Scientist founder of liquid rocket engine building. Valentin Glushko. Founder of domestic liquid rocket engine building. Scientist, founder of the domestic liquid rocket engine building Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR twice
In 1921, he began to take an interest in issues of astronautics; from 1923 he corresponded with K.E. Tsiolkovsky, from 1924 he published popular scientific and scientific works on astronautics. After graduating from Leningrad University (1925-1929), he worked at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (1929-1933), where in 1929 he formed a unit for the development of electric propulsion, liquid propellant rocket engines, and liquid-fuel rockets, who continued to work at the Jet Research Institute (NII No. 3 NKOP ) (1934-1938) and reorganized into OKB-SD (1941), then called OKB-456, now NPO Energomash named after academician V.P. Glushko. 1941-74 chief designer. From May 22, 1974 to January 10, 1989, General Designer of NPO Energia.
First, he was sent to the Moscow Aviation Engine Plant in Tushino, where he was involved in the development of a project for an auxiliary installation of a liquid-propellant rocket engine on a twin-engine S-100 aircraft to speed up aircraft maneuvers, and then in 1941 to Kazan to continue work. Under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, for the period up to 1944, a family of auxiliary aviation LREs RD-1, RD-1KhZ, RD-2 and RD-3 was created with a pump supply of nitric acid and kerosene, with adjustable thrust and a maximum thrust near the ground from 300 up to 900 kg. These engines passed in 1943-1946. ground and flight tests on Pe-2R, La-7R and 120R, Yak-3, Su-6 and Su-7 aircraft. The RD-1KhZ and RD-2 engines passed state tests, the reports on which were approved by I.V. Stalin.
The main works are devoted to theoretical and experimental research on the most important issues of the creation and development of liquid-propellant rocket engines and spacecraft. Designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine, the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engines, liquid-propellant RLA rockets. LRE designer: ORM, ORM-1 - ORM-70, -101, -102, RD-1 - RD-3, RD-100 - RD-103, RD-107 and RD-108 for Vostok launch vehicle, RD- 119 and RD-214 for the Proton launch vehicle, RD-301 and many others. etc. Under his leadership, powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines were developed on low-boiling and high-boiling fuels, which are used not in the first stages and most of the second stages of all Soviet launch vehicles, and many others. long-range missiles. In 1930, he proposed nitric acid, solutions of nitrogen tetroxide in nitric acid, tetranitpomethane, hydrogen peroxide, perchloric acid, beryllium (with hydrogen and oxygen), gunpowder with beryllium as fuel components for rocket engines, developed a profiled nozzle and thermal insulation of the combustion chamber with zirconium dioxide. In 1931, he proposed chemical ignition and self-igniting propellant, a gimbal suspension of a rocket engine to control the flight of a rocket. In 1931-33, he developed units for supplying fuel to a rocket engine - piston, turbopump with centrifugal pumps, and more. others
Gold medal to them. K.E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958), Diploma. Paul Tissandier (FAI) (1967). Active member of the International Academy of Astronautics (1976). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 7th-11th convocations. Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU since 1976. Lenin Prize of the USSR (1957), State Prize of the USSR (1967, 1984). Awarded 5 Orders of Lenin (1956, 1958, 1961, 1968, 1978), Order of the October Revolution (1971), Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1945); medals: "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin" (For labor valor) (1970), "XXX years of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War" (1975), "40 years of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War War" (1985), "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War" (1945), "Veteran of Labor" (1984), "In Memory of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (1948).
Honorary citizen of 8 cities. In Odessa, a bronze bust was installed on Primorsky Boulevard and a memorial plaque on the house at 10 Olgievskaya Street, where he lived from 1921 to 1925. In Kazan, a memorial plaque was opened on the building of the Aviation Institute. In 1994, by decision of the International Astronautical Federation, a crater with a diameter of 43 kilometers on the reserved visible side of the Moon was named after him.
Books: "The problem of exploitation of the planets" (manuscript) 1924, Rockets, their design and application, M. - L., 1935 (together with G.E. Langemak); Liquid fuel for jet engines, part 1, M., 1936; Missile technology. Sat. articles, in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, M. - L., 1937; "Sources of energy and their use in rocket technology", Moscow, Oborongiz, 1949; Rocket engines GDL-OKB, M., 1975, Path in rocket technology 1924-1946, selected works, M., Mashinostroenie, 1977; Development of rocket science and astronautics in the USSR, M., ed. 1st 1972, ed. 2nd 1981, ed. 3rd 1987, Encyclopedia "Cosmonautics", 1985 (chief editor), Handbook on thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of substances in 10 volumes (chief editor).
