The first civil aircraft of Soviet Russia. invisible city

The first planes of their own construction appeared in Russia on the eve of the First World War. One of the most famous Russian aircraft of that time was the four-engine wooden biplane "Russian Knight" and the Ilya Muromets, designed by Igor Sikorsky, built on its basis, built in 1913-1914. The Russky Vityaz became the world's first four-engine aircraft, which marked the beginning of heavy aviation, and the Ilya Muromets became the world's first passenger aircraft and heavy bomber. On August 1, 1914, that is, at the beginning of the First World War, the Russian air force consisted of 244 aircraft, which looked more than worthy against the background of other participants in the conflict. Germany had 232 airplanes, France - 138, England - 56 first-line aircraft, Austria-Hungary - about 30 cars.

On May 23, 1910, an airplane took off for the first time in Kyiv, which was built and designed by Prince Alexander Kudashev, who was a professor at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. A day later, the airplane of engineer Gakkel from St. Petersburg also took off. The inventor submitted an application to the All-Russian Aeroclub, so his championship was officially recognized.

Kudashev's airplane weighed 330 kg and looked like the car of the Wright brothers. It had wheels and an original propeller, and the airplane's planes were made of rubberized fabric. This device flew only “a few tens of sazhens,” as Kiev professor Artemyev, an eyewitness to the flight, wrote in his article. He stayed in the air for no more than 30 seconds, but it was already a flight. It ended, unfortunately, with a collision with the fence of the Syrets Hippodrome.

After the Kudashev-1 airplane, the prince made several more improved models of his aircraft. At the International Aeronautical Exhibition in St. Petersburg, his machine "Kudashev-4" was awarded the Big Silver Medal.

A copy of this airplane was assembled in the early 90s at the Technological University of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, but they were afraid to fly on an airplane.

In the development of the aircraft, Kudashev was helped then by a student, and in the future by the famous Kiev designer Igor Sikorsky. In 1910, he studied at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute and helped the prince to assemble the design of the aircraft and propeller. He also made his own project of the BIS-1 airplane. He took to the air 10 days after Kudashev's car. At first, his plane flew only 10 seconds, but subsequent models were more advanced. Sikorsky created the B-6 airplane, on which he set a world speed record - 111 kilometers per hour with three passengers on board. The airplane could rise to a height of 1.5 km.

However, during the war, Russia failed to create a truly powerful aviation industry. The state actually removed itself from coordinating the production of aircraft. Before the start of the war, seven aircraft factories operated in the country, located in Riga, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Odessa. From 1914 to 1917 five more enterprises were put into operation. Most of the cars produced by Russian factories were produced under foreign licenses (16 foreign models were in mass production and only 12 domestic ones). At the same time, foreign firms did not seek to sell their latest developments to the Russians, and hence the characteristics aircraft were worse than their foreign counterparts. There were few exceptions, for example, the most massive Russian-built aircraft until 1917 (about 170 units were produced) - the Anade scout designed by the entrepreneur and designer of Italian origin Arthur Anatra, the M-5 and M-9 flying boats designed by Dmitry Grigorovich and, of course, bombers "Ilya Muromets" Igor Sikorsky. However, in addition to a few Russian RBZ-6s, the Muromets were equipped with German Argus engines, French Renault and English Sunbeam engines, as well as French licensed Salmson engines. During the war, 1511 engines (only licensed) and 5607 aircraft were produced in Russia. For comparison, Germany produced 40,449 engines and 47,831 aircraft, Great Britain produced 41,034 engines and 55,061 aircraft, and France produced 93,100 engines and 52,146 aircraft.

The first planes of the USSR

The revolutions and the subsequent Civil War and foreign intervention did not contribute to the development of industry in general and the aviation industry in particular. Many talented aviation specialists emigrated abroad, some were shot as "counter-revolutionary elements." By 1920, the already not too high productivity of Russian aircraft factories fell 10 times compared to 1917. In fact, the Soviet government was forced to start aircraft construction from scratch. Special hopes were placed on cooperation with Germany. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, forbade this country to have its own combat aircraft, and the carrying capacity passenger aircraft was limited to 600 kilograms (including the weight of crew members). Therefore, cooperation between the German aircraft manufacturers and Soviet Russia was beneficial to both parties. The Germans got the opportunity to build aircraft, and the Russians got access to modern technologies and airlines in their territory.

In 1922, the USSR entered into an agreement with the Junkers firm on the participation of German specialists in the development of the Soviet military aviation. It was assumed that German engineers would establish in the Soviet Union the production of metal aircraft for various purposes, aircraft engines, and assist in mastering the production of aviation materials. In 1923-1925, at the aircraft factory in Fili, the Germans set up the assembly of reconnaissance aircraft Ju-20 and Ju-21. In general, cooperation with Junkers did not justify the hopes placed on it. Aircraft built in Fili had low flight characteristics; for this reason, already in March 1926, the Soviet government decided to terminate the contract with Junkers and to strengthen the development of its own aircraft industry.

Nevertheless, thanks to cooperation with the German side, Soviet specialists had the first experience of metal aircraft construction. After all, the world's first all-metal aircraft was designed by Hugo Junkers back in 1915. In 1922, the Soviet Union received the first batch of metal needed to create aircraft - chain-aluminum, an analogue of German duralumin, and on May 26, 1924, the first Soviet all-metal aircraft ANT-2, designed by Andrey Tupolev, took off into the air. A year later, Russian students surpassed German teachers: under the leadership of Tupolev, the world's first all-metal monoplane bomber TB-1 (ANT-4) with engines located along the wing was built in the Soviet Union. It was this scheme that became classic and subsequently formed the basis of all the "flying fortresses" of the Second World War. In 1932, as a continuation of the TB-1, the four-engine TB-3 (ANT-6) was built, which served in the Soviet Air Force until the Great Patriotic War. In fairness, it should be noted that back in 1920, the German engineer Adolf Rohrbach built a multi-engine passenger monoplane with engines on the wing. But this machine made only a few flights and did not have a noticeable impact on the development of aviation.

