Aviation industry in Russia: enterprises, production of aviation equipment. Aircraft building in the Soviet era Aircraft building in the USSR

After the victory of the revolution, the party and the government very quickly realized the need to create and develop the Russian air fleet. Issues of the development of aviation have repeatedly been in the focus of attention of the Soviet party and government agencies and were repeatedly considered at party congresses, special meetings and conferences with the participation of top Soviet party and government officials.
Domestic aircraft construction in the early twenties was based on the modernization and serial production of the best examples of foreign-made aircraft. In parallel, work was underway to create their own designs.
One of the first aircraft built in Soviet times was a modernized version of the British machine DN - 9. Its development was entrusted to N. N. Polikarpov, and the aircraft in various modifications had the name R - 1. At that time, on the basis of the English aircraft of the AVRO brand, a two-seat training aircraft U-1 was produced, intended for flight schools.
Of the high-quality aircraft of the original design, created in the twenties, it should be noted the passenger aircraft AK-1 by V. L. Aleksandrov and V. V. Kalinin. Pilot V. O. Pisarenko designed two aircraft and built them 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 fighters, were very famous.
During this period, in the domestic aircraft industry, there was a transition to the creation of aircraft from metal. In 1925, the AGOS design bureau (aviation, hydroaviation and experimental construction) was created at TsAGI, headed by A.N. Tupolev. The topics of work of the AGOS were very diverse, and brigades were formed as part of the bureau. The engineers who led them later became well-known designers.
Many of the aircraft created by the bureau participated in international exhibitions and long-distance flights. So, on ANT-3 (R-3) aircraft, flights were made to European capitals and the Far Eastern flight Moscow - Tokyo. Heavy metal aircraft TB - 1 (ANT-4) in 1929 flew Moscow - New York over the North Pole. Aircraft of this type were used not only in long-range bomber aviation, but also in Arctic expeditions. The technical manager of the TB-1 project was the designer V. M. Petlyakov. The ANT-9 passenger aircraft was also designed in AGOS, which made a long-range flight with a length of 9037.
At the same time, the department of land aircraft construction (OSS), under the leadership of N. N. Polikarpov, built fighter aircraft I - 3, DI - 2. In the same period, the well-known U - 2 (Po-2) aircraft was built, which served for about 35 years. One of the most successful was the R - 5 machine created by the land aircraft building department, which was subsequently produced in various versions - as a reconnaissance aircraft, attack aircraft, and even as a light bomber.
The Naval Aircraft Department, headed by D. P. Grigorovich, built naval aircraft, mainly reconnaissance ones.
Along with combat and passenger vehicles, airplanes and light aircraft were designed by order of sports organizations, among them the first aircraft of A. S. Yakovlev, called AIR.
At the beginning of the thirties, the aircraft had the old forms - a biplane scheme and a non-retractable landing gear in flight. The skin of metal aircraft was corrugated. At the same time, a reorganization was taking place in the pilot aircraft industry, and brigades were created at the Aviarabotnik plant according to the types of aircraft.
At first, the task for the development of the I-5 aircraft was given to A.N. Tupolev, and later N.N. Polikarpov and D.P. Grigorovich were engaged in its creation. This aircraft in various modifications was in service for almost ten years, and the I-15, I-153, I-16 fighters even participated in the hostilities of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War.
The brigade of I. I. Pogossky designed seaplanes, in particular the long-range marine reconnaissance aircraft MDR - 3 (later its team was headed by G. M. Beriev, who built aircraft for the Navy aviation until the seventies).
A brigade of long-range bombers led by S.V. Ilyushin designed the DB-3 aircraft a little later, and then the well-known attack aircraft IL-2. The brigade of S. A. Korchigin for several years was engaged in the design of an attack aircraft, which, however, was not used. Under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev, heavy bombers were created, including 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 engine design made it possible to start creating an aircraft with a record flight range ANT - 25. This aircraft, powered by an M-34 R engine designed by A. A. Mikulin, went down in history after it flew from Moscow over the North Pole to the United States.

By the beginning of the forties, in accordance with the decision of the Council of People's Commissars “On the reconstruction of existing and construction of new aircraft factories”, several new aircraft factories were put into operation, which were intended for the production of the latest aircraft. In the same period, a competition was announced for the best design of a fighter aircraft. Talented engineers worked on its creation - designers S. A. Lavochkin, V. P. Gorbunov, M. I. Gudkov, A. I. Mikoyan, M. I. Gurevich, M. M. Pashinin, V. M. Petlyakov, N. N. Polikarpov, P. O. Sukhoi, V. K. Tairov, I. F. Florov, V. V. Shevchenko, A. S. Yakovlev, V. P. Yatsenko. All of them made a huge contribution to the development of not only Soviet, but also world aviation. 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.
The words of K. E. Tsiolkovsky that the era of jet airplanes will come after the era of propeller airplanes turned out to be prophetic. the era of jet aircraft practically began in the forties. At the initiative of the prominent Soviet military leader M. N. Tukhachevsky, who at that time was the Deputy People's Commissar for Armaments, many scientific and research institutions were created that worked in the field of rocket technology.
Theoretical developments and research conducted at the end of the twenties made it possible to come close to the creation of a rocket plane. Such a glider was built by B. I. Cheranovsky for the GIRD, and in 1932 the glider was modified for an experimental engine of one of the founders of Russian rocket science, engineer F. A. Tsander.
In April 1935, S.P. Korolev announced his intention to build a cruise missile - a laboratory for human flight at low altitudes using air-rocket engines.
Ensuring the maximum speed of the aircraft was the dream of every designer. Attempts were made to equip piston aircraft with jet boosters. A typical example is the Yak-7 VRD aircraft, under the wing of which two ramjet engines were suspended. When they were turned on, the speed increased by 60-90 km / h.
A lot of work was carried out to create a special aircraft - a fighter with a rocket engine, which was supposed to have a high rate of climb with a significant duration of flight.
However, neither fighters with piston engines and boosters installed on them, nor airplanes with rocket engines have found application in the practice of combat aviation.
In 1945, secular aviation crossed the speed limit of 825 km / h after the installation of a motor-compressor engine on the I-250 (Mikoyan) and Su-5 (Dry) aircraft, which combined the features of a piston and jet engines.
By order of the State Defense Committee, work on the creation and construction of jet aircraft was entrusted to Lavochkin, Mikoyan, Sukhoi and Yakovlev.
On April 24, 1946, on the same day, Yak-15 and MiG-9 aircraft took off, which had turbojet engines as power plants. Later, La-160 was built, the first swept-wing jet aircraft in our country. Its appearance played a significant role in increasing the speed of fighters, but it was still far from the speed of sound.
The second generation of domestic jet aircraft was more advanced, faster, more reliable machines, including the Yak - 23, La - 15 and especially the MiG - 15, recognized at that time as one of the best military aircraft of that time.
For the first time in the USSR, the speed of sound in flight with a decrease was achieved at the end of 1948 on an experimental aircraft La - 176 by pilot O. V. Sokolovsky. And in 1950, already in level flight, the MiG-17, Yak-50 aircraft passed the “sound barrier”. In September - November 1952, the MiG - 19 developed a speed 1.5 times greater than the speed of sound and surpassed the main characteristics of the "SUPER-SEIBR", which by that time was the main US Air Force fighter. Having overcome the “sound barrier”, aviation continued to master ever greater speeds and flight altitudes. The speed reached such values ​​at which for its further increase, new solutions to the problem of stability and controllability were required. In addition, aviation came close to the “thermal barrier”. The problem of thermal protection of the aircraft required an urgent solution.
On May 28, 1960, pilot B. Adrianov set an absolute world flight speed record - 2092 km / h along a closed route of 100 km on the T - 405 aircraft of the general designer P. O. Sukhoi.
As a result, our aviation received an aircraft capable of flying for 30 minutes at a speed of approximately 3000 km / h. Flights on these aircraft indicated that, thanks to the use of heat-resistant materials and powerful cooling systems, the problem of the “thermal barrier” for these flight speeds was basically solved.
During the post-war years, excellent passenger and transport aircraft were created in the USSR. As early as 1956, the Tu-104 aircraft began operating on Aeroflot lines, which for the first time in the world began regular passenger transportation. Il-18, Tu-124, Tu-134, An-10 and Yak-40 at that time pushed our Civil Air Fleet to 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 Tu-144 supersonic passenger aircraft was created. A new qualitative and quantitative level of passenger traffic was achieved with the commissioning of the Il-86 Airbus. Military transport aviation received An-22 and Il-76T aircraft, which are used to transport military and civilian cargo. In 1984, the operation of the giant aircraft An-124 "RUSLAN", and later An-225 "Mriya" began.
Helicopters, which only after the Second World War became a workable and economically viable vehicle, are now widely used. Soviet aviation designers created reliable rotorcraft 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 Russian aviation industry in the creation of combat aircraft were demonstrated in 1988. at the international aviation exhibition in Farnborough (England), where the MiG-29 fighter was demonstrated; the same aircraft, Buran and Su-27 were demonstrated in Paris in 1989.
Until now, the MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft are unsurpassed leaders in their class of fighters. Thanks to their design and the perfection of power plants, they can perform unique aerobatics that are not available to foreign analogues of these fighters.
Summing up all of the above, we can conclude that, despite all the difficulties and failures, aviation in our country has taken a huge step in its development. And I would like to believe that, thanks to the gigantic intellectual potential accumulated in Russia, aviation will continue to develop no less rapidly than before.
“Smerd Nikitka, the boyar son of Lupatov’s serf”, flew on wooden wings in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda and “for this friendship with evil spirits” was executed by order of Grozny. The verdict seemed to read “... a man is not a bird, he does not have wings ... If he sets himself like wooden wings, he creates against nature. That is not God's work, but from evil spirits. For this friendship with evil spirits, cut off the head of the inventor. Throw the body of a cursed stinking dog to be eaten by pigs. And the fiction, as if equipped with the help of the devil, after the divine liturgy, burn with fire.

This is one of the first attempts to fly in Russia, which has been witnessed by historians (in this case, the historians of Ivan the Terrible). So, since the time of Ivan the Terrible, our compatriots have demonstrated qualities unusual for the rest of the world: ingenuity (I mean the ability to make anything out of nothing), an instinctive understanding of the laws of nature. Alas, here another traditional Russian feature has manifested itself, which has survived to this day in Russia: the eternal opposition of science and power. Of course, it is hardly possible to classify “Smerd Nikitka” as a scientist, because before the flight, at best, he estimated “by eye” whether his apparatus would fly or not, however, the founders of the Russian aeronautical school, which will be discussed below, grew up on the same legends and fairy tales, which spoke about the ability of a person to fly, which is what the first Russian “aeronauts” did. And, before proceeding directly to the story about the creators of Russian aviation, I would like to tell you about the first attempts to fly in Russia.

