Andrey Nikolaevich Tupolev biography. Biography An Tupolev biography
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Tupolev Andrei Nikolaevich - chief designer of OKB-156 of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry of the USSR; General Designer of OKB-156 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR; Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service, Moscow.
Born on October 29 (November 10), 1888 in the estate of Pustomazovo, Suvorov volost, Korchevsky district, Tver province (now does not exist, the territory of the Kimrsky district of the Tver region). Russian. By origin from the mother from the nobility, from the father from the raznochintsy. In 1906 he graduated from the Tver gymnasium.
In 1908 he entered the Imperial Technical School (later the Moscow Higher Technical School), in 1918 he graduated with honors. The long period of study is due to the fact that for participation in student unrest, by order of the police, Tupolev was expelled from the school in 1911 and sent to his homeland under police supervision for two years. In the period of study since 1909 - a member of the aeronautical circle of Professor N.E. Zhukovsky, one of his favorite students. Participated in the construction of a glider, on which he independently made the first flight (1910). In 1916-1918, Tupolev participated in the work of the first aviation settlement bureau in Russia; designed the first wind tunnels at the school.
After the October Revolution, together with N.E. Zhukovsky was the organizer and one of the leaders of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). In 1918-1936, he was a member of the TsAGI board and deputy head of the institute for experimental all-metal aircraft construction.
Since 1922 - Chairman of the Commission for the construction of metal aircraft at TsAGI, initiator and one of the organizers of the production of the first Soviet aviation alloy - chain-aluminum. From this year, an experimental design bureau formed and headed by him for the design and production of all-metal aircraft of various classes began to operate in the TsAGI system. Since 1922 - Chief Designer of this design bureau. In 1922-1936 he was one of the creators of the scientific and technical base of TsAGI, the developer of projects for a number of laboratories, wind tunnels, an experimental hydraulic channel, the country's first pilot plant for the construction of all-metal aircraft.
In 1923, Tupolev created his first light aircraft of a mixed design (ANT-1), in 1924 - the first Soviet all-metal aircraft (ANT-2), in 1925 - the first combat all-metal aircraft (ANT-Z), built in series (over 100 copies) and entered service as a reconnaissance R-3. For the first time in world practice, Tupolev scientifically substantiated the rationality of the scheme of a cantilever all-metal monoplane with a wing profile of a large construction height, with engines located in its toe. He also created such an aircraft, which had no analogues in the world (ANT-4) in 1925, over 200 aircraft were built, it was produced as a TB-1 bomber.
As the head of the design bureau, Tupolev developed and put into practice the technology of large-scale production of light and heavy metal aircraft. Under his leadership, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, passenger, transport, marine, special record-breaking aircraft, as well as snowmobiles, torpedo boats, gondolas, power plants and the plumage of the first Soviet airships were designed. He introduced into the practice of domestic aircraft construction the organization of branches of the main design bureau at serial plants, which significantly accelerated the production of machines; the creation at the design bureau of its own flight-finishing bases, which reduced the time for both factory and state tests of experimental machines. Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1933).
Since 1930 - chief designer of TsAGI. Since 1931 - Deputy Head of the Central Design Bureau of TsAGI. Since 1932 - head of the design department of the experimental construction sector of TsAGI. Since 1933 - Deputy Head of TsAGI for the pilot construction sector. An outstanding achievement of design thought was the ANT-7 aircraft (reconnaissance R-6, more than 400 vehicles were produced), the heavy bomber TB-3 (ANT-6, more than 800 vehicles were produced, was used in all pre-war conflicts and in the Great Patriotic War), high-speed bomber SB (ANT-40, more than 6600 vehicles were produced) and a number of other types that remained experimental or were produced in small series. Of great importance for the development of the Soviet aviation industry was the creation of unique propaganda aircraft such as "Pravda", "Maxim Gorky", "Motherland".
In 1936, at the suggestion of the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry of the USSR Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Tupolev was appointed First Deputy Head and Chief Engineer of the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, at the same time he headed a design bureau separated from the TsAGI system with a prototype design plant (Aviation Plant No. 156).
On October 21, 1937, the outstanding aircraft designer A.N. Tupolev was unreasonably arrested on charges of sabotage and espionage. He and the aircraft designer V.M. Petlyakov was charged with organizing and leading the "Russian Fascist Party", as well as spying for France.
On May 28, 1940, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR was convicted under Art. 58-6, 58-7, 58-9 and 58-11 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to 15 years in prison with disqualification for 5 years. By decree of December 27, 1940, he was deprived of all state awards. While imprisoned, he worked in a special TsKB-29 ("Special Technical Bureau of the NKVD of the USSR"), which later became known as the "Tupolev Sharaga". Here he created a front-line bomber "103" (Tu-2).
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 19, 1941, A.N. Tupolev was released ahead of schedule from further serving his sentence with the removal of a criminal record. State awards were returned by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 28, 1941. He was rehabilitated only by the Determination of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR of April 9, 1955.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was evacuated to Omsk, where he was appointed chief designer of plant No. 166 of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry of the USSR, and managed to restore the design bureau.
The main task during the war years was the refinement and serial production of the Tu-2 (Pe-2) bomber. Over 2500 copies of this aircraft were built. In total, the TB-1, TB-3, SB, TB-7, MTB-2, Tu-2 reconnaissance aircraft R-6, torpedo boats G-4, G-5, created by Tupolev, participated in the Great Patriotic War.
In 1943, Tupolev returned to Moscow and was appointed chief designer and responsible head of plant No. 156, where the main base of A.N. Tupolev.
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the SSR of September 16, 1945 "for outstanding services in organizing the production of aircraft, tanks, engines, weapons and ammunition, as well as for the creation and development of new models of military equipment and their provision of the Red Army and Navy in the years Great Patriotic War" in the group of leaders of the defense industry and weapons designers Tupolev Andrei Nikolaevich He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
In the post-war period, under the leadership of Tupolev, a family of military aircraft was created. Among them are the Tu-4 strategic bomber (1947), the first Soviet jet bomber Tu-12 (1947), the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber (1956), the Tu-16 long-range bomber bomber (1953), the Tu-22 supersonic bomber ( 1959) and many others.
In 1956 A.N. Tupolev was appointed General Designer of OKB-156 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1953.
In 1956-1957, a new division was created at the Tupolev Design Bureau, whose task was to develop unmanned aerial vehicles. Cruise missiles "121", "123", ZUR "131", unmanned reconnaissance aircraft Tu-123 "Yastreb" were developed. Work was underway on the planning hypersonic vehicle "130" and the rocket plane "136" ("Zvezda").
Since 1955, work has been carried out on bombers with a nuclear power plant (Yasu). After the flights of the Tu-95LAL flying laboratory, it was planned to create an experimental Tu-119 aircraft with YaSU and supersonic bombers "120".
For outstanding services in the creation of new aviation equipment and the labor heroism shown at the same time, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 12, 1957, he was awarded the second gold medal "Hammer and Sickle".
At the same time, civil aviation industry also developed widely, although Tupolev took the first steps in this direction back in the early 1930s. On the basis of the Tu-16 bomber in 1955, the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft Tu-104 was created. It was followed by the first turboprop intercontinental aircraft Tu-114 (1957), short and medium-range aircraft Tu-110 (1957), Tu-124 (1960), Tu-134 (1967), Tu-154 (1970), as well as supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 (together with A.A. Tupolev).
Tupolev's planes became the basis of the fleet of the largest aviation company in the world, Aeroflot, and were operated in dozens of countries.
Over 100 types of aircraft were designed under Tupolev's leadership, 70 of which were mass-produced. On his aircraft, 78 world records were set, about 30 outstanding flights were made. Creator of an outstanding school of domestic aircraft construction, from which dozens of outstanding designers came out.
For exceptional merits in the development of aviation science and Soviet aircraft construction, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 22, 1972, he was awarded the third gold medal "Hammer and Sickle".