The weakest point of the Soviet aircraft industry was the lack of its own engines. At first Soviet aircraft Il-400 (in the I-1 series) by Nikolai Polikarpov I-1 (in the I-2 series) by Dmitry Grigorovich, built in 1923, there was an American captured Liberty water-cooled engine (Soviet designation M-5) with a capacity of 400 hp. , developed at the end of World War I. The Liberty was not bad for its time, but it weighed too much to be mounted on fighters. The Il-400 monoplane flew faster than the I-1 biplane, but was less reliable. Therefore, in the mid-1920s, only 14 Il-400s and 209 I-1s were produced.

However, the first mass Soviet aircraft became not, but the R-1 scout designed by Polikarpov. Until the end of the 1920s, reconnaissance aircraft were one of the most common classes of aircraft in the world, accounting for 82% of the number of military aircraft in the USSR, 60% in Poland, 44% in France and 40% in Italy. The R-1, created in 1923, was built on the basis of the English reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War DH-9 with a Liberty engine. Of course, by the time of its appearance, the R-1 could be considered an obsolete machine, but the Soviet Union too needed a reliable and a simple sample aviation technology For mass production. In addition, a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft could be used as a multi-purpose aircraft, for example, the P-5 and P-Z, which replaced the P-1 in the early 1930s, were actively used in a number of conflicts as light bombers and attack aircraft.

History of aircraft designs in the USSR

Since the dawn of aviation, there has been a debate about which type of engine is preferable for an aircraft - water-cooled or air-cooled. In-line or V-shaped water-cooled engines had less drag and, with equal power, made it possible to develop great speed, and a poorly streamlined, but lighter radial motor reduced the weight of the car and thus improved its maneuverability. In the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s, fighter speed and maneuverability were considered equally important. Therefore, in the USSR, as in many other countries, aircraft were built with engines of both types. In the mid-1920s, the USSR purchased licenses for two engines: the German BMW-6 (M-17) with a power of 500 hp. water-cooled and British Jupiter VI (M-22) (in the French metric version) with a power of 480 hp. air cooled. It was this engine that originally powered the first mass-produced Soviet I-5 fighter, designed in 1929 by Polikarpov and Grigorovich, who ended up in Butyrka prison in Moscow on charges of counter-revolutionary activities. I-5 turned out to be successful, and the designers were released.

The first actually Soviet engine M-11 with a power of 100 hp. appeared in 1929. It was installed on one of the most popular aircraft in the history of aviation - the U-2 (Po-2) designed by Polikarpov. This biplane was created as a trainer in the late 1920s, but then it was widely used in agriculture and communications as an ambulance and even a light night bomber. More than 33,000 U-2s were produced from 1929 to 1959.

The 1920s are considered a period of stagnation in the development of aviation. Manufacturers of the most advanced aviation countries during the First World War - England and France - considered a new big war unlikely and did not pay due attention to the introduction of technological innovations into aircraft construction. The development of German aviation was limited by the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and the Soviet Union created its aircraft industry from scratch, trying to catch up with Western countries. The world's most intensive development of sports and passenger aviation. Especially in the United States, where, in the face of fierce competition, air carriers tried to master all the innovations as quickly as possible. It was in the United States of America that the first serial high-speed passenger aircraft of the new type Boeing 247 was built in 1933. In the USSR, almost at the same time, the high-speed passenger aircraft KhAI-1 took off, becoming the first high-speed passenger aircraft in Europe.

In the early 1930s, a sharp leap took place in the aircraft industry: innovations such as all-metal construction, streamlined engine cowlings (NACA), variable pitch propeller, wing mechanization (flaps, slats), cantilever low wing, closed cockpits and, of course, same, retractable landing gear. First of all, these innovations affected passenger, and then bomber aircraft. As a result, a new class of aircraft appeared, the so-called high-speed bombers, flying faster than fighters. A typical representative of this class was the Soviet twin-engine bomber SB (ANT-40) designed by Tupolev. Until 1941, 6831 machines of this type were built in the USSR. Security Councils were actively used in the Civil War in Spain, at Khalkhin Gol, in China, in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 and at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. By that time it was already outdated, but in 1934 it was one of the fastest bombers in the world, it could carry 600 kilograms of bombs at a speed of almost 332 km / h, overtaking most fighters that existed at that time.

Most of the fighters of the early 1930s were not far removed from the models of the First World War. Basically, these were biplanes or polutoraplans (the lower wing is smaller than the upper one) of wooden or mixed construction, with fixed landing gear, armed with a pair of rifle-caliber machine guns and flying only 50-100 km / h faster than the machines of 1914-1918, mainly due to more powerful engines.

In 1934, Nikolai Polikarpov created a new high-speed I-16 monoplane, which was to become the main Soviet fighter of the 1930s and early 1940s. I-16 - the world's first mass-produced monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear; originally he had a closed cabin, but it had to be abandoned. The quality of the glazing left much to be desired, and the pilots, accustomed to open cockpits, actively protested against the necessary but inconvenient innovation. Due to the very short fuselage, the I-16 had a low longitudinal moment of inertia and, as a result, a quick response to rudder deflection, which gave the car exceptional maneuverability. However, the control of the I-16 turned into a difficult job, requiring a high level of training from the pilot.

