Design activity and with Yakovlev. Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev. Life must have a purpose

Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich

The ninth admission of students to the Air Force Academy. NOT. Zhukovsky, which took place in 1927, was distinguished by great diversity. Among the newly recruited were political workers with rhombuses in their buttonholes, pilots and aviation technicians who wore squares in their buttonholes, and there were also combined arms commanders. Some students went through the civil war, while others barely had time to acquire the seniority necessary for admission to the academy. Obviously, the youngest, without squares in his buttonholes, was Yakovlev. Having a secondary education, he did a little service in the flight squadron of the academy and, feeling an irresistible craving for the creation of aircraft, decided to get an aviation engineering education.

Later, Soviet aircraft designer, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1976; Corresponding Member 1943), Colonel General of Aviation (1946), twice Hero of the Socialist. Labor (1940, 1957) Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev is one of the founders of Soviet aircraft modeling, gliding and sports aviation.

1. Start of the journey

Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev was born on April 1, 1906 in Moscow. Father Sergei Vasilyevich (1879–1939), an accountant by profession, served as the head of the transport department in the oil company "Partnership of the Nobel Brothers" (after nationalization in 1918 - the Moscow office of the Oil Syndicate). Mother Nina Vladimirovna (1880–1970) was a housewife. The parents of Alexander Sergeevich had the title of "hereditary honorary citizens", which was given by imperial decree to representatives of the estates of the bourgeoisie and the clergy.

The Yakovlev family had three children: sons Alexander and Vladimir (b. 1909) and daughter Elena (b. 1907). When Alexander was born, the family lived on 3rd Meshchanskaya Street (now Shchepkina Street), and then moved to 2nd Meshchanskaya Street (now Gilyarovsky Street) in house No. 1/3, apt. fourteen.

In 1914, Alexander, having passed the entrance exams in the Russian language, arithmetic and the law of God, entered the preparatory class of the private male gymnasium N.P. Strakhova on Sadovaya-Spasskaya Street, 6. The gymnasium was one of the best in Moscow, with excellent teachers and well-equipped classrooms. After the October Revolution, it was merged with the women's school, became state and received the name "Unified Labor School of the 2nd stage No. 50" of the Sokolnichesky district of Moscow.

Alexander studied with great enthusiasm, his favorite subjects were history, geography and literature. In these subjects, he had excellent marks, and in mathematics, physics and chemistry, which were more in line with his future specialty, he received mostly fours. He was very fond of drawing, which is so important for a designer. Encouraged by teachers and mother, he achieved great success in drawing.

From the very beginning of his studies, Alexander took an active part in the life of the school: he was the head of the class, then the chairman of the headman - the council of the headmen of the entire school, the chairman of the academic committee - the student committee. At one time he was the editor of a student literary and historical magazine and a member of the drama club. I read a lot. Favorite were the works of Daniel Defoe, Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Mine Reed, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells. His reading circle included books on the history of Russia, art and, of course, technology.

The future designer showed the most ardent interest in technology and even tried to build a perpetual motion machine; studied in a radio circle and assembled a radio receiver - one of the few in Moscow at that time. Early mastered carpentry; enthusiastically made models of locomotives, wagons, railway bridges and stations, and under the influence of his uncle, a traveler, dreamed of becoming a railway engineer.

In 1921, according to the scheme and description from the book, he built a flying model of a glider with a wingspan of two meters and successfully tested it in the school hall. From that moment, A.S.'s passion was born. Yakovlev to aviation. There were other enthusiasts at the school, and in 1922 Alexander organized an aircraft modeling circle that built one model after another.

The school did a good job of helping students develop natural inclinations and talents. Dram circle members Nikolai Chaplygin and Anatoly Ktorov later became well-known actors, and many members of technical circles became engineers and scientists. Among them is Georgy Protasov, who worked for many years in the OKB A.S. Yakovlev as the head of the scientific research complex.

It was hard for a family of five with one breadwinner to make ends meet in the hungry post-revolutionary years. Alexander was forced, without leaving school, in 1919-1922. to work in Glavtop, an organization that distributed all types of fuel. There he was a courier, then a student in the archives, secretary to the head of the department. A year before graduation, I had to leave my job so as not to risk my matriculation.

In 1923 the school was finished. Seventeen-year-old Alexander Yakovlev received diverse and extensive knowledge, good labor training, leadership skills, learned to do a lot with his own hands. He was a talented and hardworking young man, purposeful and inquisitive, persistently looking for his way into aviation.

In August 1923, A. Yakovlev organized the first school cell in Moscow of the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet - ODVF. Aviation enthusiasts, and there were about 60 of them at school No. 50, built models, and then began to manufacture a glider. By that time, the organizer of the circle had graduated from school, built according to the project and under the guidance of N.D. Anoshchenko glider "Macaque" and in the fall of 1923 helped to test it at the First All-Union glider tests in Koktebel. There the final decision came to devote his life to aviation. The idea arose to try to design a real glider myself. A bold decision for yesterday's schoolboy, although he is familiar with various schemes of aircraft! I had to master the theory of design, the calculation of strength - from books, according to the notes of a student of the Air Force Academy (AVF) S.V. Ilyushin, who willingly helped with advice, explained the incomprehensible.

And at the beginning of 1924, the airframe project was ready. (The original sketch of A.S. Yakovlev was preserved by M.K. Tikhonravov and is now exhibited in the museum of N.E. Zhukovsky.) The calculations and drawings were reviewed and approved for the construction of the glider circle of the AVF in the technical bureau. Now you can start manufacturing. In order to get funds to buy the necessary tools and materials, schoolchildren organized a paid student evening of the ODVF. Several schoolchildren made a report on the general topic "From the mystery and deification of nature to its enslavement." More than 20 people signed up for the glider circle, created by the ODVF cell of school No. 50, and the work began to boil. Materials were obtained at the aircraft factory, but every last detail was done by ourselves.

And now, in the gymnasium of the school, the frame of the glider began to emerge. The girls covered it with percale. A special commission of the AVF gave a positive conclusion.

Yakovlev and his closest assistants Gushcha and Grishin went with a glider to Koktebel for the All-Union gliding competitions. Subsequently, A. Gushcha became a military pilot. The further fate of the thin, snub-nosed 14-year-old boy, who, despite his young age, called himself "Alexander Pavlovich Grishin", is unknown. Once A.S. Yakovlev told the author of this article that Grishin's real name is Svoboda and he is a Czech by nationality. It was a grandiose competition for those times. 49 gliders arrived from different parts of the Soviet Union - there were no such number of them in any foreign competition.

In a short time after the first rally, held only nine months before, with nine gliders, young people managed, with negligible technical capabilities and mostly in a handicraft way, to build a lot of good gliders. The chairman of the testing committee was AVF student S.V. Ilyushin. Before assembly, the details of each airframe were examined by a technical commission headed by Professor V.P. Vetchinkin. Received final approval and the first-born A.S. Yakovleva - a training glider, named AVF-10 (i.e. the 10th glider of the Air Force Academy).

On September 11, 1924, a glider with start number 16 on the keel and an inscription on the fuselage "AVF-10" in an angular font characteristic of that time was delivered to Mount Kara-Oba - a lonely hill 60–70 m high above the surrounding valley, with gentle slopes, convenient for trial and training flights. Pilot V.E. Sergeev strapped himself on, and the starting team released the glider on its first balancing flight. For a glider, such a flight is equivalent to the approach of an airplane. The pilot does not unhook the towline, and the starting team runs next to the glider, holding it by the ropes tied to the ends of the wing and tail. Having established that the apparatus was centered correctly, free flight was allowed. The first free flight of V.E. Sergeev at AVF-10 on September 15 attracted everyone's attention. It turned out to be the record for the duration of all flights from the gentle slope of Kara-Oba - 1 min 46 s. They believed in the glider, and from September 18 it began to fly almost daily not only from Kara-Oba, but also from the northern slopes of Mount Uzun-Syrt.