Lived in the hero city of Moscow. Died December 23, 1972. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Major General of the Aviation Engineering Service (08/19/1944).
Lieutenant General of the Aviation Engineering Service (08/08/1947, since 1951 - Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Technical Service).
Colonel General of the Engineering and Technical Service (10/25/1967).Awarded 8 Orders of Lenin (02/21/1933, 09/16/1945, 08/10/1947, 01/14/1949, 12/6/1949, 02/3/1953, 11/9/1958, 11/6/1968), orders of the October Revolution (04/26/1971), Suvorov 2- th degree (08/19/1944), Patriotic War 1st degree (06/10/1945), 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1927; 12/22/1933), Orders of the Red Star (08/18/1933), "Badge of Honor" (08/13/1936 ), medals, a foreign award - the Order of Georgy Dimitrov (1964, Bulgaria).
Honorary citizen of Paris (1964) and New York, as well as the city of Zhukovsky, Moscow Region (1968).
Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1957), four Stalin Prizes of the 1st degree (1943, 1948, 1949, 1952), the State Prize of the USSR (1972).
Member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR since 1929. Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR since 1950.
Honorary Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain (1970) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1971). He was awarded the N.E. Zhukovsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958), FAI Gold Aviation Medal (1958), Leonardo da Vinci Prize (1971), Gold Medal of the Society of the Founders of French Aviation (1971).
The bronze bust of the Hero was installed in the city of Kimry, Tver Region. An embankment in Moscow, streets in St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Ulyanovsk, Kimry and Zhukovsky are named after A.N. Tupolev. On the buildings in Moscow and Omsk, in which A.N. Tupolev worked, and in Tver, on the building where he studied, memorial plaques were installed.
Tupolev's name is given to the Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex in Moscow (which continues the traditions of the legendary Design Bureau of A.N. Tupolev), the Kazan Aviation Institute, an island in the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea.
Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev developed over 100 types of aircraft, 70 of which were mass-produced. 78 world records were won on Tupolev's aircraft, 28 unique flights were made, including the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer on the ANT-4, non-stop flights to the USA over the North Pole by the crews of V. P. Chkalov and M. M. Gromov on the ANT-25 , landing of the scientific expedition "North Pole" headed by ID Papanin.
Andrei Nikolaevich was born on October 29 (November 10), 1888 in the village of Pustomazovo, Tver province (now Kalinin region), Korchevsky district, Suvorov volost, in a large family of Nikolai Ivanovich and Anna Vasilievna Tupolev. Anna Vasilievna, nee Lisitsyna (1850-1928), the daughter of a court investigator, was born in Tiflis, graduated from the Tver gymnasium. She spoke fluent French and German, played the piano, taught the children herself and kept house.
Nikolai Ivanovich Tupolev (1842-2911), according to the memoirs of Andrei Nikolaevich, was from the Siberian Cossacks, from Surgut. After graduating from the Tobolsk gymnasium in 1860, he began working as a teacher of arithmetic and geometry in the Berezovsky district school, and two years later, wanting to continue his education, he went to Moscow and entered the university. However, being involved in student unrest, he did not receive a diploma and in 1867 he again taught arithmetic and geometry, but already at the Uglich district school. The police do not leave him in the mowing here either: since May 1870, Nikolai Ivanovich has been under secret supervision. He leaves for the Tver province, where he holds the position of notary of the Tver district court for the city of Korchevo.
Andrei Nikolayevich recalled that "his father was weary of the service... and in 1876 he acquired a small plot of land 25 km from Kimry, in the Tver province, where he settled down to farm"1. And further Andrei Nikolaevich writes; “Our family was very friendly and big. The elder brother Sergey, then Tatyana, Maria, Nikolai, Vera, me and Natalya. Mother gave all her strength and all her soul to the family. I would not say that the family was patriarchal, the family was, undeniably cutting-edge. Life in the family was modest."
Having received his primary education at home, Andrei Nikolaevich entered the Tver gymnasium in 1901, from which he graduated in May 1908.
In the autumn of 1908 he became a student of the mechanical faculty of the Moscow Technical School.
In October 1909, N. E. Zhukovsky began to read a course of lectures on aeronautics at the IMTU. He also became the honorary chairman of the Aeronautical Circle, formed on the initiative of students. Andrei Tupolev appeared in the Aeronautical Circle in December 1909, when an exhibition was being prepared for the XII Congress of Naturalists and Physicians with an aeronautics subsection chaired by Nikolai Yegorovich.
Already in his second year, Tupolev developed a wind tunnel and built a biplane glider made of wood and canvas, on which he flew across the Yauza with his comrades from the circle.
The journal "Library of Aeronautics" reported: "Particularly interesting is the model of the Antoinette airplane of the latest design (the work of the student-technician Tupolev), very well executed with all the smallest details."
In 1911, A.N. Tupolev was arrested for participating in gatherings and distributing leaflets. The student was soon released, but expelled from MTU for an indefinite period. Even Zhukovsky could not help him. Andrei Nikolaevich returned to studies only in 1914.
In 1915, he was invited to head the hydroplane department of the Dux aircraft factory, and in 1917, he was appointed head of the settlement department of the Air Force Control Bureau. He continues to cooperate with N.E. Zhukovsky and becomes his closest student and assistant.
On June 11, 1918, Andrei Nikolaevich defended at the State Testing Commission of the Moscow Higher Technical School "Special Project" - "Experience in the development of a hydroplane according to wind tunnel tests" and received the title of mechanical engineer (with honors). At this time (June 15-25), the II All-Russian (first Soviet) aviation congress was held in Moscow, at which N. E. Zhukovsky, assessing the significance of Andrey Nikolayevich’s thesis, said: “... of our employees, six people presented airplane projects new systems and received the title of mechanical engineer.One of these projects - a hydroplane, presented by our engineer Tupolev, represents an outstanding study of how it rises from the water, how it sits on the water, and thanks to the research of a young scientist who took advantage of English experiments, this matter is quite it turned out. If these studies were published, they would be glory for Russian scientific aviation. "
Since 1918 he has been working at TsAGI under the direction of N.E. Zhukovsky. In 1919, Andrey Nikolayevich also worked in the commission for the construction of snowmobiles as deputy chairman of prof. N. R. Brilling.
On April 5, 1921, at a meeting of TsAGI researchers, Andrei Nikolayevich was unanimously elected as a fellow director of the institute. At the same meeting, it was decided to introduce the heads of all departments to the TsAGI board. Andrei Nikolaevich, as the head of the department, was a member of the collegium until 1930 - the beginning of the reorganization of TsAGI.
Since the beginning of the 1920s, A. N. Tupolev has been fighting for the introduction of light metal-duralumin into the domestic aircraft industry in order to move on to the construction of all-metal aircraft in the coming years. The first thing that needed to be done was to start producing domestic light and strong aluminum alloy suitable for aircraft construction, study its properties, develop new design principles, create a range of profiles used and the technology for their production, etc. The discussion of this issue at TsAGI ended with the fact that The TsAGI board, convinced by the arguments of Andrey Nikolayevich, submitted to the Scientific Committee of the Air Force (NC, UVVF) a proposal to organize the production of domestic duralumin.
After the snowmobile, TsAGI was given the task of building a glider, a high-speed vessel capable of conducting reconnaissance on shallow rivers. Since there was no such experience in shipbuilding, I had to turn to the experiments of D.P. Grigorovich on a flying boat. In the middle of 1921, the first GANT 1 was ready.
The experience gained in the development and construction of snowmobiles and gliders proved to be necessary in the construction of the first aircraft.
In June 1923, the construction of the first all-metal river glider ANT-2 began. And in November, A. N. Tupolev already tested it on the Yauza River. With a 30 hp engine. from. with an ANT-2 propeller showed a speed of 21.5 knots (40.0 km / h). When designing the glider and during its testing, some design problems were solved; it was possible, for example, to achieve the creation of a waterproof riveted seam. In the future, with a more powerful Siemens engine of 75 hp. from. ANT-2 was operated in Chuvashia on the line Cheboksary - Vasilsursk, taking on board three or four people.