There were variants of this machine with M-22 and M-25 engines (licensed American Wright R-1820-F3), M-62 and M-63 with two and four 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns, with two 20-mm ShVAK cannons and 12.7 mm BS machine gun. The I-16 was produced in 30 different modifications (types) and, together with Soviet pilots, took part in numerous wars and conflicts of the 1930s and 1940s. Together with the I-16, the Soviet Air Force was armed with another Polikarpov fighter - the I-15 biplane, as well as its versions I-15bis and I-153. The latter began to be mass-produced in 1938, and in 1941 it was the second largest in the Red Army Air Force after the I-16. Biplanes were used in many countries until the outbreak of World War II. Yielding to monoplanes in speed, they surpassed them in maneuverability. There was even a theory of "two fighters", according to which monoplane fighters were supposed to act in combat together with biplane fighters: the former would catch up with the enemy and pin him down with attacks, while the latter would destroy him in air combat.

However, since the mid-1930s, speed has become the main flight characteristic of fighters, and the last word in fighter aviation is high-speed monoplane fighters with water-cooled engines, such as the Bf.109 in Germany or the Supermarine Spitfire in the UK.

The first warning signal sounded for Soviet aircraft designers in Spain, where the I-15 and I-16 initially prevailed over the German aircraft created in the early 1930s, but began to lose the Bf.109 of early modifications, and even more so would have had little chance against the Bf.109E version with 1100 hp DB-601 engines. and enhanced weapons.

Assessment of aircraft construction in the world

The main trends in the development of propeller-driven aircraft during the war years can be summarized as follows:

- complete and final rejection of the biplane, strut monoplane and three-engine schemes;

- careful aerodynamic "development" of the aircraft airframe by eliminating or refining "little things" that cause additional resistance;

- introduction into practice of laminarized wing profiles (on fighters) and pressurized cabins;

- complication of landing mechanization (slats, slotted flaps, Fowler flaps) to compensate for the increased load on the wing;

- transition to a three-wheeled chassis with a nose support, which provides the possibility of more efficient braking during the run and simplifies the landing technique;

- the use of drop-shaped cockpit lights on fighters that provide best review pilot

- the widespread distribution of armor and protected tanks to increase the combat survivability of aircraft;

- improvement of devices for increasing the altitude of engines (distribution of two-stage centrifugal superchargers and turbochargers);

- the introduction of forced engine operation modes for a short-term increase in aircraft power during takeoff and in combat;

- a tendency to replace the two-bladed propeller propeller with a large number of blades;

- replacement of rifle-caliber machine-gun armament with heavy machine guns and cannons of 20 and 30 mm caliber;

- the final replacement of open turret gunnery installations with tower-type installations (on some aircraft - with remote control);

- replacement of mechanical sights with gyroscopic ones;

- installation of airborne radars on aircraft for operations in conditions of limited visibility;

- replacement of unguided aircraft missiles with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles (tank in Germany);

- the use of ejection systems for leaving the aircraft (only in Germany).

4k. Training biplane P-IV-BIS (const. A. A. Porokhovshchikov). 1917 In the early years of Soviet power, training biplanes with a truss tail section. These aircraft were designed by Alexander Alexandrovich Porohovshchikov. In 1918, he passed the official test for the title of military pilot and voluntarily joined the First Petrograd Air Group. Then he served in the 3rd and 32nd air squadrons, headed the 16th aviation train and experimental workshops Air Fleet. Particularly successful was the P-IV-bis aircraft, designed for an 80 hp engine. back in 1917 and released in 1920. Porohovshchikov's planes did not have high speed and ceiling, but they were distinguished by their simplicity of design and low cost, they were very easy to pilot, which was the most important requirement for initial training machines.

6k. The first Soviet passenger aircraft AK-1 (constant V.L. Aleksandrov and V.V. Kalinin). Light multipurpose aircraft. The first flight was in 1924. The design of the AK-1 was wooden with little use of metal. The passenger cabin of a closed type, designed to accommodate two passengers, was located in the fuselage under the wing center section. When flying without a flight mechanic, another passenger could be placed in his place. The AK-1 aircraft was not mass-produced. Designed for a relatively low power engine, this aircraft was significantly inferior in terms of passenger capacity German aircraft Junkers Ju-13 and Dornier III, as well as the Fokker F-111 aircraft, which were operated in the mid-20s on Soviet airlines.

10k. Military (reconnaissance aircraft), mail and cargo aircraft R-3 (ANT-3) (const. A. N. Tupolev). 1925 R-3 became the first Soviet all-metal aircraft. Tests of the R-3 began in 1925, and from 1927 it began to be mass-produced. Production of the R-3 continued until 1929.

12k. Twin-engine all-metal bomber TB-1 (ANT-4) (const. A. N. Tupolev). The world's first serial all-metal heavy twin-engine bomber. The aircraft was designed and built in 1925. But it was not possible to immediately launch the aircraft into a series due to the lack of supplies of English engines and imported parts, which were on the prototype. It was serially built from the summer of 1929 to the beginning of 1932. In 1929, the crew of pilot S.A. Shestakov flew on the ANT-4 "Country of Soviets" aircraft on the route Moscow - New York. In 1934, pilot A.V. Lyapidevsky took part in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites on this plane. He made 29 search flights in a snowstorm and in bad weather, before on March 5, 1934, having discovered their camp, he landed on an ice floe and took out 12 people from there.

16k. Reconnaissance aircraft R-5 (designer N. N. Polikarpov). 1929 Multi-purpose single-engine aircraft. One of the most popular biplanes of the 1930s. It was built serially from 1930 to 1941. Participated in the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin icebreaker. During the Great Patriotic War, it was used as a night bomber, liaison and transport.