encyclopedic reference
GLUSHKO Valentin Petrovich (b. September 2, 1908 - January 10, 1989); Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958; Corresponding Member 1953), twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961)... scientific work on astronautics. After graduating from Leningrad University, he worked at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (1929-1933), where in 1929 he formed a subdivision for the development of electric propulsion engines, rocket engines and liquid fuel rockets, which continued to work at the Jet Research Institute (1934-38) and reorganized into the Design Bureau ( 1941), then referred to as the GDL-OKB (in 1941-74 the chief designer). Since 1974 General Designer. The main works are devoted to theoretical and experimental research on the most important issues of the creation and development of liquid-propellant rocket engines and spacecraft. Designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine, the first domestic liquid-propellant rocket engines, liquid-propellant missiles RLA. LRE designer: ORM, ORM-1 - ORM-70, -101, -102, RD-1 - RD-3, RD-100 - RD-103, RD-107 and RD-108 for Vostok launch vehicle, RD- 119 and RD-214 for the Kosmos launch vehicle: RD-253 for the Proton launch vehicle, RD-301 and much more. Under the leadership of Glushko, powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines were developed on low-boiling and high-boiling fuels, which are used in the first stages and most of the second stages of all modern launch vehicles and many long-range combat missiles. In 1930, he proposed nitric acid, solutions of nitrogen tetroxide in nitric acid, tetranitromethane, hydrogen peroxide, perchloric acid, beryllium (with hydrogen and oxygen), gunpowder with beryllium as fuel components for liquid-propellant rocket engines, developed a profiled nozzle and thermal insulation of the combustion chamber with zirconium dioxide. In 1931, he proposed chemical ignition and self-igniting propellant, a gimbal suspension of a liquid-propellant rocket engine to control the flight of a rocket. In 1931-33, he developed units for supplying fuel to a rocket engine - piston, turbopump with centrifugal pumps, and much more. Gold medal to them. K.E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958), Diploma. Paul Tissandier (FAI). Active member of the International Academy of Astronautics (1976). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 7-11 convocations, ... Lenin Prize (1957), State Prize of the USSR (1967, 1984). Awarded 5 orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals. Honorary citizen of the cities of Odessa, Kaluga, Elista and others. A bronze bust and a memorial plaque were installed in Odessa.
Encyclopedia of Cosmonautics, publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia" 1985
Academician
Valentin Petrovich Glushko
Academician V.P. Glushko (1908-1989) - the founder of the domestic rocket engine building, one of the pioneers and creators of rocket and space technology.
Valentin Petrovich Glushko- an outstanding scientist in the field of rocket and space technology, one of the pioneers of astronautics, the founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine.
VP Glushko was born in Odessa on September 2, 1908. During his school years he was fond of astronomy and organized a circle of young amateurs at the Odessa Astronomical Observatory. The first publication by VP Glushko was called "Conquest of the Moon by the Earth". The results of his observations of the meteor shower in January 1924, sketches of Venus, Mars and Jupiter, made from his own observations, were published in 1924 and 1925. in publications of the Russian Society of Lovers of World Studies (ROML).
At the same time, V.P. Glushko became interested in the idea of space flights and from 1923 he corresponded with K.E. Tsiolkovsky.
V.P. Glushko in the years of work at the Jet Research Institute (RNII). Moscow. 1934
In 1925 he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Leningrad University. The topic of the thesis was the project of an electric rocket engine (EP). From 1929 to 1933, he worked at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) of the Military Research Committee under the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, where he formed a unit for the development of electric propulsion engines, rocket engines and liquid fuel rockets. In 1931 - 1933 under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, the first domestic liquid rocket engines - ORM (experimental jet engine) were developed. In 1933, the world's first Jet Research Institute (RNII) was organized. The unit, led by V.P. Glushko, continued to work as part of the RNII, where the most significant result was the creation of the ORM-65 rocket engine, intended for the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designed by S.P. Korolev.
ORM-65 is a liquid-propellant rocket engine created by V.P. Glushko in the 30s for installation on the RP-318 rocket plane and the 212 cruise missile designed by S.P. Korolev.
During the period of Stalinist repressions, V.P. Glushko was arrested on March 23, 1938 and, on the basis of a case fabricated by the NKVD, was sentenced to 8 years in the camps (in 1939). In conclusion, V.P. Glushko worked on the creation of aircraft jet boosters. For the successful completion of these works in 1944, V.P. Glushko and his employees were released with the removal of a criminal record. V.P. Glushko was rehabilitated only in 1955.
In 1945, V.P. Glushko, with a group of specialists, was sent to Germany to get acquainted with captured rocket technology. Starting from 1947, in OKB-456 (in the city of Khimki near Moscow), led by V.P. Glushko, a series of rocket engines of the original design was created.
Engines RD-107 and RD-108, created in the Design Bureau of V.P. Glushko, were installed on the first intercontinental rocket R-7 (1957), on launch vehicles that launched artificial Earth and Moon satellites into orbit, launched automatic stations to the Moon, Venus and Mars, the launch of manned spacecraft Vostok, Voskhod and Soyuz.