In March 1927, a boat was built and sent to the hydrodrome created by that time, which received the name "Firstborn".
"Pervenets" was the first engineering structure built entirely of duralumin and designed for operation at sea. It had a displacement of 9 tons, was armed with a 450 mm torpedo and one 7.62 mm machine gun. Two motors of 600 hp. from. allowed to develop a maximum speed in calm water up to 54 knots (JOO km / h), and with an economic course, up to 30 knots (55.6 km / h). The radius of action in this case was 200 miles (370 km) and 340 miles (630 km), respectively. It was equipped with a night sight, a transceiver radio station. The crew included a helmsman, a machine gunner, a mechanic, a spare.
Glisser ANT-2, 1927. Right G.M. Musinyants, A.N. Tupolev, Yu.N. Flaxerman, A.A. Boikov, A.A. Arkhangelsky, N.I. Petrov
In April 1922, under the leadership of A.N. Tupolev, the design of a single-seat aircraft AHT-I began. It was a small sports cantilever monoplane with a wingspan of 7.2 m, of mixed design - like the first snowmobile, like the first glider. During the design process, studies were carried out in the MVTU wind tunnel, the main elements were subjected to static tests. The plane was assembled on the second floor of the building now occupied by the N. E. Zhukovsky Science and Memorial Museum. In October 1923, the construction was completed and the first aircraft designed by Tupolev was tested.
In May 1923, after the creation of all-metal snowmobiles and a glider, Andrei Nikolaevich and his team began designing the ANT-2 aircraft. According to the scheme, it was a cantilever high-wing aircraft. 100 hp air-cooled engine; the passenger cabin accommodated two people sitting facing each other; in the "reloading" version, a third could be placed. The cockpit is open.
On May 27, the aircraft was demonstrated to the leadership of the UVVS and TsAGI. ANT-2 successfully passed the tests. A speed of 169.7 km/h was reached on the measuring kilometer. With two passengers, he climbed 1000m in 7 minutes, 2000m in 17 minutes, 3000m in 39 minutes. The ceiling was not reached. With three passengers (transshipment option), the height of 2000 m was reached in 25 minutes.
Compared to a similar machine of those years by the Bristol company, the ANT-2, with the same engine power and the same number of passengers, had a higher flight speed and a lower weight of the structure. Already the first passenger aircraft of A. N. Tupolev was in no way inferior to the aircraft of a well-known English company.
The plane in 1926 successfully flew over the capitals of Europe in 4 days (Moscow - Berlin - Paris - Vienna - Prague - Moscow). Another ANT-3 flew 20,000 kilometers from Moscow to Tokyo and back.
In the 1920s, Andrei Nikolaevich reviews and takes an indispensable part in the consideration by the TsAGI board of aircraft projects proposed by other organizations. At the forefront, he always put the state, and not departmental or personal interests, even if it concerned himself.
Two light single-engine all-metal aircraft have been created, experience has been gained, and Andrei Nikolayevich is starting to realize his main goal - the creation of heavy aircraft.
In November 1924, the Special Technical Bureau for Military Inventions (Ostekhbyuro), on the basis of these studies, gave TsAGI an assignment to design a heavy twin-engine bomber.
A strict construction period has been set - nine months. He persevered in spite of all the difficulties. On November 26, 1925, pilot A.I. Tomashevsky first took the ANT-4 into the air. State tests of the ANT-4 continued until July 15, 1926. During the tests, pilot A.I. - in 12 hours the plane flew 2000 km with a load of 1000 kg.
Since that time, especially after the appearance of ANT-4 in the USA, they began to copy the scheme proposed by A. N. Tupolev abroad. In fact, the designs of all subsequent heavy bombers were based on the TB-1 scheme. The constructive solution for unloading the wing, proposed by Andrey Nikolaevich, turned out to be so effective that it was accepted all over the world and has remained practically the only one to date.
With the crew of the "Country of the Soviets". From left: F. Boltov, B. Sterligov, A. Tupolev, D. Fufaev, S. Shestakov
The operational reliability of the ANT-4 has been tested under extreme conditions. A unique flight from Moscow to New York was made on the ANT-4 "Country of Soviets" aircraft. It lasted from August 23 to November 1, 1929. The distance of 21,242 km was covered under extremely adverse weather conditions (fogs alternated with storms and storms on the route) in 142 flight hours.
The aviation department of TsAGI, under the leadership of Andrei Nikolaevich, designed and built three aircraft - ANT-1, ANT-2 and ANT-3. An order was received for the construction of two more aircraft. TsAGI has become a recognized center for the design and production of all-metal aircraft. The volume of Air Force tasks for new, more complex aircraft has increased. The capabilities of the MVTU laboratories no longer corresponded to the tasks facing TsAGI.
In July 1929, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On the state of defense of the USSR." In particular, it provided for a radical technical reconstruction of aviation. The Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR approved a program for the creation of new aircraft; the main attention was paid to heavy bomber aircraft.
The task was fully consistent with the heavy four-engine bomber ANT-6 (TB-3), developed at TsAGI since the end of 1925 on the initiative and under the leadership of Andrei Nikolayevich. The main idea put by Andrey Nikolaevich as the basis for ensuring the efficiency of heavy aircraft - wing unloading and a thick profile at the wing root - found its brilliant embodiment in the design of the ANT-6.
General information (part 2)
In December 1930, the world's first four-engine all-metal cantilever monoplane ANT-6, built in the new AGOS building, under the leadership of A.N. Tupolev, began to undergo flight tests.
Already in February 1931, the Air Force Administration came to the conclusion that the aircraft "according to its flight data is a completely modern bomber at the level of the best foreign aircraft." It was decided to launch it in a series.
In 1933-1934. 3 TB-3 aircraft with demonstration flights each visited Warsaw, Prague, Rome, Vienna and Paris, causing the admiration of experts. When the Soviet government transferred 150 TB-3s to the Far East in 1934, the Japanese aggressors had to abandon the occupation of Korea and Manchuria.
By the mid-1930s, the USSR was the only country in the world that had mass-produced such huge machines as the TB-3. These excellent aircraft became the basis on which new areas of the Air Force were born and successfully developed - airborne troops, military transport aviation.
In a report at a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council of TsAGI on August 15, 1933, A. N. Tupolev, talking about the work related to the modification and re-equipment of TB-3 carried out in the first half of the year, noted that "-.. at the moment TB-3 we have covered three world records: flight with a heavy load on the range, duration and flight speed. In other words, ... in the face of TB-3 we have a completely modern, powerful and heavily armed machine, quite modern even today" .
By creating only this machine, a milestone for the world aircraft industry, Andrey Nikolayevich would have immortalized his name in the history of aviation.
At the end of 1932, the 40th anniversary of the literary activity of A. M. Gorky was celebrated. The editor of the Ogonyok magazine, the well-known journalist Mikhail Koltsov, proposed building a huge, unprecedented propaganda aircraft, a giant aircraft, in honor of Gorky. The idea was supported by a meeting of employees of the magazine and newspaper association. Fundraising for the construction of a multi-engine aircraft began, the All-Union Committee for the Construction of Maxim Gorky was elected, which included more than 70 representatives of figures in technology, art, literature, among them A. N. Tupolev, V. E. Meyerhold, Mate Zalka, V And Kachalov.
Such a complex technical task, which has no analogues in the world aircraft industry, can only be handled by the TsAGI team under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev. In March 1933, the All-Union Committee signed an agreement with TsAGI. Under the contract, an aircraft that met the accepted technical requirements was to be presented for factory testing, that is, taken to the airfield in an unprecedentedly short time (one year and two months), by May 1, 1934.