AVF‑10 was very popular and flew many times. In the report on the competition, the pilot Shmelev called it "extremely volatile" and wrote that on it "... a number of pilots, including the author of the report, flew into gliders. With almost complete calm, with the slightest excess of the take-off site over the landing site, this glider managed to cover a distance of up to 600 m in a straight line during one-minute flights. And further: “The whole airframe is extremely successful, in terms of aerodynamic qualities, forms. During the very numerous flights, the glider showed great volatility, the ability to take off with the smallest wind (3 m / s), controllability and stability ... Flying on the AVF-10, you are involuntarily amazed at how such an unpretentious device can take off with an insignificant wind on a small hill, travel a distance many times greater than what you think to go, heading for a flight. In the air, the glider smoothly and stubbornly moves forward, as if drawn by some invisible silent motor, completely obeying the movement of the rudders.

2. Creation of design bureau

The first year of study at the academy was quite difficult. A lot of time was spent on laboratory work and drawings, on passing tests and exams in physics, mathematics and general engineering disciplines. However, by the third year, Yakovlev had already decided as a future aviation designer: on the basis of a voluntary sports aviation organization and a military scientific society of the academy, he built light aircraft. After graduating from the academy in 1931, Yakovlev worked for some time as an engineer at a serial plant. But already in 1932, he built the AIR-6 aircraft, which was a monoplane parasol of a mixed design with a closed, rather comfortable cockpit. A feature of this aircraft, like many of Alexander Sergeevich's designs, was a high mass return, and, consequently, a long flight range. In 1933, the official international distance record for seaplanes was exceeded on the AIR-6 aircraft of the float version. A year later, several AIR-6 aircraft made a group flight on the route Moscow - Irkutsk - Moscow, which at that time seemed like a great achievement. Continuing to work on the creation of sports aircraft, A.S. Yakovlev built a two-seat sports aircraft AIR-7 with a landing gear that did not retract, but was placed in fairings. The aircraft had a thin wing and a strut-braced monoplane design. At the end of the summer of 1932, at an altitude of 1000 m, this aircraft reached a maximum flight speed of 332 km/h, while the I-5 fighter aircraft, which had a biplane scheme, developed a speed of only 286 km/h. It became obvious that the monoplane scheme, which gives superiority in speed, is more appropriate for combat aircraft. In 1935, a young design team headed by A.S. Yakovlev, built a single-seat training cantilever monoplane UT-1 with a standard air-cooled engine with a capacity of 100 hp. with. When installing a forced engine with a capacity of 150 liters. with. the maximum speed of the aircraft reached 252 km / h. Several records were set on the UT-1, but it should be noted that this aircraft was strict in piloting, requiring increased attention and high qualifications of the pilot. In the pre-war years, in a large series (7150 units), a two-seat training aircraft UT-2 was produced, which had good flight characteristics, and therefore enjoyed well-deserved popularity among the flight personnel of combat aviation.

3. Military aircraft

Thanks to the experience gained in the design and construction of training aircraft, the design bureau, led by A.S. Yakovlev, was able to move on to the creation of fighters. The first such aircraft was the I-26, which in many respects differed from the machines of this class created in other design bureaus and had a wooden wing, a welded (from pipes) fuselage frame and duralumin plumage. For better flow around the tubular frame of the fuselage, fairings with skin were installed. Like all aircraft A.S. Yakovlev, I-26 had a small mass and thoughtful, one might even say elegant, constructive forms. The aircraft was equipped with a water-cooled engine designed by V.Ya. Klimov, which had small dimensions and a small specific gravity. Its power in forced mode was 1240 hp. - at that time a very large value. This aircraft was mass-produced under the brand name Yak-1. At an altitude of 3400 m, it had a speed of 600 km / h, was armed with a 20 mm cannon and two 7.62 mm machine guns. The creation of the Yak-1 was a great achievement of the domestic aircraft industry. On the basis of this combat vehicle, the UTI-26 aircraft was produced a little later. The Yak-1 and UTI-26 fighters were widely used in combat operations of the Great Patriotic War. A total of 8721 aircraft of this type were produced. The Yak-1 surpassed the German fighters Me-109E and Me-109 (1941) in terms of the entire range of flight performance. During the Great Patriotic War, many kind words were said about this aircraft by fighter pilots, including the outstanding pilot twice Hero of the Soviet Union Stepan Suprun. A.S. himself Yakovlev wrote that the staff of the design bureau during this period worked hard to improve the Yak-1 fighter, which had recently been put into mass production. The work was a success. Somewhat earlier, in 1939, the same design bureau designed and built the Yak-4 high-speed bomber with two water-cooled engines. It developed a speed of 567 km / h (the maximum for combat aircraft produced in our country at that time) and had a flight range of up to 1600 km. More than 600 of these bombers were built, and they were used in combat operations before the widespread introduction into serial production of the main high-speed dive bomber of the war Pe-2 and Il-2 attack aircraft. Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev, like a number of other design bureaus, continued to work on the creation of twin-engine aircraft and in 1942 built and tested the Yak-6 aircraft, which was supposed to be used as a night bomber (NBB), as well as a transport aircraft. The car was completely made of wood, apparently in order to avoid the use of metal, which was scarce during the war period. To protect against enemy fighters, a machine gun was installed on the plane. In the transport version, the aircraft had a compartment for six passengers, which was located in the fuselage, behind the cockpit. As a power plant, two M-11F air-cooled engines with a capacity of 140 liters were used. with. everyone. The aircraft was mass-produced and successfully used during the Great Patriotic War, mainly as a staff communications aircraft. A lot of work carried out at the Design Bureau to improve the aerodynamics of the aircraft and rational design made it possible to create a fighter that had a flight weight of 2650 kg and had high speed and maneuverability. They became the Yak-3. The flight range of the aircraft was 900 km. With forced engine V.Ya. Klimov VK-105PF, it developed a speed of 660 km / h, and with the VK-107 engine - up to 720 km / h. In the conclusion on testing an aircraft with this engine, it was indicated that, according to the main flight performance data, in the altitude range from the ground to the practical ceiling, the Yak-3 is the best of the built domestic and foreign fighters. A total of 4848 aircraft of this type were produced. Since 1943, the aircraft began to enter our combat units. It was the lightest and most maneuverable fighter of World War II. Pilots of the French regiment "Normandy-Neman" flew on Yak-3 aircraft. On these planes, after the victory over Nazi Germany, they flew to Paris. To provide reliable cover for the bombers, an escort fighter was needed, which would have heavier weapons and have a greater range than conventional fighters. The Yak-9, armed with a 37 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm machine guns, became such an aircraft. The flight range of the Yak-9 reached 1000 km. During the Great Patriotic War, the Yak-9 fighters used for operations against ground targets (Yak-9T) were armed with 37 mm and even 45 mm cannons, and the appearance of the Yak-9D and Yak-9DD aircraft with a flight range of 1400 and 2200 km accordingly, it made it possible to provide support for our troops in the offensive, which was especially characteristic of the final period of the war. One of the variants of the Yak-9 could carry 400 kg of bombs on the internal suspension. A total of 36,000 Yak fighters were built. For comparison, we can point out that the famous fighters S.A. Lavochkin, 22280 were created. Thousands of fighters designed by A.S. Yakovlev took part in the fighting on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, defeating the fascist Messerschmitts and Fockewulfs. At the end of the war in the Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev, as in other design organizations, attempts were made to install additional power plants on aircraft with piston engines, which could be liquid-propellant or ramjet engines. This was also due to the fact that the Germans had the Me-262A-1 aircraft, which developed a speed of up to 840 km / h. Our pilots, however, have learned to deal with it. A fighter aircraft with a liquid rocket booster was created on the basis of the Yak-3. Due to the fact that a rocket engine was installed in the tail section of the aircraft, its speed increased by 140 km / h. Thus, the modified fighter had a maximum flight speed of 780 km/h. However, it has not received wide distribution. As you know, the government decided to create aircraft with turbojet engines that would provide high speed not for short periods of time, as when installing boosters, but throughout the entire flight. The transition from piston to jet aviation took place sequentially, and, as it seemed then, it was enough to install a turbojet engine on an already mastered aircraft, as a new machine would meet the necessary requirements. However, in reality, such a transition turned out to be much more difficult.

