The beginning of the work path
Study and work in aviation
Interesting Facts
(18 (30) March 1894, Dilyalevo village, Vologda province - February 9, 1977, Moscow) - an outstanding Soviet aircraft designer. Three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1941, 1957, 1974), seven times winner of the Stalin Prize, Colonel General Engineer (1957), Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1968).
Biography
Childhood
On March 18 (30), 1894, in the village of Dilyalevo, Vologda province, in the family of a poor peasant Vladimir Ivanovich Ilyushin and his wife Anna Vasilievna, a son, Sergei, was born. The Ilyushin family had eleven children, of which nine survived and grew up (two boys died in infancy). Sergei was the youngest.
Sergey Vladimirovich recalled his childhood:
I learned to read early - at the age of six. My first books were “ Old Testament"And" New Testament "," Book of Hours ", the journal" Vestnik Evropy ", which somehow got to our remote Vologda village in some incomprehensible way. When I was eight years old I went to a zemstvo school in the village of Bereznyaki, two and a half versts from our village. We were taught several subjects. We learned the Russian language from Ushinsky's book "Native Word", did calligraphy, wrote dictations, learned geography, arithmetic, and necessarily the law of God. ... One of the teachers in the zemstvo primary school was Alexander Vladimirovich Chevsky. ... He was an amazing person. He instilled in me a love of reading, of knowledge. ... |
The beginning of the work path
At the age of fifteen (in 1909) Sergey, following the example of his older brothers, left his native village to work. He worked as a laborer at Yakovlev's factory near Kostroma, then at Gorelin's factory in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, was a digger at the construction of a road on the Osipovo estate of the Vologda merchant Volkov, cleaned gutters at a dyeing factory in St. Petersburg, and hired to mow hay.
In 1910, in St. Petersburg, Sergei met his fellow countrymen, who told him that there was a lucrative job at the Kolomyazhsky hippodrome (which was being adapted under the airfield for the first international aviation week in Russia). Sergei hired an excavator at the racetrack. He leveled the field: filled holes, cut off bumps; helped unload boxes with parts of airplanes, collect them. In the fall of 1910, the first All-Russian aeronautics festival was held at the Commandant airfield. For the first time Ilyushin saw the flights of famous Russian aviators: Mikhail Efimov, Sergei Utochkin, Vladimir Lebedev, Lev Matsievich and others. Later, Sergei Vladimirovich recalled: "Since the time of the All-Russian festival of aeronautics, I have developed a love for aviation."
In 1911, Ilyushin returned to his native village, worked as a milk cart driver at a butter factory in the village of Berezniki.
At the end of 1911, the family was in dire need, and Sergei decided to go to work on the construction of the Amur railway, where (at the Bureya station) he spent almost the entire year 1912. He was a laborer, an axlebox lubricator. Then he became a timekeeper because he was literate.
In the late autumn of 1912 he returned to Dilalevo, and in the spring of 1913 he again went to work. He left for Revel (today - Tallinn), where he was hired to build a shipyard of the Russian-Baltic Society. He was a handyman, lubricator, assistant excavator driver.
Military service and work in Vologda
In the fall of 1914, Ilyushin was mobilized into the army. At first, Sergei served in an infantry training team, then as a clerk in the administration of the military commander of the city of Vologda. When a request for seven people for service in aviation came to the department, Ilyushin, at his own request, was transferred to the command of the Northern Aviation Region in St. Petersburg at the Commandant airfield, where he served first as a hangar, then as an assistant to the airman, junior and finally as a senior mechanic. Sergei was a member of the airfield team, which received, checked, prepared for flights aircraft from the aircraft factories S.S.Schetinin and V.A.Lebedev.
In the summer of 1917, Ilyushin passed the pilot's exam, graduating from the soldier's pilot school of the All-Russian Imperial Aero Club.
In March 1918, due to a sharp reduction in aircraft production by aircraft factories, the airfield team was disbanded. Ilyushin went first to Dilyalevo, and then to Vologda, where he worked as the head of the industry department of the Vologda Council of the National Economy: he was involved in organizing the work of nationalized sawmills, steam mills, oil mills.
In October 1918 he joined the party. In the same year, Ilyushin and three of his comrades - Alexander Ivanov, Vladimir Firulev and Alexander Birillo - on the instructions of the party provincial committee founded a party cell at the Vologda Pedagogical Institute.
In May 1919 he was drafted into the Red Army. Ilyushin was sent to Serpukhov, where the command of the Red Air Force was located. There Sergei Vladimirovich met his old acquaintances from the aerodrome command of the Commandant airfield - the head of the 6th aircraft repair train in Voronets and the train commissar AF Raugevich. They agreed to appoint Ilyushin as an aircraft mechanic for the 6th aircraft repair train of the 6th Army of the Northern Front.
In the fall of 1919, the mechanic Ilyushin received an order: to leave for the region of Petrozavodsk, where, according to a report from the ground troops, a knocked-out White Guard aircraft of British production "Avro" landed. Ilyushin and five Red Army men got to the place of the forced landing of the plane, disassembled it, pulled it through the impassable mud and took it to Moscow. Later, on the basis of this aircraft, the Soviet U-1 training biplane was developed.
In the spring of 1920 Voronets and Raugevich were assigned to the aviation fleet of the Caucasian Front in Saratov. They got Ilyushin transferred to Saratov. Sergei Vladimirovich became a senior mechanic and commissar of the 2nd aviation fleet of the Caucasian Front. The fleet was engaged in the repair, restoration and testing of aircraft before being sent to the front.
After a while, Ilyushin writes a report with a request to send him to the front-line unit of the Red Army. Soon Ilyushin was summoned to Moscow, and in February 1921 Sergei Vladimirovich was appointed head of the 15th air train of the 9th Kuban Army of the Caucasian Front.
In the fall of 1921, Ilyushin's air train was sent to Moscow to reinforce the newly formed units. Before leaving for Moscow, Sergei Vladimirovich, in a conversation with the chief of aviation of the Caucasian Front, Vasily Vladimirovich Khripin, expressed a desire to enter the Institute of Engineers of the Red Air Fleet. V. V. Khripin supported his desire to obtain a higher aviation education.
Study and work in aviation
Having passed the exams, on September 21, 1921, Sergei Vladimirovich was enrolled in the Institute of Engineers of the Red Air Fleet (since 1922 - the Air Force Academy named after Professor N. Ye. Zhukovsky).
During his studies, Ilyushin actively participated in the work of the glider circle of the Heavy and Siege Artillery Workshops. In 1923 S. V. Ilyushin designed his first glider "Mastyazhart" (AVF-3). Having built it together with the members of the circle, he took part in the First All-Union meeting of glider pilots in Koktebel in November 1923. Later he designed and built gliders "Rabfakovets" (AVF-4) (1924), "Mastyazhart-2" (AVF-5) (1924). And the fourth glider of Sergei Vladimirovich "Moscow" (AVF-21) (1925) took part in the Rhön glider competitions in Germany in August 1925 (pilot Konstantin Artseulov).
After graduating from the Academy and defending his thesis project (dedicated to the development of a fighter aircraft), by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 750 for 1926, S. V. Ilyushin was awarded the title of military mechanical engineer of the Air Fleet.
From June 1926 to November 1931, Sergei Vladimirovich worked as the chairman of the aircraft section of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Air Force, where he studied the world experience of aircraft construction, and developed tactical and technical requirements for new aircraft. Under the leadership of Ilyushin, technical requirements were drawn up for some aircraft of Nikolai Polikarpov (including U-2), Andrey Tupolev, Dmitry Grigorovich. Also in 1930-31, Sergei Vladimirovich worked as an assistant to the head of the Air Force Scientific Testing Institute for the scientific and technical part.
Work in the Scientific and Technical Committee and the Scientific Testing Institute of the Air Force was interesting, but Ilyushin strove to start his own design activity. In the summer of 1931, Sergei Vladimirovich wrote a report with a request to transfer to the aviation industry, having previously discussed this issue with the head of the All-Union Aviation Association Pyotr Baranov.