June 17, 1934 the aircraft "Maxim Gorky" made its first flight. Andrei Nikolaevich was confident in the reliability of his aircraft, and already on the third day after the start of the tests, June 19, 1934, "Maxim Gorky participated in the parade in honor of the return of the Chelyuskin heroes. Regular flights of the giant aircraft began.
In the same year, 1934, world records were set on the Maxim Gorky for carrying capacity - 10 and 15 tons to a height of 5000 m.
The transition to such colossal machines required the solution of a number of scientific and purely engineering problems. Andrei Nikolaevich believed that the experience gained during the creation of the ANT-25 served as the basis for this. It was shown that with a large elongation, vibration can be avoided and, as Andrei Nikolaevich said, "revolutionary unloading" can be achieved. He called revolutionary unloading his idea of placement in the wing of a large elongation according to its span of cargo-engines, fuel tanks, shooting installations, service rooms, as on the Maxim Gorky. This made it possible to increase the wing span without increasing bending loads at its root in flight. Tupolev believed that "unloading and elongation - these are the two main issues in terms of raising the aerodynamic qualities of the machine. This joint - unloading and elongation - gave better aerodynamics and revolutionary expanded our capabilities."
Starting from the graduation project, hydroaviation has always been in the field of view of A. N. Tupolev. In 1921, he taught the course "Hydroaviation" at the Institute of Engineers of the Red Air Fleet. N. E. Zhukovsky. Gliders and torpedo boats were a transitional step towards the creation of flying boats. Already in 1925, the Naval Department gave the task to TsAGI to develop a marine long-range reconnaissance aircraft (MDR). But at that time, AGOS was loaded with more urgent work, and Tupolev could not immediately begin its implementation in full. As an intermediate solution, as noted earlier, Andrei Nikolaevich puts on floats first the newly built (in August 1925) ANT-4 (TB-1), and then the ANT-7 (R-6). Both machines have been successfully operated on a float chassis for a long time.
In 1933, the design of a large seaplane ANT-22 (MK-1, sea cruiser) began in the brigade of heavy naval aircraft. The requirements of the customer - reconnaissance of remote sea areas, the ability to deliver bombing and torpedo strikes, high seaworthiness - determined the features of the machine. It was carried out according to the scheme of a catamaran with six engines in three tandem installations on the center section.
In the future, Andrey Nikolayevich no longer returned to seaplanes: with an increase in flight range, with the solution of the problem of refueling in the air, land aircraft became accessible to any point of the oceans.
In the first half of the thirties, the design bureau of A. N. Tupolev in the class of bombers became the leading world-class aircraft manufacturing company with experience in large-scale production of heavy machines. Thanks to this, the domestic aviation industry has received a powerful development. The task of winning the world distance record, one of the main indicators for heavy vehicles, has become real.
In 1931, a special commission was formed under the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR to build a record-breaking aircraft for long-range non-stop flight. Andrey Nikolaevich prepared a preliminary design of the aircraft; The government decided to build an aircraft designed by Tupolev - ANT-25 (RD-1 - "Range Record") with an M-34 engine for flight to a design range of 13,000 km and a guaranteed range of 10,000 km.
On June 22, 1933, the first flight of the new aircraft took place. And on September 10, his understudy took off into the air. The chief pilot who tested the ANT-25 aircraft was M. M. Gromov.
The legendary flights Moscow - Franz Josef Land - Petropavlovsk - in Kamchatka by V. Chkalov, G. Baidukov and A. Belyakov on July 22, 1936 and Moscow - Portsland (USA) by the crew of V. Chkalov were made on this plane.
Having set the task of creating the best aircraft in the world, Andrey Nikolayevich, together with the teams of the design bureaus and departments of TsAGI, carried out tremendous scientific and experimental work, and by the mid-30s, A. N. Tupolev's design bureau began to develop a new class of light and heavy all-metal aircraft with wing, cantilever monoplanes with retractable landing gear and a mechanized wing, in many ways ahead of the aircraft of the capitalist countries. Aircraft of this class, built in 1933-1937, include: ANT-21, a twin-engine multi-seat fighter (MI-3); ANT-31, single-seat single-engine fighter (I-14); ANT-36, combat version of ANT-25, long-range bomber (DB-1); ANT-40, twin-engine high-speed bomber (SB); ANT-46, twin-engine, two-seat fighter (DI-8); ANT-29, twin-engine two-seat cannon fighter (DIP); ANT-37, twin-engine long-range bomber (DB-2); ANT-41, twin-engine torpedo bomber (T-1); ANT-35, twin-engine passenger aircraft (PS-35); ANT-42, four-engine heavy bomber (TB-7); ANT-44, four-engine naval heavy bomber (MTB-2), amphibian.
The last planes were produced without Tupolev. In 1937, the aircraft designer was suspended from work and arrested. At first he was kept in the Lubyanka, then he was transferred to the Butyrka prison. The investigator tried to obtain recognition of the aircraft designer that he had sold the drawings of the aircraft abroad.
At the end of 1938-beginning of 1939, the arrested specialists were gathered in Bolshevo to be used for their intended purpose. Among them was A.N. Tupolev, around whom several people grouped, who became the core of the future design bureau. It was behind bars that Tupolev and his associates formulated a proposal for the ANT-58 (TU-2).
In the fall of 1940, the aircraft began to be tested. A speed of 643 km / h was achieved - more than that of modern fighters. Stalin decided to build the aircraft in a mass series. Everyone was waiting for release. However, the developers began to impose new requirements, in particular on the placement of the crew in one cabin.
Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev spent almost a year in Moscow prisons (on Lubyanka and Butyrki), and then for about three years in another prison - the Central Design Bureau No. 29 (TsKB-29) of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, where he was instructed to create a front-line dive bomber. TsKB-29 was located first in Bolshevo in the former labor commune of the OGPU, and later in the building of KOSOS, built shortly before that on the idea of Tupolev, where the Oak Hall, conceived by him as a reception hall, became one of the bedrooms for "enemies of the people".
Neither low slander, nor hardships broke Andrei Nikolaevich. And in these sometimes infinitely difficult conditions, he, giving all his strength to work for the good of the Motherland, managed to rally capable, thinking people around him. Andrei Nikolaevich's associates recalled that when he was assigned to work on "103", he compiled a list of the necessary specialists, including scientists and engineers whom he knew from joint work.
As it turned out later, this list saved a lot of people from death. About 100 prisoners were brought to TsKB-29 from prisons and camps, regardless of the "formulas of the accusation", - specialists, among whom were not only aircraft. So, S.P. Korolev (in 1930 Andrey Nikolaevich was the head of his graduation project), the chief designer of plant No. 1 D.S. Markov, who was already halfway from the Saratov central to the Kolyma, and the chief engineer A. S. Ivanov, a specialist in the field of non-metallic materials, A. S. Fainshtein, a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Yu. A. Krutkov, and many others.
For the development of the Tu-2 Andrei Nikolaevich in 1943 was awarded the State Prize of the first degree. In August 1944, he was awarded the rank of major general of the IAS, at the same time he was awarded the Order of Suvorov, II degree. On September 16, 1945, by decree of the Supreme Council "For work in the field of national defense during the Great Patriotic War against non-fascist invaders," Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal. This award was a recognition of all the work of Andrei Nikolaevich in the organization of the Soviet aircraft industry, in the creation of heavy aircraft.
All 1418 days of the Great Patriotic War, the crews of the Air Force units fought on aircraft created by the design bureau of A. N. Tupolev. Both military and civilian vehicles, built in large and small series, were used in the battles. In total, about 5,000 ANT and Tu aircraft participated in the Great Patriotic War: about 150 ANT-4 (TB-1) aircraft, about 600 ANT-6 (TB-3) used as bombers, aircraft carriers as part of the "link" and landing, about 300 ANT-7 (R-6) - glider tugs for delivering goods to partisans, up to 60 ANT-9 (PS-9) - transport, sanitary and landing, about 3000 ANT-40 (SB) - bombers, military - transport and towing gliders, 93 ANT-42 (TB-7, Pe-8) bombers, ANT-44 (MTB-2) - bomber and, finally, about 800 Tu-2 (ANT-58), which in many ways brought the war to a victorious end.