LRE RD-108 - engine of the second stage of the R-7 rocket and launch vehicles Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya, Soyuz. Engines RD-107 and RD-108, created in the design bureau of V.P. Glushko, were installed on the first and second stages of these launch vehicles. They provided humanity with a breakthrough into space and today continue to contribute to the implementation of the Russian space program.
Engines of the new type RD-253 designed by V.P. Glushko were installed on the first stage of the Proton launch vehicle, which has three times the payload capacity of the Soyuz rocket.
V.P. Glushko with cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin and P.R. Popovich in his office. 1963
V.P. Glushko with cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin and P.R. Popovich in his office. 1963
The RD-253 liquid-propellant rocket engine, created in the design bureau of V.P. Glushko, is the engine of the first stage of the Proton launch vehicle.
Launch vehicle "Proton" at the launch site of the cosmodrome.
With the help of the Proton rocket in the second half of the 60s and in the 70s, heavy research satellites of the Earth and automatic stations for the study of the Moon, Venus and Mars were launched, including a flyby of the Moon with the return of the spacecraft to Earth, delivery from Lunar samples of lunar soil and delivery of the first lunar rovers to the Moon.
VP Glushko in his office. On the bookshelf there is a drawn original fragment of the "Complete Map of the Moon" (the area of the Copernicus crater), which was presented to Valentin Petrovich by the Department of Physics of the Moon and Planets of the SAI on his 60th birthday (1968).
VP Glushko paid great attention to the scientific content of research carried out with the help of space technology created under his leadership. He attached great importance to the study of the solar system. With his active support, the SAI of Moscow State University, together with specialized cartographic organizations, managed to prepare several editions of lunar maps and globes of the Moon.
V.P.Glushko and Chairman of the State Commission K.A.Kerimov with women-cosmonauts V.L.Ponomareva, V.V.Tereshkova and T.D.Kuznetsova in the demonstration hall (1968). In the center of the table is a globe of the Moon, prepared in the SAI (1967 edition). To the left and below you can see the very first globe of the Moon (1961 edition), on which about a third of the surface is occupied by a white, empty sector, corresponding to that part of the lunar ball that was not photographed during the first satellite imagery of the Moon in 1959.
Business note by V.P. Glushko, attached to the materials sent to Yu.N. Lipsky, head of the Department of Physics of the Moon. V.P. Glushko interacted with the Department of Physics of the Moon and Planets of SAISH constantly. 1970
V.P. Glushko presents the medal of the 40th anniversary of the GDL-OKB to the head of the department of the enterprise M.R. Gnesin (1969). In the background, next to models of jet engines, there is a globe of the Moon, prepared at the SAI (1967), from the personal collection of V.P. Glushko.
In 1974, V.P. Glushko was appointed general designer of the Research and Production Association "Energia", which united the design bureau founded by V.P. Glushko and the design bureau previously led by S.P. Korolev. Along with the ongoing launches of orbital stations and spacecraft under the leadership of V.P. Glushko, NPO Energia, on his initiative, began the development of a new space-rocket system Energia with a payload capacity of more than 100 tons.
Among other tasks, the Energiya superheavy carrier, according to the plan of V.P. Glushko, was intended to provide manned flights to the Moon and create a long-term habitable base on the lunar surface. The Department of Moon and Planetary Research of the SAI was involved by V.P. Glushko for the scientific support of the project of a manned lunar base. Within the framework of the agreement between NPO Energia and the SAI, for a number of years, work has been carried out on the scientific justification for choosing a base site on the lunar surface. This collaboration lasted almost 15 years.
The inscription made by V.P. Glushko on his book
The inscription made by V.P. Glushko on his book, presented by him to the head of the Department of Lunar and Planetary Studies of the SAI V.V. Shevchenko (1978). Cooperation between the staff of the Department and NPO Energia, headed by V.P. Glushko, entered a new active phase at that time.
In the process of joint work, the leadership of the Department often had requests to V.P. Glushko for assistance in this or that issue. Valentin Petrovich was invariably attentive and friendly. None of his appeals went unanswered. In this case, his telephone conversation, as a rule, began with a joking phrase: "Vladislav Vladimirovich, I am reporting to you ..."
A sign of attention was the regular festive celebrations.
The world's most powerful LRE RD-170 was created for the new launch vehicle. The first launch of the Energia rocket took place on May 15, 1987. In November 1988, the Energia-Buran rocket and space system was launched with the return and landing of the Buran orbital ship in automatic mode.
GLUSHKO Valentin Petrovich
(02.09.1908 - 10.01.1989)
September 2, 2016 marks the 108th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Petrovich GLUSHKO, an outstanding Soviet scientist, designer and founder of the domestic liquid-propellant rocket engine industry.