Ilyushin's report was considered, and from November 1931 to January 1933 Sergei Vladimirovich headed the design bureau of TsAGI.
At the end of 1932, Ilyushin proposed to divide the design bureau of TsAGI into two independent structures: TsKB of the aircraft plant No. 39 named after VR Menzhinsky for the construction of light aircraft and the design department of TsAGI, engaged in the development of heavy aircraft. Sergei Vladimirovich's proposal was supported by the head of the Glavaviaprom Petr Baranov and the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Grigory Ordzhonikidze.
By order of Glavaviaprom dated January 13, 1933, the Central Design Bureau (TsKB) of the aircraft plant named after V.I. V.R.Menzhinsky, whose chief was Ilyushin. At the same time, Sergei Vladimirovich led the design brigade No. 3. In September 1935, the Ilyushin team was transformed into the Experimental Design Bureau of the Aviation Plant. V.R. Menzhinsky, and Sergei Vladimirovich became the Chief Designer of the Design Bureau.
The firstborn of the Ilyushin Design Bureau was the TsKB-26 experimental bomber. On July 17, 1936, Vladimir Kokkinaki set the first Soviet world aviation record (height of lifting of cargo) on it, officially registered by the International Aviation Federation (FAI).
Later, the Ilyushin Design Bureau created DB-3 (Il-4) bombers, which carried out a number of raids on Berlin in August-September 1941, as well as a "flying tank" - the Il-2 attack aircraft, the most massive Soviet aircraft in the Great Patriotic War.
Since 1943, the Ilyushin Design Bureau begins to develop passenger aircraft. A series of civilian Slugs began with the Il-12. It was followed by Il-14, Il-18, Il-62. The last aircraft developed under the leadership of Sergei Vladimirovich was the Il-62, the flagship of Aeroflot of the 1960s - 1970s.
In the summer of 1970, S. V. Ilyushin, due to illness, resigned from his duties as the head of the OKB, but he remained a member of the Scientific and Technical Council and a consultant.
The successor of Sergei Vladimirovich was Genrikh Vasilievich Novozhilov.
S. V. Ilyushin died in Moscow on February 9, 1977 at the age of 83. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Awards
- Soviet:
- Hero of Socialist Labor three times (1941, 1957, 1974)
- Order of Lenin eight times (1937, 1941, 1945-twice, 1954, 1964, 1971, 1974)
- Order of the October Revolution (1969)
- Order of the Red Banner twice (1944, 1950)
- Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1939)
- Order of Suvorov 1st and 2nd degree (1945, 1944)
- Order of the Red Star twice (1933, 1967)
- laureate of the Stalin Prize seven times (1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952)
- lenin Prize Laureate (1960)
- laureate of the USSR State Prize (1971)
- Polish:
- polish Knight's Cross II degree of the Order of Commanders (1969)
Family
- First wife - Raisa Mikhailovna Zhalkovskaya (1897-1972).
- The daughter from her first marriage is Irina Sergeevna Ilyushina (married to Orekhovich) (born 1920).
- The son from his first marriage - Vladimir Sergeevich Ilyushin (March 31, 1927 - March 1, 2010) - test pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union.
- The second wife - Anastasia Vasilievna Sovetova - is a design engineer.
- The son from his second marriage - Sergei Sergeevich Ilyushin (1947-1985) - an aircraft engineer.
- The son from his second marriage - Alexander Sergeevich Ilyushin (born 1955) - an aviation engineer.
- S. V. Ilyushin is the absolute record holder for the number of Stalin prizes received - 7 (seven).
- On April 21, 1938, during a service flight from Moscow to Voronezh, the UT-2 aircraft, which was controlled by Ilyushin, overheated and the engine stopped. On a forced landing in the dark, the plane turned over. Ilyushin and his passenger - the designer of the Voronezh plant Ivan Vasilyevich Zhukov - were injured. Sergei Vladimirovich had a scar over his eyebrow for life. Soon after this incident, an order was issued: chief designers are prohibited from flying independently.
Documentary films about S. V. Ilyushin
- "Constructor of legendary ILs". TsSDF. 1972.31 minutes.
- “Takeoff continues” (to the 50th anniversary of the Ilyushin Design Bureau). "Screen". 1983.56 minutes.
- "Ilyushin is a man and an airplane." "Wings of Media". 2004.26 minutes.
Memory
- In the village of Dilyalevo, the house in which S.V. Ilyushin lived during his summer holidays in the 1950-1970s has survived.
- In the village of Mozhaiskoe (12 kilometers from Vologda) in the House-Museum of A.F. Mozhaisky there is an extensive exposition dedicated to the life and work of S.V. Ilyushin.
- In Vologda (at the intersection of Mira and Batyushkov streets) and in Moscow, bronze busts of S.V. Ilyushin have been installed.
- Streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Vologda and Tyumen are named after Ilyushin.
- In 1984, a postage stamp of the USSR was issued, dedicated to Ilyushin.
Ilyushin S. What the planes sing about // North. - 1986. - No. 4
In our country and abroad, the name of the outstanding aircraft designer, communist since 1918, academician, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, winner of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR Sergei Vladimirovich Ilyushin (1894 - 1977) is well known. His contribution to the development of aviation is invaluable. He created about fifty types of aircraft during his creative life. Il-2 was the main aircraft of the Great Patriotic War... IL-4 in the early days of the war made daring raids on the den of fascism - Berlin. There were still fierce battles with the enemy, and Sergei Vladimirovich had already begun to design machines civil aviation... The Il-14 is still flying. More than one generation of air passengers knows the comfortable and reliable Il-18 airliner. IL-62 is capable of crossing oceans and continents without landing. It became the flagship of Aeroflot.
Sergei Vladimirovich spoke about himself very sparingly and concisely. He liked to repeat: "The best thing to sing about the designer is the planes ..."
AT last years life, an aircraft designer wrote an autobiography. Rather, these are memories of yourself, of your favorite business. Memories are simple, laconic and expressive, like the song of the planes in the sky.
Below we bring to the attention of our readers the autobiography of S.V. Ilyushin. It is published for the first time.
The editorial staff of the journal would like to thank A.V. Ilyushina, the widow of S.V. Ilyushin, who kindly provided the manuscript for publication, and also expresses gratitude to the journalist from Vologda L.V. Panshev for preparing it for publication.
I, a MAN of the older generation, had the good fortune to start conscious activity during the life of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. I was a witness and participant in the heroic struggle that millions of toilers of our country waged under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, its leader and teacher for the consolidation of Soviet power. Every word, every instruction of V. I. Lenin infected people with extraordinary energy, increased their desire to devote all their strength and abilities to the cause of the Communist Party. Lenin's word, his ideas and behests were and are now an inexhaustible source of strength and inspiration for a successful struggle for a bright future, for building a communist society.
I was born on March 30, 1894 in the village of Dilyalevo, Vologda district, Vologda province. I learned to read early - at the age of six. My first books were "Book of Hours", "Bible", "Abyssinia" and the magazine "Vestnik Evropy", which somehow ended up in our godforsaken places.
In the eighth year I went to the zemstvo school in the village of Berezniki, two and a half kilometers from our village. We were taught a few subjects - Russian according to Ushinsky's book "Mother Word", calligraphy, geography, arithmetic, and necessarily the law of God. That is, in essence, everything we have studied.
I graduated from school in 1906, but I still remember by heart dozens of poems from Native Word. They were selected in such a way that they aroused in children love for their native nature and their homeland.
At school, the teacher Nikolai Belyaev drew attention to me (unfortunately, I forgot his middle name) - educated person, handsome, his voice was wonderful. He drew attention to me because I tried and studied well. He came to us in the spring (I had already graduated from school) and said to his father: "Uncle Vladimir, we should continue to teach Sergei." But what to teach? My parents are poor: one cow, one and a half tithes of land, the horse had already been sold by that time.
In this zemstvo elementary school, Alexander Vladimirovich Chevsky taught. Teacher Belyaev tried to get me to study further on a scholarship. But he did not succeed. Then he agreed with Chevsky, and I went to study with him for five winters. He was an amazing person. He instilled in me a love of reading, of knowledge.