The aggressive plans of the new pretenders to world domination, who owned the atomic bomb, which arose at the end of the Second World War, demanded special measures from the leadership of our country to ensure defense capability. Among others, it was decided to create a heavy strategic bomber capable of carrying an atomic bomb.
Even before this decision, Andrey Nikolayevich had already developed a project and a model of the "64" (ANT-64) aircraft, capable of solving the assigned task and surpassing the American "super-fortress" B-29 in its expected flight characteristics. But since the Americans had already proved that it was possible to drop atomic bombs from the B-29, Stalin instructed to build an exact copy of the B-29.
The planes assembled in Kazan were tested near Moscow, then on long-distance flights in Central Asia. Stalin signed the act of acceptance of the aircraft, changing the name to "Tu-4".
For organizing the production of Tu-4, A.N. Tupolev was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1947, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general of the engineering and technical service.
In January 1951, a four-engine Tu-85 strategic bomber with a mass of more than 100 tons was tested. The combat range was 12,000 km.
The creation of the Tu-85 aircraft, in which all the best achievements of aviation science and technology were embodied, was the result of work on heavy aircraft with a straight wing and piston engines.
Serial construction of the aircraft was not started. By this time, under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev, the research and experimental development teams of the Design Bureau, TsAGI and other institutes showed the fundamental possibility of creating long-range jet aircraft with high cruising speed, so the Air Force lost interest in the Tu-85 aircraft.
A. N. Tupolev was confident in the possibility of creating a heavy transonic aircraft, for which the normal physical efforts of the pilot are sufficient to control. He managed to inspire and organize many scientists and engineers to solve this and many other equally important problems for mastering high flight speeds. Facilitating this work, he creates a number of aircraft that allow confirming the recommendations of science and gaining the experience necessary for designers to create a heavy transonic aircraft.
On June 27, 1947, the Tu-12 aircraft took off, pilot L.D. Flight). Andrey Nikolayevich jokingly remarked after the flight; "Well, now we have seen with our own eyes that you can fly without a propeller." This flight marked the beginning of the jet era in the Design Bureau. On the Tu-12, they studied the problems that the new technology posed: sealing fuel wires for kerosene, protecting the fuselage from a jet of flame. Based on this experience, they decided to build a Tu-14 front-line bomber, which became the prototype for subsequent machines.
After working on the Tu-14, Tupolev suggested adding a high-speed swept-wing bomber to the design bureau's work plan. The proposal was approved, work began on the Tu-82 medium bomber with a 30-40 degree sweep wing. In the summer of 1949, the car was at the airfield. The tests were completed quickly and gave good results. The Tu-82 was followed by the Tu-91 close infantry support bomber.
By January 1949, when A.N. Tupolev's 60th birthday was celebrated, his design bureau had developed 57 aircraft, built and tested 32, 21 types went into mass production. According to the merit of the hero of the day, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.
In the winter of 1952, tests began on the Tu-16 multi-ton jet machine. Stalin suggested that Tupolev add two more engines and create an intercontinental bomber capable of flying to America and back. The aircraft designer refused to solve the problem with the existing engines, but the range of the Tu-16 was increased by the use of tanker aircraft. Tu-16 was produced not only in the USSR, but also in China and is still in service. In NATO military circles, the Tu-16 was nicknamed "Badger" - a badger, an evil, uncompromising beast, capable of giving a fierce rebuff. Of the foreign aircraft of this class, the American B-47 was operated for only a few years, and the serial production of the British bombers "Valient", "Victor" and "Volcano" began later than the Tu-16, and they were produced in small series.
1956 Tu-104 has already flown abroad. In London, he caused surprise and delight.
For success in the production of Tu-16 and Tu-104 A.N. Tupolev in 1949 and 1952 was awarded the state prize of the 1st degree. On October 23, 1953, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences approved his election as an academician.
A.N. Tupolev nevertheless decided to follow Stalin’s instructions and launched the Tu-95 long-range heavy bomber into development.
Tu-16 and Tupolev-95 became the first bomber and then missile-carrying systems in Soviet aviation, which included not only aircraft and missiles, but also a number of technical services located outside the aircraft.
Andrei Nikolayevich was the first to grasp the need of the time to create a heavy jet passenger aircraft that would meet the requirements for the development of civil aviation as a transport system. In 1954, the project of a jet passenger liner, the Tu-104 aircraft, was approved, which became the first jet aircraft in the world to carry out regular passenger transportation. In 1956, the Tu-114 successfully passed the tests and went into production, and at the Paris Air Show in 1957 it became a sensation.
In 1960, Tupolev began developing the Tu-124 jet aircraft for short ranges. With a speed close to that of the Tu-104, the car turned out to be comfortable and unpretentious, it could even land on water. When it was necessary to increase the number of passengers to 56 people, the Tupolev Design Bureau released the Tu-134. This aircraft was used not only in the USSR, but also abroad.
The next aircraft was the first Soviet Airbus Tu-154. In 1967, the machine began testing, and in the summer of 1971 it entered service.
In the autumn of 1968, Andrei Nikolaevich's 80th birthday was celebrated. And on December 31, a message appeared in the newspapers about the first flight of the world's first supersonic passenger liner Tu-144.
Until the autumn of 1970, the aircraft flew 100 hours, reaching a maximum speed of 2430 km per hour. Passenger flights began on November 1, 1977.
The era of the birth of heavy jet aviation, the development of transonic and supersonic flight speeds is grandiose. Andrey Nikolaevich Tupolev was its leader, the only aviation designer in our country who solved the problem of creating heavy supersonic aircraft for all purposes, as well as the first aviation complexes. Success was achieved thanks to the ability of A. N. Tupolev to involve many thousands of scientists and engineers in all interconnected fields of science and technology, his perseverance in overcoming difficulties and confidence in success.
His ideas contributed to the creation of new and the expansion of old research and design institutes.
Andrei Nikolaevich died on December 23, 1972. the post of chief designer was taken by his son. In honor of the aircraft designer, the USSR Academy of Sciences established the A.N. Tupolev medal.
In 1911, Tupolev was expelled from the school for participating in student unrest and sent home for two years under police supervision.
In 1916-1918, he participated in the work of the first aviation settlement bureau in Russia; designed the first wind tunnels at the school.
In 1918, Tupolev graduated with honors from the Moscow Higher Technical School and, together with Zhukovsky, became the organizer and one of the leaders of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). In 1918-1936 he was a member of the TsAGI collegium.
Since 1922 - Chairman of the Commission for the construction of metal aircraft at TsAGI. Since that time, an experimental design bureau (OKB), formed and headed by him, began to operate in the TsAGI system, whose activities were associated with the development of heavy land, sea combat and civil aircraft, torpedo boats and snowmobiles. Tupolev was the chief designer of this design bureau.
In 1922-1936, Andrey Tupolev was one of the founders of the TsAGI scientific and technical base, the developer of projects for a number of laboratories, wind tunnels, an experimental hydraulic channel, and the country's first pilot plant for the construction of all-metal aircraft. He was the organizer of the production of aluminum alloy - chain-aluminum, semi-finished products from it.
In 1923, he created his first light aircraft of mixed design (ANT-1), in 1924 - the first Soviet all-metal aircraft (ANT-2), in 1925 - the first combat all-metal aircraft (ANT-3), which was built in series, as well as the first all-metal monoplane bomber (ANT-4, 1925).