20k. Training and postal transport amphibious aircraft Sh-2 (constant V. B. Shavrov). 1930 First production amphibious aircraft. In total, 270 cars were produced in 1932-1934, after which their production ceased. The situation changed with the start of the Soviet-Finnish war, when it became clear that a small seaplane was needed for operational communications among the troops, and the removal of the wounded. In this regard, it was decided to return the decommissioned Sh-2s to service.

I have heard a lot about the open-air aviation museum in Monino for a long time. How many times have I been to Moscow, but there was not enough time to get into it. IN summer vacation, heading to St. Petersburg, they specially took a ticket back so that there would be time in Moscow to visit such legendary place... Many of my LiveJournal friends published posts from the museum... But seeing it with your own eyes is completely different... Having reached Monino by train, on the way we accidentally (or maybe not) met colleagues, as well as one of the leaders museum (!), which helped us figure out where to go... Having arrived, we bought an entrance ticket and went with the family to the exposition... The next day was expected to be open doors co free entry and admission to the planes, but alas, we had a plane to Tyumen that night, so all the photos were taken outside ...
Since there are a lot of exhibits, and in order not to tire me, I will break my reports into parts:
- Civil Aviation
- Military transport and combat aviation
- Helicopters
- Experimental liners
- Historical exposition in the pavilion.

Some of the planes and helicopters were seen by me earlier, from the fact that for the first time I especially want to note the Tu144, Tu-95, Tu-22, Mi-12, Mi-10 ....

The Central Museum of the Air Force was established on November 28, 1958, and opened to visitors on February 23, 1960. The museum has a rich exposition of helicopters and aircraft, both civil and military, as well as weapons, tools, uniforms, artwork. The exhibits are located in the open air, in two hangars and six halls. In 1956, the aviation division in Monino was disbanded. The premises of the division were transferred to the organization of the museum. Airplanes and helicopters, both operated and experimental, were gradually transferred to the museum. The museum has a restoration workshop, which restores and maintains exhibits in good condition. The A. N. Tupolev Design Bureau and the O. K. Antonov Design Bureau help the museum in repairing aircraft. They send their specialists in order to give the aircraft the proper look. More than 150,000 people visit the Air Force Museum every year.

Let's look at the civilian liners presented in the exposition ..
Tu-114 - USSR-L5611 - Russia (USSR) - MAP /1957/
On November 15, 1957, the crew, led by lead test pilot A.P. Yakimov made the first flight on it. On September 15, 1959, L5611 flew to Washington with a party and government delegation headed by N.S. Khrushchev. On October 29, the same L5611 with another delegation on board completed a flight on the Moscow-Beijing route. The very first experimental aircraft CCCP-L5611 spent its entire life at the LII airfield in the city of Zhukovsky, stopped flying in 1968, spent a long time at the back of the airfield, and in the late 70s was transported to the Air Force Museum in the city of Monino near Moscow, where it is located and still. We will return to the "tupolevs"

Yak-40K - CCCP-87490 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1971/
Exhibited at Le Bourget 1975 (exhibition code 365). Converted into a prototype convertible Yak-40K.

Yak-42 - CCCP-42302 - Russia (USSR) - MAP /1976/
MAP → Design Bureau Yakovlev (MMZ Speed)

Behind Yak-42 are Tu-124 - CCCP-45025 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1963/
Salon for 56 passengers. In the spring of 2002, it was set on fire, partially burned out. The roof has been restored.

Next Tu-104AK - Airborne: 46 (formerly USSR-42390) - Russia (USSR) - Air Force / 1958 /
In 1967 it was converted into Tu-104AK. Received onboard - 46-red. Documented transferred to the Ministry of Defense in military unit 21215. The last flight was made on 16.1.79 in Monino. In total, according to the test program, there were completely 2313 flights with zero gravity. Tu-104 (according to NATO codification: Camel - "Camel") - the first Soviet and third jet passenger aircraft in the world - after the De Havilland Comet and Avro Jetliner. In the period from 1956 to 1958, due to the suspension of Comet flights, the Tu-104 was at that time the only jet airliner in operation in the world. Interestingly, this side 46 red and 48 red were used to train astronauts to simulate weightlessness.

and Il-18V USSR-75737 /1961/. The operator was the Northern Territorial Administration of Civil Aviation (Leningrad a/p Pulkovo). Registered February 15, 1961. First seen in Helsinki on 16 September 1972. Decommissioned in 1977. In July 1977, transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino. On July 12, 1977, he made his last flight to Monino (the crew of the Leningrad Transport Administration of the Civil Aviation, headed by Honored Pilot of the USSR A. Fedotov). Made 13718 flights, flight time 34998 hours. In the 2000s, the cabin was destroyed by fire, the plane was saved by firefighters.

Tu-144S - CCCP-77106 - Russia (USSR) - MAP /1974/
Aircraft legend. The first Tu-144 used for regular postal and freight traffic. The first flight was made on March 4, 1975. December 26, 1975 - the first technical flight Moscow - Alma-Ata. The operator was the Tupolev Design Bureau. Tested from October 1975 to February 1980. Participated in the filming of the film "Mimino". Total flight time 582 hours 36 minutes, made 320 flights. February 29, 1980 arrived at the Air Force Museum in Monino, landed on a dirt airfield! and added to its exposure. In 1982, reinforced chassis were removed from it, still suitable for operation by the remaining Tu-144s and replaced with a chassis of a less advanced design. In 2005 it was damaged by vandals. In May 2009, it was restored and opened to the public. I am proud that the Tu-144 flew to my city, my father managed to fly, at one time, to Moscow on it ... Now I should visit the aviation museum in Ulyanovsk.