VPGLUSHKO was born on September 2, 1908 in Odessa. After graduating from Leningrad University in 1929, Valentin Petrovich became the head of the department for the development of engines and rockets as part of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory in Leningrad, and then continued to work as part of the RNII in Moscow. In 1938 he was groundlessly arrested and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He worked in the 4th Special Department of the NKVD in Tushino, then in Kazan, where he headed the design bureau for rocket engines. He was released ahead of schedule with the removal of a criminal record in 1944, continuing to work in the OKB-SD.
In the future, Valentin GLUSHKO led the development of many domestic rocket engines, being the chief designer, head of KB Energomash, NPO Energia.
Valentin Petrovich GLUSHKO is the founder of the domestic rocket engine building, the pioneer and creator of the domestic rocket and space technology. He became the designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine (1928-1933), the first Soviet liquid-propellant rocket engines ORM (1930-1931), a family of liquid-fueled RLA rockets (1932-1933), powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines installed on almost all domestic rockets that have flown into space to date.
VPGLUSHKO's engines put into orbit the first and subsequent satellites of the Earth, spaceships with Yuri Gagarin and other cosmonauts, and also ensured the flights of spacecraft to the Moon and planets of the solar system. Under the leadership of V.P. GLUSHKO, a unique reusable space system Energia-Buran, the base unit of the long-term orbital station Mir, etc., were created. Along with the world-famous activities of V.P. GLUSHKO in the field of practical astronautics, as the chief and general designer of rocket engines and rocket systems, he also made a huge personal contribution to world science: his many years of work on the creation of fundamental reference books on thermal constants, thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of various substances are highly valued all over the world. VP GLUSHKO headed the Scientific Council under the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences for several decades on the problem of "Liquid Rocket Fuel".
The name of GLUSHKO as a pioneer and creator of domestic rocket engine building was given in August 1994 to a crater on the visible side of the Moon. Today, the name of Valentin GLUSHKO is the leading enterprise for the development and production of liquid rocket engines, NPO Energomash.
Scientist, founder of domestic liquid rocket engine building
Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR
Twice Hero of Socialist Labor
Laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR
Graduated from Leningrad State University (1929), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1957), Corresponding Member (1953), Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958). Active member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
From 1974 to 1977 - Director and General Designer of NPO Energia, from 1977 to 1989 - General Designer of NPO Energia, MOM USSR, Kaliningrad, Moscow Region.
Founder of a scientific school in the field of practical liquid rocket engine building, member of the first Council of Chief Designers.
Designer of the world's first electrothermal rocket engine (1928-1933), the first Soviet ORM liquid-fuel rocket engines (1930-1931), a family of liquid-fuel RLA rockets (1932-1933), powerful rocket engines installed on almost all domestic launch vehicles that launched the first and subsequent satellites, spacecraft with Yu.A. Gagarin and other cosmonauts, provided flights to the Moon and the planets of the solar system.
He supervised work on the creation of the Salyut and Mir orbital complexes, the Energia-Buran rocket and space system, and a unified range of domestic launch vehicles. In the same period of time, under his leadership, the world's most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engines for Zenit and Energiya launch vehicles were created.
As chairman of the Council of Chief Designers, he provided in 1974-1989. technical management and coordination of the work of enterprises and organizations of the country's rocket and space industry on projects developed with the leading role of NPO Energia.
He made a contribution to world science: his work on the creation of fundamental reference books on thermal constants, thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of various substances (from 1956 to 1982 - 40 books) is highly appreciated all over the world. Author of more than 400 scientific papers, articles and inventions. He was chairman and member of many scientific councils, was the chief editor of three editions of the encyclopedia "Cosmonautics" (1968, 1970, 1985). For several decades he headed the Scientific Council under the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the problem of "Liquid Rocket Fuel". He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the V-XI convocations, a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1976-1989).
Laureate of the Lenin (1957), State (1967, 1984) Prizes of the USSR. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961). He was awarded the Orders of Lenin (1956, 1958, 1968, 1975, 1978), the October Revolution (1971), the Red Banner of Labor (1945), many medals, including the gold medal to them. K.E. Tsiolkovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR No. 2 (1958). Monuments were erected to him in Odessa and Moscow. His name was given to NPO Energomash, Khimki, Moscow Region. A crater on the Moon is named after him. A commemorative bas-relief was erected on the territory of RSC Energia at the main entrance to the building where he worked. V.P. Glushko is an honorary citizen of the cities of Kazan, Kaluga, Leninsk, Odessa, Primorsk, Khimki, Elista.
On the morning of March 27, 1943, the first Soviet BI-1 jet fighter took off from the airfield of the Koltsovo Air Force Research Institute in the Sverdlovsk Region. Passed the seventh test flight to achieve maximum speed. Having reached a two-kilometer altitude and gaining a speed of about 800 km / h, the aircraft unexpectedly went into a dive at the 78th second after running out of fuel and collided with the ground. An experienced test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi, who was sitting at the helm, died. This catastrophe became an important stage in the development of aircraft with liquid rocket engines in the USSR, but although work on them continued until the end of the 1940s, this direction in the development of aviation turned out to be a dead end. Nevertheless, these first, although not very successful steps had a serious impact on the entire subsequent post-war development of the Soviet aircraft and rocket industry ...