Andrei Tupolev developed and put into practice the technology of large-scale production of light and heavy metal aircraft. Under his leadership, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, passenger, transport, marine, special record-breaking aircraft, as well as snowmobiles, torpedo boats, gondolas, power plants and the plumage of the first Soviet airships were designed.
Since 1930, he was the chief designer of TsAGI. Since 1931 - Deputy Head of the Central Design Bureau of TsAGI, since 1932 - Head of the Design Department of the TsAGI Experimental Construction Sector, since 1933 - Deputy Head of TsAGI for the Experimental Construction Sector.
Since 1936, Andrei Tupolev combined the leadership of the design bureau, separated from the TsAGI system, with the position of chief engineer of the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry (NKTP), formed the strategic direction for the development of Soviet aviation, science and technology.
October 21, 1937 Tupolev was unreasonably accused of sabotage and espionage and arrested. On May 28, 1940, he was sentenced to 15 years in a forced labor camp.
While imprisoned, he worked at TsKB-29 ("Special Technical Bureau of the NKVD of the USSR"), later called "Tupolev Sharaga". Here Tupolev created the front-line bomber "103" (Tu-2).
On July 19, 1941, he was released ahead of schedule from further serving his sentence with the removal of a criminal record. He was rehabilitated by the decision of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR of April 9, 1955.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Tupolev was evacuated to the city of Omsk and was appointed chief designer of aircraft plant No. 166.
In 1943, he returned to Moscow and was appointed chief designer and responsible head of the aircraft plant No. 156, where the main base of the design bureau (OKB) A.N. Tupolev.
In 1956, Andrei Tupolev was appointed General Designer of the USSR aviation industry.
Andrei Tupolev developed over 100 types of aircraft, 70 of which were mass-produced. His aircraft set 78 world records, performed 28 unique flights, including the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer on ANT-4, non-stop flights to the United States over the North Pole by the crews of Valery Chkalov and Mikhail Gromov on ANT-25, the landing of the scientific expedition Severny pole" headed by Ivan Papanin.
A large number of bombers, torpedo bombers, reconnaissance aircraft designed by Tupolev (TV-1, TV-3, SB, TV-7, MTB-2, TU-2) and torpedo boats G-4, G-5 were used in combat operations in the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945.
In the post-war years, among the military and civil aircraft developed under the leadership of Tupolev are the Tu-4 strategic bomber, the first Soviet jet bomber Tu-12, the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber, the Tu-16 long-range bomber bomber, and the Tu-22 supersonic bomber; the first Tu-104 jet passenger aircraft (based on the Tu-16 bomber), the first Tu-114 turboprop intercontinental passenger airliner, Tu-124, Tu-134, Tu-154 short and medium-haul aircraft, as well as the Tu-144 supersonic passenger aircraft ( together with Alexei Tupolev).
Tupolev's planes became the backbone of Aeroflot's aircraft fleet and were operated in dozens of countries.
Andrei Tupolev had the military rank of colonel general of the engineering service, was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1953), an honorary member of the Royal Society of Aeronautics of Great Britain (1970) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1971); he was awarded a prize and a gold medal named after N. E. Zhukovsky, the Lenin Prize (1957), five State Prizes of the USSR (1943, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1972), the highest award of the International Aviation and Sports Federation (FAI). He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor three times (1945, 1957, 1972). OKB A. N. Tupolev - JSC "Tupolev", part of the JSC "United Aircraft Corporation", Kazan Technical University, an island in the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea.
An embankment in Moscow, streets in Kyiv (Ukraine), Ulyanovsk, Kimry, Zhukovsky and other cities are named after Andrey Tupolev. Memorial plaques have been installed on the buildings in Moscow and Omsk where Andrei Tupolev worked.
In the city of Kimry, Tver region, a bronze bust of Tupolev was installed. In 2005, a memorial composition was opened on the site of the Tupolevs' estate in Pustomazovo and a memorial stone was erected.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
In the family of a forensic investigator, she graduated from the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium in Tver.
Father, Nikolai Ivanovich Tupolev (1842-1911), was from Surgut, a native of the Siberian Cossacks. He studied law at St. Petersburg University, sympathized with the populist revolutionaries. Although he did not participate in the activities of populist organizations, after the assassination of Alexander II he was expelled from St. Petersburg. Tupolev's parents bought the small estate of Pustomazovo with Anna Vasilievna's savings, where they took up agriculture.
Higher education
Professional activity
In 1916-1918, Tupolev participated in the work of the first aviation settlement bureau in Russia; designed the first wind tunnels at the school. Together with N. E. Zhukovsky, he was the organizer and one of the leaders of TsAGI, where the vocation of a young engineer was finally determined. In 1918-1936 he was a member of the board and deputy head of the institute for experimental all-metal aircraft construction. He empirically proved that chain-aluminum (originally named after the Kolchuginsky plant in the Vladimir region, where duralumin was first made in Soviet Russia) is a worthy replacement for fragile wood, on the one hand, and heavy iron, on the other.
On January 5, 1936, by order of the NKOP, Tupolev (on the recommendation of the People's Commissar of the NKTP G. K. Ordzhonikidze) was appointed first deputy and chief engineer of the Main Directorate of the NKOP. In the same year, a delegation of workers from the aviation industry was sent to the United States to purchase equipment and licenses. A. N. Tupolev (PSU) and N. M. Kharlamov (TsAGI) were appointed leaders of the delegation.
The trip to the USA for Tupolev was the second in a row. The first time he visited Germany and the USA was in 1930, when he was the head of the AGOS on the issue of airship building. This time the delegation's path passed through France, where they examined the products of the French aircraft industry. Knowledge of the French language helped Tupolev to find common ground in the field of purchasing aircraft engines. While in the United States, Tupolev violated the accepted rule of placing orders through the consulting and trading company AMTORG. This company was created by the Soviet government in the early 20s in order to place orders at the factories of G. Ford, D. Christie and G. Curtiss. Tupolev, having met with the American designer A. N. Seversky (Prokofiev-Seversky emigrated to the USA in 1917), placed orders at his own discretion (Prokofiev's influence). Between Tupolev and the head of the OstekhBuro brigade commander P. I. Grokhovsky [ ] a scandal arose, which was hardly extinguished. In addition, Tupolev was on a business trip with his wife Yulia Nikolaevna, who had nothing to do with aviation. As a result of the trip, licenses were purchased for the production of Valti V-IA, Consolidated PBY-1 aircraft (they were built in the USSR in a limited number, were very difficult to manufacture) and the Seversky 2RA fighter, which did not meet the strength standards adopted by the Red Army Air Force. Thanks to V. M. Petlyakov, who was also a member of the delegation, it was possible to acquire a license for a Douglas DC-3 modern aircraft at that time.
The creator of the Tu-2 aircraft. In April 1939, the project received the internal designation "Product 57" and the official designation - the aircraft " PB"(dive bomber). There was also the official name of the machine - “ FB"(front-line bomber). The Tu-2 was the second most important Soviet twin-engine bomber designed by Andrey Tupolev after his arrest. On the basis of the Tu-2S, the Tu-2R reconnaissance aircraft was produced, nothing but the presence of cameras in the fuselage, which did not differ from serial vehicles, which could also carry a full-fledged combat load.
Production was initially organized at plant number 22 in Kazan, then the head production was left at the plant, and the aircraft was mass-produced at the 23rd plant in Moscow and the 166th plant in Omsk. During the war, 800 aircraft were produced, of which about 750 aircraft got to the front.
Serial production of the Tu-2 lasted from 1942 to 1952 (in 1941, 1 prototype). In total, until 1951, domestic factories delivered 2649 Tu-2s of various modifications, not counting the experimental ones, and converted 176 bombers into UTBs.
During the Great Patriotic War, he repeatedly visited. He supervised the purge of models of his aircraft, as a result of which new combat aircraft and their modifications were created.
Creator of the Tu-4 strategic bomber.
In 1957, the Tu-114 intercontinental passenger aircraft was developed. On December 31, 1968, the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 took off for the first time.