PZL M-15 - CCCP-15105 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1980/
Mielec M-15 is a jet agricultural aircraft designed and produced in Poland in the 1970s. by order of the USSR. It remains the only jet agricultural aircraft and the only jet biplane. For his very strange appearance and the howl of a jet engine, he received the nickname "Belphegor" after the demon Belphegor.

An-10A - CCCP-11213 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1960/
The operator was Komi UGA (Syktyvkar). He entered the 75th Aviation Detachment of the Civil Air Fleet on January 18, 1961. First seen at Pulkovo Airport in Leningrad on July 16, 1970. Not excluded from the Soviet register. In January 1976, transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino. January 14, 1976 made the last flight to Monino. Flight time 16360 hours 55 minutes, of which 2271 hours 35 minutes after the last repair. Salon for 112 pass.

An-14A "Bee" - CCCP-81553 / 01 red - Aeroflot - MGA USSR / RF Air Force /1965/
The operator was SPiMVL ( Northern Ways and Local Air Lines). March 18, 1967 entered the Smolensk JSC. In 1970 he was transferred to the USSR Air Force. inflicted side number 01 red. In January 1977, transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino. January 21, 1977 made the last flight to Monino (pilot Litvinchev). Flight time - 703 hours, of which 477 hours after repair, made 677 flights. The An-14 "Bee" (NATO codification: Clod - "Lump") was a Soviet light transport aircraft intended to replace the An-2, made its first flight in 1958 on March 14. It was a short takeoff and landing aircraft designed for operation from unprepared unpaved grounds.

Be-32 - CCCP-67209 - Russia (USSR) - MAP /1971/
Be-30/32 (according to NATO codification: Cuff - "Cuff") - Short-haul passenger aircraft.
Created in the Beriev Design Bureau. The first flight took place on June 8, 1968. Then the aircraft successfully passed tests in various climatic conditions and received positive reviews flight and technical services. An experimental Be-30 aircraft was demonstrated in 1969 at the 28th International Salon in Le Bourget. A total of five Be-30 aircraft were built. In 1976, he took part in the competition for a regional aircraft along with the An-28 in a 14-seat layout.

An-24 - CCCP-46746 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1964/
An-24 USSR-46746 (serial number 47300903) was produced in 1964. The operator was the Ukrainian Territorial Administration of Civil Aviation. Registered August 12, 1964. On June 6, 1964, he entered the Lvov OJSC, where he operated until 1979, making regular flights. Decommissioned in 1979. Flight time 27444 hours, made 24962 flights. The last flight from Lvov to Monino was made on May 24, 1979. In May 1979, it was transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino.

Il-62 - CCCP-86670 - Aeroflot - MGA USSR /1967/
The operator was the Moscow Territorial Administration of Civil Aviation (airport Domodedovo). The first flight was made on September 28, 1967. In December 1967, he entered the aviation technical base of the Domodedovo United Aviation Squadron, where he began regular flights. First seen in Alma-Ata on October 17, 1968. Until May 1981, he made 4288 flights with a flight time of 14891 hours, carried almost half a million passengers. May 16, 1983 transferred to the Air Force Museum in Monino. The last flight was made on July 17, 1983 from Zhukovsky to Monino (crew: crew commander, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR S. G. Bliznyuk, test pilot V. Belousov, test navigator V. Yashin, radio operator I. Kondaurov, flight test engineer V. Gorovoy, lead engineer B. Gavrilov, flight director on the ground Eduard Ivanovich Kuznetsov). Became the 125th full-scale exhibit of the Air Force Museum. Decommissioned in 1983. IL-62 was mass-produced in 1966-1995. A total of 276 aircraft were produced. The last board was built in 2004 for the government of Sudan. Il-62 became the first Soviet jet aircraft capable of non-stop intercontinental flights. The aircraft set several world records for speed and range. For several decades, the Il-62 served as "board number 1" for transporting the leadership of the USSR. A third of all cars produced were exported to socialist countries, primarily to Cuba.

IL-86 - RA-86095 - Aeroflot - Russian Airlines /1988/
Four-engine wide-body passenger aircraft for medium-haul airlines, designed by Ilyushin Design Bureau. The first and most massive Soviet passenger wide-body aircraft. A total of 106 aircraft were produced. He flew in Sheremetyevsky OJSC and Aeroflot.

One of the main attractions of Ulyanovsk, although not as widely known as the Lenin and Goncharov places, is, of course, the leading branch museum civil aviation containing a number of unique exhibits. A feature of the museum is the fact that almost all exhibits of aircraft arrived here on their own.

The Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation Museum is located near the city's airport. It consists of four halls with exhibits that fully illustrate the history of aviation, starting from the period civil war and up to our times. The museum belongs to the highest aviation school the city of Ulyanovsk, where cadets study and study the history of civil aviation. The museum fund is simply huge, numbering more than nine thousand exhibits, among which there is a considerable number of originals, preserved in a single copy and representing truly unique things!

Let's start with the first Soviet passenger aircraft AK-1

The aircraft was built in a single copy in November 1923 with funds contributed by the Latvian riflemen to the fund for the construction of the Soviet air fleet

The aircraft handed over to the Dobrolet company was operated on the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow-Kazan airlines. Accommodates three passengers

The museum displays a replica of the aircraft, made in 1986. The only replica, all other objects of the museum are absolutely authentic

ANT-4 (TB-1). The world's first heavy all-metal twin-engine bomber

In 1929, such an aircraft flew from Moscow to New York.

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In 1934, TB-1 participated in the rescue of the Chelyuskin steamship expedition.

The museum presents the only surviving ANT-4 out of 212 produced

U-2, one of the most massive aircraft in the world. Start of operation - 1929

Yak-12, 1946. A large number of these aircraft remain in service to this day.