Russian folklore has many fairy tales and legends about fantastic creatures and people with “devilish” strength and the ability to fly through the air. The idea of ​​the possibility of flying lived among the people, passing from generation to generation. Epics about Tugarin Zmeevich, fairy tales about the Humpbacked Horse, Koshchei the Immortal, about the magic carpet on which Ivan Tsarevich flew, about the flight of Ivan Tsarevich on an owl have come down to us. A number of legends also speak of real attempts to create flying mechanisms and devices. So, a legend dating back to 906 about the launch of some shells by air on Tsargrad, besieged by Prince Oleg, has been preserved. Another legend speaks of a flying artificial eagle made during the time of Ivan III (1482-1505). There is a legend about the descent on a device similar to a parachute, the priest's son Simeon, etc.
There is no doubt that the Russian people tried to fly on makeshift wings, and the flights, apparently, pursued entertainment purposes. In the manuscript of Daniil Zatochkin, dating back to the 13th century and previously kept in the Miracle Monastery. there are indications of human flights. Listing the popular entertainments of the Slavs, Daniil Zatochnik writes: “... and others fly from a church or from a high house on silk wings ... showing the strength of their hearts ...”
As can be seen from this entry, back in the 13th century, among the Slavs, “someone flies from a church or from highly pavolochity wings”, “Pavolochity wings” are wings made of good Byzantine silk. With the help of such wings, our ancestors may have performed peculiar planning descents. The construction of wings for flight in 1762 AD. was engaged in the “barrel of the defrocking” Fyodor Meles. He was convinced that "... a person can be exactly like a bird through the air, where he wants to fly." Meles escaped from the metropolitan house and for two days he made wings on a small island near Tobolsk, intending to cover them with bread bags. The onset of cold forced to stop the experiments. During the interrogation, Meles testified that "... he intended to leave the village, from Tobolsk, through those to fly straight to Little Russia." Metropolitan Pavel of Tobl, believing that “the devil ... showed him a crazy way to fly,” ordered “for the deed of madness, Meles should be reprimanded every Friday for forty lashes or vines instead of earthly worship.”
MIKHAIL VASILIEVICH LOMONOSOV
Perhaps such attempts to fly would have continued until the total extermination of the “inventors from the plow”, but in the 18th century the founder of the first Russian university, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, took up the problem of aeronautics.
Mikhailo Lomonosov, long before the officially recognized inventors of the helicopter, built and tested the apparatus in Russia. True, Leonardo da Vinci wrote about the possibility of building a helicopter back in 1475, but these works of Leonardo, published only at the end of the 18th century, were not known to Lomonosov.
Lomonosov drew attention to the circulation of free air in the mine, depending on the outside temperature, and on January 1, 1745, Lomonosov presented his conclusions “On the free movement of air noted in the mines” to the conference of the Academy of Sciences. This study also left its mark on the helicopter invented by Lomonosov. The propeller blades of the helicopter strongly resembled the blades of the "windmill" used in the mines.
“Mr. Sov. and prof. Lomonosov presented to the assembly about a small typewriter that would raise thermometers and other small meteorological instruments upwards and proposed a drawing of the same machine; For the sake of Mrs., those present at the meeting tested his idea and put the office of the Academy of Sciences with a report to ask that they be pleased to order the speech machine according to the drawing attached to this picture for the experience of this image to be made under his Mr. self-examination by Master Fucius. And about the above, in view of the protocol of the academic meeting, I report on March 4, 1754.”
Under the direct supervision of Lomonosov and according to his drawings, by July 1754 such a machine was created and tested. It was a small helicopter. In the minutes of the conference of July 1, 1754, the following description of this helicopter was preserved:
“The highly respected adviser Lomonosov showed a machine invented by him, which he calls an aerodrome (air-breathing), which should be used in order to, with the help of wings moved horizontally in various directions by spring force, which watches are usually supplied with, press the air (throw it down), which makes the machine will rise into the upper layers of the air in order to be able to examine the conditions (state) of the upper air by means of meteorological machines (instruments) attached to this aerodrome machine. The machine was suspended on a cord stretched over two pulleys and kept in balance by weights suspended from the opposite end. As soon as the spring was started, (the machine) rose in height and therefore promised to achieve the desired action. But this effect, according to the inventor, will be further increased if the force of the spring is increased and if the distance between the two pairs of wings is increased, and the box in which the spring is laid is made of wood to reduce weight. He (the inventor) promised to take care of this.”
Most likely, the research took all the time of Lomonosov and did not give him the opportunity to bring the construction of the helicopter to the “desired end”, but Lomonosov’s priority in this invention is undeniable. The inventor of the helicopter is still often called Paukton, who in 1768 actually managed to design a small helicopter.
The creation of a helicopter by Lomonosov is also interesting in that even much later - in 1782 - the French Academy of Sciences (one of the most elite at that time), represented by the astronomer Lalande, recognized flying as impossible.
Mikhail Vasilyevich made the first practical attempt in history to use the Archimedean propeller for air navigation. We must not forget that the screw at that time was not yet known even as a mover for sea vessels. The more significant is the discovery of the Russian scientist. It shows that Lomonosov was one of the first to understand the real laws of air resistance and found a force capable of supporting and propelling the apparatus in flight. It is also interesting that Lomonosov, obviously trying to destroy the reactive moment, provided in his helicopter two propellers rotating in opposite directions.
Lomonosov, developing the foundations of meteorology (the existence of which is also necessary for the normal development of aviation), at the same time developed the foundations of aerodynamics, which arose as a science only at the end of the 19th century.
The next of the Russian scientists seriously dealing with the problem of lifting a person into the air with the help of a helicopter propeller was Mikhail Alexandrovich Rykachev.
MIKHAIL ALEKSANDROVICH RYKACHEV
Mikhail Alexandrovich Rykachev, a sailor by profession, later an academician and director of the Main Physical Observatory, became interested in the problem of flying in the late 60s of the last century. In 1868 Rykachev went up in a balloon for meteorological observations. In 1871, his article “First experiments on the lift force of a propeller” was published in the Moscow Collection. spinning in the air." The research undertaken to determine the power required to rotate a screw of a certain size, and the weight of the load that can be lifted into the air with the help of such a screw, Rykachev conducted in order to build a helicopter, on which it would be possible, by changing the inclination of the screw axis, to move in the air in the desired direction. Mikhail Alexandrovich carefully analyzed all the experiments and calculations carried out before him regarding the resistance of air and water. He correctly noted the contradiction in the Poncelet and Duchmen coefficients, who established different data for a stationary plate in flowing water and for a plate moving in water at a known speed, Rykachev conducted his experiments using a device specially designed by him.
This device consisted of Roberval's balance, on one cup of which was installed a four-bladed screw, which was driven by a falling weight or clock springs. The movement was transmitted to the propeller shaft with the help of gear wheels. On the other pan of the balance was a weight that balanced the device with the propeller blades stationary. The propeller blades, which were shaped like a trapezoid, each area 2.8 square feet (0.26 m²), could be set at different angles to the horizon.
The results of the experiments carried out from November 29, 1870 to March 14, 1871 were tabulated by Rykachev.
Rykachev was not limited to research work. He was one of the initiators of the creation of the VII Aeronautical Department of the Russian Technical Society and the first chairman of this society (1881-1884).
On the initiative of Mikhail Aleksandrovich, Russian aeronauts, in collaboration with scientists from other countries, took part in international observations of the movement of clouds (carried out in 1896-1897), which made it possible to draw a number of interesting conclusions. Rykachev in 1898 lifted kites with an anemograph of his own design. Mikhail Alexandrovich, together with Valen, also calculated the average temperatures winter months for European Russia.
Rykachev maintained an interest in scientific aeronautics in Russia. Back in 1868 and 1873. he made flights in a free balloon, during which he made a number of valuable meteorological observations. Thanks to his assistance as director of the Main Physical Observatory, many of the physicists of the observatory - V.V. Kuznetsov, S.I. Savinov, D.A. Smirnov and others - took part in flights organized by the International Scientific Aeronautical Commission.
Like Lomonosov, Rykachev simultaneously dealt with the problem of lifting a person into the air and the problem of studying the atmosphere, certainly representing the inseparability of these sciences. However, if Lomonosov tried to build an aircraft to study the properties of the atmosphere, then Rykachev was already more inclined to think that meteorology should be put at the service of aviation, “... warning aeronauts in time about the possibility or impossibility of flying ...”.
Almost simultaneously with Rykachev, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the author of the famous “ Periodic system chemical elements".
DMITRI IVANOVICH MENDELEEV
The re-equipment of Russian artillery, which began after the Crimean War and the fall of Sevastopol, in particular, the transition to rifled and steel barrels of guns, and later the use of smokeless powder, sharply set the task of studying the elasticity of gases. Mendeleev, studying this problem on the instructions of the Main Engineering Directorate, faced two sides of the issue. On the one hand, under conditions of high pressures, the gas should be close to the “limiting volume”, on the other hand, at an insignificant gas density, “... one can expect the destruction of its elasticity, i.e. stop further expansion. Then it will be necessary to recognize the existence of a real boundary for the earth's atmosphere,” wrote Mendeleev.
Considering the question “On the compressibility of gases at such low pressures as can be measured” as very important and requiring development, Dmitry Ivanovich involuntarily should have become interested in the structure of the upper layers of the atmosphere. He carefully studies the work in this area of ​​the famous English physicist Glesher, who repeatedly flew in a balloon for scientific purposes. Later, Dmitry Ivanovich wrote: “I was so occupied with the proud idea of ​​rising above the famous Englishman and comprehending the law of air stratification in a normal state of the atmosphere, that I temporarily left all other studies and began to study aerostatics.” In articles published in the reports of the French Academy of Sciences, examining the question of the regularity of temperature changes in the atmosphere, Mendeleev emphasizes the need for experimental verification of his positions with the help of a balloon that can rise into the upper atmosphere. stay at high altitudes in the atmosphere.” In his message to the Chemical and Physical Society at St. Petersburg University, he expresses the possibility “... to attach a hermetically sealed braided elastic device to the balloon to accommodate the observer, who will then be provided with compressed air and can safely make determinations and control the balloon.” D.I. Mendeleev returned to this idea in 1873, arguing that with the help of such balloons it is possible “... to study the conditions of the upper layers of the atmosphere, where it is necessary to look for the germ of all weather changes that take place in the atmosphere.”
Thus, back in 1875, Mendeleev substantiated the principle of creating a stratospheric balloon with a hermetically sealed cabin, which was implemented only half a century later. Mendeleev, as it were, continued the work of M.V. Lomonosov on the study of the upper layers of the atmosphere. In 1875 (based on the experience of the French aeronaut Dupuy de Loma, with whose work he was familiar), Mendeleev drew up a sketch of a controlled balloon and made the necessary calculations.
The great scientist dreamed of raising the funds necessary for the construction of the balloon by selling the books he published. In 1876, publishing under his editorship the book of the German scientist Mohn “Meteorology or the doctrine of the weather”, Mendeleev writes in the preface: ascension to the upper layers of the atmosphere. France was the only country that had experience in building balloons during these years. Mendeleev decides to go abroad to study this issue. He addresses the Navy Department with the following letter:
“... Aeronautics is and will be of two kinds: one in balloons, the other in aerodynamics.
The former are lighter than air and float in it. The latter are heavier than him and sink. So, a fish, motionless and dead, floats on the water, and a bird sinks in the air. They already know how to imitate the first in sizes suitable for practice. The imitation of the second is still in its infancy, in size, unfit for human life, like the flight of a butterfly, a child's toy. But this kind of aeronautics promises the greatest future, cheapness (in balloons, shells and gas are expensive) and, so to speak, is indicated by nature itself, because a bird is heavier than air and is aerodynes.
In the presentation of the temporary state of affairs and the conduct of experiments, it is necessary to pursue both types of aeronautics, so to speak, in equal measure, because in both cases there is still much that is unclear, and in the future history of aeronautics, not happy combinations of guesses, but strictly successive experiments, will occupy the most important place. which can be expected to solve practical problems. Although both types of aeronautics are equally worthy of research, but for practical needs, such as the military, only balloons promise to give a quick and possible result, especially since the whole question from the theoretical side in the main features is completely clear here. And therefore, first of all, in practice, one should turn to experiments in a large form, on a well-thought-out controlled balloon. Not asking anything impossible or dreamy, I think and am well convinced that it is possible to control a large balloon to the same extent as a ship. I have a long-started project of such an aerostat. The other day I compared it again with the basic data of those balloons that have already completed the task, and, after correcting some details, I think that my project will present some important advantages. But I'm not an inventor. Therefore, my assistance to the cause should not consist in putting my project directly into practice and insisting on its perfection, but in this: 1) to get to know the practice of the case more closely and, in accordance with it, introduce further improvements into the project; 2) to make the missing, preliminary experiments necessary for the rational implementation of the project; 3) in order not to be secret in advance, but to state everything in detail, it is necessary to give something mature, not just one main idea. This is what I want. So, the task: to direct the balloon, like a ship, to the goals of practical need - in my opinion, is solvable. If I take up the business of aerostatics, I will have to put aside those things for which I am sending from the University, and it will be necessary to make a lot of new expenses: to visit England, to enter into relations with many people, for which my foreign connections will give me, I believe, the opportunity; it will be necessary to purchase new books, instruments, etc.
As a result of my trip, there should be two things: a) the implementation of the project of a controlled balloon, outlining the grounds with drawings. This project must be submitted to me for execution or published in all its details (if for some reason they do not want to carry out or publish, then I swear to myself this right).
In addition to the project of my balloon, I propose, as a result of my trip, an article expressing the general state of the art questions about aeronautics. A trip for this purpose, the material I already have and, most importantly, the connections with foreign scientists that my previous works give me, allow me to hope that I can get good information better than many others, related to this matter. I intend to avoid history (it is set out in a bunch of books), adventures and details regarding balloons and aerodynamics, but I want to limit myself to a description of a brief theory of the matter (with sources for details), a description of experiments on air resistance, a systematic presentation of the results of flights made, experiments on new instruments for aeronautics, projects, as a more independent and critical code, relating to everything stated, in order to then move on to your project.
The memorandum of the Main Engineering Directorate to the Ministry of War "On the actions of Mr. Mendeleev" has been preserved in the archive. In this note, military engineer Nedzelovsky reported on Mendeleev’s request to allocate 12,450 rubles to him for preliminary experiments, the publication of a book, and to order an engine for a large balloon and models. Although the manager of the naval ministry agreed that: “... Professor Mendeleev ... more than anyone the other is able to carry out the work he takes upon himself, ”the old story repeated: Mendeleev was given only a third necessary funds. .This money was only enough to publish the book.
In 1887, D.I. Mendellev was elected an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Mendeleev continues his scientific work on the problem of aeronautics. In 1887, the great scientist went up alone in a balloon to a height of 3350 m to observe a solar eclipse; he described in detail his flight and the observations made in the article “Air flight from Klin during an eclipse”, published in No. 11 of Severny Vestnik for the same year.
This flight, organized by military aeronauts, showed at the same time the extremely low level of aeronautical technology of that time. A balloon designed to lift two people could only lift one, mainly because the gas mixed with air as it entered the envelope. The technique of filling the balloon with hydrogen was also extremely complicated.
Based on the experience of his balloon flight in Klin, Mendeleev proposes to use special cushions with compressed hydrogen to fill balloons with gas. It can be seen from the letter that Dmitry Ivanovich came up with the idea of ​​such a method of filling the balloon as early as 1879 and discussed it in Paris with Dupuy de Lome. Mendeleev ends the letter with the following words: “I am willingly ready to contribute to the success of our military aeronautics; whenever you want, although I’m ready to fly to test something, I’ll be happy to share my opinion and advice, just save me from commissions.”
On the 2500 rubles allocated to him. Mendeleev organized experiments in his laboratory on filling balloons with the help of special cylinders for hydrogen, also studying the possibility of producing hydrogen by more advanced methods. The study made it possible to conclude that it is possible to store hydrogen using “cylindrical receptacles for compressed hydrogen” under a pressure of 100–120 at.
In August 1888, in England, special Nordenfeld steel pipes began to be used for gas storage. The Main Engineering Directorate wrote on this issue:
“At the aeronautic range at Volkovo Pole, there are Nordenfeld steel pipes delivered from England, which serve to store and transport hydrogen compressed to 120 atm, and therefore it would be useful to compare these pipes with the help of parallel experiments with the containers proposed by Professor Mendeleev for the same purpose, moreover, it is desirable that the indicated experiments be carried out in the presence of the chairman and members of the Commission on the use of aeronautics for military purposes.
It must be said that the method proposed by Mendeleev for storing hydrogen in cylinders under a pressure of 120-200 atm is widely accepted by modern technology. The priority of Mendeleev in this discovery is undoubtedly proved by the published documents.
It is characteristic that Mendeleev was supported by another Russian scientist, Professor Lachinov, who proposed a battery of his system for the electrolysis of hydrogen.
If the proposals of these scientists were implemented, Russia would have the necessary instruments for producing and storing hydrogen. Unfortunately, the military department and this time passed over in silence these proposals.
Dmitry Ivanovich was not limited to the study of aerodynamics. He believed in the ultimate victory of airplanes, believing that they have "the greatest future." Mendeleev carefully studies the structure of a bird's wing and makes sketches of its skeleton. In January 1877, as a member of the preliminary commission, he participates in the consideration of the airplane proposed by A.F. Mozhaisky and in May 1877 gives an opinion to the military ministry on the aircraft of Dr. Arendt. (Appendix 4 contains this conclusion) In 1895, Dmitry Ivanovich became interested in experiments with VV Kotov's flying models and even wrote a preface to his book. Unfortunately, this book has never been published.
D.I. Mendeleev was deeply convinced that the invention of the flying projectile “will constitute the era from which the modern history of education will begin.”