Joining the "jet" club
“The era of propeller-driven airplanes should be followed by the era of jet airplanes…” – these words of the founder of jet technology K.E.
By this time, it became clear that a further significant increase in aircraft flight speed due to an increase in the power of piston engines and a more perfect aerodynamic shape was practically impossible. Airplanes had to be equipped with engines whose power could not be increased without an excessive increase in engine mass. So, to increase the speed of a fighter flight from 650 to 1000 km / h, it was necessary to increase the power of the piston engine by 6 (!) Times.
It was obvious that the piston engine was to be replaced by a jet engine, which, having smaller transverse dimensions, would allow reaching high speeds, giving more thrust per unit weight.
Jet engines are divided into two main classes: air-jet engines, which use the energy of oxidation of fuel with oxygen from the air taken from the atmosphere, and rocket engines, containing all the components of the working fluid on board and capable of operating in any environment, including airless. The first type includes turbojet (TRD), pulsed air-jet (PuVRD) and ramjet (ramjet), and the second - liquid-propellant rocket (LRE) and solid-propellant rocket (TTRD) engines.
The first samples of jet technology appeared in countries where the traditions in the development of science and technology and the level of the aviation industry were extremely high. This is, first of all, Germany, the USA, as well as England, Italy. In 1930, the project of the first turbojet engine was patented by the Englishman Frank Whittle, then the first working model of the engine was assembled in 1935 in Germany by Hans von Ohain, and in 1937 the Frenchman Rene Leduc received a government order to create a ramjet engine ...
In the USSR, however, practical work on "reactive" topics was carried out mainly in the direction of liquid rocket engines. V. P. Glushko was the founder of rocket engine building in the USSR. In 1930, then an employee of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL) in Leningrad, which at that time was the only design bureau in the world for the development of solid-propellant rockets, he created the first domestic LRE ORM-1. And in Moscow in 1931-1933. scientist and designer of the Jet Propulsion Study Group (GIRD) F. L. Zander developed the OR-1 and OR-2 rocket engines.
A new powerful impetus to the development of jet technology in the USSR was given by the appointment of M. N. Tukhachevsky in 1931 to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Chief of Armaments of the Red Army. It was he who insisted on the adoption in 1932 of the decision of the Council of People's Commissars "On the development of steam turbine and jet engines, as well as jet-powered aircraft ...". The work that began after that at the Kharkov Aviation Institute made it possible only by 1941 to create a working model of the first Soviet turbojet engine designed by A. M. Lyulka and contributed to the launch on August 17, 1933 of the first liquid rocket in the USSR GIRD-09, which reached a height of 400 m.
But the lack of more tangible results prompted Tukhachevsky in September 1933 to merge the GDL and GIRD into a single Jet Research Institute (RNII), headed by a Leningrader, military engineer 1st rank I. T. Kleimenov. The future chief designer of the space program, Muscovite S.P. Korolev, was appointed his deputy, who two years later in 1935 was appointed head of the department of rocket aircraft. And although the RNII was subordinate to the ammunition department of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry and its main topic was the development of rocket shells (the future Katyusha), Korolev managed, together with Glushko, to calculate the most advantageous design schemes of devices, types of engines and control systems, types of fuel and materials. As a result, by 1938, his department developed an experimental guided missile system, including projects of long-range liquid cruise missiles "212" and ballistic "204" with gyroscopic control, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets, anti-aircraft solid-propellant guided missiles by light and radio beam.
In an effort to get the support of the military leadership in the development of the high-altitude rocket plane "218", Korolev substantiated the concept of a missile fighter-interceptor capable of reaching great heights in a few minutes and attacking aircraft that had broken through to the protected object.
But the wave of mass repressions that unfolded in the army after the arrest of Tukhachevsky also reached the RNII. A counter-revolutionary Trotskyist organization was "discovered" there, and its "participants" I. T. Kleimenov, G. E. Langemak were shot, and Glushko and Korolev were sentenced to 8 years in the camps.
These events slowed down the development of jet technology in the USSR and allowed European designers to break ahead. On June 30, 1939, the German pilot Erich Warsitz took off the world's first jet aircraft with a rocket engine designed by Helmut Walter "Heinkel" He-176, reaching a speed of 700 km / h, and two months later the world's first jet aircraft with a turbojet engine " Heinkel "He-178, equipped with a Hans von Ohain engine," HeS-3 B "with a thrust of 510 kg and a speed of 750 km / h. A year later, in August 1940, the Italian Caproni-Campini N1 took off, and in May 1941 the British Gloucester Pioneer E.28 / 29 made its first flight with the Whittle W-1 turbojet engine designed by Frank Whittle.
