What did the kotelnikov invent in 1911. Backpack parachute. History of one invention. “Parachutes in aviation are generally a harmful thing ...”

What could be more beautiful than free flight? Since ancient times, mankind has been thinking about conquering the blue of the sky, but it was possible to overcome the force of the earth's gravity quite recently, just a few centuries ago. Aircraft lighter than air came to the rescue, but much later, at the end of the 19th century, prototypes of modern aircraft appeared. However, the dreams of individual flights still haunted thousands of romantics living on all five continents. In this article, we will recall the history of a brilliant invention that allowed us to experience the sensation of free fall at least for a moment. As you probably guessed, we will talk about a parachute.

It is generally accepted that the first inventor of a structure that was capable of providing soaring and an individual descent to the ground after a high-altitude jump was none other than the Renaissance magician Leonardo da Vinci. The inventor indicated the exact proportions of the canvas sail, which ensured complete safety of the jump. However, the calculations of this great-parachute remained on paper.

Much later, in the 17th century, the prisoner of the prison, the Frenchman Lavin, preparing to escape, decided on a desperate experiment. The inventor made a kind of linen tent, attaching a whalebone to it and, jumping out of the window, safely descended onto the water surface.

In Russia, the first skydiver was a certain Aleksandrovsky, who in 1806 made a successful jump from a balloon flying over Moscow.

At the end of the century before last, the parachute was still a curiosity, but it was becoming increasingly popular with the conquerors of the air spaces, who used hot air balloons and airships.

The designs of parachutes used at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, despite numerous improvements and design improvements, did not give a 100% guarantee of a safe landing. Although in connection with the active development of aircraft heavier than air, there was a need for means that could provide a jump overboard and subsequent successful landing.

The pioneer in the development and testing of such parachutes was an ordinary Russian guy Gleb Kotelnikov, who from an early age was an eyewitness to the ascent of the era of aeronautics. Coming from a family of scientists, Gleb was seriously carried away by airplanes, but the accident he observed instantly sobered him up, relieving him of unnecessary illusions. In 1910, Kotelnikov witnessed the disaster that befell the plane of the pilot L. Matsievich. The young inventor, having experienced a real shock, decided at all costs to create a parachute that would help pilots save their lives at all costs.

It took about ten months to develop the first model of the RK-1 parachute (Kotelnikov's first Russian parachute). The designer suggested sewing a dome from thin rubberized silk, the volume of which was easily reduced into a metal backpack. To the lines holding the dome, Gleb attached two adjustable straps, with which the parachutist could easily control the entire structure during the flight. According to calculations, such a dome with a diameter of eight meters and a weight of only 2 kilograms could freely hold a person weighing about 80 kilograms in the air. Unfortunately, the Russian military and officials did not support the inventor, so Kotelnikov was able to obtain a patent for the invention under the number 438,612 only in 1912 in France.

In the summer of 1912, Kotelnikov conducted the first test of his parachute design. Having accelerated in a car, Gleb managed to slow down the vehicle with the help of a parachute opened during the movement. A little later, the RK-1 was tested from an airplane. So, a 200 kg dummy was dropped from the plane, which landed smoothly in the designated area without visible damage. Kotelnikov's parachutes received their baptism of fire already on the fronts of World War I and the Civil War.

G. E. Kotelnikov

From a miniature on ivory, located in the State. Tretyakov Gallery.

Work thin. Yu. V. Kotelnikova.

The author of this book, the Russian inventor Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov, was the first to design a backpack parachute of free and automatic action. But Kotelnikov was neither an engineer nor an aircraft designer. He was a self-taught designer, but he created a parachute that even the best specialists abroad could not create.

His life and his work are of interest not only to the paratroopers of the Soviet Union, but also to Soviet children who love aviation and follow its progress.

Gleb Evgenyevich Kotelnikov was born in 1872 in the family of a professor of mechanics and higher mathematics at the St. Petersburg Forestry Institute - Evgeny Grigoryevich Kotelnikov. Kotelnikov's parents loved music, theater, sometimes performed in amateur performances. All this was accepted by the young Kotelnikov. Since childhood, he fell in love with the stage and began to strive for it.

But, besides the theater, young Kotelnikov was fond of technology, made various toys and models. The father encouraged these inclinations of his son and tried to develop them.

Once the son asked his father to buy him a camera.

Buy, buy ... - answered the father. - Buy, my brother, everything is possible if there is money. But you yourself try to do it. If something comes up, I'll buy a real one.

The son knew that it was useless to ask his father now. The father did not change his mind. Instead of buying breakfast for himself at the gymnasium, Kotelnikov began to save money. When five rubles accumulated, I bought an old lens. Kotelnikov worked for a long time, but the device did it anyway. The son solemnly presented the first picture to his father. After checking this camera, the professor praised the work and fulfilled his promise - he bought a real one.

But in 1889, a misfortune befell the family: Professor Kotelnikov died. Gleb Evgenievich had just graduated from high school. Retirement was difficult.