Unfortunately, further development of the "flying projectile" led to the creation of missiles used on the battlefield. Yes, and the further development of aviation was reduced mainly to the development of military aircraft, balloons, hot air balloons, and later helicopters. Perhaps this happened due to the approach of the First World War, or maybe because of something else. However, the fact remains fact: all aeronautic vehicles had a military basis (looking ahead: TU-104 was converted from a Tu-16 bomber). At first, aeronautic vehicles were used for observation, and then some of the pilots discovered that an object thrown from a great height could cause severe damage because of the developed speed. Also interesting are the memories of the commanders that: “... some pilots fire at the pilots of enemy aircraft from personal weapons, while others even take carbines or grenades with them for this purpose. The latter are used to drop on the position of the enemy ... ".
So, the First World War gave a powerful impetus to the development of aviation and, naturally, this could not but affect the direction of the work of scientists in the warring states. As Academician B.N. was forced to start the organization of aviation science. However, this was done very badly, they still did not give money for science, they also failed to return people from the fronts. It is worthy of surprise that under these conditions, Russian scientists were able to achieve serious success in the development of aviation science. The center of aviation thought in Russia during the First World War was the Moscow Higher Technical School (MVTU), where one of the best scientists of his time, N.E. Zhukovsky, worked.
NIKOLAY EGOROVICH ZHUKOVSKY
The father of Russian aviation, Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky, was born on January 5 (17), 1847 in the family of a railway engineer Yegor Ivanovich Zhukovsky.
In 1876, Nikolai Yegorovich got the opportunity to go abroad for the first time in order to get acquainted with outstanding French and German scientists. In France, Zhukovsky met with Darboux and Rezal, in Germany with Helmholtz and Kirchhoff.
In 1879, Zhukovsky received a professorship at the Department of Analytical Mechanics at the Moscow Higher Technical School. In 1882, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic: "On the strength of movement."
Beginning in 1886, Zhukovsky taught a course in hydroaerodynamics at Moscow University.
The problems of flying interested Nikolai Egorovich in his youth. In 1877, in Paris, Zhukovsky met French researchers who were working on the creation of aircraft heavier than air and studying the flight of birds. From this trip, Nikolai Yegorovich brought many flying models, which he demonstrated at his lectures and reports.
Recalling this period, Zhukovsky writes: various models aircraft and small aerodynamic devices were built”. Zhukovsky also brought from abroad a bicycle with a huge front wheel, invented by the Frenchman Michaud. Nikolai Yegorovich rode this bicycle, having fastened large fabric wings behind his shoulders. With these experiments, he tried to determine the lift force of the wings and changes in both the magnitude of this force and the point of its application (the center of windage).
Further trips abroad and acquaintance with Otto Lilienthal, the famous German glider pilot, whose book “The Flight of Birds, as the Basis of the Art of Flying” became a reference book for Zhukovsky, more and more drew Nikolai Yegorovich into the study of the problem of flying.
Zhukovsky, at the same time, correctly pointed out the importance of ascending air currents, so skillfully used by birds. He writes: “If huge whirlwinds with horizontal axes are floating at a certain height above the ground, then a bird, having climbed from that side of the whirlwind from which there is an upward flow of air, and following the movement of the whirlwind, can remain in the upward flow for some time and describe thanks to it horizontal circles in motion relative to certain moving axes.”
All this indicated that Zhukovsky already clearly understood the principles of airplane flight. The work “On the soaring of birds” was a mature work in which everything done abroad and in Russia in the field of the theory of flight was critically evaluated. Here, a remarkable feature of Zhukovsky is manifested - not to move forward until all the main things that others have done to solve the problem under consideration have been studied. Zhukovsky closely follows the successes of flying in Europe, he is well acquainted with the work of Ader, Philipps, Maxim, who designed aircraft.
Zhukovsky, continuing to work hard on the problem of flying, published in 1897 an article "On the most favorable angle of inclination of airplanes." In this article, he revised Drzewiecki's conclusions on the subject and determined the optimum angle of attack for an airplane wing.
A year later, Nikolai Yegorovich analyzed in detail the ornithopter theory of flight and, based on the experiments carried out (he designed a special model), noted that an oscillating plate receives ten times more resistance, “... than a plate moving in translational uniform motion with the same average speed.” Experience has shown that if the plate is quickly transferred from rest to movement, then “... for every meter of speed and square meter of the area of ​​​​the plate, there are 80 kg of air resistance.”
Zhukovsky points, on the one hand, to a gradual decrease in the mass of engines, on the other hand, he correctly emphasizes the importance of translational speed for an aircraft. He says: “Moving at a small angle to the horizon with a high horizontal speed, the inclined plane imparts a small downward speed to the huge amount of air successively adjoining it, and thereby develops a large lift force upwards with a small expenditure of work for horizontal movement.”
Analyzing the successes achieved, Nikolai Yegorovich attaches special importance to gliding, stating that "... it is easier to add an engine to a well-studied gliding flying machine than to sit on a machine that has never flown with a person."
In 1902, Zhukovsky built at Moscow University (MVTU) a wind tunnel with a square section measuring 75x75 cm. The length of the pipe is 7 m, the flow velocity is 9 m/s. In the university laboratory, a device designed by Nikolai Yegorovich was installed for testing screws without translational speed. The Zhukovsky wind tunnel was one of the first in Europe.
With the help of these devices, Nikolai Yegorovich conducted a number of interesting studies together with his students, in particular, about the center of windage, about the rotation of plates in the air flow, the axis of which is perpendicular to the flow, and also checked the laws of Welner and Renard for a helicopter propeller. These studies later allowed Zhukovsky to propose a very rational profile (bow) of the wing with high aerodynamic qualities. This profile is still known all over the world under the name of “Zhukovsky profile”. In 1904 N.E. Zhukovsky “…found a source of power supporting the plans…”, as one of his colleagues writes, “…certainly, his discoveries lead to the creation of aerodynamics…”.
Nikolai Yegorovich also made a significant contribution to the development of military aviation. Under his leadership, work was carried out to create large-caliber air bombs, in 1916 he founded a new science - aeroballistics, publishing his work “Bombing from Aircraft”. In this work, he scientifically substantiated the flight of an air bomb and its features, indicated the possible types of bombsights. Zhukovsky wrote in his life: in theoretical mechanics (including astronomical and mathematical problems) - 40 publications, in applied mechanics - 23, hydraulics and hydrodynamics - 40, aerodynamics - 22, aeronautics - 21. In addition to all of the above, Nikolai Yegorovich helped other aircraft designers in the development of new devices and the improvement of old ones. As an expert, he gave opinions on the suitability or unsuitability for use of aircraft, checked models of aircraft under construction in wind tunnels, and so on. In general, Nikolai Yegorovich brought the greatest practical benefit to Russia and his works fully justify the title of “father of Russian aviation”.
Russian scientists were not only theorists. Listing all the projects of Russian designers is a topic for a separate essay, but one cannot help but talk about the pride of Russian aviation - the Russian Knight and Svyatogor aircraft, which at that time had no analogues.
The aircraft “Russian Knight” was designed by I. I. Sikorsky, and Sikorsky considered the project of this airplane back in 1911, when not a single aircraft lifted a load of more than 635 kg (the load-carrying record for 1911 belonged to the French pilot Duci, who flew 800 meters with a load 600 kg). The airplane was predicted to be a complete failure, but on May 13, 1913, the first tests of the Russian Knight were successfully carried out. As eyewitnesses said: “The plane easily took off from the ground, and, having made several large circles, smoothly descended at the hangar, with the stormy jubilation of the assembled spectators ...”. For a long time abroad they did not want to believe the reports about the flight of the “Russian Knight”, considering these reports a newspaper duck. This disbelief is quite natural for that time,
after all, it was believed that a plane like the “Russian Knight” could not fly.
The “Russian Knight” was a four-engine multi-rack biplane, the lower wing of which was shorter than the upper one. The total area of ​​bearing surfaces was 120 m² (upper wing 66 m² and lower wing 54 m²). The span of the upper wing was 27 m, and the lower wing was 20 m. The steering control was duplicated. The total mass of the Russian Knight without load was 3500 kg, and the payload was 1440 kg. The wings of a two-spar design were rectangular and had a depth of 2.5 m, and the distance between the wings was also 2.5 m.
Fears for the stability of such an aircraft made it long enough (20 m). The fuselage was a wooden truss rectangular section sheathed on the outside with plywood sheets. In the fuselage was located the captain's cabin (with double steering), two passenger cabins and a room for spare parts and tools. In front of the captain's cabin, a platform for a searchlight and a machine gun protruded forward. Lateral stability was provided by ailerons on the upper wings. The aircraft was driven by four Argus engines, installed in pairs in tandem (the aircraft was designed as a twin-engine).
The aircraft proved to be quite stable in flight. After the first flights (May 10 - 27, 1913), it was found that the cockpit can be walked quite freely, and this did not affect stability. “Russian Knight” was separated from the ground after a run of 700 meters and developed a speed of 90 km / h.
Another masterpiece of aircraft construction of that time was the Svyatogor aircraft, built shortly after the Ilya Muromets (which I do not touch, since it is quite famous). This twin-engine biplane was designed by Vasily Andrianovich Slesarev and was the largest aircraft in the world. Its projected dimensions and calculated data were as follows: wing area 180 m І, tail area 20 m І, upper wing span 36 m, wing angle 4.5 °, aircraft length 21 m, flight weight 6500 kg, and the load was about 50% of the flight weight, flight duration 30 hours, flight altitude 2500 m, speed over 100 km/h, total engine power 440 hp. With.
The shape of the wings, which resembled the wings of a swift, the use of streamlined outer struts, the careful smoothing of the protrusions spoke of the great research work done by the inventor.
Svyatogor was much more perfect than the Ilya Muromets and other aircraft of that time. What was at least Slesarev's innovation worth: the engines were placed in the hull, close to the center of gravity and set the screws in motion using a cable transmission.
Slesarev's previous research in the field of aerodynamics and his collaboration in the creation of heavy aircraft of the Ilya Muromets type gave him enough authority to recognize his project. Nevertheless, the feasibility of such a project was in doubt, and Slesarev's project was submitted for consideration by the technical commission of the special committee of the Aeronautical Department. The calculation and justification of the project were found to be convincing; the committee unanimously agreed that the project was feasible, and recommended that the construction of the aircraft be started.
Preliminary negotiations made it possible to set a construction period of 3 months, and the cost was 100,000 rubles. By the way, this time the government also refused to finance the project, and the wealthy Polish landowner M.E. Malynsky took over this responsibility. The order for the construction of the aircraft was transferred to the Lebedev plant in St. Petersburg.
By June 22, 1915, “Svyatogor” was assembled, but the war of 1914 greatly complicated the position of the designer. Firstly, Slesarev lost the opportunity to buy Mercedes engines, and the installation of Renault engines (and then received only in 1916) overweighted the plane. Secondly, according to the requirements of the military, Slesarev had to provide ten times the strength of all critical parts (why was this needed? “Svyatogor” already had sufficient strength - it was originally intended for military purposes), which made the aircraft even more heavy, and also caused a shift in the center gravity.
To these problems was added the lack of funds and the unwillingness of the military commission to finance these works. Opinion of Professor N. L. Kirpichev, chairman of the commission: “... with an engine power of 440 hp. With. an airplane could have a total carrying capacity of 6500 kg at a speed of about 60 km / h, but for this it would have to have supporting surfaces with an area of ​​​​at least 440 m І ... ”. The commission's decision was also corresponding: "... the cost of completing the construction of this apparatus, even the most insignificant amount, is unacceptable ...". However, the conflict between the commissions led to the fact that N. E. Zhukovsky drew attention to Slesarev's project. The aircraft was thoroughly tested in laboratories, and the calculation of the strength of the main elements was also made. In addition, for the first time in Russia, a complete aerodynamic calculation of the aircraft was carried out. Based on the research and calculations, the commission chaired by Zhukovsky on May 11, 1916 “unanimously concluded that the flight of Slesarev’s airplane with a full load of 6.5 tons and at a speed of 114 km / h is possible, and therefore the completion of the construction of Slesarev’s apparatus is desirable."
In March 1916, the first tests of the airplane took place. “Svyatogor ran on the ground for about 200 m, as some parts of the right engine broke down and problems were discovered in the transmission mechanism. As some deficiencies were eliminated, others began to appear. They did not denigrate the very design of the aircraft, but were the result of finishing the aircraft in Slesarev's handicraft workshop, where they could not produce parts with a sufficiently large margin of safety. Either the fan flew apart, or the shaft broke, or the wheel fell apart.
Slesarev was forced to remake the entire transmission due to the unsuitability of Hooke's hinges. But the rework of the transmission was delayed and the aircraft was not tested until 1917.
In 1922 - 1923 an attempt was made to complete and test this aircraft. Slesarev was persuaded to abandon centralized engine installations and install two Liberty engines with a capacity of 400 liters each on the wings. With. Work on the restoration of "Svyatogor" was interrupted by the death of Slesarev.
KONSTANTIN EDUARDOVICH TSIOLKOVSKY
Talking about the work of Russian inventors, one cannot help but talk about the work of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. His works covered all horizons of aviation: from airships to spaceships, and nevertheless, he received recognition only after the revolution, like Slesarev. Like the vast majority of people who were ahead of their time, Tsiolkovsky remained misunderstood by his contemporaries, nevertheless, his work is remembered even now, since only in our time have there been opportunities for the implementation of his projects into real devices (the same story happened at one time with Leonardo da Vinci: having designed an excavator, da Vinci left his project without an engine - the steam engine was invented much later).
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 5 (17), 1857 in the village of Izhevskoye (now the Spassky district of the Ryazan region). Born in the family of a forester and having received no special education, he nevertheless successfully defended his diploma for the title of teacher. He combined his work as a teacher with scientific activity. Tsiolkovsky also wrote stories that were an addition to his research.
For example, his works “On the Moon”, “Change in Relative Gravity on Earth”, “Out of the Earth” and “Dreams of the Earth and Sky ...” are a fusion of popular information about physical laws, scientific and technical visions and utopias. Nevertheless, in works of such an unusual genre, Konstantin Eduardovich managed to correctly predict some phenomena (for example, weightlessness).
Most of Tsiolkovsky's science fiction stories were published as early as 1887-1906, however, Tsiolkovsky's really valuable scientific works were recognized only after the revolution (approximately in 1920).