Andrei Nikolaevich was born on October 29, 1888, in a large family in the village of Pustomazovo, located on the territory of the modern Kalinin region. His mother, Anna Vasilievna, was the daughter of a judicial investigator from Tiflis. She was well educated, knew several languages, played the piano beautifully, took care of all the housework, and independently gave the children a primary education. Father, Nikolai Ivanovich Tupolev, was from the Siberian Cossacks, originally from Surgut. He worked as a notary of the district court, but did not like his job, and therefore he acquired a small plot of land, settled on it and began to farm.
Andrei Tupolev later recalled: “We lived modestly. I had older brothers Sergei and Nikolai, as well as sisters Natalia, Tatyana, Vera and Maria. Mother gave us all her strength, her whole soul. Our family was very large and friendly. Not patriarchal, but certainly progressive.”
Since 1901, Andrei Nikolaevich studied at the Tver gymnasium, about which he later wrote: “In order for the children to study, the whole family had to move to Tver. Our class was friendly, however, it was not accepted to study well. I just tried to keep up with my peers. I didn't have any toys in Pustomazovo. They were expensive and I made them myself out of wood. And in the gymnasium there were lessons of manual labor. Here I could engage in carpentry, some of my things even got to the exhibition. While studying at the gymnasium, I realized that I love technology, I realized that I need to go in this direction. In the autumn of 1908, Andrei Tupolev successfully passed the exams in two educational institutions in Moscow: the Institute of Railway Engineers and IMTU. He chose IMTU.
Andrey Nikolaevich recalled about the first years in Moscow: “Money was constantly lacking. Once it got really bad, and then I decided to pawn my inferior coat in a pawnshop. I was looking for a pawnshop, and it seemed to me that everyone was looking at me, at the coat under my arm. I was never able to find a pawnshop and returned hungry that day. Fortunately, the next day, three rubles came from home.”
In October 1909, lectures on aeronautics at IMTU began to be read by N.E. Zhukovsky, who also headed the Aeronautical Circle, formed on the initiative of students. In December of the same year, Tupolev joined the circle, for whom his acquaintance with Nikolai Yegorovich was of crucial importance. He himself said that "from that moment my aviation life began." Just four months later, Andrei Tupolev became one of the most active members of the circle. His works - a flat wind tunnel and a model aircraft - attracted the attention of people at the held aeronautical exhibition.
After the end of the exhibition, the students began testing the balancing glider they had created. And the funds raised from ticket sales, together with a number of private donations, made it possible for the circle to start developing its own airplane. However, in the spring of 1911, Andrei's studies were unexpectedly interrupted. Having received from an unknown source information about Tupolev's political unreliability, a search was made in his room, and he himself was detained. One of the first to try to help out the future designer Zhukovsky, who announced that his student was busy in the circle and had no time for "extraneous" things. An attempt to release Tupolev from custody was also made by the director of IMTU Gavrilenko. Despite all the petitions, Andrei Nikolaevich was released only in April due to the death of his father. He was also forbidden to live exactly one year in any cities with higher educational institutions.
Tupolev spent about two and a half years in his native village, doing things far from aviation. He wrote: “When I returned home, I had the difficult task of burying my father. Things were not going well for our family. But I was young and strong. Having cultivated the land well, I planted vegetables. Gradually, things began to improve.”
On February 6, 1913, police supervision of A.N. Tupolev was canceled, and in the fall of this year he managed to recover at the ITU, continuing to work in the aerodynamic laboratory, built on the basis of the old circle. Over the next year, he quickly became one of Zhukovsky's most active students, showing the ability of both a scientific researcher and a designer.
After the outbreak of the First World War, the military department turned to Nikolai Yegorovich on the issues of purging and examining the details of the aircraft in service. A sharp increase in the volume of work made it possible, with the support of the military, to organize the first Russian Aviation Design and Test Bureau in the summer of 1916. Professor Zhukovsky headed it, and Tupolev became one of his assistants in the position of head of laboratory facilities. In parallel with his research work, Andrey Nikolayevich managed to do aerodynamic calculations. In 1916, he calculated the Anatra airplane and the fighter of the Kosyanenko brothers. On the recommendation of Zhukovsky, student Andrey Tupolev was involved in work in the commission developing the strength standards for airplanes, in which, in addition to him, professors A.P. Van der Fleet, G.A. Botezat, S.P. Timoshenko.
In 1916, Andrei Nikolaevich for some time led the design of a hydroplane at the Duks plant. Here is what he himself wrote about this: “I had a meager experience, but I really wanted to try. Created a design bureau, began to create a seaplane. But the technical director of the plant, returning from France, brought a patent for the construction of the French model. They didn’t call me, they just informed me through people that they would build a foreign aircraft, and not one designed by me. I was young at that time, offended, took the drawings and left. However, later the drawings still came in handy, becoming the basis of Tupolev's diploma.
The revolution in Russia did not interrupt the work of the Design and Test Bureau; at the end of the summer of 1918, A.N. Tupolev headed the direction of aerodynamic calculations and instrument design. In the same year, he received the title of mechanical engineer, defending with honors a project entitled "Experience in creating a hydroplane according to wind tunnel tests." In 1920, Tupolev tried himself as a teacher, giving a course of lectures "Fundamentals of Aerodynamic Calculation" at the Moscow Higher Technical School. The following year, he was already entrusted with the "Theory of Airplanes", "Theory of Hydroplanes", "Normal and Special Design of Hydroplanes", as well as the course "Hydroaviation" at the Institute. NOT. Zhukovsky.
Soon, Nikolai Yegorovich and a number of his closest associates came to the conclusion that the further development of aircraft manufacturing in the country was possible only if there was a powerful research base. The idea to create a scientific aerohydrodynamic institute was personally supported by V.I. Lenin and in December 1918 he began his activities. The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI for short) was headed by Zhukovsky, while Tupolev became the head of the aviation department. From the very beginning, he set before his employees completely non-aerohydrodynamic tasks aimed at developing a whole range of scientific developments necessary in the future for aircraft construction. The institute studied aviation alloys and their protection against corrosion, aircraft engines, the strength of aircraft structures, flight test methods, and much more. After the death of Zhukovsky, Tupolev continued his work on the further development and expansion of TsAGI. To solve emerging issues, he widely attracted specialists and scientists from various fields of science.
In the life of Andrei Nikolaevich, a goal appeared - to create a whole new industry, the aviation industry, capable of mass developing and producing aircraft. In 1924, thanks to Tupolev's proposal, the country's top leadership decided to create a metallurgical base for aircraft construction, which made it possible to produce special aviation materials in large quantities. At the insistence of Tupolev, light magnesium alloys were developed in the 30s, and high-strength aluminum alloys for high-speed aircraft in the late 40s. At the end of the 60s, new aluminum-based heat-resistant alloys for supersonic aircraft appeared. It was Tupolev who first began to use high-strength chromansil steel, fiberglass and some other non-metallic materials. A special laboratory was organized to create and study them.
In 1923, Tupolev created the all-metal highly reliable snowmobile ANT-P, the experience gained later allowed him to develop new designs of gliders and marine torpedo boats, mass-produced during the Great Patriotic War. And in 1924, flight tests of the first all-metal aircraft ANT-2 ended in success.
ANT-2
Step by step, using the example of foreign models and our own experience, production and design teams were formed at TsAGI, production facilities and workshops were expanded, and new buildings were built. Becoming in 1936 the chief engineer of the Main Directorate of the Aviation Industry, A.N. Tupolev begins to rebuild old and build new aircraft factories for the mass production of aircraft. To do this, he makes extensive use of advanced imported equipment, and also follows the principles used in the US automotive industry, which he had the opportunity to learn during a number of business trips. Thanks to Andrei Nikolaevich, technological processes developed abroad, including cladding and anodizing, were introduced. These events helped to organize the mass production of aircraft during the war years. Also, Tupolev was one of the first to understand the need to use computers to improve calculation methods and increase the number of factors taken into account, creating one of the first computing centers.
