, Mikoyan, Sukhoi and Yakovlev.
As you know, on April 24, 1946, on the same day, the Yak-15 and MiG-9 aircraft took off, which had insufficiently advanced turbojet engines as power plants, and the machines themselves did not fully meet the requirements for aviation. Later, the La-160 was built, the first jet aircraft in our country with a swept wing. Its appearance played a significant role in increasing the speed of fighters, but it was still far from reaching the speed of sound.
The second generation of domestic jet aircraft were more advanced, faster, more reliable aircraft, including the Yak-23, La-15 and especially the MiG-15. As is known, the latter had a powerful engine, three guns and a swept wing, under which, if necessary, additional fuel tanks were suspended. The aircraft fully lived up to the expectations placed on it. As combat experience in Korea showed, it was superior to the American Saber fighter. The training version of this machine also served well, which for a number of years was the main training fighter of our aviation.
For the first time in the USSR, the speed of sound in flight with a decrease was achieved in the new year, 1949, on the experimental aircraft S. A. Lavochkin La-176 by pilot O. V. Sokolovsky. And in 1950, already in horizontal flight, the MiG-17 and Yak-50 aircraft passed the “sound barrier” and, as they descended, reached speeds significantly higher than the sound speed. In September and November 1952, the MiG-19 developed a speed 1.5 times greater than the speed of sound, and was superior in its main characteristics to the Super Saber, which by that time was the main fighter of the US Air Force.
Having overcome the “sound barrier,” aviation continued to master ever greater speeds and flight altitudes. The speed had already reached such values that to further increase it, new solutions to the problem of stability and controllability were required. In addition, aviation came close to the so-called “thermal barrier” (when flying at supersonic speeds, the air temperature in front of the aircraft rises sharply as a result of strong compression, and this heating is transferred to the aircraft itself). The problem of thermal protection required an urgent solution.
On May 28, 1960, on the T-405 aircraft designed by general designer P. O. Sukhoi, pilot B. Adrianov set an absolute world flight speed record of 2092 km/h along a closed route of 100 km.
As a result, our aviation received an aircraft capable of flying for about 30 minutes at a speed of approximately 3000 km/h. Flights on these aircraft also showed that, thanks to the use of heat-resistant materials and powerful cooling systems, the problem of the “thermal barrier” for these flight speeds had been largely solved.
During the post-war years, excellent passenger and transport aircraft were created in the USSR. Back in 1956, Aeroflot began operating the Tu-104 aircraft, which for the first time in the world began regular passenger transportation, Il-18, Tu-124, Tu-134, An-10 and Yak-40 advanced our Civil Air Fleet by one of the leading places in the world.
New domestic passenger aircraft An-24, Tu-154M, Il-62M and Yak-42 carry out mass air transportation within the country and abroad. At the end of the seventies, the supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 was created. A new qualitative and quantitative level of passenger transportation was achieved with the introduction into operation of the Il-86 airbus. Military transport aviation received An-22 and Il-76T aircraft, used for transporting military and civil cargo. In 1984, the giant An-124 aircraft began operation, and later the An-225.
Helicopters, which only became a viable and economically feasible means of transport only after the Second World War, are now widely used. Soviet aviation designers have created reliable rotary-wing aircraft for various purposes: light Mi-2 and Ka-26, medium Mi-6 and Ka-32 and heavy Mi-26 and others for military and civil aviation.
The successes of the Soviet aviation industry in creating combat aircraft were demonstrated in 1988 at the international aviation exhibition in Farnborough (England), where the MiG-29 air superiority fighter was demonstrated; the same aircraft, Buran and Su-27 were demonstrated in Paris in 1989. Military Literature website: militera.lib.ru
Edition: Ponomarev A. N. Soviet aviation designers. - M.: Voenizdat, 1990.
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