After reading the title, you will say that the author collapsed from oak, since he decided to compare things that are simply impossible to compare. After all, it is well known that the aviation industry in Russia is dead, but in the USSR it flourished, and up to a thousand new civil aircraft were produced per year.

This figure, a thousand pieces, as well as its variations, you can find in many places on the Internet. But how many aircraft did the USSR actually produce?

Let's immediately agree on this, the USSR is Russia + republics, therefore it is incorrect to compare the entire USSR with Russia, because very large aviation industry enterprises remained in Ukraine and other republics. Keep this fact in mind.

And now to the numbers. I will use.

Aircraft

So what do we see? We see that in the territory of the USSR never produced more than 100 civilian aircraft.

“In the pre-reform years, the production of aircraft varied from 100 to 200 units per year (of which 60–70 - civil purpose) "

So, there is no talk of any thousands or even close. Do not forget that all kinds of Yaks for flying circles are included here. Although their share is small, you must admit that in real terms the aviation industry of the USSR, and even more so the RSFSR, no longer seems such a great monster?

“In the pre-reform years, the production of aircraft varied within ... and helicopters - 300 to 400 units in year"

The gap is still there, but it is rapidly shrinking.

In total, 377 aircraft will be produced in 2011. In the USSR, from 81 to 90 years, from 635 to 475 aircraft were produced per year. The maximum indicator is still far away, but the minimum is already close. And again I remind you that we are comparing Russia with the entire USSR, and not just with the RSFSR. I think we have already caught up with the RSFSR as a whole.

In conclusion, I would like to say this. Firstly, the Union did not produce any thousands of aircraft, of course. Although he certainly had a developed aircraft industry, an excellent design school, and it is stupid to deny that we are still standing on the shoulders of this giant, and this should not be embarrassed, on the contrary, we should be proud of it.

At the same time, it must be said that Russia is gradually approaching the indicators of the country of the Soviets, in terms of helicopters it is already quite close, although we are still significantly behind in civil aircraft - about three times the average. But not dozens of times, as some claim.

The visible recovery of the industry, new models, such as the An-148 and SSJ-100, as well as the Il-476 and MS-21 being developed, give hope that this gap will be eliminated pretty soon.

The aviation industry is an industry that carries out scientific research, development, pilot construction, testing and serial production of aircraft, aircraft engines, on-board systems and equipment. The radio engineering, electronics, and other branches of industry are suppliers of many component parts for AP. Aviation, which originated at the beginning of the 20th century. - in the USA, the first flight of the Wright brothers on an airplane took place on December 17, 1903, and the first in Europe were the flights of Santos-Dumoc in September - November 1906, - it developed at such a rapid pace that already in the first decade of the century the question arose about its practical, at that time exclusively military, application and organization of industrial production of aircraft. The first specialized enterprises (workshops, factories, firms), which carried out both the individual production of aircraft and the multiple reproduction of individual samples, that is, their production in batches or series, appeared in industrialized countries in 1906-1910.

Aviation industry of Russia. The creators of the first flying domestic aircraft A. S. Kudashev, I. I. Sikorsky, Ya. M. Gakkel and many others built their aircraft in artisanal conditions. The emergence of aviation aviation in Russia dates back to 1909-1911, when the Moscow Dux plant, the First Russian Aeronautics Association S. S. Shchetinin and Co. (PRTV) and the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works (RBVZ) began to master the production of aircraft In Petersburg. Somewhat later, A. A. Anatra founded their factories in Odessa (see Anatra) and V. A. Lebedev in St. Petersburg (see Lebed). These enterprises have become the largest suppliers of aircraft for the military department in Russia. All of them, like a number of other smaller enterprises, were engaged in the production of aircraft, mainly foreign models. The equipment of the factories and the production technology were designed mainly for the wooden structure of aircraft with linen covering and the limited use of metal components and parts. Many materials, semi-finished products and finished products (instruments, etc.) were bought abroad. Engine-building factories "Gnome and Ron" and "Salmson" in Moscow, "Deka" in Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporozhye) and some others, which built mainly piston engines of foreign models; they were produced in insufficient quantities, and for the most part they were also purchased abroad. Their improved designs of piston engines were created at the Motor plant (K-60 and K-80 by T. F. Kalepa) and RBVZ (RBZ-6 by V. V. Kireev), but their production was also very limited. The production of aircraft increased significantly during the First World War. At the beginning of it, Russia in terms of the number of military aircraft (263) was not inferior to other belligerents. And during the war, the fleet of the Russian army was replenished mainly with aircraft of foreign models, but they were supplied for the most part Russian factories. Of the aircraft of domestic designers, only heavy bombers "Ilya Muromets" by Sikorsky (RBVZ) and flying boats M-5 and M-9 by D. P. Grigorovich (PRTV; see Grigorovich's aircraft) were made. These aircraft had high flight performance for their time and determined the leading positions of Russia in these types of aviation. However, a number of other domestic aircraft, which performed well in pre-war competitions, were not put into service and were not mass-produced. The production of aircraft did not meet the needs of the front. In 1917, about 20 aircraft and engine-building enterprises were operating in Russia, with a total workforce of about 11,000 people. In 1914-1917, 5012 aircraft and 1511 aircraft engines were produced.