Alexander Vladimirovich studied arithmetic, algebra, physics, geometry with me. I was curious, so knowledge was given to me relatively easily and in my studies I made significant progress.
I was the ninth of my mother, two children died in childhood. At the age of fifteen, my brothers said goodbye to their home side and went to work. About half of our population went to work, because there was not enough of our own bread.
It was my turn too. Not far from the village lived a contractor who supplied people to a factory in the village of Yakovlevskoye near Kostroma. His mother took a deposit of five rubles from him. It was in the winter of 1909. I started working at the factory in May of the same year. They put me on this job: a man pulls a wheelbarrow, and I help him with a hook. As a teenager, it was very difficult for me, and after two months I left. In the following months of 1909 and until the summer of 1910, I was a laborer at a factory in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, a digger on the construction of a road to the estate of the Vologda merchant Volkov. I cleaned gutters at a dyeing factory in St. Petersburg, hired to mow hay ...
Once I met my fellow countrymen in Petersburg. They told me that there is a lucrative job at the Kolomyazhsky hippodrome, which is urgently being adapted for an airfield. I hurried there. I lived in a village on the outskirts of Petersburg, not far from the airfield. We leveled the field, dug ditches. They worked as a team, in which several people were from my village. Soon our villagers settled in another place, and I got stuck here. Filmed a corner in a worker's apartment. The room had six bunks along the walls. One of my neighbors in housing was student Urvachev. He noticed that I carry books with me all the time, and he also began to study with me.
In 1910, in September, the first Russian Aviation Week took place. All the achievements of aviation were demonstrated before my eyes. I saw pilots Utochkin, Lebedev ... Since then I have developed a great love for aviation.
But a week passed, everyone left, and I remained in St. Petersburg. Then, around the end of 1911, I found out that they were hiring workers to build the Amur railway. I went to the recruiting bureau, I see, the salary is 55 rubles a month for second-hand workers. It's good. Moreover, there is a free road from St. Petersburg to the place of work. I went.
We went there for a month. To Khabarovsk by train, then they put me on a barge. We sailed up the Amur and then - to the Tempest. Throughout 1912 I worked on the construction of the Amur Railway. At first, a laborer, however, very little, then I was appointed an axlebox lubricator, then a timekeeper, since I was listed as literate. I worked as a timekeeper for three months. But it was far from home, there was darkness all around, no entertainment, and it was very difficult to study there - I decided to return closer to my native places.
I got to Revel in 1913, having previously written off my brother who lived in this city. There were two excavators working there, the first in Russia - Putilovsky and English. I worked on these excavators all 1913 as a fireman and an assistant driver.
During the few years that I have lived in the city, I prepared myself well enough and dreamed of going to higher education. educational institution... But the war of 1914 began, and I was early drafted into the army. I got into the infantry and until October 1915 I was in the training team. Military science it came to me relatively easily. Although I am short, I was a strong boy, well trained, because I worked physically from childhood. In general, life in the training team was very difficult. But difficulties also have their positive sides: at least you will know what you are worth. And now the moment has come for the formation of the marching company.
At that time I was a company clerk, and I received a request from the battalion for soldiers in the aviation. Thinking how would I get there? I wrote very beautifully, and the sergeant-major treated me quite well. I handed the request to the sergeant major and asked to send me to the aviation. He said (here I boasted) that he worked as a mechanic at the airport. He replied: “Well, I agree,” and put me first on the list.
So, among the seven I ended up in St. Petersburg at the same Commandant airfield, where I once leveled the ground. I was appointed hangar. There were two planes in the hangar, which we had to wash and take care of after flights. I worked there for the first two months, then I was appointed an assistant to the airplane driver, and then the airplane driver.
We had Captain Grigorov, apparently from a democratic family. I flew with him. He is a pilot, and I am a mechanic. Grigorov sometimes allowed me to hold the handle of the plane, and this gave me a lot. Right there, at the Commandant airfield, there was a soldier's school. It was called the Pilot School of the All-Russian Imperial Club. There were many familiar comrades there. I entered this school. Independent flights began. One of them was especially memorable. A pilot crashed at the airfield, and I had to fly low and low in my Voisin, according to tradition, over the funeral procession. This flight took place on the eve of the official exam, which included two flights: one to altitude, the other to maneuver in the air. I coped with the tasks successfully. I gained an altitude of two thousand meters on the Voisin, and then performed bends, a "slide" and other aerobatics possible on the then technology on the same machine.
Having become a pilot, I still had to deal only with aircraft maintenance, that is, to fulfill my duties as a minder and mechanic. But now I already firmly knew that from now on all my life belongs to aviation.
However, a broad road into life is for me, like everyone else common people, opened the Great October Socialist Revolution. The events of October 1917 did not escape the aviators. The airfield team was seething. The victory of October did not arouse sympathy among everyone. First of all, many officers did not want to accept it. They were opposed by the mechanics and mechanics of the airfield team, who, as they say, understood with heart and mind that the Bolsheviks were right, Lenin was right. These disagreements were of no small importance for the revolution, given that at our airfield, which was located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, there were dozens of combat aircraft. It depended on who would gain the upper hand which side these planes would be on.
For me, there was no question of who to go with. From the first days of Soviet power, I took its side. Of course, my comrades at work knew about this and unanimously elected me to the revolutionary committee of the airfield. The fate of the military aircraft was decided by a stormy meeting that lasted several hours. After this meeting, almost all the officers fled. Remained, I remember, only two close to us - Markov, who worked with me, and Grigorov, the pilot who taught me to fly.
To prevent the enemies of the revolution from using the planes, and they have repeatedly tried to do this, the committee decided to organize the protection of the planes. Once several cars drove up to the airfield at once. The people who jumped out of them went to the airfield. But the officer on duty raised the airfield crew on alert, and the hijacking was prevented. We detained the suspicious people and sent them to the city party committee. The Revolutionary Committee confiscated their cars. After this incident, it was decided to overtake the aircraft to a more suitable airfield.
The Bureau of Air Fleet Commissars sent pilots, and we prepared the machines, and they headed for a new base, where one of the first detachments of the Red Air Fleet was created. By this time, the Lebedev and Shchetinin factories, which were engaged in the production of military aircraft, were nationalized. But the raw materials were not enough, and the production of aircraft was suspended. We sat in the unit idle, the airfield team was disbanded. In 1918, I was demobilized and went home to visit my mother and sister. I stayed with them for a month and a half, caught a fish, and then moved to Vologda. Met by Comrade Voznesensky (at that time Deputy Chairman of the Vologda Council National economy, we were familiar), told him: "I'm going to be assigned to aviation." He answered me: "Come to us, here you are more needed, a lot of work." He persuaded me, and I entered the Vologda Council of National Economy. I was appointed head of the industry department. They were engaged in the nationalization of plants and factories.
It was an interesting time then. I remember, with Alyosha Ivanov, a wonderful person, a student of the pedagogical institute, on the November holidays we went to Kubenskoye. Snow to the waist - we go straight to the hut-reading room. It was there that they held a speech to the guys. I, of course, am not very keen on talking, but Lesha is a real speaker. Light hair will be thrown back, eyes will light up, and where do words come from! I learned a lot from him ... But you never know we had wonderful guys then!
Civil war broke out. American and British troops appeared in the North. The 6th Army was created, operating in the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Dvinsky directions. They began to organize aviation. In May 1918, I was drafted into the active Red Army. Was enrolled as a mechanic in one of its parts.
Once the head of the air train Voronets came to us. We got to talking. He learned that I was a pilot. "What are you doing here? Let's go to us. " I agreed. I was sent to the command of the Red Air Fleet, they wanted to assign me to the reserve, since there were no planes. I explained that I have another specialty - mechanics. Then I was sent to the 6th air train. There we did miracles: we almost rebuilt the planes.
The situation at the time was menacing. The British invaders were moving towards Vologda. The White Guards were advancing from the east. It was also restless in the rear. The army command, at the direction of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, tried to use all the capabilities of aviation. And the repair train was busy patching up the wounded cars. According to Comrade Sergeev, head of the field aviation and aeronautics department, this was the main source of replenishment for the Air Fleet. And when the planes were completely out of order, we took them apart in parts. As a result, out of a dozen such unusable aircraft, one or even two machines were assembled, which could still be flown.