4. Post-war period and jet engines

Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev on the basis of the Yak-3 aircraft developed the Yak-15. In the process of creation, the piston engine was replaced by the RD-10 turbojet engine, in addition, a special heat-resistant steel screen was installed to protect the lower surface of the fuselage from the effects of hot gases emitted from the engine exhaust nozzle. On April 24, 1946, the Yak-15 jet aircraft made its first flight, and in August of the same year, like the MiG-9, it participated in the air parade in Tushino. The following year, aerobatics was demonstrated there for the first time in the world on the Yak-15. The Yak-15 aircraft was tested, put into mass production and mastered in combat units of the Air Force. Despite the shortcomings of the RD-10 jet engine (large specific gravity, insufficient reliability, high fuel consumption), the Yak-15 aircraft played a significant role in the transition of our aviation to jet technology. The use of the Yak-3 aircraft as a prototype of the first jet fighter greatly facilitated the introduction of jet aviation in the Air Force units. A well-known cockpit, excellent visibility during takeoff and landing, familiar flight characteristics - all this made it possible to quickly master the new aircraft.
Test pilots M. Ivanov and P. Stefanovsky were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their success in mastering the Yak‑15 fighter. Thus, the first stage of the development of jet aircraft was successful. Fighter speed increased by 200 km/h. The possibility of performing aerobatics on jet aircraft was proved. Parts of the Air Force have mastered the operation of these machines. It should be noted that the creation of the first jet fighters based on the Yak-3 aircraft also made it possible to successfully solve the problems of rapid deployment of serial production. The increasing requirements of the Air Force put on the agenda the issue of further improvement of jet fighters. The new fighter had to fly at transonic speeds. This required solving new problems of aerodynamics and strength. One of the stages in the creation of an aircraft with a thin wing in the design bureau of A.S. Yakovlev was the Yak-23 aircraft, which had a light and compact RD-500 engine with good characteristics for that time as a power plant. According to the design scheme, this aircraft was an all-metal medium wing with an engine installed in the front of the fuselage. The wing already had a relatively thin profile. The aircraft passed state tests and was put into mass production. At one time, it was considered one of the finest straight-wing light jets. Soon, other machines began to be needed for military aviation. Only swept-wing aircraft could meet the increased demands of the Air Force. It was also necessary to create compulsory means of rescuing the pilot and a pressurized cabin to ensure the possibility of flying at high altitudes. All these innovations allowed the design bureau of A.S. Yakovlev to design and build an aircraft that had a wing with a sweep angle of 45 ° and reached a speed of 1170 km / h, which exceeded the official world records set on the best aircraft of the late forties and registered in the FAI. The design of a supersonic swept-wing aircraft with new equipment required the restructuring of the work of the design bureau and the improvement of its laboratories. It is widely known that the first aircraft of A.S. Yakovlev were built at the factory, deployed on the basis of the bed workshop. In the postwar years, according to the project of Alexander Sergeevich, a modern pilot production was created and the design bureau building was built. Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev can serve as a model of high culture, a clear organization of work and order. Rather, it is an institution where everything is subordinated to the creation of the latest technology, which does not allow inaccuracy and ill-conceived decisions. In the early fifties, OKB A.S. Yakovleva, along with other design bureaus, participated in the creation of an aircraft equipped with fundamentally new equipment - a radar station and appropriate weapons designed to detect and destroy enemy aircraft outside the optical visibility of the target. The Yak-25, an all-weather loitering interceptor, became such an aircraft. He passed the state tests, was put into service and for a number of years served in the air defense aviation. The aircraft used the original bicycle chassis scheme, and the engines were located on pylons under the wing on both sides of the fuselage. Like all aircraft A.S. Yakovlev, the Yak-25 had a low flight weight, was easy to manage and operate. Being confident in the constructive prospects of the developed scheme, Alexander Sergeevich based on this machine produced a number of serial Yak-28 supersonic aircraft for various purposes. These were front-line bombers with a high supersonic flight speed, as a result of which their bomber armament was placed not on the external sling, but inside the fuselage, interceptors with a long detection range, as well as reconnaissance aircraft. All of them were in service with our aviation for a number of years. It is well known that in order to achieve supersonic speed on jet aircraft, swept wings with a small profile thickness and low aspect ratios were used. But these wings have poor bearing properties at low flight speeds, which led to an increase in the minimum flight speeds of aircraft with such a wing. The increase in landing flight speeds, takeoff run and landing run caused an increase in the size of airfields. But in the process of development of aviation, the need arose to create aircraft that did not require airfields. Such aircraft were helicopters with vertical takeoff and landing. True, the helicopter has a serious drawback - its flight speed does not exceed 250-400 km / h, i.e. many times inferior to the speed of modern supersonic aircraft. The idea arose to create such an aircraft that would take off and land vertically like a helicopter, and after takeoff would fly like an airplane. After quite a long discussion, the task of creating a vertically taking off aircraft was entrusted to the Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev. Soviet aviation specialists were well aware of the difficulties that foreign specialists had to face when creating an aircraft of this type. Alexander Sergeevich also knew about it. First of all, it was necessary to create especially light engines and solve the problem of controlling these devices at very low speeds, when it is not possible to influence them with the help of aerodynamic forces. Nevertheless, such an aircraft was created in our country and in 1967 it was demonstrated at the air parade in Domodedovo as a combat jet fighter with vertical takeoff and landing, intended for operation in the Navy. This ship's aircraft was named Yak-38. If a similar French Balzac aircraft has a power plant consisting of eight lifting and one sustainer engines, then engines are installed on the domestic aircraft, the direction of the thrust force of which changes depending on the flight mode (vertically or horizontally). The control of this aircraft at low flight speeds is carried out using jet control, working on air, which is taken from the engine compressor. Vertical takeoff is carried out due to the fact that the thrust force of the engine during takeoff, directed downward, significantly exceeds the gravity of the aircraft. The creation of an aircraft of this type was a great achievement of the domestic aircraft and engine industry.