Aviation industry of the USSR. The economic decline in the country during the period of the Civil War and intervention was also reflected in the state of aviation. Many aircraft-building enterprises were closed, and the productivity of existing factories fell. In 1918, the nationalization of aircraft production began, and on December 31, 1918, the Main Board of Aircraft Industrial Plants (Glavkoavia) was formed under the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the RSFSR. The great importance attached to the development of aviation is evidenced by the establishment (December 1, 1918) in that difficult period for the country of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), designed to ensure the development of the fundamental foundations and practical advice for the future development of aviation science and technology. On June 16, 1920, by a resolution of the Council of Labor and Defense (STO), the factories of the agro-industrial complex were equated with the most important group weapons and cartridge factories, and on November 17, the STO decided to mobilize and send to the A.P. engineers, technicians, and skilled workers who had previously worked in it. During the years of the Civil War, aircraft manufacturing enterprises repaired 1,574 aircraft and 1,740 aircraft engines, manufactured 669 aircraft and 270 aircraft engines. With the transition to peaceful construction, a firm course was taken for the speediest restoration of the country's aviation and its air fleet. On January 26, 1921, the STO established a commission to develop a maximum program for “aeronautics and aircraft construction,” and on December 5, 1922, it approved a three-year program for the restoration and expansion of aviation enterprises. Work with the population to raise funds for the development of Soviet aviation and aviation was carried out by the Society Friends of the Air Fleet and the Dobrolyot Society.

At the beginning of the 20s. the first aircraft-building design bureaus in the USSR were formed, pilot construction and serial production of domestic aircraft began to develop. With the participation of TsAGI specialists, an experimental one was built. aircraft "COMTA" and experienced passenger aircraft AK-1. In 1923, at the State Aviation Plant No. 1 (GAZ M 1; formerly Dux), under the leadership of N. N. Polikarpov, the R-1 reconnaissance aircraft and the I-1 fighter were created, which entered serial production (see Polikarpov’s aircraft). Later, the restored Lebed plant (GAZ No. 10) in Taganrog (one of Lebedev's former plants) also joined the production of the R-1 (including the marine version of the MP-1). Also in 1923, GAZ No. 3 "Red Pilot" in Petrograd began mass production of the U-1 training aircraft. At the same plant, Grigorovich resumed his design activities, releasing the M-24 flying boat. In 1925-1926 GAZ No. 1 built 10 five-seater passenger aircraft PM-1.

In 1922, the production of chain-aluminum was mastered in the RSFSR, which made it possible to start organizing metal aircraft construction. In the same year, under the chairmanship of A. N. Tupolev, a Commission for the construction of metal aircraft was formed at TsAGI and (also at TsAGI) a design bureau headed by him was created. Starting with the construction of experimental machines AHT-1 (mixed wood-metal structure) and ANT-2 (all-metal structures), this design bureau produced in 1925 the R-3 all-metal reconnaissance aircraft and the TB-1 twin-engine heavy bomber (see Tu). Serial production of all-metal aircraft was the first to be mastered then by the Moscow GAZ No. 5 "Airplane" and Plant No. 22, formed in Moscow (in Fili) on the site of the Junkers concession aviation plant that previously existed there. The successes of the Soviet aircraft industry made it possible in 1925 to abandon the purchase of aircraft abroad. In the second half of the 20s. The aviation industry of the USSR, transferred in 1925 to the jurisdiction of the State Trust of the Aviation Industry (Aviatrust) of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR, significantly expanded the development and production of aviation technology. The I-2, I-2bis, I-3, I-4 fighters, the R-5 reconnaissance aircraft, which won the international competition for aircraft of this class in Tehran, and the U-2 training aircraft, which in subsequent years became the most massive aircraft in country. At the Air Repair Plant in Kyiv, K. A. Kalinin built his first (experimental) passenger aircraft K-1, and then continued work in this area at the design bureau at the Kharkov Aviation Plant (see Kalinin aircraft). In the same period, A. S. Yakovlev began his design activity in the Osoaviakhim system, who at first mainly worked on the creation of light sports aircraft (see Yak). In order to coordinate experimental work in the field of aircraft construction, in 1926 the Central Design Bureau was formed under Aviatrust with experimental departments based at serial factories, and in 1930 the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 39 became its production base. The TsKB-39 OGPU worked at the same plant in 1929-1931. where, under the leadership of Polikarpov and Grigorovich, the I-5 fighter was created.

The development of the Soviet aircraft engine building in the 20s. Initially, it was aimed at mastering the mass production of foreign models of ever higher power using domestic materials and technology and introducing various improvements into their design. Piston engines M-4, M-5, M-6, M-22, M-I7 and their modifications were produced in the take-off power range from 169 to 537 kW. The production of aircraft engines was carried out at the Moscow plants "Ikar" (former "Gnome and Roi") and "Motor" (in 1927 they merged to form plant No. 24 named after M.V. Frunze), the Leningrad plant "Bolshevik" (former Obukhovsky plant), at factories in Zaporozhye (formerly Deka) and Rybinsk (this enterprise was once planned as the Russian Renault automobile plant). By 1926, the first Soviet aircraft engine, the M-11 piston engine with a power of 80.9 kW, was created at the Motor plant by A. D. Shvetsov, which was used for several decades in light aircraft. Under the leadership of A. A. Bessonov, piston engines M-15 and M-26 were developed. The production of aircraft has steadily increased. If in 1921 and 1922 several dozen cars were built, then at the end of the 20s. production volumes reached 800-900 aircraft per year. In 1928, the USSR for the first time took part in an international aviation exhibition - in Berlin, among other Soviet exhibits, there were ANT-3, U-2, K-4 aircraft. Domestic aviation equipment has successfully passed the test in long-distance flights Moscow - Ulan Bator - Beijing (aircraft R-1, R-2, AK-1; 1925), Moscow - Tokyo and back (ANT-3; 1927), Moscow - New York through Siberia and Alaska (ANT-4; 1929) and on a number of other long routes.

The Soviet aircraft industry developed at a rapid pace in the 1930s. The strengthening of the research and development and production base of the industry went on a broad front. The Central Institute of Aviation Motors (CIAM) and the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Materials (VIAM) were formed, a new, more powerful experimental base was built at TsAGI. The Tupolev Design Bureau continued to work fruitfully, which mainly carried out the development of aircraft in the heavy weight category. The bombers TB-3, S B, TB-7 were created here; record aircraft ANT-25 and ANT-37, on which outstanding long-range flights were performed by the crews of V.P. Chkalov, M.M. Gromov, V.S. Grizodubova; sea ​​planes ANT-27, ANT-44; giant for that time aircraft ANT-14 "Pravda" and ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" and many others. In this design bureau, the activities of A. A. Arkhangelsky, V. M. Myasishchev, V. M. Petlyakov, A. I. Putilov, P. O. Sukhoi and other aircraft designers began. In 1936, Tupolev's design bureau with a plant for experimental designs spun off from TsAGI, forming Experimental Plant No. 156.

Another major design organization was the Central Design Bureau of the All-Union Aviation Association. In August 1931, the Central Design Bureau was subordinated to TsAGI, where it was headed by S. V. Ilyushin, but from 1933 it again began to be based at plant No. 39 and specialized mainly in the development of lighter class aircraft. Polikarpov, Yakovlev, G. M. Beriev worked here, S. A. Kocherigin, V. A. Chizhevsky, V. P. Yatsenko and other aircraft designers. The Central Design Bureau created such well-known aircraft as the I-15 and I-16 fighters, the MBR-2 seaplane (see Be), the DB-3 bomber (see Il), and others.

In development before decisions taken on the construction and reconstruction of aviation industry enterprises in the 30s, aircraft-building plants were put into operation in Gorky, Voronezh (No. 18), Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kazan (No. 124), aircraft engine plants in Perm, Voronezh ( No. 16), Kazan (No. 27). Among the new buildings were also aggregate and instrument aircraft plants. Many aviation enterprises were created on the basis of aircraft repair shops and factories, as well as enterprises of a different profile. On this basis, aircraft manufacturing plants were formed in Arseniev (Primorsky Territory), Smolensk, Saratov, Dolgoprudny (former Airship Construction) and Khimki (No. 301) of the Moscow Region. Leningrad (No. 47 and No. 387). A number of aircraft manufacturing organizations were under the jurisdiction of the Civil Navy. Among them are the design bureau, which was part of the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet and was headed first by Putilov, and then by R. L. Bartini, aircraft manufacturing plants in Tushino (No. 62) and Khimki (No. 84) near Moscow, and an engine building. plant in Tushino (No. 163) and other enterprises. In 1936, the aircraft-building factories of the Civil Navy began to be transferred to aviation. In 1932, the State Institute for the Design of Aircraft Plants (Giproavia) was formed, and in 1936 the Central Institute of Labor (later the Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Technology and Organization) was transferred to the system of aviation aviation. production - NIAT).

In March 1934, the CTO decided to further decentralize experimental design in the aircraft industry, which contributed to the expansion of development work in the industry. Received pilot production, Yakovlev base; in his design bureau, mass training aircraft UT-1 and UT-2 were developed. Many leading specialists of the Central Design Bureau headed the new design organizations, and the Ilyushin design bureau remained at the plant number 39. Most of the new design bureaus were organized at serial factories, which, on the one hand, provided production developers with a basis for building and fine-tuning prototypes, and on the other hand, their direct participation in the introduction of new aviation technology into serial production. Beriev in Taganrog, Putilov and Yatsenko in Tushino, Arkhangelsky in Moscow (plant number 22), Grigorovich, I. G. Neman, Sukhoi in Kharkov, A. S. Moskalev in Voronezh, etc. worked in such design bureaus. enterprises, Polikarpov continued his activities. A similar practice has become widespread in the engine industry. In the decision of the Revolutionary Military Council of July 17, 1933, the backlog of the domestic aircraft engine building was noted and it was indicated that urgent measures should be taken to expand the experimental bases in this area. In the 30s. in the USSR, a number of aircraft piston engines were created in a wide power range from 500 to 1000 kW and more. The first domestic high-power aircraft engine was the M-34 piston engine (558-938 kW in various modifications), developed by A. A. Mikulin at CIAM. M-34 (LAG-34) successfully passed the test in long flights of the record aircraft ANT-25 and was used on a number of production aircraft. Its development was the piston engines AM-35 and AM-38, created by Mikulin in the design bureau, which he headed at the plant named after M.V. Frunze. The construction of aircraft engines under licenses also continued, and the initial sample gave, as a rule, the beginning of a family of engines of an improved, essentially new, design and increased power. Under the leadership of V. Ya. Klimov, the M-100 piston engine was mastered at the plant in Rybinsk, and then the M-103 and M-105 were developed (see VK). At the plant in Zaporozhye, A. S. Nazarov introduced the M-85 piston engines into a series, then its modifications M-86 and M-87, and their further development was created in the same place under the leadership of S. K. Tumansky and E. V. Urmin M-88 and M-89. The Shvetsov design bureau formed in Perm ensured the commissioning of licensed M-25 and M-62 piston engines, and then developed the original M-82 (see Fig. ASh).

Aircraft technology has undergone significant improvement. Introduction of progressive technological processes(pneumatic riveting, precision stamping, pressing, electric welding, etc.). as well as the plasma-template assembly method made it possible to solve the problem of organizing large-scale production of aviation equipment.

The primary task was to strengthen the country's defense capability, so the main efforts were aimed at increasing the production of combat aircraft. The scale of their production has reached a very significant size. For example, in 1934-1941 over 6500 I-35, I-15bis and I-153 fighters were built, about the same number of SB bombers and about 9000 I-16 fighters. From the beginning of the 30s. began to gain momentum and the production of passenger aircraft. The civil aviation fleet was replenished with K-5 aircraft (more than 260 of them were manufactured than others in this class), PS-9, AIR-6, KhAI-1, Stal-2 and Stal-3, PS -35, PS-84 (Li-2), a number of civilian modifications of military aircraft. A large number of prototype and experimental models of aviation equipment were built (see Experimental aircraft), which enriched the theory and practice of aircraft construction and to a large extent contributed to the formation of the USSR as a leading aviation power. In 1938 the title of Hero was established. Socialist Labor, and among the first to be awarded it were aircraft designers Polikarpov, Yakovlev, Mikulin, Klimov. P. A. Bogdanov, N. P. Gorbunov, P. I. Baranov, and G. K. Ordzhonikidze made a great contribution to the development of Soviet agronomy. In the 30s. Aeronautical aviation withdrew from the subordination of the Supreme Council of National Economy of the USSR and was under the jurisdiction of the people's commissariats for heavy (from January 1932) and defense (from December 1936) industry, and on January 11, 1939, the people's commissariat of the aviation industry (NKAP) was formed. M. M. Kaganovich (1939-1940) was the first People's Commissar of the A. p.