Young soviet aviation not only combat aircraft were needed, but also training vehicles to quickly train the red pilots, as they were then called - the Red Air Force. And I remember that I received such an order - to go to the area. Petrozavodsk, in the location of the 1st rifle division, where, according to the report of the ground forces, a knocked out White Guard aircraft of the latest design landed. It could be useful in creating the first Soviet training aircraft.
Trains were bad at that time. But the most difficult thing was that the plane was far from the railway, in a wooded area. There was no way to get him out of there. I had to take it apart, drag it piece by piece through the impassable mud and forest jungle to the nearest clearing and already on horseback to get to the railway. The commander of the rifle division assigned five Red Army men to help me. We worked days and nights in this forest almost without food, but nevertheless the plane was pulled out, loaded onto a train and taken to Moscow. On the way, completely starved, they sold the last piece of soap and bought a crust of bread and two onions. This is what we have reinforced. In Moscow we handed over the plane to the plant. Looking ahead, I will say that we worked and suffered all sorts of hardships not in vain. The plane was very useful in the development and construction of a training machine known to all veterans of our aviation under the name "U-1", which lived a long life. It was a biplane with a 120 horsepower M-2 engine. We used this aircraft from 1922 to 1932. Many thousands of pilots were trained on it. For ten years, a significant number of these aircraft was produced for that time - 670. In the thirties it was replaced by the more advanced Polikarpov aircraft "U-2".
After a while I was transferred to the aviation fleet of the Caucasian Front. Compared to the air train, which consisted of several old carriages with machines for making the simplest parts, the air fleet seemed to me a solid enterprise. Here she not only repaired, but also tested the restored aircraft before being sent to the front. In the fleet of the Caucasian Front, I joined the ranks of the Communist Party. On behalf of the Saratov city party committee, the party ticket was given to me by the commissar of the aircraft fleet, Raugevich. Instead of an official congratulation, he hugged me and said: "I believe in you, Sergei, but for now, get ready to work for me."
Thus, along with performing incredibly complex operations to repair aircraft knocked out in combat, I also had to conduct political work in the aircraft fleet. It was difficult to combine the duties of a mechanic and a commissioner. But youth and a passionate desire to quickly put an end to the enemies, to defend the gains of October helped me successfully carry out the first party assignment.
In 1919, I was appointed head of the Caucasian Front train, where I served until June 1921.
Once I heard that the Institute of Engineers of the Red Air Fleet was organized. I talked with the chief of aviation about my intention to study. I had a good certification, and I received a permit to study.
On September 21, 1921, he entered the institute, which was soon transformed into the Air Force Academy. Immediately he began to design gliders. A.S. Yakovlev, and many others, were also involved in this matter. I designed and built five training gliders and two soars, which gave me a lot in my future work. This work is not easy, especially since we did it in our free time.
I graduated from the academy in 1926. He defended his thesis project on April 10. I was not even allowed to rest and was immediately sent to responsible work in the scientific and technical committee of the Air Force. Appointed to lead the aircraft construction section. The Scientific Committee consisted of prominent scientists: Chaplygin, Vetchinkin, Geveling and many other prominent aviation figures.
I had to submit plans, determine the types of aircraft that are suitable for our army, for our air forces, draw up technical requirements for these aircraft.
Polikarpov, Grigorovich, Tupolev often visited us. With them, we considered sketch designs. Then there was a secondary acquaintance already with technical projects... All this was part of my responsibilities as a leader. When I was appointed, I “kicked out”, I didn't want to do clerical work, I dreamed of being a designer. But they called me and said: "It is necessary!" Of course, I embarked on this path with bitterness, but then I didn’t regret it, because, while working in the scientific and technical committee, I acquired great knowledge and broadened my horizons. There was no such plane in the world that I did not thoroughly know.
In 1932, the reorganization of the scientific and technical committee began. Baranov was then the head of the Glavaviaprom, a wonderful person. In our life there are people from whom you can learn a lot, acquire. For six years of work under the leadership of Pyotr Ionovich Baranov, I tried to instill in myself his high qualities: courage, fortitude, resourcefulness. He himself is a former loader, the son of a worker. I really respected him.
Taking advantage of the fact that the reorganization of the committee had begun, I asked Baranov to let me go into industry. He agreed. I became the head of the Central Design Bureau, which was located at one of the factories. The brigades of N.N. Polikarpova, D.P. Grigorovich, S.A. Kocherigin and others. I agreed that I would be in charge of this organization, but at the same time demanded that I be allowed to form my own design bureau. They agreed, and I began to select designers. This is how brigade No. 3 was created as part of the Central Design Bureau. This was in 1933. I finally got to my favorite thing - construction.
The first machine that we began to create was the TsKB-26 (DB-3) aircraft. At the beginning of the war, he was given the name of the designer - IL-4.
When a large team is working, why is a machine named after one person? From my point of view, this is correct, because, first of all, the designer is responsible for his creation. There were many unpleasant twists and turns in my life, but often my workmates did not know about them, I did not shift the responsibility onto them. Assigning the name of a designer is a great obligation, because it is not only a great honor, but also a huge responsibility to the people.
The first car was three-seater - pilot, navigator, gunner, but sometimes four-seater; there was also a machine gun below, which was supposed to serve the second shooter. The idea behind this machine was to have a range of 4,000 kilometers. Why such a range? In order to be able to fly from our western border to Cologne. This is approximately 1600 kilometers. The car had a good load, the ceiling was 11 thousand meters, the speed was 400 kilometers per hour. We built it in 1935. These aircraft were already powered by domestic Mikulin engines.
There was a time when some of our designers were fond of gigantomania, that is, they made very large aircraft. It was obvious to us that the main goal of aviation was joint actions with ground forces. I was firmly convinced of this. In 1936, we, the designers, were already aware of the inevitability of war and were thinking about the types of aircraft that would work on the battlefield. I wanted to create a vehicle with powerful weapons for direct support of the infantry - an attack aircraft.
I and my comrades from our design bureau are often asked: how did we get the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a legendary attack aircraft?
But before answering this question, you need to look into the past of aviation.
Back in 1912, Russian designers created the world's first aircraft with the qualities necessary for an attack aircraft. It was a two-seater car known as the BI-KOK-2. She had dual controls, an armored bottom and a gondola brought forward, which created a good overview and the ability to fire in all directions. In 1913, at one of the training grounds, the world's first experiments in firing from aircraft at ground targets were carried out. They showed not only the full possibility of such shooting, but also gave a relatively high percentage of hits. In other countries, such studies began to be carried out much later.
Then the armor protection was also used on the four-engine Ilya Muromets aircraft.
These traditions were continued in the future by the red pilots. So, in January 1918 began fighting units of the young Soviet power against the white corps of General Dovbor-Musnitsky. The infantry and artillery of the 1st Minsk Red Guard detachment, commanded by Comrade Berzin, assisted by an air group led by Alexei Tumansky. We flew a lot. The stock of bombs was quickly used up. It was not possible to get them either in Gomel, where the airfield was located, or in other places. And then Comrade Berzin ordered Tumansky to go to Petrograd to V.I. Lenin with a report on the hostilities and a request to help the air group.
At the meeting, Vladimir Ilyich was not interested in detail in the situation in general, but in the combat operations of aviation.
The weather is bad now, - answered Tumansky, - low clouds. It is difficult to identify enemy units, to distinguish from the air from their own. Finding our way by reading the names of railway stations ... We are going down to fifty meters.
So low? Lenin asked with interest. - Usually pilots try to climb higher.
Even at thirty meters I had to walk once. In general, we are not flying high now: low altitude is beneficial in combat terms ...
But, apparently, she is very dangerous - they can shoot, - said Vladimir Ilyich.
In our group, no one has been knocked down yet, ”Alexey answered proudly. - True, bullet holes were sometimes brought. Therefore, just in case, they began to put pans under the seat ...
What? Sk-o-rods? - asked Lenin.