Yak-40, 1966

The world's first jet passenger aircraft for local airlines

Yak-42. Medium-haul passenger aircraft, 1975

Legendary "Kukuruznik" An-2. More than 2,000 of these aircraft are currently in operation worldwide, many of them have been flying for more than 40 years.

An-14 "Bee". Developed to replace the An-2, but could not replace it

An-24, 1962. Turboprop passenger aircraft for short and medium haul lines

Let's move on to the Tu family. Tu-104, 1955. The first Soviet jet passenger aircraft

Between 1956 and 1958, the Tu-104 was the only operating jet airliner in the world.

It was with the advent of the Tu-104 that special vehicles, self-propelled ladders began to be introduced, the now-familiar ticketing and baggage check-in systems began to work at airports, buses for passengers appeared, and the current standard of on-board service was first introduced.

Passengers began to be provided with hot meals and soft drinks, flight attendants began to conduct mandatory safety briefings before departure, etc.

Already in 1956-57, the Tu-104 was flying from Vnukovo to London, Budapest, Copenhagen, Beijing, Brussels, Ottawa, Delhi, Prague, etc.

The appearance of the Tu-104 allowed the USSR to quickly reach international level air transportation

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Tu-114. The world's largest and fastest turboprop passenger aircraft. Flew to USA, Cuba, Japan

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The fuselage has two decks connected by a staircase, on the lower of which there are two luggage compartments, a crew rest room and a kitchen, and on the upper - passenger compartment. The kitchen is equipped with a lift for serving dishes to the salon, initially the crew included a chef

This aircraft was released the penultimate of all Tu-114s (in 1964) and is one of three surviving examples of this type of aircraft.

Tu-116, 1958

A passenger aircraft specially converted from a Tu-95 bomber for long-range flights by the leadership of the USSR, built in case of an unforeseen delay in the production of the first Tu-114

It had a pressurized passenger cabin-capsule with portholes built into a slightly converted bomber fuselage, a built-in gangway, including two cabins for 20 people, a kitchen, a toilet, an office space

In total, two copies were built, only one has survived to this day.

Tu-124, 1962

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Tu-124 is actually a smaller copy of the previously developed Tu-104, and both types are similar in appearance, but differ in size, as well as the design of some units

The fate of the Tu-124 was decisively influenced by Khrushchev's instruction to transfer the engines to the tail section of the aircraft, like the French Caravelle he saw. As a result, the large-scale production of the aircraft that had unfolded was discontinued in favor of its deep modification of the Tu-134

Tu-134. One of the most massive passenger aircraft assembled in the Soviet Union

A total of 852 aircraft were built, 130 of which are still in service.

The pearl of the exposition is the world's first supersonic airliner Tu-144

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June 3, 1973 Tu-144 No. 77102 crashed during a demonstration flight at the air show in Le Bourget. Nevertheless, the Tu-144 began to make regular flights on the route Moscow - Alma-Ata

A ticket for this plane cost 68 rubles, while a ticket to Alma-Ata for a regular subsonic plane cost 48 rubles.

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After the second crash of the Tu-144 in a test flight on May 23, 1978, just seven months after the start commercial exploitation, Aeroflot stopped supersonic passenger flights

Of the 16 Tu-144s produced, only two aircraft were engaged in the transportation of passengers on regular routes Moscow - Alma-Ata - these are the hundred and forty-fourth ones under Nos. 77109 and 77110, and only one of them has survived, and it is exhibited in the museum.

Also, this aircraft flew to the international air show in Le Bourget in 1977. At the moment, it is the most complete of all the surviving Tu-144s.

The aircraft is equipped with original engines NK-144A

According to the museum staff, the aircraft cabin is in perfect condition.

The most massive Soviet jet passenger aircraft Tu-154

Let's move on to the Il family. IL-14, 1950

Short-haul twin-engine aircraft designed to replace the obsolete Li-2 and Il-12

In total, more than 3500 aircraft were produced

On this moment only one Il-14 aircraft is in airworthiness condition in Russia, repaired by enthusiasts from St. Petersburg

IL-18. The first Soviet turboprop liner that made its first flight six months before the Tu-114

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IL-28. The first Soviet jet front bomber, carrier of tactical nuclear weapons

IL-62. The first Soviet jet intercontinental passenger aircraft

The first flight was made in 1963. Mass-produced in 1966-1995

A total of 289 aircraft were produced. A third of all cars produced were exported to socialist countries, primarily to Cuba.

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For several decades, the IL-62 served and serves as a government ("board number 1") - in the USSR, Russian Federation and Ukraine

To date, there are no aircraft of this type left in commercial operation in Russia; they fly only in the Air Force, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the special flight squad "Russia"

IL-86 - the first and most massive Soviet / Russian passenger wide-body aircraft

The need for such an aircraft arose in the USSR in 1967, when Aeroflot developed requirements for an aircraft with 350 seats.

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Four aircraft were built in the version of the Il-87 air command post for control armed forces in case of a nuclear conflict

In Soviet times, the main purpose of the Il-86 was domestic regular flights of medium length, in the post-Soviet era, a roomy car began to be used for charter flights to popular resorts

The mass write-off and decommissioning of this type of airliners began in 2001. The reason was, among other things, noise restrictions introduced in the EU, which prevented the Il-86 from flying to most airports in Europe

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MiG-25 - Soviet supersonic high-altitude fighter-interceptor of the third generation

The world's first serial fighter to reach speeds of 3,000 km/h. Multi-purpose aircraft capable of solving both reconnaissance and fighter missions

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Czechoslovak L-29 "Dolphin". The most massive jet trainer in the world

Another copy from Czechoslovakia - L-410 "Turbolet". The first post-war aircraft of foreign production, which entered the Soviet air routes

Polish M-15 "Belfegor". The world's only jet agricultural aircraft

Designed and produced in Poland in the 1970s by order of the USSR

For its strange appearance, it was called "Belphegor" - a demon

Mi-1 is a multipurpose helicopter developed in the late 1940s.