Thus, Nazi Germany became the leader in the jet race, which, in addition to aviation programs, began to implement a rocket program under the leadership of Wernher von Braun at a secret training ground in Peenemünde ...
But still, although the mass repressions in the USSR caused significant damage, they could not stop all the work on such an obvious reactive topic, which Korolev began as early as. In 1938, the RNII was renamed NII-3, now the "royal" rocket plane "218-1" began to be designated "RP-318-1". New leading designers, engineers A. Shcherbakov, A. Pallo, replaced the LRE ORM-65 "enemy of the people" V. P. Glushko with a nitric acid-kerosene engine "RDA-1-150" designed by L. S. Dushkin.
And now, after almost a year of testing, in February 1940, the first flight of the RP-318-1 took place in tow behind the R 5 aircraft. Test pilot? P. Fedorov at an altitude of 2800 m unhooked the tow rope and started the rocket engine. A small cloud from an incendiary squib appeared behind the rocket plane, then brown smoke, then a fiery stream about a meter long. "RP-318-1", having developed a maximum speed of only 165 km / h, switched to flight with a climb.
This modest achievement nevertheless allowed the USSR to join the pre-war "jet club" of the leading aviation powers ...
"Close Fighter"
The successes of the German designers did not go unnoticed by the Soviet leadership. In July 1940, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution that determined the creation of the first domestic aircraft with jet engines. The resolution, in particular, provided for the solution of issues “on the use of high-power jet engines for high-speed stratospheric flights” ...
Massive Luftwaffe raids on British cities and the lack of a sufficient number of radar stations in the Soviet Union revealed the need to create a fighter-interceptor to cover especially important objects, on the project of which young engineers A. Ya. Bereznyak and A. M. Isaev began to work in the spring of 1941 from the Design Bureau of the designer V. F. Bolkhovitinov. The concept of their Dushkin-powered missile interceptor or "close-range fighter" was based on Korolev's proposal put forward as early as 1938.
When an enemy aircraft appeared, the “close fighter” had to take off quickly and, having a high rate of climb and speed, catch up and destroy the enemy in the first attack, then after running out of fuel, using the altitude and speed reserve, plan for landing.
The project was distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity and low cost - the entire structure had to be made of solid wood from plywood. The engine frame, pilot protection and landing gear were made of metal, which were removed under the influence of compressed air.
With the outbreak of war, Bolkhovitinov involved all the design bureaus to work on the aircraft. In July 1941, a draft design with an explanatory note was sent to Stalin, and in August the State Defense Committee decided to urgently build an interceptor, which was needed by the Moscow air defense units. According to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, 35 days were allotted for the manufacture of the machine.
The aircraft, which received the name "BI" (near fighter or, as journalists later interpreted, "Bereznyak - Isaev"), was built almost without detailed working drawings, drawing its full-size parts on plywood. The fuselage skin was glued on a blank of veneer, then attached to the frame. The keel was made integral with the fuselage, like the thin wooden wing of the coffered structure, and covered with fabric. There was even a wooden carriage for two 20-mm ShVAK cannons with 90 rounds of ammunition. LRE D-1 A-1100 was installed in the rear fuselage. The engine consumed 6 kg of kerosene and acid per second. The total fuel supply on board the aircraft, equal to 705 kg, ensured the operation of the engine for almost 2 minutes. The estimated takeoff weight of the aircraft "BI" was 1650 kg with an empty weight of 805 kg.
In order to reduce the time of creating an interceptor at the request of the Deputy People's Commissar of the aviation industry for pilot aircraft construction A. S. Yakovlev, the airframe of the BI aircraft was studied in the full-scale wind tunnel of TsAGI, and at the airfield, test pilot B. N. Kudrin began jogging and flying up in tow . The development of the power plant had to be pretty tricky, since nitric acid corroded tanks and wiring and had a harmful effect on humans.
However, all work was interrupted due to the evacuation of the design bureau to the Urals in the village of Belimbay in October 1941. There, in order to debug the operation of the LRE systems, a ground stand was mounted - the BI fuselage with a combustion chamber, tanks and pipelines. By the spring of 1942, the ground test program was completed. Soon, Glushko, released from prison, got acquainted with the design of the aircraft and the bench test facility.
Flight tests of the unique fighter were entrusted to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, who made 65 sorties at the front and shot down 5 German aircraft. He previously mastered the management of systems at the stand.
The morning of May 15, 1942 entered the history of Russian cosmonautics and aviation forever, with the takeoff from the ground of the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid-propellant jet engine. The flight, which lasted 3 minutes 9 seconds at a speed of 400 km/h and a rate of climb of 23 m/s, made a strong impression on all those present. Here is how Bolkhovitinov recalled it in 1962: “For us, standing on the ground, this takeoff was unusual. Unusually quickly picking up speed, the plane took off from the ground in 10 seconds and disappeared from sight in 30 seconds. Only the flames of the engine told where he was. Several minutes passed like that. I will not hide, my hamstrings were shaking.