Yes, big pans ... from bullets, '' repeated the confused Tumansky.
Frying pan and airplane! .. A peculiar combination! - Vladimir Ilyich smiled.
Thus, during the years of the civil war, our pilots laid the foundation for air assault operations.
At the direction of Ilyich, a special aviation group of 17 aircraft was formed. The personnel of the group consisted of the best instructors of the aviation school.
When the cavalry corps of the White Guard General Mamontov broke through the line of defense of the Red Army and went to the rear Southern front, IN AND. Lenin sent a special note to the Revolutionary Military Council of the republic:
4.IХ.1919
(Cavalry with a low flight of an airplane is powerless against him)
Can't you to the military scientist X.U.Z ... order the answer (quickly): airplanes against cavalry? Examples. The flight is very low. Examples. To give instruction based on "science" ...
In his short note, Vladimir Ilyich proposes to urgently, on a proper scientific basis, develop a manual on air assault operations. And in the future, the detachment carried out the combat mission in accordance with special instructions. The group's actions were highly successful. Soviet pilots for the first time in the world they switched from episodic bombing from low altitudes to specific tactics of assault actions. Subsequently, they repeatedly resorted to them in combat operations and on other fronts.
In the summer of 1936, I.V. Stalin, talking with test pilots, recalled civil war... He told me what a strong impression made on him by the assault strikes of our aircraft against enemy troops in 1920. Stalin invited the pilots and designers to think about whether it would be possible to create a Soviet aircraft for strikes against enemy ground forces.
We, the designers, ourselves felt the need for such an attack aircraft.
I did not immediately start designing the attack aircraft; I had been preparing for about three years.
I analyzed what had already been done in detail. During the first five-year plan, Soviet designers developed the first armored attack aircraft.
One of the first to install armor on his flying boat "M-9" D.P. Grigorovich. Then, in 1930, under the leadership of A.N. Tupolev developed a project for a twin-engine attack aircraft "ANT-17" (TShB), in the same year a heavy attack aircraft "TSh-1" was manufactured. The aircraft of this type, "SHON" and "TSh-3", designed by S.A. Kocherigin. Finally, in 1936 - 1937, it was developed under the leadership of N.N. Polikarpov's air tank destroyer - "VIT".
However, it took a long time to create the plane. At the same time, attempts were made to design such an aircraft abroad. An American attack aircraft of those years, looking like a monstrous torpedo with a blunt nose and a sharp tail, developed a maximum speed of only 370 kilometers per hour. The German attack aircraft "Heinkel-118" had even lower flight qualities. Its cruising speed was 260 kilometers.
I spent long hours with my workmates sorting through the various options, trying to find the best combinations of weight, armor, weapons and vehicle speed. The plane was born as a result of the creative work of a huge team of designers, scientists and workers. But when the design was in full swing, I was appointed head of the main directorate of the aviation industry. Time and effort had to be divided between administrative and creative matters ...
I decided to contact I.V. Stalin with a request to relieve me of my post in the head office in order to focus on design work. Stalin summoned me.
Entering a familiar office, I immediately saw my statement on the table. Stalin greeted calmly and immediately began the conversation. Apparently, he decided to convince me of the wrong.
Well, once they have been appointed, he said, it means we have to work. You are not a casual, prepared person. If you leave, others will leave, who will be in charge?
I had to retreat then. Stalin tore up the statement in front of me, held the scraps of paper over the basket and, slyly squinting, looked at me, as if asking: "Well, quit?" And threw it into the basket.
And yet I could not calm down: I wanted to finish work on the attack aircraft as soon as possible, especially since I felt that we were waiting for success. In the end, he could not resist and wrote a second letter to several addresses at once: to Stalin, Voroshilov, the leaders of the aviation industry and the Air Force. I wrote:
“Given the current depth of defense and organization of the troops, the enormous power of their fire (which will be directed at the attack aircraft), the attack aircraft will suffer very large losses.
Our types of attack aircraft, both those under construction in the VULTI and HAI-5 series, and the experienced Ivanovs, have great vulnerability, since not a single vital part of these aircraft: the crew, the engine, the oil system, the petrol system and the bombs are protected. This can greatly reduce the offensive capabilities of our ground attack aircraft.
Therefore, today there is a need to create an armored attack aircraft or, in other words, a flying tank, in which all vital parts are reserved.
In connection with the need for such an aircraft, for several months I was working on solving this problem, which resulted in a project for an armored attack aircraft.
To create this outstanding aircraft, which will immeasurably increase the offensive capabilities of our assault aviation, making it capable of delivering crushing blows to the enemy without loss or with small losses on its part, I ask you to relieve me of the post of chief of the headquarters, instructing me to release the aircraft for state tests in November 1938.
The task of creating an armored attack aircraft is extremely difficult and fraught with great technical risk, but I take on this business with enthusiasm and full confidence in success.
Ser. Ilyushin.
The question was discussed at a meeting of the Politburo in my absence. I sat in the head office and could not concentrate on anything - I was worried. It was long past midnight. Only at three in the morning the phone rang. He picked up the receiver in awe. I immediately recognized the voice of the Air Force Commander Laktionov.
You have been dismissed.
Usually, with such a phrase, people experience unpleasant moments. And I sighed happily.
When my comrades, the designers, learned about this news, they made a pun-joke:
Ilyushin on IL-2 flew out of the headquarters!
But time was running out. It was necessary to urgently get down to business.
The new machine needed to be made effective, combat, so that it could hit the enemy and have reliable protection. And our design bureau decided to make the armor work in the body of the aircraft, to make it a working body. Until now, designers have put armor on the frame only for the purpose of protecting it. And here an armored hull was designed, containing all the vital parts of a combat vehicle - the engine, cockpit, engine systems, etc. The body was given a streamlined shape.
The future attack aircraft in the literal sense of the word was to be forged from steel. It's easy to say, but difficult to do. Choosing the thickness of the steel sheet turned out to be a difficult task, so as not to overweight the machine in vain. Much, of course, depended on the shape and location of the armor. Shooting was going on at the range for days. The armored frame was showered with a hail of bullets and shells. This study helped to obtain large gains in aircraft weight.
The difficulty lay not only in organizing the mass production of the attack aircraft, but also in establishing a new type of production of complex-stamped aviation armor, which forms the basis of the IL-2 hull. Despite the expressed doubts about the possibility of organizing and mastering the production of such armored hulls, the director of the plant, Comrade Zasulsky and his closest assistants comrades. Svet and Sklyarov coped with the technical side of the matter with flying colors and quickly set up mass production of the attack aircraft's armored corps.
As already mentioned, the attack aircraft was reliably sheathed with durable armor steel, and the cockpit - with transparent armor, which protected the pilots from bullets and at the same time ensured good visibility. The creation of armor made of glass, a material with great fragility, was a difficult scientific and technical task. Research carried out in this area led to the creation of BS glass (armored glass) in 1942-1943, which was much stronger than ordinary glass.
It's not enough to build and test a new plane - you need to arm it. The attack aircraft had quite powerful armament: two 23 mm cannons, two machine guns in the wing, one machine gun on the rear turret in the gunner's cockpit, 400-600 kg of bombs. Missile reflection was also installed under the wings of the aircraft - eight 82-mm caliber shells - "RS-82" or "RS-132".
Small arms were designed by State Prize winners Volkov, Yartsev, Shpitalny and others.
Another "father of Russian aviation" N.Ye. Zhukovsky liked to say: "The engine is the heart of the plane." Indeed, the flight performance of a winged aircraft largely depends on the engine. By this time soviet designers have created a number of remarkable domestic engines. Our choice fell on AA motor "AM" Mikulin. It was powerful, at 1600 hp. from. water cooling engine. It provided the attack aircraft with a speed of over 420 kilometers per hour at the ground, a ceiling of 7,500 meters, a climb time of 5,000 m - 10.6 minutes and a flight range of more than 630 kilometers.