Covering the country in the second half of the 30s. A wave of repression also affected A. p. Tupolev, Kalinin, Petlyakov, Putilov, Neman, Myasishchev, Bartini, Chizhevsky, B. S. Stechkin, A. D. Charomsky, A. I. Nekrasov, N. M. Kharlamov, V. P. Balandin and many other prominent scientists, designers and business leaders of the A. p. The same fate befell S. P. Korolev and V. P. Glushko, whose pioneering work on rocket aircraft and engines could accelerate the deployment experimental research in the field of jet aviation. In TsKB-29 of the NKVD, the imprisoned designers continued to develop new aircraft, including the 100 and 103 bombers, later known as the Pe-1 and Tu-2. In the face of a growing military threat, a number of important decisions were made in 1939 on the development of new aircraft, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of existing aircraft factories, and the construction of new enterprises. Design bureaus were formed, headed by A. I. Mikoyan, S. A. Lavochkin, Sukhoi; the Flight Research Institute (LII) was created. In 1940, 30,000 highly skilled workers from other industries were transferred to the A.P. and 4,000 engineers and technicians were sent from educational institutions. Factories from other departments were transferred to the NKAP. In 1940, a number of new ones were put into mass production, meeting the increased tactical and technical requirements of combat aircraft. In 1940 and the first half of 1941 alone, more than 12 thousand combat aircraft were produced, but relatively few of them were built: MiG-1 - 100, MiG-3 - 1309, Yak-1 - 399, LaGG-3 - 322, IL-2 attack aircraft - 249, Pe-2 bombers - 460. Not all of the planned plans were implemented before the attack of fascist Germany on the USSR.

The beginning of the Great Patriotic War confronted the aviation industry with the task of sharply increasing production volumes to supply the front with the necessary amount of aviation equipment. However, the unfavorable course of the war at its first stage extremely complicated the work of the aircraft as a result of the forced evacuation in July-November 1941 of a large number of aircraft-building enterprises from the western and central regions of the country. The places of their new deployment were Kuibyshev, Kazan, Chkalov (now Orenburg), Ufa, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tbilisi, Tashkent and other cities. Altogether, about 85 percent of the country's industrial enterprises were relocated. And if in July - September the productivity of aircraft production increased by 1.5-2 times compared with the first half of 1941, reaching 1500-2000 or more aircraft per month, then from October the production of aircraft began to decline and fell to 600 in December. However, with the arrangement and resumption of work of the relocated enterprises in new places, the production of aviation equipment, mainly of new types, began to grow continuously. After the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow on the territory of the evacuees. new ones were created from the capital of the NKAP factories, which quickly established the production of aircraft and aircraft engines. In 1942, aircraft-building design bureaus and research institutes began to return to Moscow from evacuation. As the occupied regions were liberated, the enterprises of the agro-industrial complex were restored in other cities as well.

During the war, many improved models of combat aircraft entered mass production - the Yak-7B, Yak-9, Yak-3, La-5, La-5F, La-5FN, La-7, the two-seat version of the Il-2, Il-10 , Tu-2, etc. The need for a significant increase in the production of aviation equipment required the use of tray and flow-conveyor assembly of aircraft and engines, as well as other high-performance technological processes. Aircraft of many types were built in thousands and tens of thousands of copies. Until the end of the war with Germany (until mid-1945), it was produced (rounded): Il attack aircraft - 39 thousand, Yak fighters - 36 thousand, LaGG and La - 22 thousand, MiG - 3.3 thousand, Pe-2 bombers - 11 thousand, DB-3 (IL-4) - 6.5 thousand, Tu-2 - 0.8 thousand. The main burden for the production of attack aircraft fell on the factories in Kuibyshev (No. 1 and No. 18) and Moscow (No. 30), the mass production of fighters was carried out by factories in Gorky, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Tbilisi, Omsk (No. 166), Tushino (No. 82), Moscow (No. 381), and the supply of bombers was provided mainly by the factories of Kazan (No. 22), Irkutsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Moscow (No. 23). The Li-2 transport aircraft (in Tashkent), the UT-2 training aircraft (in Arseniev, Volzhsk, Rostov, Chkalov), the Po-2 multi-purpose aircraft (at factory No. 387 in Kazan and other factories) were built in large quantities. In pre-war and military. For years, bombers TB-7 (Pe-8), Yer-2, multi-purpose aircraft Yak-4, Su-2, transport aircraft Shche-2 (designed by A. Ya. Shcherbakov), etc. were also produced.

The main aircraft engines that were used on combat aircraft were piston engines of the M-105 families (installed on Yak, LaGG, Pe-2, etc.), M-82 (La, Tu-2, Pe-8, etc.), AM-38 (IL-2), M-88 (IL-4, Su-2). During the war years, improved modifications and variants of these piston engines were produced: M-105PF, M-Yu5PF2, VK-Yu7A, ASh-82FN, AM-38F, AM-42, M-88B, etc. A piston engine was built for the Li-2 transport aircraft. the M-62IR engine, and for light aircraft (Po-2, UT-2) - modifications of the M-11 piston engines. On some series of Pe-8 and Er-2 long-range bombers, ACH-ZOB diesel engines were installed. Aircraft engines were manufactured by factories in Kazan (No. 16), Ufa, Kuibyshev (No. 24), Moscow (No. 45, No. 500, No. 41), Perm, Omsk (No. 29), Andijan and other enterprises.

A great contribution to increasing the combat power of Soviet aviation was made by designers from the related arms industry M. E. Berezin, A. A. Volkov, A. E. Nudelman, A. S. Suranov, B. G. Shpitalny, S. A. Yartsev. The samples of machine-gun and cannon aviation weapons (UB, ShVAK, VYa, YaS-37, B-20) created by them in the prewar and war years were widely used on combat aircraft.

During the war period, the number of aviation design bureaus was radically reduced, since the main efforts of aircraft and aircraft engine developers had to be focused on further improvement and development of samples mastered in serial production. But even in these difficult years for the country, the search for promising areas for the development of aviation continued, in particular, an experimental jet fighter-interceptor BI was created.

A. I. Shakhurin (People’s Commissar of the Air Force in 1940–1946), Balandin, A. A. Belyanskii, P. A. Voronin, P. V. Dement’ev, and M. S. Zhezlov, P. D. Lavrentiev, V. N. Lisitsyn, V. Ya. Litvinov, M. M. Lunin, A. M. Ter-Markaryan, A. T. Tretyakov and other leaders of the NKAP and enterprises. In total, during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet aviation produced over 125,000 aircraft (see table) and made a significant contribution to the victory over the enemy.

In the post-war period, the aviation industry of the USSR continued to consistently solve the problem of equipping the Armed Forces and the Civil Air Fleet with new, more efficient aviation equipment, while undergoing a number of organizational and structural changes. On March 15, 1946, after the abolition of the NKAP, the management of the industry was transferred to the Ministry of Aviation Industry (in 1957-1965 these functions were performed by the State Committee for Aviation Technology). The experimental aircraft building base, which after the war was based on the surviving teams led by A. N. Tupolev, Yakovlev, Ilyushin, Beriev, Lavochkin, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Klimov, Shvetsov, V. A. Dobrynin, Mikulin, continuously developed in the subsequent period. It was replenished with new design bureaus headed by O. K. Antonov, M. L. Mil, N. I. Kamov, Myasishchev, G. E. Lozino-Lozinsky, A. G. Ivchenko, N. D. Kuznetsov, A. M. Lyulka. At the same time, a number of small design offices were abolished. A great contribution to the development of sub-sectors of aggregate and instrument engineering related to the creation of life support, power supply, flight and navigation. equipment, self-propelled guns, hydraulic and other systems, belongs to design bureaus, with which different years the activities of A. D. Aleksandrov, S. M. Alekseev, E. F. Antipov, G. I. Voronin, P. A. Efimov, I. I. Zverev, S. V. Zelenkov, N. A. Lobanov and other designers and scientists. The main enterprises developing aviation technology began, as a rule, to be provided with their own production base and acquired the status of experimental design bureaus (OKB), pilot plants, research and production associations. To replace the pioneers of the Soviet aircraft industry, new chief and general designers began to come to the leadership of the leading design bureaus - P. A. Solovyov, Tumansky, S. P. Izotov, P. A. Kolesov, A. K. Konstantinov, V. A. Lotarev, G V. Novozhilov, M. N. Tishchenko, R. A. Belyakov, A. A. Tupolev, S. V. Mikheev, E. A. Ivanov, M. P. Simonov, V. M. Chepkin, P. V Balabuev et al. The scientific potential of the industry has increased. The experimental base of TsAGI, CIAM, VIAM, NIAT, LII was strengthened. NII-2 (later the State Research Institute of Aviation Systems - GosNIIAS), the State Union Siberian Research Institute of Aviation (SibNIA), the All-Union Institute of Light Alloys (VILS), and the Research Institute of Economics were formed. Research Institute of Aviation Equipment (NIIAO) and other industry research institutes. At the turn of the 50-60s. a number of aircraft-building enterprises (design bureaus and serial plants) were reoriented to rocket and space technology, and then withdrawn from the aviation industry. The existing aviation enterprises were reconstructed and new enterprises were put into operation (among them, an important place was occupied by the aviation industrial complex in Ulyanovsk) . In the 70-80s. On the basis of many MAP serial plants, production associations were created.

In the post-war period, the USSR A. p. was headed by M. V. Khrunichev (1946-1953), Dementiev (1953-1977), V. A. S. Systsov (1985-1991). The first postwar years became a period of rapid development of jet aviation for world aviation. In the USSR, intensive research was carried out on the aerodynamics of high speeds, the stability, controllability and strength of high-speed aircraft, the gas dynamics of an air-breathing engine, and the development of heat-resistant materials for a gas turbine engine. The first Soviet jet aircraft were the MiG-9 and Yak-15 fighters, created in 1946. In the second half of the 40s. The MiG-15 jet fighters (the first serial aircraft with a swept wing in the USSR), La-15, Yak-23, Il-28, Tu-14 jet bombers were also put into production. At this stage, turbojet engines built according to foreign models (RD-10, RD-20, RD-45, RD-500) were widely used. Many types of aircraft in the second half of the 40s. (and thereafter) continued to be built with piston engines. Among them were the multi-purpose An-2 and Yak-12, the passenger Il-12 and Il-14, the Yak-18 trainer, the naval Be-6, and others. During this period, helicopters became a new type of product for aviation. Mi-1 was the first Soviet serial rotorcraft.

In the 50s. The use of the gas turbine engine in aviation continued to expand. In serial production, turbojet and turboprop engines developed under the leadership of Lyulka (TR-1, AL-7), Klimov (VK-1, VK-1F), Mikulin (AM-3, AM-5, RD-9B), Kuznetsov (NK-12), Ivchenko (AI-20), Dobrynin (VD-7), Tumaisky (P11-300, R11F-300), Solovyov (D-25V). In the class of fighters, the MiG-17, Yak-25, MiG-19 (the first supersonic production aircraft in the USSR), Su-7, MiG-21 were produced. Su-9, Yak-28. Strategic and long-range bombers - turboprop Tu-95 and jet Tu-16, M-4, 3M and turboprop transport aircraft An-8, An-12 - also entered service. The creation and introduction into mass production of more productive (due to greater speed and passenger capacity) passenger aircraft - jet Tu-104 and turboprops Il-18, Tu-114, AN-10 - gave impetus to a more intensive development of air transport in the country. The type of serial helicopters has expanded. In the class of transport vehicles, the Mi-4, Yak-24, Mi-6 were created - the first Soviet helicopter with a gas turbine engine (D-25V), and in the lighter weight category - the ship's Ka-15 and its civilian modifications Ka-15M and Ka -eighteen.