Members of the state commission noted in an official act that "the takeoff and flight of the BI-1 aircraft with a rocket engine, first used as the main engine of the aircraft, proved the possibility of practical flight on a new principle, which opens up a new direction in the development of aviation." The test pilot noted that the flight on the BI aircraft, in comparison with conventional types of aircraft, was exceptionally pleasant, and the aircraft was superior to other fighters in terms of ease of control.
A day after the tests, a solemn meeting and rally was arranged in Bilimbay. A poster hung over the presidium table: "Greetings to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, the pilot who flew into the new!"
Soon followed the decision of the GKO to build a series of 20 BIVS aircraft, where, in addition to two guns, a bomb cassette was installed in front of the cockpit, which housed ten small anti-aircraft bombs weighing 2.5 kg each.
In total, 7 test flights were made on the BI fighter, each of which recorded the best flight performance of the aircraft. The flights took place without flight accidents, only minor damage to the landing gear occurred during landings.
But on March 27, 1943, when accelerating to a speed of 800 km / h at an altitude of 2000 m, the third prototype spontaneously went into a dive and crashed into the ground not far from the airfield. The commission investigating the circumstances of the crash and the death of test pilot Bakhchivandzhi was unable to establish the reasons for the aircraft's stalling at the peak, noting that the phenomena that occur at flight speeds of the order of 800-1000 km / h have not yet been studied.
The disaster hit the reputation of the Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau painfully - all the unfinished BI-VS interceptors were destroyed. And although later in 1943-1944. a modification of the BI-7 was designed with ramjet engines at the ends of the wing, and in January 1945 pilot B.N. Kudrin completed the last two flights on the BI-1, all work on the aircraft was stopped.
And yet LRE
The concept of a rocket fighter was most successfully implemented in Germany, where since January 1939, in the special “Department L” of the Messerschmitt company, where Professor A. Lippisch and his employees moved from the German Glider Institute, work was underway on the “X project” - “ object" interceptor "Me-163" "Komet" with a rocket engine operating on a mixture of hydrazine, methanol and water. It was an unconventional “tailless” aircraft, which, for the sake of maximum weight reduction, took off from a special trolley and landed on a ski that was pulled out of the fuselage. The test pilot Ditmar performed the first flight at maximum thrust in August 1941, and already in October, for the first time in history, the mark of 1000 km / h was overcome. It took more than two years of testing and refinement before the "Me-163" was put into production. It became the first LRE aircraft to take part in combat since May 1944. Although more than 300 interceptors were produced by February 1945, no more than 80 combat-ready aircraft were in service.
The combat use of the Me-163 fighters showed the inconsistency of the missile interceptor concept. Due to the high speed of approach, the German pilots did not have time to aim accurately, and the limited fuel supply (only for 8 minutes of flight) did not make it possible for a second attack. After running out of fuel on planning, the interceptors became easy prey for American fighters - Mustangs and Thunderbolts. Before the end of hostilities in Europe, the Me-163 shot down 9 enemy aircraft, while losing 14 vehicles. However, losses from accidents and catastrophes were three times higher than combat losses. The unreliability and short range of the Me-163 contributed to the fact that the leadership of the Luftwaffe launched other Me-262 and Non-162 jet fighters into mass production.
The leadership of the Soviet aircraft industry in 1941-1943. was focused on the gross output of the maximum number of combat aircraft and the improvement of serial samples and was not interested in the development of promising work on jet technology. Thus, the BI-1 disaster put an end to other projects of Soviet missile interceptors: Andrey Kostikov's 302, Roberto Bartini's R-114 and Korolev's RP. Here the distrust that Stalin's deputy for experimental aircraft construction, Yakovlev, had in jet technology played a role, considering it to be a matter of a very distant future.
But information from Germany and the Allied countries became the reason that in February 1944 the State Defense Committee, in its resolution, pointed out the intolerable situation with the development of jet technology in the country. At the same time, all developments in this regard were now concentrated in the newly organized Research Institute of Jet Aviation, of which Bolkhovitinov was appointed deputy head. At this institute, groups of jet engine designers previously working at various enterprises were assembled, headed by M. M. Bondaryuk, V. P. Glushko, L. S. Dushkin, A. M. Isaev, A. M. Lyulka.
In May 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted another resolution that outlined a broad program for the construction of jet aircraft. This document provided for the creation of modifications of the Yak-3, La-7 and Su-6 with an accelerating rocket engine, the construction of "purely rocket" aircraft in the Yakovlev and Polikarpov Design Bureau, an experimental Lavochkin aircraft with a turbojet engine, as well as fighters with air-jet motor-compressor engines in the Mikoyan Design Bureau and Sukhoi. For this, the Su-7 fighter was created at the Sukhoi design bureau, in which, together with a piston engine, the liquid-jet RD-1 developed by Glushko worked.