This car (two-seater) was made by us in 1937, assembled in. 1938 and 1939 tested. She was ready to start mass production at the beginning of 1940, but even before December, that is, ten months, stood motionless. The military came, were interested in the armor, and when they found out that its thickness is mainly 5 - 6 millimeters, they said: “What kind of armor is this? She won't keep anything. " But they were wrong. It's one thing for a bullet to pierce armor at a ninety-degree angle. And if the plane is flying at a speed of 120 meters per second? Try to hit the bullet perpendicular to the surface of the armor!
I wrote twice to the Central Committee about the readiness of the machine, in June and November 1940. I remember that on November 7, I myself brought a letter to the Central Committee. At the beginning of December I was summoned to the Central Committee and asked to make a report. I reported. They said: we need such an aircraft. Then the following happened. The military does not propose to start a two-seater car, but a single one. The Air Force chief and I were convincing that a two-seater was needed. But despite my strong objections, the IL-2 was launched in a single-seat version.
Serial production began. Many factories were involved in the work. Great efforts were made to build this aircraft. The lost ten months cost us more than one hundred finished cars. And this is on the very eve of the war!
The serial launch began in December. The task - to release the first two aircraft at the end of February - was completed. The machine is very simple and easy to manufacture.
When the front line began to approach Voronezh, the plant was evacuated to the deep rear. It was a very correct decision. An even larger plant was built there.
What examples of heroism our people have shown! In October, the equipment was transported, and in December, when there was still no roof over their heads, they began to produce aircraft. This can only be explained by the fact that our people were not at a loss. He singled out from his midst people who, despite the difficulties, found the strength to manage production. Soon, two more plants were connected to the construction of the IL-2. We were pleased to know that our planes were so needed by the army.
Let me make one digression. I remember August 1941. Once, together with People's Commissar Shakhurin, designer Yakovlev, Air Force Commander Zhigarev, his deputy, I was summoned to see Stalin. Joseph Vissarionovich met us in the middle of the room, and before explaining why he called, he turned to me:
They fight well on your planes. Do you know about this? The military especially praise the Il-2 attack aircraft. What award did you get for the IL-2?
It was about the first Stalin Prizes, which were awarded in March 1941. I replied that I had received a second degree award and I am very grateful to the government for this.
What to thank? - objected Stalin. “You deserve a first-class prize for this car.
Addressing the People's Commissar, I.V. Stalin said:
It is necessary to give Ilyushin a first-class prize.
In November 1941 I was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and in April 1942 I received the Stalin Prize of the first degree.
But then they began to receive unpleasant news from the front. Again I was summoned to the Central Committee. This was in February 1942. Our aircraft began to suffer losses not from the ground, but from the air enemy. An enemy fighter approaches and attacks the IL-2 with impunity. The Central Committee told me that they shouldn't have rejected my proposal and decided to produce single-seat aircraft. We must return to the double. But it was already difficult to return. They told me: whatever you want to do, but so that the conveyor does not stop. We managed to find the right solution. We did not stop the conveyor, and switched to a two-seater car. We were looking forward to information from the front. It turned out that everything is fine. Attacks from the tail, in the vast majority of cases, were no longer observed.
This is how the IL-2 began combat work, providing our hero pilots with the opportunity to inflict sensitive blows on the enemy and avoid unnecessary losses.
We launched this plane with 20 mm cannons. Soon we were called and told to put in 23mm ones. And this is a very difficult job. I must say: our team worked like a man possessed, we were ready to stay awake. Small team, but very friendly, well-coordinated. People tried their best to do everything.
Seeing that the plane can also be used as a fighter, we tried to make another version - Il-10. The scheme is the same, but here we have included the gunner's cockpit in the armor as a whole. In addition, we had a motor of 1500-1750 hp. s, and here they put 2 thousand. Mikulin made it to us. 130 kilometers of speed increased. Oil and water radiators were also booked.
But life, combat work on the fronts demanded from us other modifications as well - a vehicle necessary as a photo reconnaissance officer for artillery adjustments and for reconnaissance of enemy positions. We did it quickly.
IL-2 was used against tanks. The idea arose about the installation of guns already thirty-seven millimeters caliber. And we dealt with this. Our guns pierced the top covers of the tanks at some angle. And in general it was a powerful weapon. Then a record number of Il-2 and Il-10 attack aircraft was built in the history of aviation - more than 41 thousand. This figure speaks of their excellence and role during the war.
Until 1941, we had only a military theme, but already at the height of the war we took up passenger planes. We are tired of looking at the American Douglas, C-47, we decided to create a domestic passenger plane by all means.
We started designing the Il-12 in June 1943. We believed that victory would be ours, otherwise we would not have started working on a passenger plane. The car was built in June 1945. Its characteristics are as follows: speed - 320 kilometers per hour, 27-32 passengers, ceiling up to 10 thousand meters, crew of 4 people. This aircraft was superior to the Li-2, which was produced by our industry, at a speed of 240 kilometers per hour.
Il-12 was accepted and built in fairly large numbers. After that we designed the Il-28. Its range is 2500 kilometers, speed is 900 kilometers per hour. The Klimov engine was installed.
IL-14 aircraft. They installed the Shvetsov engine, and after a while the designer modified the engines - they began to have improved characteristics. The car showed a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, we increased it due to aerodynamics. Crew - 4 people, number of passengers - 32.
Our new Il-18 aircraft was equipped with four turboprop engines designed by Ivchenko. The question is usually asked: why did we install turboprop and not turbojet engines? During the period when the aircraft was being designed, turboprop engines had certain advantages that could not be neglected. And above all - the high efficiency of the power plant. We figured it all out and came to the firm conviction that a good car could turn out.
In the process of creating the aircraft, we faced a number of serious difficulties. For example, it was not clear to us how the engines of the new type would work. On piston engines, in order to change the thrust, they give gas, that is, they increase the number of revolutions. On turboprop, the speed is constant. The pilot increases the thrust by increasing the pitch of the propeller, varying the rotation of its blades. But with a certain rotation of the blades, the propeller can begin to give negative thrust, that is, to pull the plane not forward, but backward.) It was necessary, of course, in close cooperation with the engine designers to create special devices and alarms so that the reverse thrust was controlled and occurred under quite certain circumstances, such as during landing, to reduce mileage.
In addition, for the first time on a passenger car, we had to introduce a sealed fuselage, inside which the air conditioning system was supposed to provide normal living conditions for passengers at an altitude of seven to eight thousand meters. The difficulty lay in the fact that the fuselage of this machine had enormous dimensions, cutouts for windows, hatches, doors, and so on. We have been looking for the best design that is sufficiently resistant to fatigue failure. Metal gets tired too. In addition, the fuselage skin, even if damaged, should not have produced large cracks. At the same time, the strength of the load-bearing elements could not be increased due to significant thickening, since this would cause a large increase in the weight of the structure. And it should have been reduced in every possible way.
How many tests did we not subject the fuselage of the future aircraft! It was both shaken and submerged in pool water - before it was deemed fit for strength and durability. After that, the service life was determined - thirty thousand flight hours.
In July 1957, Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki tested the Il-18. And in April 1958, the new car made its first commercial flights on the lines Moscow - Adler, Moscow - Alma-Ata. Our air lines abroad began to be served mainly by these aircraft. They also found demand in the international aircraft market. IL-18 was purchased by many states.
On April 22, 1960, together with a group of designers and a test pilot, I was awarded the Lenin Prize. This high assessment of the creative success of our team summed up the work of designers, aircraft builders and pilots in the design, testing, serial production and application of the IL-18.
The car has 5 crew members, over 100 passenger seats. It comes in several flavors. The speed is 650 kilometers per hour. Are you flying at altitude? - 10 thousand meters. The power of each engine is 4 thousand equivalent hp. from. This machine has become a part of life.
What is the main goal we have pursued since the inception of passenger aviation? it main question, the essence of which is to enable anyone common man, and not only for business travelers or people with income to choose: I want to fly, I want to go by train, that is, ticket prices should be approximately the same. I must say that the Il-18 is close to accomplishing this task.
IL-62 plane. The dimensions of this aircraft are much larger than the Il-18. It is mostly distant. Can fly (and does) fly from Moscow to New York. Distance Paris - New York is the crown for her. Takes 17C - 180 people. The cruise speed is 850 kilometers per hour.