60s were significant for Soviet aviation in that, along with the improvement of existing types of aircraft, a number of fundamentally new models of aviation equipment were created during this period, which are distinguished by significantly higher flight performance or wider operational capabilities. Among the new types of aircraft were the Yak-36 vertical take-off and landing aircraft, the MiG-23 fighter with a variable sweep wing in flight, the Antey heavy transport aircraft AN-22, and the Mi-10K specialized crane helicopter. Many scientific and technical problems were solved during the development of the Tu-144 supersonic passenger aircraft, which underwent trial operation.

The civil aviation fleet began to be replenished mainly with jet aircraft. For mainline airlines, passenger planes Tu-124, Tu-134, Il-62, Tu-154, and Yak-40 was created for local air lines (MVL). To reduce fuel consumption on jet passenger aircraft, more economical bypass turbojet engines (turbojet engines) began to be used. The first domestic turbofan engines were D-20P, NK-8, D-30, AI-25. The An-24 (passenger for local airlines) and its modifications An-26 (transport) and An-30 (aerial photography) were produced with turboprop engines. A light multi-purpose aircraft Ak-14 was built with a piston engine. In the class of combat aircraft, a significant achievement was the creation of the MiG-25 fighter, whose flight speed was 3 times the speed of sound. Among other military aircraft produced during this period were the Su-11, Su-15 fighters, the Tu-22 supersonic bomber, and the Be-12 turboprop amphibious aircraft. The production of a number of helicopters of light and medium weight categories was started - Mi-2, Ka-25, Ka-26, Mi-8. The range of helicopter turboshaft engines was expanded due to the production of the GTD-350 and TV2 117.

A significant number of improved and new aircraft were produced in the 70s and 80s. Among the aircraft and helicopters, the appearance of which marked the creation of new generations or new types of aircraft in the country, were the short-haul passenger aircraft Yak-42 and the first Soviet wide-body passenger aircraft Il-86; Il-76T cargo jet aircraft; Su-24 supersonic front-line bomber and Su-25 army attack aircraft; highly maneuverable MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters; multi-mode strategic bomber Tu-160; short takeoff and landing transport aircraft An-72; helicopters - transport and combat Mi-24, multi-purpose shipborne Ka-27, combat Mi-28, transport Mi-26 with the world's highest load capacity for serial vehicles (20 tons); heavy transport aircraft (which also showed a record carrying capacity) An-124 Ruslan (150 tons) and An-225 Mriya (250 tons); high-altitude aircraft M-17 ("Stratosphere") and "Geophysics". Many scientific and technical problems were solved and a large number of materials and technologies valuable for the national economy of the country were obtained during the creation of the first Soviet reusable orbital ship Buran. Passenger aircraft Il-62M and Tu-154M were also created; fighters Su-17, Su-20, Su-22, MiG-31; VTOL aircraft Yak-38 and Yak-141; bomber Tu-22M, transport aircraft VM-T "Atlant", An-32, An-74; helicopters Mi-14 (anti-submarine), Mi-17 (transport), Ka-28 and Ka-29 (ship), Ka-32 and Ka-126 (multi-purpose for the national economy), Mi-34 (training and sports); sports aircraft Su-26M and Yak-55M and other aircraft. At the end of the 80s. preparation and mastering of serial production of passenger aircraft of a new generation with high fuel efficiency began - Il-96-300 and Tu-204 for main air routes and Il-114 for local airlines. Among the aircraft engines found in the 70-80s. use on serial and experimental aircraft, there were turbofan engines-Z0KU, D-Z0KP, D-36, NK-86, D-18T, PS-90, turbofan engines RD-33, AL-31F, lifting turbojet RD36-35FV and lifting sustainer R27V-300, turboshaft engines TVZ-117, D-136 (the world's most powerful helicopter gas turbine engine), TVD TB7-117, etc.

The aviation industry, which has always been at the forefront of scientific and technological progress in the country, conducts further research and development aimed at creating new generations of aviation technology. The application of the system is expanding computer-aided design in the design organizations of the industry, technological equipment with numeric program management and flexible automated production at industrial enterprises (see Aircraft Engineering Technology), the introduction of new, including composite, materials in the construction of aircraft and helicopters, the use of advances in the field of radio engineering, electronics, computer technology and ergonomics in on-board systems and aircraft equipment.

The role of aviation in the Great Patriotic War was one of the decisive ones. Therefore, the Communist Party and Soviet government attached great importance to aviation. The aviation industry of the USSR had large production facilities, numbering many tens of thousands of metal-cutting machine tools, and numbered hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, engineering and technical workers and employees.

But the factories of the aviation industry were geographically located in such a way that, as a result of the first major failures on the war fronts, 85% of all factories, research organizations and auxiliary enterprises of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry had to be evacuated to the eastern regions of the country. It was a difficult task, especially considering that the evacuation routes reached 3-4 thousand km.

The Communist Party and the Soviet government took the necessary measures for the speedy commissioning of the evacuated aviation enterprises and the construction of new factories. On July 27, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a special resolution on the deployment of the aviation industry and the accelerated construction of new aircraft factories. A program was developed for the accelerated restoration and new construction of aircraft, aircraft engine plants in the East of the country.

The evacuated aircraft factories in new places were restored in a short time. For example, plant No. 22, which was evacuated at the end of 1941, was already producing in January 1942, and in May 1942 it reached its pre-evacuation capacity. In a short time, factories No. 1 and 18 were restored.

Capital investments in the aviation industry at the end of 1941 and at the beginning of 1942 were continuously increasing, which created favorable conditions for the further development of aircraft construction. Suffice it to say that in 1941 the capital investments of the People's Commissariat of the aviation industry (in estimated prices) exceeded the capital investments of 1940 by 77%. In 1942 alone, the number of employees at the enterprises of the NKAP increased by 56.2 thousand people. The capacity of the aviation industry this year increased by 21.4 thousand metal-cutting machines and 600 units of forging presses.

In comparison with the pre-war level in 1942, the capacity of the aviation industry of the NKAP increased: metal-cutting machines - by 89.4% and forging presses - by 88.8%, and the total number of employees - by 31%. This ratio in the growth of equipment and the total number of employees testified to a significant increase in the technical equipment of labor in the aviation industry, which opened up great prospects for increasing labor productivity and reducing the cost of products.

As a result of the evacuation of a large number of aircraft manufacturing enterprises to the eastern regions and the implementation of large-scale new construction in these regions, the geographical distribution of the aviation industry of the USSR has undergone major changes.

By the beginning of 1942, the production of aircraft had ceased in the regions of the West, North-West, North Caucasus and the South and sharply decreased in the regions of the Center, while in the eastern regions it increased by several

once. In terms of gross aviation output in the NKAP system in 1942, the share of the eastern regions was approximately three-quarters.

In 1940, 26 types of aircraft were produced in the USSR, including: fighters - 11, bombers - 8, transport - 2, training - 5. During the war, some obsolete types of aircraft were discontinued and replaced with new, more efficient ones. Already in the first military half of the year, mass production of improved types of aircraft began, in particular, Il-2 attack aircraft, Pe-2 dive bombers and LaGG-3 fighters. In this difficult time for the country and the army, the following were produced: LaGG-3-2141 fighters instead of 322 in the first half of 1941, Yak-1-1019 aircraft instead of 335 and Il-2-1293 attack aircraft instead of 249. Pe-2 bombers were produced in 1941 1867, and in the second half of the year 3 times more than in the first. In total, in 1941, our aviation industry gave the Soviet Army 15,735 aircraft of all types (excluding naval aviation). The average monthly production of combat aircraft in the second half of 1941 increased 2.2 times as compared with the first half of the year.

* (History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945, v. 2, p. 157.)

The great successes of the aviation industry during this period became possible thanks to the heroic labor and creative initiative of workers, engineers and technical workers and employees. Socialist emulation has developed widely at the enterprises and research institutes of the aviation industry. Within days and weeks, such a volume of work was carried out, which, before the war, took months and years.

The continuous flow of research and development and technical improvements offered great opportunities for a dramatic increase in the production of first-class combat aircraft. The master of one of the workshops of plant No. 24 M. G. Gurov suggested new method processing of parts, which allowed to significantly increase the productivity of workers. For the successful and quick solution of this important task, M. G. Gurov was awarded the Order of Lenin.

On August 23, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for the exemplary fulfillment of government tasks for the production of aircraft and aircraft engines, awarded the Orders of Lenin to aircraft factories No. 18 and No. 24. On September 8, 1941, for outstanding achievements in organizing and implementing mass production of new types of combat aircraft were Many employees of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry and Aircraft Plant No. 1 were awarded orders and medals. On November 19, 1941, Aircraft Plant No. 75 was awarded the Order of Lenin for great production success.

However, the development of the aviation industry in the first half of the war did not proceed smoothly. In some months, plans for the production of aircraft were not fulfilled. In October 1941, the production of aircraft began to decline, as a result, in November, 3.6 times fewer aircraft were produced than in September. The December plan for the production of aircraft was fulfilled only by 38.8%, and for aircraft engines - by 23.6%*.

* ()

The main reasons for the reduction in aircraft production during these months were: the evacuation of many aircraft factories to the eastern regions of the country, the lack of skilled labor, the untimely supply of raw materials, fuel, materials to factories; insufficient provision of the aviation industry with electricity. In addition, the development of new types of aircraft and aircraft engines had a negative effect on the rate of production of aviation products. "Due to all these reasons, the aviation industry did not make up for the heavy losses suffered by the Soviet Air Force in fierce battles near Moscow, Leningrad and in other sectors of the Soviet-German front" * .

* (History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945, v. 2, p. 160.)

The rise in the aviation industry began in January 1942. Already in the first quarter of this year, aircraft were produced by 2.5% more than in the pre-war quarter of 1941, in the second quarter of 1942 - by 68.2%, in the third - by 109.6%.

The development of the aviation industry and scientific and technical thought made it possible in 1942 to master the production of 14 new types of aircraft, including: fighters - 5, bombers - 6, attack aircraft - 1 and transport aircraft - 2. During the same time, 10 new types of motors. As a result, the proportion of different types of aircraft in total production has changed significantly.

The share of attack aircraft especially increased (their release in 1942 accounted for more than one third of the entire production of combat vehicles). This was explained by the need to significantly increase the firepower of combat operations. Ground attack aviation, as is known, belonged to front-line aviation, intended for direct support of ground, air and naval forces in all types of combat and operations. She inflicted sudden crushing blows on tank columns, artillery battle formations, concentrations of enemy manpower, on railway, water and other objects, and she herself was invulnerable to enemy artillery, as she acted at low altitudes. And In all types of combat operations, attack aircraft achieved major successes.

During the first period of the war, Soviet attack aviation consisted of first-class Il-2 aircraft with an AM-38 engine with a capacity of 1600 hp. With. This aircraft had a machine gun-but-cannon armament and rockets, in addition, it raised a bomb load of up to 600 kg and developed a speed at low altitudes of up to 400 km / h. The crew and vital parts of the aircraft were reliably protected by armor.

Our aviation industry already in 1942 took a big step forward. Whereas in the second half of 1941 the Air Force received an average of 1,750 aircraft per month, in 1942 it received 2,260 aircraft*. The aviation industry produced more and more new types of aircraft, which, according to tactical and technical data, were not inferior to enemy aircraft.

* (History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945, v. 2, p. 511.)

Soviet scientists and engineers continuously improved the design of aircraft. In August 1942, a group of engineers led by designer A.S. Yakovlev modified the Yak-7 fighter, increasing its flight radius. In the same year, the Yak-9 aircraft was put into mass production. The design team led by A. A. Lavochkin significantly improved the performance characteristics of the LaGG-3 fighter, which began to be mass-produced with the La-5 brand.

By 1941, only 166 new Yak-7 fighters were produced, and in 1942 - 2431. La-5 fighters were not produced at all in 1941, and in 1942 the Soviet Army received 1129 aircraft of this brand. The production of the Il-2 attack aircraft grew even faster.

In the third quarter of 1942, the average monthly production of aircraft increased by 2.8 times compared to 1940. Aircraft of all types were produced in 1942 in 25,436, i.e., 60% more than in 1941*.