Serial production was carried out in 1954-1960, a total of 2680 machines were built.

Mi-2, also in the coloring of the traffic police

It is widely used to perform many civil and military tasks. Before the end of production in 1992, over 5400 units were built. Even now, the Mi-2 takes part in tenders, competing with its successors Ka-226 and Ansat

Mi-4. The first military transport helicopter of the armed forces of the USSR

In 1950-1970 it was the main transport and landing helicopter of the Warsaw Pact countries

Mi-6 - heavy multipurpose helicopter

It has been built since 1959 at the Rostov Helicopter Plant in both military and civilian versions. In 1964-1978 it was exported

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Helicopter Mi-6 - the most lifting at that time

The museum also presents various options for flight recorders, the so-called. "black boxes"

As you can see, the "black boxes" are actually orange

In general, the museum is excellent. Despite the fact that some aircraft do not look very presentable, they are gradually being painted and soon, one must think, everyone will look good enough. And the staff of the museum, mainly composed of former pilots very friendly and talkative

On this day, Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, the "king of fighters", died of stomach cancer at the age of 53. An aircraft designer whose fighters were used by the Red Army Air Force for more than 10 years.

The fate of Polikarpov as an aircraft designer is an illustration of the history of Russia in the first half of the twentieth century.

Born in the family of a priest. In 1916 he became an engineer, graduating from the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, then working at Russo-Balt at the Sikorsky Design Bureau. After 1918, he moved to Moscow, where he worked at the famous Dux plant (later, Aircraft Plant No. 1).

Immediately before the October Revolution, Russia purchased licenses for the production of a number of Western aircraft, as well as for the world's most powerful (at that time) American Liberty aircraft engine. Polikarpov, relying on English drawings of the best multipurpose aircraft The First World War Airco DH.9A (aka De Havilland DH.9A) created the first Soviet mass-produced combat aircraft, the R-1 reconnaissance aircraft, built in the amount of 1000 copies, which was in service with the Red Army Air Force from 1924 to 1936. At the same time, the world's first fighter was created - the all-metal cantilever monoplane I-1. It was recognized as dangerous for piloting (Gromov became the first Soviet pilot to use a parachute during the tests of the I-1) and although it was built in series, it did not enter service.

In 1928, Polikarpov created two more super-successful aircraft - the R-5 reconnaissance aircraft and the U-2 trainer. Both of these aircraft were mass-produced and served throughout the Great Patriotic War.

But the NEP was ending, the era of the First Five-Year Plans was coming, and Nikolai Nikolaevich, the son of a priest and an employee of an emigrant, turned out to be a malicious counter-revolutionary terrorist. The man who created the aircraft that formed the basis of the national air force turned out to be who? That's right, a pest. And in November 1929 he was sentenced to death without trial.

But somehow it didn’t work out right away and he (without removing the sentence) was sent to a sharashka, TsKB-39, which was located right in Butyrka. Prisons are known to be the best place to design airplanes. Probably in the hope of "flying away from this collective farm to hell." There he met Grigorovich. Yes, with that Grigorovich, who was the first in Russia to start riveting flying boats. I think that Dmitry Pavlovich more than once banged his forehead, remembering his good friend by the name of Sikorsky. In 1931, the OGPU somehow realized that it was not good for a decent aircraft designer, whose planes at that time formed the basis of the Soviet military aviation fleet, to be kept under execution and from the bottom of their hearts threw him a "ten". But then Polikarpov just brought the I-5, a fighter, which in the mid-30s was the basis of fighter aircraft, being built in the amount of 800 pieces, for testing. Stalin and Voroshilov liked the plane (performed by Chkalov) and the "ten" became conditional. By the way, the case against Polikarpov was canceled only in 1956.

Amazingly, Polikarpov, who created the most massive combat aircraft in the Land of the Soviets, did not have his own design bureau until 1936. He was constantly working under someone. After a conditional release, he was first deputy head of a brigade in the Sukhoi Design Bureau, then in the Ilyushin Design Bureau, and only at the beginning of 1936 received his own design bureau (TsKB) at factories No. 21 (Gorky) and No. 84 (Khimki) at the same time. In February 1939, he returned to the Dukes, becoming the chief designer of Aircraft Plant No. 1.

Working "under Ilyushin" Polikarpov in 1933 created the most successful Soviet fighters of the pre-war period - the I-16 monoplane and the I-15 biplane. I-16 became a revolutionary fighter without options. It was the world's first retractable landing gear aircraft. It was produced until 1942 (and according to some sources even until the spring of 1943). The latest modification (type 30) went into production after the start of the war. Despite the fact that the I-16 was inferior in speed to the Bf-109, it was noticeably superior to it in horizontal maneuverability and armament. And he dealt with the German bombers at a time. As a result, in the early years of World War II, he turned out to be a good air defense fighter. Problems with the operation of the latest fighters developed by Yakovlev and Lavochkin led to the fact that shortly before the start of the Battle of Kursk, some aviation commanders turned to Stalin with a request to resume production of the I-16 and I-153.

A total of 10,292 I-16s were produced, of which 2,710 were built in 1940. Captured "Mosca" in Francoist Spain until 1952 were used as training ones, by this very fact refuting allegations that it was difficult to manage.