The creation of the IL-62 intercontinental air express became possible only at a new stage in the development of Soviet aircraft construction, when more advanced turbofan power plants appeared in the family of turbojet engines, capable of providing sufficient thrust for the flight of a giant express. The turbofan engine does not have a propeller, which is ineffective at high speeds.
However, the choice of the power plant is only one side of the matter. A search was also needed for a new scheme of the future aircraft. In particular, we decided to abandon the traditional underwing arrangement of the engines and place them on the tail section of the aircraft. This has given us a number of significant advantages. The wing free of power plants was made more aerodynamically perfect, in addition, this made it possible to ensure greater reliability of the aircraft and create previously unattainable comfort for passengers.
Tests and subsequent operation of the new car have confirmed its effectiveness both in terms of technical and in terms of basic comfort for passengers. In flight, the Il-62 is quiet and comfortable. The flexible wing absorbs most of the turbulence forces, and therefore the passengers have little to no bumpiness when the aircraft passes through the turbulent air. Passengers are freed from noise, shaking and vibration in flight.
What is the workflow of a designer? Well what can I say about this. it creative process... It seems to be divided into two parts. The first includes: determining the weight data, choosing the profile and other parameters of the wing, that is, everything that determines the size and shape of the aircraft. That's mine the main task... It so happens that for six months you walk and think. There are comrades who help. You begin to draw up your thoughts in the form of a drawing on paper. And then - the second part of the process, which can be characterized as a method of successive approximations. Before designing an airplane, you need to know what its purpose is. The circuits must be chosen rationally. Strength, stiffness, stress level are essential for an aircraft. And then - tiredness. It is necessary that the plane does not get tired for 30 thousand hours. Convenience in assembly and disassembly. This is an essential design thing. After all, you can think of such a detail that it will be very difficult to do it.
And one more thing. I am often asked: "What is the ability to work with people?" Usually my answer is this: first of all, it is the ability to recognize in a person the ability to do something and create conditions for their development so that a person does not just work, but loves his job. We need to help him find a zest in her. And finally, the ability to work with people means being a teacher, educator.
They also ask me the following question: "What human character trait do you dislike?" I'd better say which one I like best. I love confidence and conviction in people, modesty and efficiency.
Finishing my story, I involuntarily recall once again that huge path of development - from a primitive wooden glider to the powerful transcontinental IL-62 liner, which our national aviation passed. I am proud that I and my fellow comrades-in-arms had to take an all possible part in this progressive creative process.
Time is constantly putting forward new demands and new tasks. And no matter how great our current achievements are, I think this is only a step on the path of the endless daring of the human mind.
Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin - this name is known to many in our country. An ingenious constructor and an amazing organizer.
He made his way from a simple excavator to the head of one of the largest design bureaus in the Soviet Union. Under his strict guidance, metal birds were developed and launched into a series that rewrote the history of world aircraft construction.
Father's house and service in the army of the Russian Empire
Ilyushin Sergei Vladimirovich was born in 1894 on March 30 (new style) in a poor peasant family and his biography in childhood is similar to thousands of others. The native village was located in the Vologda province.
At the age of 8, like his older brothers, he constantly worked part-time, helping his mother and father. At the same time, he diligently studied at the parish school, where by the age of 6 he learned to write and read. In the future, the designer more than once recalled with a kind word his first teacher, who instilled in him a love of learning.
Before being drafted into the Imperial Army, he changed many professions:
- Driver's assistant;
- Laborer in factories;
- Built railroad and many others.
In 1910, on the advice of his fellow countrymen, he got a job as a digger at the Kolomyazhsky hippodrome, which was being actively converted into an airfield. The work proceeded at an accelerated pace - by the fall, the first International Aviation Festival in Russia was planned.
There a young guy saw performances of famous aviators gracefully flying biplanes.
The sight of technology soaring in the sky turned the fate of Sergei Vladimirovich.
In 1914, Russia entered the war with the Axis countries and twenty-year-old Sergei was drafted into the ranks of the armed forces. After completing training in an infantry company, he was sent to serve in Vologda. There he served as a clerk in the local military unit.
After, he volunteered, he was transferred to the hangar at the Commandant airfield. Gradually, Ilyushin rose to the rank of senior mechanic and was engaged in the repair and maintenance of the C-22 “Ilya Muromets”. In the summer of 1917 he graduated from the soldier's piloting school, and in 1918 he was demobilized.
Starting work in the Red Air Fleet
In 1919, Ilyushin was drafted into the Red Army and sent to Serpukhov. After some time, he was transferred to serve as a mechanic on the so-called air train (a railway train, which is a mobile repair platform for aircraft).
Later, in the fall, he participated in the evacuation of the destroyed enemy Avro 504, which in the future became the basis for the U - 1 training biplane.
Having become the head of the air train, in 1921 he decided to enter the Institute of Engineers of the KVF. Sharing his memories, the creator of "Flying Tanks" admits that he passed the exams for troika.
The experience gained over the years in the army helped me to enter. He combined his studies with work in a glider circle, where he designed and implemented several samples:
- "Mastiazhart";
- "Rabfakovets";
- "Mastyazhart - 2";
- "Moscow".
The last glider was created in 1925 and, piloted by the pilot Konstantin Artseulov, was presented at the Rhön competitions in Germany. A year later, Ilyushin splendidly defended his thesis project dedicated to the creation of a fighter.
Career: Start and finish
An engineer who has successfully completed his studies is appointed chairman of the group of experts of the Air Force STC (formerly KVF), where he studied the experience of foreign colleagues and developed technical requirements for aircraft.
In particular, he made adjustments to the work of Tupolev and Polikarpov. But the main goal of life remained airplanes.
Ilyushin in 1931 submits a report with a request to transfer it to the aircraft industry.
From 1931 to 1933 he was the head of TsAGI (Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute). After a number of proposals and rearrangements, the OKB (Experimental Design Bureau) was formed, which the future Hero of Labor headed, so his dream came true.
He headed the Design Bureau until 1970, when due to illness he was forced to retire. The last swallow that emerged from under the wing of Ilyushin was the Il-62 passenger airliner. Behind the back were other lines of IL aircraft: attack aircraft, bombers.
The designer's contribution to modern aircraft construction is colossal, and the design bureau he has laid down continues to produce high-quality world-class aircraft.
Family
He was married twice and had 4 children.
The first wife is Raisa Zhalkovskaya (1897 - 1972).
- Daughter Irina (1920 - 2007). Academician Orekhovich's wife;
- Son Vladimir (1927 - 2010). He became a pilot, after which he tested prototype aircraft. Honored Hero of the USSR.
Second wife - Anastasia Vasilievna Sovetova (1915-2008). She worked in the design bureau as a design engineer.
- Sergei Sergeevich Ilyushin (1947 - 1990). Aviation engineer;
- Son Alexander was born in 1955. Aviation engineer.
- In April 1938, an accident occurred. The UT-2, piloted by Ilyushin, had an engine failure. I had to land the car in pitch darkness and, upon landing, it turned over. The pilot and passenger (Ivan Vasilyevich Zhukov) escaped with minor injuries;
- By the way, after this catastrophe an order was given in which it was written in black and white: “The chief designers of the design bureau are prohibited from piloting aircrafts on their own”;
- There was fierce competition between the OKB and the Tupolev Design Bureau in the development of short-range and long-range bomber aircraft. As a result, the aircraft of S. V. Ilyushin ousted the development of Tupolev from civil aviation.
All OKB aircraft designed under the leadership of Ilyushin
A lineup of designed and produced aircraft Il brand, was divided into 3 branches:
- Stormtroopers;
- Long-range bombers;
- Civil aircraft.
The design bureau's developments were distinguished by their simplicity of design and high reliability achieved by painstaking work and high creative potential of the head of the design bureau.
The people who worked with him noted the lively character and hard work of their boss. He competently assigned responsibilities among staff and achieved incredible results.
Ilyushin's front-line attack aircraft showed themselves worthily during the Great Patriotic War.
Released in incredible numbers, they completely covered the needs of all fronts. The closest counterparts were the German Ju - 87 and American P - 47 Thunderbolt.