Flights on the Su-7 began in 1945. When the RD-1 was turned on, the aircraft's speed increased by an average of 115 km / h, but the tests had to be stopped due to the frequent failure of the jet engine. A similar situation developed in the design bureaus of Lavochkin and Yakovlev. On one of the prototype La-7 R aircraft, the accelerator exploded in flight, the test pilot miraculously managed to escape. When testing the Yak-3 RD, test pilot Viktor Rastorguev managed to reach a speed of 782 km / h, but during the flight the plane exploded, the pilot died. The frequent accidents led to the fact that the testing of aircraft with the "RD-1" was stopped.
Korolev, who was released from prison, also contributed to this work. In 1945, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor for participation in the development and testing of rocket launchers for Pe-2 and La-5 VI combat aircraft.
One of the most interesting projects of rocket-powered interceptors was the project of the supersonic (!!!) RM-1 or SAM-29 fighter, developed at the end of 1944 by the undeservedly forgotten aircraft designer A. S. Moskalev. The aircraft was carried out according to the triangular “flying wing” scheme with oval leading edges, and during its development, the pre-war experience in creating the Sigma and Strela aircraft was used. The RM-1 project was supposed to have the following characteristics: crew - 1 person, power plant - "RD2 MZV" with a thrust of 1590 kgf, wingspan - 8.1 m and its area - 28.0 m2, take-off weight - 1600 kg , the maximum speed is 2200 km / h (and this is in 1945!). TsAGI believed that the construction and flight testing of the RM-1 was one of the most promising areas in the future development of Soviet aviation.
In November 1945, the order to build RM-1 was signed by Minister A.I. 1" was canceled by Yakovlev ...
Post-war acquaintance with German trophies revealed a significant lag in the development of the domestic jet aircraft industry. To bridge the gap, it was decided to use the German JUMO-004 and BMW-003 engines, and then create their own based on them. These engines were named "RD-10" and "RD-20".
In 1945, simultaneously with the task of building a MiG-9 fighter with two RD-20s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was tasked with developing an experimental fighter-interceptor with an RD-2 M-3 V liquid-propellant rocket engine and a speed of 1000 km / h. The aircraft, which received the designation I-270 ("Zh"), was soon built, but its further tests did not show the advantages of a rocket fighter over an aircraft with a turbojet engine, and work on this topic was closed. In the future, liquid-propellant jet engines in aviation began to be used only on experimental and experimental aircraft or as aircraft boosters.
They were the first
“... It is terrible to remember how little I knew and understood then. Today they say: "discoverers", "pioneers". And we walked in the dark and stuffed hefty cones. No special literature, no methodology, no well-established experiment. Stone Age jet aircraft. We were both complete mugs! .. ”- this is how Alexei Isaev recalled the creation of BI-1. Yes, indeed, due to their colossal fuel consumption, aircraft with liquid-propellant rocket engines did not take root in aviation, forever giving way to turbojet ones. But having taken their first steps in aviation, rocket engines have firmly taken their place in rocket science.
In the USSR during the war years, a breakthrough in this respect was the creation of the BI-1 fighter, and here the special merit of Bolkhovitinov, who took under his wing and managed to attract to work such future luminaries of Soviet rocket science and astronautics as: Vasily Mishin, First Deputy Chief designer Korolev, Nikolai Pilyugin, Boris Chertok - chief designers of control systems for many combat missiles and carriers, Konstantin Bushuev - head of the Soyuz - Apollo project, Alexander Bereznyak - designer of cruise missiles, Alexei Isaev - developer of liquid propellant rocket engines for submarine and space missiles devices, Arkhip Lyulka - the author and the first developer of domestic turbojet engines ...
Received a clue and the mystery of the death of Bakhchivandzhi. In 1943, the high-speed wind tunnel T-106 was put into operation at TsAGI. It immediately began to conduct extensive studies of aircraft models and their elements at high subsonic speeds. A model aircraft "BI" was also tested to identify the causes of the disaster. According to the test results, it became clear that the "BI" crashed due to the peculiarities of the flow around the straight wing and tail at transonic speeds and the resulting phenomenon of dragging the aircraft into a dive, which the pilot could not overcome. The BI-1 disaster on March 27, 1943 was the first that allowed Soviet aircraft designers to solve the problem of the "wave crisis" by installing a swept wing on the MiG-15 fighter. 30 years later, in 1973, Bakhchivandzhi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Yuri Gagarin spoke of him this way:
"... Without the flights of Grigory Bakhchivandzhi, it would probably not have happened on April 12, 1961." Who could have known that exactly 25 years later, on March 27, 1968, like Bakhchivandzhi at the age of 34, Gagarin would also die in a plane crash. They were really united by the main thing - they were the first.
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