Nikolai Nikolaevich somehow easily survived the Great Terror during which the aircraft designer Kalinin, the developer of the most massive passenger aircraft of the Soviet Union K-5, was executed and Tupolev and Bartini (the creator of the best Soviet pre-war aircraft) were arrested. passenger airliner Steel-7, which later became the Yer-2 bomber). Grigorovich died himself. From cancer. But in 1938, during the first test flight, its chief pilot Valery Chkalov was killed. Then another tester, Susie. Both of them died during the tests of the newest promising fighter Polikarpov I-180.

But then the purely Soviet-Byzantine "black legend of Polikarpov" begins, composed by the rarest bastard, whose name was Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev.
According to him, after the death of Chkalov, Polikarpov glued his flippers together and was no longer capable of anything, and, as a result, he died from worries due to the fact that he could not help the Soviet country in any way in the time of wars and hardships.

In fact, the history of Polikarpov in 1938-44 clearly demonstrates the mess and corruption that corroded the Stalinist USSR in the pre-war and war years. It is clear that it was impossible to write about this for a long time, especially for those who were personally involved in all this, so they came up with a legend about the decline of the “king of fighters”.

The history of the last years of Polikarpov's life and work is very complex. The so-called factory #51 was really just an empty hangar. Only on April 27, 1940, the new People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry, Shakhurin, ordered to provide Polikarpov with production equipment. The I-180 fighter was eventually brought up and put into mass production, but at first the Gorky plant No. 21 pulled with the organization of it (I-16s were mass-produced there and the plant management did not want them to be reduced premiums for manufactured products, and then it was planned to deploy production of the I-21 Pashinin, one of the "winners" of the competition for young aircraft designers organized by Yakovlev.The I-21 did not have time to bring it to the start of the war and it never went into production.

Then there was an evacuation to Novosibirsk, where Yakovlev put at the disposal of Polikarpov the regional transport garage. Without electricity, water and heat, and people were settled in the circus building. At the same time, Deputy Chief Designer Yangel, a well-known rocket technology designer in the future, was taken away from Polikarpov. When Polikarpov tried to personally resolve his issues with Yakovlev, who was in Novosibirsk, he simply did not accept him. They tried to reach out through Malenkov, to which Yakovlev replied that Polikarpov, figuratively speaking, was mad with fat. He has a plant, a design bureau, so let him not get out ... When Polikarpov (an unbending human being) managed to bring his I-185 super fighter to mass production, Yakovlev, on formal grounds, managed to disrupt the start of work on deploying this production in favor of the aircraft of his friend and accomplice Lavochkin La-5, which was much less advanced and had worse performance characteristics ( authorship this aircraft also not obvious. There is an absolutely fantastic version of the authorship of the project of this device).

Also during these years, Polikarpov developed and tested the "heir" of the I-200 (which is the MiG-3) called the TIS, which had powerful cannon weapons and was intended to become what is now called the "battlefield fighter", then the TIS, a twin-engine fighter similar to for the tasks of the American "Marauder" and the long-range high-speed bomber NB, according to the performance characteristics of the former unique bomber for the Second World War.

In fact, it was Polikarpov, and not Yakovlev and his friends, who during these years held the flag of an advanced aviation power. Not without reason, Stalin, who understood something, awarded Polikarpov the Lenin Prize of the First Degree for the I-185, which had not yet entered the series. At the same time, Ilyushin received only the second degree award for the IL-2.

In my humble opinion, the main problems of Polikarpov in last years of life, in addition to those artificially created by Yakovlev, there were a.) a lack of high-quality engines and b.) Polikarpov’s desire to literally bring his planes to a mirror shine. The second reason may have roots in the late 20s.

The same Yakovlev, by virtue of his position under Stalin, was not particularly afraid of anything and did not particularly reflect on the lack of knowledge of his and his friends' devices. The testers died on his I-26, and the Yak-2 and Yak-4, which were dragged into the series, built on the basis of the record-breaking BB-22 aircraft, were discontinued in the first days of the war, when it turned out that they were not suitable for modern warfare at all. Lavochkin's planes were affectionately called "lacquered guaranteed coffins" in parts, and Gurevich's creation was discontinued again due to unsuitability for modern warfare in 1942. To tear off, they tore off the drawings from Polikarpov, but they did not understand what to do next with them.

As a result, for almost the entire war, the best pilots tried to get American fighters at their disposal. First the Kittyhawk, and then the Ercobra.
And in the fall of 1945, the so-called "Aviation case" broke out, when Yakovlev, whom Vasily Stalin pinned to the wall with massive deliveries of defective Yak-9s, turned the arrows on other leaders of the aviation industry and aviation, as a result of which the air marshal, commander of the aviation of the Far Eastern Military District Khudyakov (Khanferyants) was shot (at the end of the Great Patriotic War he served as chief of staff of the Air Force), Shakhurin received 7 years in the camps, and Novikov, the commander of the country's Air Force - 6. They were accused of mass deliveries of defective engines and aircraft to active units. Shakhurin, Novikov and others pleaded guilty, but Khudyakov did not.

Why did the "Aviation Business" arise at all? Yes, simple. The country's leadership decided that the Soviet aviation industry is in the deepest ass and is absolutely uncompetitive with the American and English. In fact, this was clear even during the war, but it was not before. And as soon as the war ended, the debriefing began immediately. The designers themselves were not touched. Although the planes of neither Lavochkin nor Yakovlev were never produced in large series again, Tupolev, Sukhoi and Gurevich took the first roles. And a little later, for a short time, Myasishchev. I think if Polikarpov lived to see these events, he would be able to fully restore his position in the Soviet aviation industry.

And as the last stroke - soon after the death of Polikarpov, all of his experimental aircraft were destroyed by order of Yakovlev.