5. Sports preferences of an aircraft designer

The activities of the aviation designer A.S. Yakovlev is diverse and multifaceted. But the youthful attraction to aviation sports, which led the young engineer to "big aviation", Alexander Sergeevich remained faithful for many years. As already mentioned, on the first Yakovlev AIR-1 aircraft with the Cirrus engine, created at the Air Force Academy. NOT. Zhukovsky in 1927, the route Moscow - Sevastopol - Moscow was laid. On the plane, there were no usual braces in the wing box. They were replaced with load-bearing struts, which made it easier to adjust the machine. Pilot Yu.I. Piontkovsky, who spent many years testing A.S. Yakovlev, already in the summer of 1927 set two records on AIR-1 and participated in maneuvers in the Odessa military district. Somewhat later, the AIR-3 monoplane was designed, which, under the name "Pionerskaya Pravda", in 1929 made a non-stop flight from Mineralnye Vody to Moscow. In 1930, on an AIR-4 aircraft with a 60-horsepower engine, a flight was made in a circle with a length of 3650 km. I must say that during the period of study at the academy, the future designer gave a lot of work, talent and organizational skills to the creation of sports aviation. At the academy, he was supported by two of her listeners - sports pilots Filin and Kovalkov, who set world records for distance (1700 km) and speed (166.8 km / h) flights. After graduating from the academy, Alexander Sergeevich built a three-seat aircraft AIR-6 "limousine" with a domestic engine with a capacity of 100 hp. s., who played an important role in the development of mass aviation sports. This period was characterized by the wide holding of all-Union competitions and flights on training and sports aircraft of various designs. At one of the competitions, the first place was hired by the AIR-10 aircraft, which was subsequently adopted under the name UT-2 as a machine for the initial training of flight personnel. In the early thirties, Yakovlev created a high-speed sports and postal two-seat aircraft AIIP-7, intended for the rapid delivery of newspaper matrices from Moscow to other large cities. Unlike the previous Yakovlev aircraft, it had a low-lying wing with a thin profile. A feature of the car was also the cab, closed by a lantern, and the chassis, closed by fairings. In addition, on the AIR-7, the carrier tapes of the wing braces were attached to the racks. During the tests of this aircraft, the aileron came off due to the vibration of the wing. Thanks to the skill of the pilot Yu.I. Piontkovsky, everything ended happily, and the self-oscillation of the wing when the aircraft reached a certain critical speed, called flutter, attracted the attention of not only designers, but also TsAGI scientists. By the way, this incident happened near the Central Airfield in Moscow, where all new aircraft were then tested, and now the facilities of the Central Army Sports Club, as well as the city air terminal and the Aeroflot hotel are located. In the postwar period, A.S. Yakovlev created the Yak-18 sports aircraft with a retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. The aircraft had an engine with a variable pitch propeller, a modern and at the same time simple set of flight and navigation equipment, including a receiving and transmitting station. Since 1946, for almost 30 years, the Yak-18, as well as its modifications, have been the main domestic sports aircraft. On these planes, our pilots have repeatedly won world championships in aerobatics. Among them was Svetlana Savitskaya, daughter of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Air Marshal E.Ya. Savitsky, who was the leader of the jet group; Yak-15 aircraft at the air parade in Tushino. With the transition to jet aviation, the design bureau of A.S. Yakovlev produced the Yak-30 aircraft (double in the training version and single in the sports and training version). As a power plant, he had a RU-19 engine designed by S.K. Tumansky - classmate of A.S. Yakovlev at the Air Force Academy. NOT. Zhukovsky.

6. Contribution to the development of civil aviation

But the activities of the design bureau of Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev were not limited to the production of combat and sports aircraft. In the early sixties, the question arose of creating a passenger aircraft to replace the widely used, but outdated machines with piston engines of medium and small passenger capacity. The aircraft intended for local lines had to be operated from unpaved airfields of limited size. When designing such an aircraft, A.S. Yakovlev did not focus on turboprop engines, which were no longer promising, but decided to use dual-circuit engines (subsequently, they successfully replaced both turboprop and turbojet engines on passenger aircraft). In 1966, the Yak-40 aircraft entered flight tests, as the power plant of which three AI-25 turbojet bypass engines with a thrust of 1500 kgf each were used. The Yak-40 developed a cruising speed of 550 - 600 km / h, had flight and navigation equipment sufficient to fly in adverse meteorological conditions, bypassing dangerous zones, and land on limited airfields and in almost any meteorological situation. A.S. Yakovlev put a lot of work into the created aircraft, not only as a designer, but also as an artist, equally paying attention to the external appearance of the machine, which meets modern aerodynamic forms, and its interior decoration, and the layout of the cabins intended for passengers and crew. In an effort to ensure passenger comfort, the designer placed three gas turbine engines in the rear fuselage: two on the sides and one inside the fuselage. Lightweight and efficient bypass engines provided the necessary efficiency and flight range, which is an essential factor in the operation of the aircraft. The Yak-40 is widely used for passenger transportation in our country, and is also increasingly used on the lines of foreign aviation companies, flying not only over Europe and Africa, but also over South America, the Design Bureau, led by A.S. Yakovlev, continued to successfully solve the most difficult technical problems. Evidence of this is the Yak-42 passenger liner, which meets the highest modern requirements for aircraft of this type. The Yak-42 aircraft is designed to carry 120 passengers at a speed of 820 km/h over a distance of 1,850 km. The maximum flight range reaches 3,000 km. and performance and improved passenger comfort. After a somewhat protracted period of implementation, Aeroflot began to widely operate this short-haul aircraft. OKB A.S. Yakovlev arose in the process of creating the AIR-1 aircraft as an amateur group of designers and workers not formalized by any order. May 12, 1927, the day the flight tests of the AIR-1 began, is considered to be the date of birth of the Design Bureau. The motherland highly appreciates the merits of the academician, general designer, laureate of the Lenin and six State Prizes, twice Hero of Socialist Labor, Colonel-General of Aviation A.S. Yakovlev. Almost 70,000 Yak combat, passenger, training and sports aircraft have been built by the aviation industry, and A.S. Yakovlev. Today OKB im. A.S. Yakovlev is the only aviation design bureau in Russia that has international experience in joint design, testing and certification of aircraft. OKB im. A.S. Yakovlev remains among the active creators of aviation technology and is open for cooperation with domestic and foreign partners.

Alexander Sergeevich was born in Moscow on March 19, 1906. The Yakovlev family came from the Volga region.

At the age of 9, Alexander entered a private gymnasium. He did best in the humanities, learned to draw well, was the editor of a school literary and historical magazine, but was also interested in technology, studied in a radio circle, an aircraft model, then a glider. After the revolution, the boy first studied at school, then worked in the archives, and finally became the secretary of the head of the department. Here they gave out good rations, with which the boy supported his family.

At the age of 17, Yakovlev graduated from high school. He decided to become an aircraft designer, but he failed to get a job at an aviation school. The young man entered on the recommendation of test pilot K.K. Artseulov to the pilot Anoshchenko, who prepared the glider for the first glider competition in the Crimea.

For active work, Alexander was sent to the competition. With the help of students from his native school, he built a glider, which successfully participated in competitions in the Crimea. The young designer received the first award - 200 rubles and a certificate of honor.

In March 1924, with the help of Ilyushin, he got a job in the training workshops of the Air Force Academy. After being transferred to a flight detachment at the Khodynka field, Yakovlev kept order in the Angara, then became a junior minder and in practice mastered working with aircraft of that time.

Already in the summer of 1927, Yakovlev and pilot Piontkovsky made a flight from Moscow to Sevastopol on an AIR-1 aircraft.

This flight achieved a distance record for sports aircraft - for the flight distance without landing (1420 km) and for the duration (15 hours 30 minutes). For the flight, they gave out a prize and a certificate of honor, and Alexander Yakovlev was admitted to the Academy of the Air Fleet.

In the first year of the academy, not wanting to break away from his favorite business, Yakovlev designed an AIR-2 on floats that flew from the Moscow River.