* (History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945, v. 2, p. 510.)

For successful development military industry it was no longer enough to simply redistribute material and human resources in favor of military production. This source was largely exhausted in the first year of the war. Now it was necessary to make wider use of the new opportunities for increasing the output of military equipment, in particular, the improvement of technology and the organization of the production process, the use of in-line methods.

The flow method in aircraft construction already in 1942 made it possible in a short time to dramatically increase output. This was achieved thanks to the most rational use production areas, machinery and equipment, better organization of labor, as well as saving materials and working time.

At one of the largest aircraft factories, the transition to the flow allowed to reduce the path of parts in production by 5 times and significantly speed up the entire production cycle. For 4 months, the labor intensity for the main part "A" was reduced by 40%, the part "B" - by 48%, the part "C" - by 32% and for the part "D" - by 49% *.

The introduction of production lines at the aircraft and engine factories of the NKAP increased labor productivity by 20-25%.

Rationalization and invention, economy of materials and labor played an important role in increasing the production of aircraft in 1942. For example, thanks to saving only 1% of aluminum at plant number 18, it became possible to produce an additional 4 attack aircraft every month. At another aircraft plant, a multi-seat device was created, as a result of which the productivity of the machine increased by 9-10 times *. All this gave a huge economic effect.

As a result of the growth in the production of aircraft, the front received a large number of new combat vehicles. In the autumn of 1942, Soviet front-line and long-range bomber aviation had a fleet of 4,100 combat aircraft, while enemy aviation on the Soviet-German front had about 3,500 aircraft. However, it should be noted that Soviet front-line aviation included up to 500 U-2 and R-5 light night bombers and other aircraft of obsolete designs, so the quantitative superiority of Soviet aviation did not yet fully determine its combat power * .

* (History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945, v. 3, p. 383.)

Germany during these years produced a large number of different types of aircraft, as evidenced by data published by the West German Institute for Economic Research.

* (German Industry During the War 1939-1945, p. 270.)

At the beginning of World War II, the Nazis underestimated fighter aircraft, and therefore produced fewer fighters than bombers. However, in the war against the Soviet Union, they were convinced of their major miscalculation. The powerful Soviet fighter aircraft destroyed the German air fleet step by step and gained air supremacy.

In 1941, the production of all German aircraft increased by only 7.6% compared to 1940, and by 33.2% in 1942 compared to 1941. But these rates were about 2 times lower than the growth rate of aircraft production in the Soviet Union.

At the time of the attack on our country, the German Air Force had much more modern aircraft than the USSR Air Force. However, in 1942, our aviation industry outstripped the German one in the production of the latest aircraft, as a result of which, in the summer of 1943, a decisive change occurred in the ratio of the air forces of the USSR and Germany in favor of the Soviet Union. Since that time, the initiative in the air has completely passed to Soviet aviation; besides, our aviation industry continued to increase the production of combat aircraft.

The superiority of our aviation over the aviation of fascist Germany during this period could not be denied even by our enemies.

"Since 1943," writes Tippelskirch, - by no means was it possible to eliminate the undivided dominance of enemy aircraft in the airspace over the areas of combat operations ... " * .

* (K. Tippelskirch. History of the Second World War. publishing house foreign literature, 1956, p. 484.)

In the USSR, the creation of the aviation industry began during the years of the pre-war five-year plans. Soviet aircraft designers (Polikarpov, Tupolev, Ilyushin, Lavochkin and others) created a number of original designs, some of which were not inferior in their technical characteristics and even surpassed their foreign counterparts. During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet aircraft industry quickly launched the mass production of many new aircraft, instruments and aircraft engines. By the end of the war, the production of aircraft in the USSR reached almost 40 thousand per year. In the postwar years, the production of jet aircraft and radars was mastered, then helicopters and supersonic jet aircraft. In parallel with the production of combat aircraft, turboprop and jet passenger aircraft were created and manufactured.

Under the USSR, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were several dozens of aircraft and engine-building plants, as well as several hundred aggregate and instrument-making plants that manufactured the so-called "purchased products". All industrial enterprises military or dual-use, including those working on the aviation theme, had a code name for open correspondence - for example, Kazan Aviation Plant No. 22, later KAPO them. Gorbunov, had the code of the post box A-3858.

The development of civil aviation during the years of the pre-war five-year plans (1929–1941)

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The organizational structure of civil aviation, established in the 30s

The end of the 1920s was characterized by the stubborn struggle of the Soviet people for the transformation of the country from an agrarian-industrial into an advanced industrial one. Only on the paths of accelerated industrialization could the economic backwardness of our country be overcome and its defense capacity strengthened. This required large-scale work on the reconstruction and further development of the country's fuel and energy base, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and the training of qualified scientific, design and engineering personnel.

The creation of a domestic air fleet was inextricably linked with the implementation of the idea of ​​industrialization. In the 1920s, a lot was done in the USSR to restore and develop the aviation industry. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, the state of affairs in the Soviet aviation industry continued to be difficult. For example, at that time, flight tests of new aircraft, such as the ANT-4 (TB-1) and R-5, had already passed, and the industry could not establish their mass production. For 2 years (1928 - 1929), out of the ordered 985 new aircraft, the industry was able to issue only 30 copies of the ANT-4 and several R-5s.

By the end of the 1920s, the Soviet aircraft engine industry had grown significantly stronger. Mastering the mass production of M-5 (400 hp) and M-6 (300 hp) engines based on foreign models made it possible to strengthen its aircraft engine industry. At the same time, the fact that there was almost no powerful engine of domestic design in mass production caused deep concern. A large number of projects and their prototypes have not received further development. By 1930, a number of organizations designed more than 40 different aircraft engines, 30 of them were put into production, about 15 were built, but only a few of them were put on aircraft.

The first five-year plan for the development of the national economy, calculated for 1928-1933, outlined a gigantic step along the path of industrialization of the country. The task was set to catch up with the advanced Western countries in a relatively short period of time in technical and economic terms, to carry out a radical reconstruction of the entire national economy. The State Planning Committee of the USSR developed a set of measures for the development of civil aviation in the first five-year plan, which provided for achieving its growth rate to the level of the leading aviation powers, the production of aircraft engines of domestic design and, in this regard, the refusal to import engines, a significant expansion of pilot construction to search for aircraft of the best types.

To successfully solve the tasks assigned to civil aviation, new, more advanced forms of its organization were required. In 1930, the government abolished the Civil Aviation Council, the Civil Aviation Inspectorate and the Dobrolet joint-stock company. Instead, the All-Union Association of the Civil Air Fleet (VOGVF) was formed under the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR. Thus, in 1930, the civilian air fleet was removed from the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs. VOGVF was engaged in the organization and operation of air lines, planning, regulation and management of civil aviation. The government, recognizing the need for accelerated development of civil aviation, has allocated the capital investments necessary for this, ranked the GUF facilities among the extraordinary major capital construction projects. Additional measures were developed aimed at the uninterrupted supply of VOGVF with construction and operational materials, meeting the needs for labor, equipping existing and newly opened airports with radio and lighting equipment, organizing higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of civil aviation, expanding the scope of research work in the field of aircraft and engine building, aviation equipment.

In 1932, in accordance with the growing importance of civil aviation in the national economy of the country, instead of the VOGVF, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Government of the USSR was formed. The GUGVF was entrusted with the regulation of all civil aviation activities in USSR. Under the jurisdiction of the GUGVF, operational units operating on a self-supporting basis were organized - trusts: transport aviation, construction, aircraft repair, aviation supply, agricultural and forestry aviation. An Inspectorate was also organized to monitor the technical operation of aircraft of all civil departments and organizations. The order for the GUGVF in connection with the reorganization indicated that instead of the abbreviated name "VOGVF", the name of the Main Directorate of the GVF "Aeroflot" should be used.

In the same year, the first Air Code of the USSR, the main document of Soviet air legislation, was approved. It defended the sovereignty of the airspace over the territory of our Motherland and its territorial waters and provided the necessary conditions for the development and widespread use of aviation in the national economy.

In 1934, a new reorganization of the Civil Air Fleet's governing bodies took place. The trusts of transport and agricultural aviation, aircraft repair, aviation supply and their local bodies were liquidated. Instead, 12 territorial administrations were formed: Moscow, Ukrainian, Central Asian, Transcaucasian, Kazakh, North Caucasian, Volga, Ural, West Siberian, Far East, East Siberian and Northern. Territorial departments, as the main organizational units of the Civil Air Fleet, supervised the work of all types of civil aviation in the serviced territory, were endowed with rights and obligations on all issues of managing subordinate airports, air squadrons and other units and services.

The reorganization of the control bodies of the Civil Air Fleet entailed a significant reduction in the staff of the administrative apparatus, eliminated parallelism in work, ensured better use of the aircraft and motor fleet, and increased regularity and safety of flights.

In subsequent years, as civil aviation developed, new territorial departments were created. So, in 1935, the Central Asian TUGVF was divided into Turkmen and Uzbek-Tajik, which, in turn, due to the increase in the volume of aviation work, was divided into two independent ones - Uzbek and Tajik. With the liquidation of the Transcaucasian Federation in 1936, independent organizations of the Civil Air Fleet were created in each republic: the Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani territorial administrations, directly subordinate to the GUGVF. In 1940, the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Soviet Socialist Republics became part of the USSR. In this regard, the organization of the Baltic Territorial Administration of the Civil Air Fleet began.

In 1940, there were 150 airports in the structure of territorial administrations, as well as big network airfields of local airlines.

To manage the international air communications of Aeroflot in 1937, the Directorate of International Air Lines of the USSR was formed as part of the GUGVF.

Since the construction of GVF facilities had its own characteristics, the Aeroflot system had its own construction organizations, which were led by the Capital Construction Department of the GUGVF.

For the same reason, the designs of the facilities being built for the Civil Air Fleet and the airlines being laid were developed by a special design and survey organization, which later received the name "Aeroproject".

In the context of the rapid development of aviation, it turned out that Aeroflot was not able to effectively engage in both the creation and operation of aviation equipment at the same time. Therefore, in 1936, the government entrusted the tasks of designing and creating aviation equipment for Aeroflot, providing the Civil Air Fleet with aircraft, engines and special equipment to the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry of the Narkomtyazhprom.

The Scientific Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet (NII Civil Air Fleet) established in 1930 was engaged in solving the problems of efficient operation of aviation equipment. The Institute determined the prospects for the development of Aeroflot, developed requirements for new aviation equipment, conducted state and operational tests of newly arriving aviation equipment, ensured its implementation on overhead lines and in the national economy, and developed issues of flight and technical operation. This required the accelerated construction of a scientific laboratory and production base with test airports, motor test stations, motor and other laboratories. The work carried out by the Research Institute of the Civil Air Fleet contributed to the further improvement of aviation technology. All types of research work were carried out jointly with scientists, designers, production teams of the aviation industry and operational units of the Civil Air Fleet.

A network of aircraft repair enterprises was created in the Aeroflot system for the repair of aircraft in operation.

In connection with the growth in the scale and pace of development of civil aviation in the 1930s, Aeroflot created its own system for training and advanced training of personnel. In 1930 - 1941. the leading university was the Leningrad Institute of Engineers of the Civil Air Fleet. In 1933, the Kyiv Institute of Engineers of the Civil Air Fleet was opened. There were also several technical schools. And the flight and technical staff were trained by the large joint schools of pilots and aircraft technicians deployed in the early 30s in Bataysk, Tambov and Balashov. The Flight Center in Moscow and the Higher Flight Training Courses in Mineralnye Vody were engaged in the retraining and advanced training of Aeroflot's management staff and the training of crews for the latest high-speed aircraft.

All this vast economy of Aeroflot was supplemented by the healthcare and recreation infrastructure created in the 1930s. Medical and sanitary units operated in large units of the Civil Air Fleet. Sanatoriums and rest houses for aviation workers have been opened in the best resort areas of the country. Houses of culture, clubs, libraries worked at aviation enterprises.

Thus, by the beginning of the 1940s, a civil aviation management structure had developed in the USSR, which operated without significant changes for half a century, until the 1990s.