Each new Tupolev aircraft was an event in technology. Based on the experience gained, he included in each project only the most minimal amount of new, using the path of a consistent structure of aircraft. For example, the aircraft "77", "73" and "82" served as the stages for the creation of the Tu-16 twin-engine jet bomber. Among the aircraft created by Tupolev were not mass-produced models, but there were no unfinished, unable to fly.
Tu-16
After the end of the war, Tupolev launched the construction of new laboratory and production buildings, specialized workshops and branches, and founded a flight development base. Not forgetting about his employees, he sought the construction of new houses and recreation centers for them, garden cooperatives and kindergartens.
Tupolev is the author of many unique technical solutions, such as a prototyping method capable of solving spatial layout problems on wooden models, or the creation of entire flying laboratories for testing engines and other aircraft systems. Eyewitnesses said that wherever Andrei Nikolayevich was, whatever he did, his head constantly thought - what of what he had read, heard or seen could be applied to the development of aircraft construction.
The great designer has always been able to correctly interpret the tasks assigned to the future aircraft. When developing the ANT-31 in 1932, Tupolev was the first to understand the main task of a new generation of fighters - to catch up with the enemy. By the beginning of the war, the monoplane scheme had become the standard for all fighters in the world. And in 1950, he realized the advantage of heavy jet bombers over piston-engine aircraft, starting to design the Tu-16, which later amazed many specialists.
Tupolev loved well-detailed preliminary layouts. He said: "The more details they drew, the more problems they thought about." He spoke about careless layouts: "They smeared it without thinking." Tupolev also did not tolerate speculative conclusions. Wherever, at whatever level the meeting took place, he made decisions only on the basis of experimental results or those obtained in the course of careful calculations.
To eliminate the defects identified at the stage of flight tests, Tupolev organized a wide technical process with the participation of specialists from various industries. He devoted a lot of time to working with aircraft crews, contributing to the improvement of their theoretical and practical training. For this, aerobatic training stands for pilots were created. Before the first flight, Tupolev talked for a long time with the pilots, told them about the creation of the aircraft, thereby instilling his confidence in the apparatus. And after the flight, he asked for detailed stories about what the pilots had learned and felt. Of course, the designer had to witness the catastrophes and accidents of his test and production aircraft. People were dying, and, feeling his responsibility to their families, Andrei Nikolaevich used all his authority and influence to help the families of the victims, seeking pensions and benefits. In addition, he conducted a thorough search for the causes of what happened, eliminated all defects and defended the need to continue testing this model in disputes with management. As a rule, his arguments were accepted, and then the aircraft was successfully operated for a long time (for example, this was the case with the Tu-134). Later, Tupolev came up with a service for the operation of mass-produced aircraft. Based on the data she collected, decisions were made on the further modernization of the aircraft.
Tu-134
In total, under the leadership of Andrei Nikolaevich, more than fifty original aircraft and about a hundred different modifications were created. His aircraft set more than a hundred world records for range, flight speed and payload. The main line of Tupolev's work was heavy aircraft with a high payload. In 1958, under his leadership, a unique passenger aircraft Tu-114 was created, which was far ahead of its time. The reliable ultra-long-range airbus has for many years won leadership on long-haul lines, having no analogues in terms of economic efficiency. Tu-114 worked on international lines, flying across the ocean to Cuba and America. During the years of operation, thirty-two world records have been set by aircraft of this series and there are no data in the flight accident column. And the supersonic passenger liner Tu-144, which appeared in 1968, became famous not only in the USSR, but throughout the world.
Tu-114
Tupolev, soberly assessing the importance of money, always stated: “The creation of a small aircraft requires little money and a lot of work. A big plane means a lot of work, and a lot of money, too.”
Andrei Nikolaevich was a well-known statesman and public figure - a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Moscow City Council, a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. His speeches were always distinguished by emotionality and breadth of judgments, they expressed hopes for a brighter future for mankind. Tupolev was three times Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of many State Prizes, holder of numerous orders and medals. What is especially curious, the famous scientist was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Prize and the gold medal of the society of the founders of aviation in France. He was elected as an honorary member by the Royal Society of Aeronautics of Great Britain and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
According to eyewitnesses, Tupolev had an almost supernatural ability to accurately guess the place where the aircraft took off from the ground during acceleration and the place where the aircraft would end its run after landing. Tupolev showed such a gift more than once or twice, even in unusual situations like taking off an extremely overloaded aircraft.
As a talented scientist and designer, head of a huge team of many thousands of engineers, technologists, test pilots, technicians and workers, Andrey Nikolayevich always remained a very simple and friendly person, adored his family, nature, company of friends, delicious food. In everyday life, Tupolev was extremely conservative, preferring to wear old but comfortable jackets, trousers, and shoes. It was very difficult to get him to buy a new thing. Andrei Tupolev met his wife while still a student and all his life he loved only her. Yulia Nikolaevna accompanied him wherever possible: on business trips abroad, at scientific conferences, solemn and friendly open receptions. Often in a large company, she was the only woman. Knowing foreign languages well, Yulia Nikolaevna helped Tupolev in negotiations with foreigners.
It is known that Andrei Nikolayevich involved his wife in the design of the passenger compartments of the Tu-70 and Tu-104 aircraft. Yulia Nikolaevna enthusiastically chose the colors of the material for the salon and armchairs, the equipment of the interior and kitchen, being a supporter of the Russian traditional style. It is safe to say that she was one of the first designers of the OKB.
Andrei Tupolev loved to travel. As part of official delegations and on business trips, he visited many countries, where he studied not only science and technology, but also nature, people, and local customs. On vacation, he preferred to hunt, fish, play volleyball. I was especially happy when I managed to go with my family and closest friends to nature, sit by the fire, cook fish soup. He went to the theater and cinema, listened to music, but due to being busy, and in recent years due to illness, he could not devote much time to this. But regularly, before going to bed, I read works of art. In his home library, in addition to numerous technical books and magazines, books by A.S. Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy, A.T. Tvardovsky, D. Galsworthy, Plutarch. Tupolev remembered many poems and quoted them from time to time. In general, his speech was distinguished by brevity and capacity, many phrases became aphorisms.
Andrei Nikolaevich had one habit. He always brought home something tasty from guests or from an official reception: a cake, an apple, a pie. Many colleagues, knowing this, specially wrapped Tupolev treats "for the house."
When grandchildren appeared - first Yulia, and later Andryusha and Tanya - Andrei Nikolaevich began to spend all his free time with them. Tupolev often picked up carpentry tools and carved wooden toys for his grandchildren.
Unfortunately, Yulia Nikolaevna was in poor health, and in the post-war years, Andrei Nikolaevich was accompanied by his daughter, Yulia Andreevna, on numerous trips. After the death of his wife in 1962, Tupolev lost weight, became more withdrawn and thoughtful, but did not work less. His daughter was at home with him most of the time. Tupolev held her medical expertise in high regard, not taking any medication or medical procedure without her daughter's approval.
Andrei Nikolaevich maintained friendly relations with I.V. Kurchatov, A.P. Vinogradov, A.T. Tvardovsky, M.V. Keldysh, P.L. Kapitsa and many other prominent people of that time. S.P. often came to talk to him. Korolev, who later said that he studied the style of work with Andrei Nikolaevich. Under the guidance of Tupolev, Korolev made his graduation project, and also worked a little in his assembly shop.
Until the last days of his life, Tupolev retained a firm memory and a clear mind, was interested in everything and participated in the most important affairs of his Design Bureau. Talking in the MGTS hospital on December 22, 1972 with his son and daughter who visited him, eighty-four-year-old Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev laughed and joked, made plans for a trip to the Crimea. When they left late in the evening, he fell asleep and did not wake up again.
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