In 1929, the tests of AIR-3 were completed. Since the plane was built with funds raised by the pioneers, the plane was called "Pionerskaya Pravda". In the autumn of 1929, Piontkovsky carried out a flight on the AIR-4 to a distance of 3650 km along the route Moscow - Kyiv-Odessa.

He graduated from the Yakovlev Academy in 1931 in the first category. In the last year of his studies, he designed, and after graduating from the academy, he built a 4-seater AIR-5, which was called the "air car". The young engineer was sent to one of the two centers of aviation design thought - the Central Design Bureau at the Menzhinsky plant. The designer revised the AIR-5 project. This is how AIR-6 appeared. then was built AIR-? Under the domestic engine M-22.

In 1933, on the AIR-6 in the float version, the pilots exceeded the official world distance record for seaplanes. In the meantime, Yakovlev built a sports aircraft AIR-7 with a landing gear placed in fairings.

In 1936, after a successful flight of the link along the route Moscow-Irkutsk - Moscow, Yakovlev was allocated funds for the construction of an assembly shop and a design bureau building.

By this time, the production of AIR-6, as well as training aircraft UT-1 and UT-2, had begun at serial factories.

At the show to members of the government, UT-2 pulled ahead and attracted the attention of I.V. Stalin, who talked with Alexander Sergeevich and was interested in which plane was better to train fighter pilots. Everyone confirmed that the UT-2 is better than the U-2 biplane. The UT-2 aircraft was produced from 1936 to 1946, more than 7000 in number. Alexander Sergeevich was awarded a gold watch for the best design of this aircraft.

Yakovlev not only engaged in design work, but also promoted light sports aviation in articles for newspapers and magazines, calling on young people to aviation.

Thanks to the support of the government in 1937, 19 aircraft participated in the Moscow-Sevastopol-Moscow flight; Yakovlev's cars turned out to be the best in speed.

By 1939, the design bureau had already designed the Yak-4 bomber with two water-cooled engines.

Released about 600 aircraft of this type.

Later it turned out that the twin-engine Yak-4, after being converted into a bomber and installing defensive weapons, lost its advantages and participated only at the beginning of the war, until it was replaced by the Pe-2 dive bomber.

By January 1, 1940, Alexander Sergeevich introduced the new I-26 (Yak-1) fighter. Later, UTI-26 was mass-produced on the basis of this aircraft.

Stalin respected Yakovlev. According to his instructions, the aircraft designer was first installed in a new apartment with an ordinary, and then a Kremlin telephone.

On January 11, 1940, Yakovlev was appointed deputy for science and experimental construction to the new people's commissar for the aviation industry A.I. Shakhurina.

On the initiative of Alexander Sergeevich, the Summer Research Institute (LII) was created, headed by test pilot M.M. Gromov.

In 1940, Yakovlev led an aviation group as part of a trade delegation in Germany.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Alexander Sergeevich organized the transfer of enterprises to the Urals. When the German troops approached Moscow, Yakovlev organized the evacuation of aircraft designers, and then, on Stalin's instructions, he went to the Volga, where the production of the Yak-1 was being established at the plant. Then he was sent to Siberia, where the production of fighters was being prepared at the machine-building plant.

Taking on the duties of a GKO representative, Yakovlev created a single one from four teams of evacuated factories, organized the production of two types of fighters. In January 1942, an instruction was received - to transfer the entire plant for the production of the Yak-1. By February 20, the plant was producing 3 Yak-1s per day. It was a great success, because the production of everything necessary for aviation was just being established beyond the Urals.

In March 1942, for the first time, a report appeared in the newspapers that 7 Soviet pilots on the Yak-1 won the battle with 25 enemy aircraft.

In 1942, the Yak-6 night bomber and transport aircraft were tested. this aircraft was produced during the war years mainly as a staff communications aircraft.

The development of the first fighter made it possible to develop the Yak-3 with a flight weight of 2650 kg with a range of 900 km. Yak-3 is considered the lightest and most maneuverable aircraft of World War II. The Yak-3 was preferred by many pilots, in particular from the Normandie-Niemen squadron.

To provide reliable cover for the bombers, the Yak-9 escort fighter was created.

During the battles for Stalingrad, Yakovlev received information about the heavy losses of Yakov. It turned out that a group of German aces appeared at the front. However, when the regiments of the best Soviet pilots on the Yak-9 were formed, the Messerschmitts already suffered defeat, and the Nazi command had to transfer planes even from Sicily.

When the question arose again of increasing the range of fighters due to the need for a rapid advance of Soviet troops, Yakovlev, summoned to Stalin, together with Lavochkin, promised to double the range to 2000 km when adopting the Yak-9DD. The aircraft designer solved the problem of increasing fuel reserves by placing tanks on the wings.

At the beginning of 1944, a group of Yak-9DD flew without landing from the USSR to Italy through Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, occupied by the enemy.

Until the end of the war, 36,000 yak fighters were built; only Il-2 attack aircraft were produced more.

In 1945, the Yakovlev Design Bureau began to engage in jet aviation.

General information, part 1

In 1945, the Yakovlev Design Bureau began to engage in jet aviation. Initially, a liquid-propellant jet engine was installed on the Yak-3. The speed increased to 800 km per hour. However, the car turned out to be dangerous and died in preparation for the 1945 air parade.

The design bureau led the development of the Yak-15 single-engine fighter.

In April 1946, the Yak-15 successfully completed its first flight.

Factory tests of the Yak-15 ended on June 22. During their flight, the aircraft with a takeoff weight of 2570 kg managed to develop a maximum speed near the ground of 770 km/h, and at an altitude of 5000 m - 800 km/h. With a fuel reserve of 472 kg, the flight range was 575 km. The fighter gained a height of 5 km in 4.1 minutes.

In the summer of 1946, Yakovlev, in a conversation with Stalin, asked to be relieved of his duties as deputy minister in order to fully devote himself to design work. Stalin agreed. On July 9, Yakovlev received documents confirming his promotion to the rank of colonel-general and his release from office with an announcement of gratitude for six years of leadership.

Alexander Sergeevich was fully engaged in designing. During 1946-1949, his design bureau created and put into serial production the Yak-15, Yak-17 jet aircraft, the Yak-14 heavy landing glider, the Yak-11 training fighter, the initial training aircraft, the Yak-23 jet fighter.

The Yak-25 fighter was equipped with swept plumage, retained a straight wing. Despite the successful tests completed in September 1948, the aircraft remained experimental; MiG-15 became the main aircraft.

By the beginning of the 50s, domestic jet engines appeared. One of the first machines was equipped with a double all-weather interceptor Yak-25. the decision on its creation was adopted in August 1951. The first production cars appeared in 1954. Subsequently, on the basis of the Yak-25 scheme, a family of supersonic Yak-28s for various purposes (bombers, fighters, reconnaissance aircraft) with weapons inside the fuselage was created.

Alexander Sergeevich was engaged in the design of light aircraft and helicopters. At the beginning of the winter of 1953, the Yak-24 helicopter was presented for state testing. In 1956, records were set on this helicopter.

Yakovlev did not abandon the design and sports aircraft with which he began. He led the development of a sports car with retractable landing gear and a closed cockpit Yak-18.

In 1955, a resolution was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the creation of supersonic interceptors. Reconnaissance and bomber, who eventually received the indices Yak-27, Yak-27R and Yak-26

A designer from God, Alexander Sergeevich became one of the pioneers in the creation of combat jet aviation in the USSR. However, along with combat aircraft, the Yakovlev Design Bureau was the only one that produced civilian equipment. The flight of the first civil aircraft, the jet Yak-40, became a notable world event. The pride of the USSR, he visited the air shows in Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, Hannover, performed demonstration flights in 75 countries of the world, the first of the domestic aircraft was certified in the West. At the same time, work was underway at the Yakovlev Design Bureau to create training and sports aircraft, and the short-haul Yak-42 appeared, which is successfully operated today.