- IL-2 / 2m... Initially, it was supposed to put into production a version with a two-seater cockpit: a pilot and a radio operator. Due to problems with centering, the second cockpit was removed and the series was launched without a firing point, behind the pilot's back.
The device carried under the wings up to a ton of bomb load, could be equipped with NURs (unguided missiles), often armed with 23 mm and 37 mm cannons.
In 1943, the 2m modification was released. The gunner-radio operator who controls the turret was returned to it. Silt losses have decreased. Produced: 36,000 pcs.
- IL-10... Developed during the Second World War. It was a development of the idea of \u200b\u200ban attack aircraft. It had enhanced armor, superior firepower and a high payload. The machine was put into production towards the end of the war. Produced: 6160 pcs.
Long-range or strategic bombers are the largest military aircraft and carry the largest bomb load.
Ilyushin's design bureau gave the green light to several machines of this class. Analogs: British Wellingtons, American B-17.
- Il-4 (DB-3f)... Twin-engine long-range bomber. Air Force workhorse, 5250 units produced. The vehicle had good defensive armament and carried up to 2.5 tons of payload.
She could also carry torpedoes to attack the enemy. She took part in the raid on Berlin in the summer of 1941.
- IL-28... Produced since 1949 and produced in an amount of 6100 pieces. This is a new generation jet bomber. Developed with the latest technology.
Carried both simple bombs and tactical nuclear weapons. He stood guard over the borders of not only our Motherland, but also Poland and China. Combat load - 5 tons. At firing points, 23 mm guns were installed.
Passenger liners deserve a special mention. Ilyushin thought about civilian cargo transportation in the middle of the Great Patriotic War.
Foreseeing the need for such aircraft, the Bureau began to create a new aircraft: Il-12. The requirements for a peacetime aircraft were strikingly different from the needs of military aviation in a situation of full-scale war.
The plane was used to transport passengers, was used as a transport plane. It set world records for non-stop flight range.
At the same time, the salon accommodated from eighteen to thirty-two people. The three-point landing gear with the front wheel under the cockpit reduced the length of the runway (runway) required for takeoff or landing.
IL-12 became the first, but not the last, peaceful workaholic. Subsequently, Ilyushin's team released many more cars, delighting its ideological inspirer and permanent leader. S.V. Ilyushin died on February 9, 1977. The work of his hardworking hands is still alive.
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Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin - general designer of aircraft, member of the CPSU since 1918, academician, colonel-general of the engineering and technical service, three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1941, 1957, 1974), seven-time winner of the Stalin Prize (1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947 , 1950, 1952).
S.V. Ilyushin was born on March 30, 1894 in the village of Dilyalevo, Vologda province, into a peasant family. He studied at the zemstvo school. As a fifteen-year-old teenager, he began his labor activity as an auxiliary worker.
In 1914 he was drafted into the army and soon sent to the airfield team. From that time on, his life was inextricably linked with aviation. In the summer of 1917, he became a pilot.
Since 1918, Ilyushin in the ranks of the Red Army, in an aircraft repair train of one of the armies of the Northern Fleet. Together with other mechanics, out of a dozen failed machines, he assembled one or two machines, more or less suitable for flight. One day the news came that a knocked-out White Guard aircraft of a new design had landed at the location of the red regiments. Sergei Ilyushin with five Red Guards made his way into the forest, to the landing site, disassembled the plane, dragged it piece by piece to the railway station and took it to Moscow.
In 1921 he was sent to the Institute of the Red air fleet, now the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. As a student at the academy, he built several gliders of his own design.
After graduating from the Academy, S.V. Ilyushin received the title of military mechanical engineer of the air fleet and was appointed chairman of one of the sections of the scientific and technical committee of the Air Force, which determined the requirements for combat aircraft.
In 1931 S.V. Ilyushin was transferred to work in the aviation industry, where he headed the work of the Central Design Bureau. From that moment, he began his creative activity in the field of creating domestic aircraft.
Since 1933 he has been general designer KB for the design of aircraft, which later became one of the leading in our country. The team led by S.V. Ilyushin, bomber, assault and passenger aircraft with high performance were created. The first combat aircraft TsKB-26 and TsKB-30 set world altitude records with various cargoes, and in 1938-1939 non-stop flights were made from Moscow to the Vladivostok region (7600 km in 22 hours 36 minutes) and Moscow to Miskou Island. North America (8 thousand km in 22 hours 56 minutes).
The international situation became more and more tense, and Sergey Vladimirovich increasingly turned to the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating an attack aircraft - a combat vehicle directly for the battlefield. "The task ... is extremely difficult ... but I take on this task with enthusiasm and full confidence in success," he wrote. In 1939, the Il-2 armored attack aircraft, which laid the foundation for a new type of combat aviation and gave rise to new tactics for its use, was ready. For the first time in the practice of world aircraft construction, in the new attack aircraft, it was possible to realize the optimal combination of speed, maneuverability, firepower and armor protection for that time.
The Great Patriotic War began. IL-2 became a "black death" for the Nazis. And the designer and his team did everything to make the plane more perfect. The design bureau was in evacuation, housed in a two-story bookstore building. The designers worked like hell, slept and ate right in the design bureau. Production was unfolding in the most difficult conditions, the buildings of the plant for the production of aircraft did not have a roof, but, despite frosts and snowstorms, the workshops began to work on schedule. Two months later, the Il-2 went to the front again.
Then the Il-10, Il-16 attack aircraft and the first jet attack aircraft Il-40 in the history of aviation were created. For the production of IL-2, three most powerful plants were allocated, which produced more than 40 aircraft per day. In a telegram to the directors of the factories, which instructed an urgent increase in the program, it was said that the Red Army needed Il-2 aircraft now, like air, like bread. A record number of Il-2 and Il-10 attack aircraft was built in the history of aviation - more than 41 thousand vehicles! The attack aircraft, in essence, became a flying tank, which was not afraid of fire either from the ground or from the air.
In 1942, Il-2 aircraft with two powerful 37 mm cannons were already produced. So the appearance on the fronts of the new German heavy tanks "tigers" and "panthers" with three-inch armor did not take our army by surprise.
Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union A.N. Efimov, who flew 222 sorties on the Il-2 plane, wrote: “From the Moscow region to the Elbe, the Il-2 never let me down ... When he was at the front, when he met pilots at his design bureau, Sergei Vladimirovich gave useful tips on the use of the aircraft in battle. More than once I had to listen to them during the battles near Moscow, and then at the end of the war. We were always amazed at how well the designer knows the tactics of attack aircraft, as if he fought with us "wing to wing" in the same battle formation ... "
The Il-4 multipurpose aircraft was the main long-range bomber and torpedo bomber during the Great Patriotic War. Soon after the start of the war, on the night of August 8, 1941, a group of Il-4 long-range bombers raided military installations in Berlin. This was a complete surprise to the fascist invaders. The city was brightly lit that night. Since then, light camouflage in Berlin has not been canceled until the end of the war. Our Il-4s also inflicted concentrated strikes on other military targets behind enemy lines, and took part in battles on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
After the Il-4, the first Soviet jet bomber Il-28 was built, mass-produced.
In the postwar years, the team headed by S.V. Ilyushin made great strides in the creation of Soviet civil aviation. The Il-12, Il-14, Il-18, Il-62 aircraft have become the main means of air transport in the USSR and are widely known outside our country, and the Il-62 transcontinental liner is the flagship of the civil air fleet.
S.V. Ilyushin actively participated in the social life of the country, was a delegate to a number of congresses of the CPSU, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of seven convocations. For outstanding services to the Motherland in the development of Soviet aviation, he was three times awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, the title of laureate of Lenin and seven State Prizes (three of them - during the Great Patriotic War), awarded eight Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner , Orders of Suvorov I and II degrees, the Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Red Star and medals.
In Vologda, the birthplace of the designer, his bust is installed on one of the central squares. In the city of Istra, Moscow Region, the famous Il-2 aircraft rises on a pedestal. In the name of S.V. Ilyushin named a street in the Frunzensky district of Moscow.