Alexander Sergeevich paid much attention to the development of aircraft with short or vertical takeoff and landing. A separate page in the history of the Design Bureau is devoted to these unique machines, which are unparalleled in their technical characteristics: in 1972, the Yak-38, based on aircraft-carrying cruisers, was adopted by the Soviet Navy.

In total, under the leadership of Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev, more than 200 types of aircraft were created, of which more than 100 were serial, on which 86 world records were set at different times. Winner of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, the owner of many medals and diplomas, prizes and titles, he served his Fatherland, and the Fatherland rewards him according to his merits.

Alexander Sergeevich died on August 20, 1989 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. The monument to the aircraft designer was designed by the sculptor M. Anikushin.

The name of Yakovlev was given to the design bureau he created, whose employees continue to develop aircraft.

(1906-1989) Soviet aircraft designer

Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev was born in Moscow, his father was an employee of the Nobel company. While still at school, Alexander fell ill with aviation and organized first model and then glider circles. In 1923, the young man began working as a carpenter in the aviation workshops of the Air Force Academy. He helped make gliders, so he was included in a group of mechanics who worked at competitions in Koktebel. There, Yakovlev met and became friends with the future aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin, who was then a student at the Academy.

Ilyushin advised him to build his own glider, helped him make the project and the necessary calculations. In 1924, at the same competitions in Koktebel, the design created by Alexander Yakovlev already received a prize.

After graduating from high school, he wanted to enter the Air Force Academy. But for this it was required to have at least some military experience. With the help of Ilyushin, the young man managed to get a job in the training workshops of the Academy. At the same time, he begins to work at the Central Aerodrome in Moscow - preparing aircraft for training flights. Alexander liked sports planes most of all, he soon passed the exam for a minder and, together with a group of like-minded people, began to build his own car. Ilyushin and V. Pyshnov again help him in this.

In 1927, the aircraft was built, and it successfully passed flight tests. In the same year, Alexander Yakovlev made a sports flight on the route Moscow - Sevastopol - Moscow, setting a world record for the distance and duration of the flight.

Now he received the necessary experience and could enter the Nikolai Zhukovsky Military Engineering Academy. In parallel with his studies, Yakovlev continued to design aircraft. In 1929, he built a two-seat sports aircraft AIR-3 and named it "Pionerskaya Pravda", since the aircraft was built with money raised by young aviation enthusiasts.

Soon, the plane of Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev took part in the flight Moscow - Mineralnye Vody, during which two world records were set for two-seat aircraft - for a non-stop flight range and average speed.

Since that time, Alexander Yakovlev has focused entirely on the design of small aircraft. As a diploma work, he proposed the design of an "air car" - a four-seater aircraft with a shortened mileage.

After graduating from the Academy in 1931, Yakovlev began working as an engineer at the V. Menzhinsky plant and continued to design light aircraft for Osoaviakhim.

A team of like-minded people rallies around the designer. In 1933, Alexander Yakovlev's group was given a bed factory. In this building, he organized his own design bureau for the design of light and training aircraft.

The models developed by him become the main training aircraft in flying clubs and military pilot schools. The planes of the talented designer take part in flights almost every year, setting new records. They are distinguished by unpretentiousness in maintenance and high flight qualities.

In 1935, Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev participated in the international aviation exhibition in Milan, where the successful design of his AIR aircraft was noted.

The next year he went abroad again, this time to France. He was included in a group of engineers who were supposed to participate in the purchase of sports aircraft from Renault. During this trip, Yakovlev visited the factories of famous French designers Blériot, Renault and Messier.

Returning to Moscow, he learned that aircraft designers must restructure their work to design military aircraft. He immediately got involved in the work and, based on his developments, created a reconnaissance aircraft.

Alexander Yakovlev constantly met with test pilots and found his destiny among them. In 1938, he met the pilot E. Mednikova, and they soon got married. After the war, their son Sergei was born, who later also became an aircraft designer.

In the spring of 1939, Alexander Yakovlev began designing his first fighter, and already in 1940, the Yak-1 fighter was successfully tested and put into service.

As a specialist, Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev enjoyed such great authority that even Joseph Stalin listened to his advice. From 1938 he appointed him as his military adviser. In early 1940, he was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry for Science and Experimental Construction. At the same time, on the initiative of Yakovlev, a decision was made to organize a flight test institute in the city of Zhukovsky.

In the prewar years, Yakovlev, as part of a group of engineers, traveled to Germany more than once to get acquainted with German aviation technology. He visited the factories of various German designers, supervised the organization of design work and production.

During the war, he continued to design fighter aircraft. The Yak-3 aircraft he created was recognized as the lightest and most maneuverable aircraft of that time.

Along with this work, in 1942, Alexander Yakovlev began to develop an aircraft with a jet engine. In May of the same year, an experimental sample of the Yak-3 fighter with a liquid-propellant engine went for testing. But the plane was unsuccessful, the engine was too difficult to manage and inconvenient to maintain.

Already at the end of the war, when Alexander Yakovlev got the opportunity to use a turbojet engine, he created the Yak-15 fighter, which for the first time in the history of aircraft construction underwent full-scale tests in a wind tunnel. In April 1946, the state commission accepted the aircraft, and soon its mass production began.

In parallel with jet aircraft, Yakovlev was engaged in the design of aerobatic machines. On one of these Yak-15 aircraft, test pilot P. Stefanovsky performed a set of aerobatics, thus proving that jet aircraft can be used for aerial acrobatics and flights in extreme conditions.

In the spring of 1946, Alexander Yakovlev resigned from the post of deputy people's commissar and devoted himself entirely to design work. Based on his previous designs, he creates the Yak-25, an all-weather interceptor fighter.

Shortly after the end of the tests, the designer had to significantly change the direction of his work. The government commissioned him to develop a cargo-passenger helicopter.

Drawing on the experience of Russian-born American designer Igor Sikorsky, Alexander Yakovlev created the Yak-24 twin-rotor cargo helicopter that could carry forty passengers or approximately four tons of cargo. But the helicopter car turned out to be Yakovlev's only such development. After Stalin's death, his design bureau was reoriented to the creation of light aerobatic aircraft.

In 1957, Yakovlev tested the Yak-18A aircraft, on the basis of which the world's first special aerobatic aircraft was created. He could fly both in normal and inverted position. Most of the participants in the World Aerobatics Championship, held in August 1966 at the Tushino airfield in Moscow, performed on these machines. Currently, this aircraft remains the best aerobatic machine in the world. It is used by professional athletes from 63 countries.

In parallel, Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev led the development of new models of high-speed fighters. He created the Yak-28 supersonic fighter with a variable sweep wing and a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

In the early sixties, the Yakovlev Design Bureau was once again reoriented: it began to design passenger aircraft. Already in 1966, the first sample of the Yak-40 was tested, which, unlike the larger models of passenger liners Tu-104 and Il-62, was intended to work on short airlines.

Due to its low weight, the Yak-40 could take off from both concrete and unpaved airfields. He became the prototype of a family of small passenger aircraft. In February 1972, Alexander Yakovlev's plane made a demonstration flight around the globe. He conquered many and was immediately purchased by many countries.

Yakovlev, on the other hand, is releasing a new version of the Yak-42 aircraft, which could operate both on short and long-haul airlines.

In 1976, Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev became an academician and soon retired.

“And then you returned home to Paris on the plane donated by me” ... This is how Mark Bernes described the fate of the French pilot from the Normandie-Niemen fighter regiment in the song. The squadron, and then the regiment "Normandy-Neman" fought for the Motherland in the skies of the USSR, on Soviet aircraft created in the Design Bureau of Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich.

The song describes the further fate of this unit, after the end of the war, the air regiment of the "Fighting France" returned to France. On donated by the Government of the Union.

Life must have a purpose

The autobiography of A.S. Yakovlev is called “The Purpose of Life”. The name is apt - all his life he designed and created aircraft. Not all of his creations took to the skies, but those machines that took off are enough for history. And there were many.

Training fighters, sports aircraft, fighters and attack aircraft, helicopters and VTOL aircraft - this is the whole life and destiny of the designer.

The first steps

The future aircraft designer was born on April 1 (March 19 according to the old calendar), 1906, in the family of an employee of the Nobel company. The family was of average income, but respectable - the parents had the title of hereditary honorary citizens.

In 1914, Sasha entered the gymnasium, which was considered one of the best in Moscow.

He studied well, but the report card did not allow him to suspect a future engineer - in physics and mathematics, Yakovlev received fours. He liked history and travel stories more.

But he was an active student, took part in public life ... Perhaps reading and the influence of his comrades drew his attention to technology. Alexander began to study in a radio circle and even tried to build a "perpetuum mobile".

Having read literature on aeronautics, in 1921 he assembled a model glider capable of flying. Thus began the design activity of Yakovlev.

Student at the car

In 1922, the young designer created a full-fledged glider. His model received an award at the festival in Koktebel (now the festival "Upstream"). In the same year, the young man went to serve in the army.

But he did not march with a rifle, but delved into the engines - in the position of an aircraft mechanic at a military academy.

In it, he was enrolled for training without competition in 1927, continuing to combine his studies with repair work and inventive activity.
In 1931, the studies were completed. Yakovlev began working as an engineer at aircraft factory No. 39. From this moment on, you can read the biography of the aircraft designer Yakovlev.

Design department

The first design organization created by A.S. Yakovlev should be considered an aircraft modeling circle, organized by him back in 1922. Even then, he showed not only design, but also leadership talent, being able to unite people with a common cause.

In 1932, at his plant, he created a light aviation group. In 1934, she was transferred to the direct subordination of Spetsaviatrest. This moment is supposed to be considered the official "birthday" of KB Yakovlev.

Of course, the organization did not immediately receive his name. Initially, the enterprise (here they not only invented, but also produced) appeared under various code and secret code names. Only in 1990, after the death of the inventor, the company was given his name.

Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev headed his company until 1984. He devoted the rest of his life to literary activity, highlighting in books several stages in the development of Russian aviation.

Akhtung, Normandy in the sky

Yakovlev's aircraft from the time of his formation as a designer are, first of all, the famous "hawks" - the Yak-1, 3, 7 and 9 fighters.

It was these aircraft that bore the brunt of the fighting over the front line on their wing.

Less often they remember the unsuccessful version of the Yak-2/4 medium bombers, the first Yakovlev aircraft adopted by the Air Force, but almost all of them were lost in the early days of the Great Patriotic War.

Yak fighter

In 1939, after evaluating the actions of fighter aviation in Spain, a number of design bureaus were asked to take on the development of the latest fighter with the M-105 engine, one of the most modern liquid-cooled engines produced in the USSR at that time.

In addition, there were requirements in the TOR to minimize the use of "winged metal" in the design, due to the shortage of aluminum in the country.

Alexander Sergeevich submitted a project for consideration by the commission, which had the factory designation I-26. This prototype, having gone through a series of tests and flights, became the famous Yak-1 fighter.

The design of the aircraft used steel pipes for the frame and fabric for covering it, the amount of duraluminium was minimal, as required by the terms of reference, but at the same time, the required speed and armament parameters were achieved due to the high culture of weight and aerodynamics, which later became one of the differences OKB Yakovlev.

At the same time, a training version of the machine was also produced, which, after the termination and release of the cadet cabin, became a combat fighter and was already produced in this capacity. It was his improvement that led to the creation of the Yak-9, the best fighter of the Yakovlev Design Bureau during the war years, released in a dozen modifications, this particular aircraft became an ordinary soldier in the sky of the Great Patriotic War.

Yaks started the war in 1941 with 300 aircraft and 36 retrained pilots, ended it in 1945 with thousands of aircraft in the air corps and hundreds of trained pilots.

Yaks entered the army aviation, the guard flew Lend-Lease Cobras. But among the army there were many heroes, twice Hero of the Soviet Union A.I. Koldunov had 46 downed enemy aircraft on his account.

Yakovlev's combat aircraft were highly appreciated by the state. In 1943, the designer received the Stalin Prize. He gave it entirely "to create an aircraft for the best fighter of the Red Army."

Not only war

The development of aircraft for military aviation was continued by A.S. Yakovlev even after the end of the Great Patriotic War. After the war, his design bureau created:

• the Yak-25 family of fighters and the Yak-26 tactical supersonic bomber based on them;
• VTOL Yak-38, Yak-38M and Yak-41;
• multi-purpose helicopter Yak-24;
• sports aircraft Yak-50 and Yak-52;
• newest ;
• and Yak-42.

The design bureau also developed projects for deck-based aircraft, multi-purpose machines, and helicopters. But the matter was not limited to military aviation. A.S. Yakovlev’s career began in sports aviation.

In the future, he continued to engage in this direction. The designer was also interested in passenger air transportation.

Among the developments of the designer, an important place belongs to sports and training light aircraft. They set records and trained aces not only in the USSR, but also abroad.

1. AIR-1 was created by the inventor back in 1927. Then the pilot Yu. Piontkovsky set a record for the duration and range of flight on this light machine.
2. AIR-9, the first created after the formation of the Bureau, was successfully demonstrated at the Paris Air Show. Then, on its basis, they created a "spark" UT-2 for pilot training. She trained pilots from 1938 to 1948.
3. After the war, training aircraft Yak-18, Yak-50 and some others were produced.

The full list of training and sports models of the design bureau has a dozen positions.

Passenger aviation was not forgotten either.

The Yak-40 was one of the most famous Soviet passenger aircraft. Of all the domestic models in the Soviet era, he alone had official international certification and was massively supplied abroad.

No gossip

Unfortunately, the name of A.S. Yakovlev was not without gossip. Most of them are connected with the fact of his good relationship with I.V. Stalin.

Also, the inventor from 1940 to 1946 was Deputy People's Commissar (then Minister) of the aviation industry. In this regard, ill-wishers accuse him of unreasonable "mocking", which led to repression against other designers.

Anything happened in those days. Many actions from the category that are now considered categorically unacceptable were considered the norm. But the reliability of evidence and confirmation of Yakovlev's dubious actions leaves much to be desired.

Perhaps, while holding the post of deputy people's commissar, the designer really "pushed back" projects that seemed unsuitable for him. But he was responsible for experimental, not serial production. Yes, there is no information about the intercession of A.S. Yakovlev for the repressed colleagues.

But there is no reason to suspect him of denunciations either. Moreover, most of the repressed suffered long before Yakovlev became deputy people's commissar and began to visit the Kremlin regularly.

We also know his letter (dated 1943) with a recommendation to start mass production, the very one that he allegedly "pushed".

And he left the high post of his own free will, preferring the leadership of engineers to the leadership of the ministry.

Aircraft designer Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev lived a long productive life. Under his leadership, about 100 models of aircraft for various purposes were created. Most of them left a noticeable mark in the history of domestic aviation. And the design bureau continues to work, putting the Motherland on the wing.

Video

01.04.1906 - 22.08.1989
Twice Hero of Socialist Labor

Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich - Soviet designer of aviation equipment, chief designer of Design Bureau No. 115 of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry of the USSR, Moscow; General Designer of Design Bureau No. 115 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR, Moscow.

Born March 19 (April 1), 1906 in Moscow in the family of an employee. Russian. My father served as the head of the transport department in the oil company "Partnership of the Nobel Brothers". Mother was a housewife. In 1914 he entered the preparatory class of the private men's gymnasium N.P.Strakhova. After the October Revolution, the gymnasium was merged with the women's school, became state and received the name "Unified Labor School of the 2nd Stage".

The school showed interest in technology and, in particular, in aviation. In 1921 he built a flying model glider and successfully tested it in the school hall. There were other enthusiasts at the school, and in 1922 Alexander organized an aircraft modeling circle.

Without leaving school, in 1919-1922 he worked as a courier, then as a student in the archive, as a secretary to the head of a department in Glavtop, an organization that distributed all types of fuel. In August 1923, after graduating from school, he organized the first school cell in the city of Moscow of the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ODVF). Aviation enthusiasts, and there were about 60 of them at the school, built models, and then proceeded to manufacture the glider.

Since 1924, Yakovlev worked first as a worker, then as a mechanic for the flight squad of the Academy of the Air Fleet (AVF) named after N.E. Zhukovsky. In the same year, he built his first aircraft - the AVF-10 glider. Despite numerous requests and appeals, he was not taken to the academy, due to his “non-proletarian origin”. In 1927, Yakovlev built his first aircraft - AIR-1 (VVA-1). In July 1927, the first Soviet world records were set on this aircraft - the range (1420 km) and the duration (15 hours 30 minutes) of the flight. For these achievements, A.S. Yakovlev was enrolled as a student at the Air Force Academy out of competition. While studying at the Academy, he did not stop building aircraft. In 1927-1931, under his leadership, 8 types of aircraft were created - from AIR-1 to AIR-8, one of which (AIR-6) was built in a large series.

In 1931, after graduating from the academy, he entered the Menzhinsky aircraft factory No. 39 as an engineer, where in August of the following year he organized a light aviation group - his future design bureau. A group of enthusiasts, working under the leadership of A.S. Yakovlev, achieved recognition and in January 1934 was transferred from Osoviahim to the state aircraft industry as an independent design and production bureau, which soon became plant No. 115.

The first aircraft created at the new location, AIR-9, was shown at the Paris Air Show in the fall of 1934. Later, on its basis, the UT-2 aircraft was created for initial training for Air Force flight schools and flying clubs, which was produced in 1938-1948. In 1935, A.S. Yakovlev became the chief designer. In subsequent years, the Design Bureau created several more light sport aircraft: UT-1, AIR-11 and AIR-12.

In 1939, the Design Bureau built its first combat vehicle, the twin-engine bomber BB-22 (Yak-2 and Yak-4), whose speed exceeded the speed of the best fighters of that time. Yak-2 and Yak-4 were mass-produced. In January 1940, he simultaneously worked as Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry for Experimental Aircraft Building and Science.

On January 13, 1940, the I-26 (Yak-1) fighter took off. The aircraft was highly appreciated, and the chief designer became one of the first Heroes of Socialist Labor.

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 28, 1940 for outstanding achievements in the field of creating new types of weapons that increase the defense power of the Soviet Union Yakovlev Alexander Sergeevich He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

During the Great Patriotic War, Yak-7 (1941), Yak-9, Yak-3 (1943) and more than 30 of their serial variants and modifications were created on the basis of the Yak-1 - more than 30 thousand aircraft in total. They accounted for two-thirds of the fighters produced during the war. Each "yak" had a number of modifications that differed in the best characteristics. Replacing wood with metal in the structure, improving aerodynamics made it possible to increase the flight speed. The last modification of the Yak-3 had it up to 720 km / h, it was also the lightest fighter of the Second World War. Armament was strengthened, from 20 mm guns on the Yak-1 to 37 mm and 45 mm on the Yak-9. The flight range was increased, up to 2200 km for the Yak-9DD. Until July 1946, A.S. Yakovlev, heading the design bureau, simultaneously worked as deputy people's commissar of the aviation industry for experimental aircraft construction and science (in 1946 - deputy minister for general issues). Major General of the Aviation Engineering Service (11/10/1942). Lieutenant General of the Aviation Engineering Service (12/27/1943).

From 1956 until his retirement, A.S. Yakovlev was the General Designer of the Design Bureau. In the post-war period, aviation was re-equipped with jet technology. The Yak-15 fighter became the first jet aircraft to enter service in the USSR. It was followed by the Yak-17UTI, Yak-23, Yak-25 - the first Soviet all-weather interceptor, the high-altitude Yak-25RV, the first Yak-27R supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, the Yak-28 family of supersonic aircraft, including the first Soviet supersonic front-line bomber. Landing vehicles entered service - the Yak-14 glider and the Yak-24 helicopter - the most lifting in the world in 1952-1956.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 12, 1957, he was awarded the second gold medal "Hammer and Sickle" for outstanding services in the creation of new aviation equipment and the labor heroism shown at the same time. Became twice Hero of Socialist Labor.

Along with combat aircraft, the Yakovlev Design Bureau also produced civilian equipment. A whole generation of light-engine aircraft was created: the Yak-11 and Yak-18 trainers, the multi-purpose Yak-12, the first in the USSR jet training and sports aircraft Yak-30 and Yak-32. Speaking since 1960 on the Yak-18P, Yak-18PM, Yak-18PS and Yak-50, Soviet pilots have repeatedly won first places in the world and European championships in aerobatics.

Since 1968, the Yak-40 has been carrying passengers - the only Soviet aircraft certified according to Western airworthiness standards and purchased by Italy, Germany and other countries. Later, a 120-seat Yak-42 was created, which was distinguished by high efficiency.

In 1967, the first Soviet vertical takeoff and landing aircraft Yak-36 was demonstrated at the Domodedovo parade, and since 1976, the Kyiv-class cruisers were armed with vertical and short takeoff and landing combat aircraft Yak-38 - the world's first carrier-based VTOL aircraft.

On August 21, 1984, A.S. Yakovlev retired at the age of 78. In total, under his leadership, more than 200 types of aircraft were created, of which more than 100 were serial, on which 86 world records were set at different times.

Lenin Prize (1971). State Prize of the USSR (1977). Six Stalin Prizes (1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948).

Colonel General of the Aviation Engineering Service (07/09/1946). Awarded 10 Orders of Lenin (04/27/1939; 10/28/1940; 09/06/1942; 05/25/1944; 07/02/1945; 11/15/1950; 03/31/1956; 03/31/1966; 06/23/1981), 08/18/1 04/26/1971), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (11/03/1944; 10/26/1955), Orders of Suvorov 1st (09/16/1945) and 2nd (08/19/1944) degrees, Patriotic War 1st degree (06/10/1945 ), the Red Banner of Labor (09/17/1975), the Red Star (08/17/1933), medals, the Order of the Legion of Honor of the degree of an officer (France). In addition, he was awarded the FAI Aviation Gold Medal.

The bronze bust of the Hero is installed in Moscow. In Moscow, a memorial plaque was opened on the house where he lived. In 2006, a street in the Northern District of Moscow was named after him. In 1990, the name of the aircraft designer A.S. Yakovlev was given to the design bureau, which he led for many years. Aircraft with the Yak brand remain a worthy monument to the designer.