Kotelnikov entered a military school. But he did not like drill, barracks discipline. After graduating from school as an artilleryman, Kotelnikov served three years of compulsory service. He was weary of serving in the army, seeing the disenfranchisement of the soldiers, the rudeness of the officers. As soon as the term of service ended, Kotelnikov retired.

In 1898, Gleb Evgenievich left for the province, where he served as an excise official. In the provinces, he helped organize people's houses, drama clubs. And sometimes he played as an amateur actor. He became interested in working in the theater, and when he returned to St. Petersburg, he joined the troupe of the People's House.

So in 1910, in the thirty-ninth year of his life, Gleb Evgenievich became an actor Glebov-Kotelnikov.

At this time, the first Russian pilots showed the audience their first flights. People then just learned to take to the air on airplanes - machines heavier than air. There were no Russian airplanes yet, and Russian pilots flew foreign planes.

The actor Glebov-Kotelnikov, who loved technology since childhood, could not be indifferent to these events that worried all of St. Petersburg. He went to the Commandant's airfield and there, together with the rest of the spectators, watched the unprecedented machines, listened to the unusual sound from the propeller of the aircraft.

Kotelnikov did not remain an indifferent witness when he saw the death of the pilot Matsievich, who crashed to death, falling from an airplane. This was the first casualty of Russian aviation. But she didn't go unnoticed. Russian actor Kotelnikov decided to build an apparatus on which pilots could descend to the ground if an airplane crash occurs in the air.

Abroad, they also worked on the creation of an aviation parachute. And although these were design specialists who had the best working conditions, their parachutes turned out to be too complex, heavy, and cumbersome. Such parachutes were not suitable for aviation.

Kotelnikov built a model of his parachute and tested it. It was a light parachute stowed in a knapsack. He was always with the pilot. The parachute worked flawlessly.

On October 27, 1911, Kotelnikov patented his invention "RK-1" (Russian, Kotelnikov's first) and applied to the military ministry.

In the ministry, Kotelnikov was accepted, listened to, approved the design, but rejected "as unnecessary."

This was the first failure. The foreigner Lomach learned about this failure of the Russian inventor, in whose office they sold equipment for aviation. Lomach invited Kotelnikov to his office and offered to help build a parachute.

Lomach built two copies of the RK-1 parachute. Their tests gave good results. And yet in Russia they were not interested in parachuting.

But after testing "RK-1" in Russia, abroad already knew about the invention of Kotelnikov. And when Lomach arrived in France, everyone looked with interest at the jumps of the student Ossovsky from the 53-meter-high bridge in Rouen.

And since 1913, knapsack parachutes similar to Kotelnikov's began to appear abroad.

Only at the very beginning of the World War did the War Ministry remember Kotelnikov and his parachutes. Now he was called and decided to make several dozen parachutes for the front.

But it was not possible to introduce a parachute in all aviation. The head of the Russian air force believed that "a parachute in aviation is a harmful thing."

After the revolution, during the civil war, Kotelnikov's parachutes were used by the aeronautical units of our Red Army.

In 1921, at the request of the Main Directorate of the Air Fleet, the Soviet government awarded Gleb Evgenievich.

Kotelnikov started working again, improving his parachute. In 1923, he released a new, semi-rigid backpack parachute "RK-2". Kotelnikov was the first to develop a postman parachute that could lower loads to the ground. He developed a collective parachute to rescue passengers in case of civil aircraft crashes.

Kotelnikov invented a basket parachute, where the basket is separated from the balloon by turning the steering wheel.

Finally, in 1924, Kotelnikov created the RK-3 parachute. A year later, in 1925, the Irwin foreign parachute appeared, similar in design to Kotelnikov's, but more carefully designed. He was given preference. The Kotelnikovsky parachutes, which had not yet been tested at that time, were made handicraft. We bought the right to manufacture his parachutes from Irvine. But we know the name of that Russian designer who first developed all the principles of the aviation parachute that we use now.

The self-taught inventor Kotelnikov created his parachute in Tsarist Russia. In that technically backward country, he, of course, could not meet with either attention or support, just as Ladygin, Yablochkov, Popov, Michurin, Tsiolkovsky and others did not meet this.

In his book, Gleb Evgenievich tells Soviet children how people learned to build parachutes and descend to the ground with them. He also tells about how he created his own parachute in those days when the tsarist officials considered the parachute unnecessary and even harmful.

In our country, thousands of people are now engaged in parachuting, learning how to use a parachute, jump with it. They know that a parachute is necessary both in the defense of our homeland and in their daily work. And to replace our paratroopers, aircraft designers, pilots, a new generation is growing up, which should know and respect the work of this self-taught designer, whose parachute was the basis for the best modern parachutes.

Gleb Kotelnikov with a test dummy "Ivan Ivanovich".

Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov (1872-1944) was born in St. Petersburg in the family of a professor of mechanics and higher mathematics. After graduating from the Kiev military school in 1894 and having served for three years, he retired. For several years he served as an excise officer in the provinces, taking an interest in amateur theater. In 1910, Kotelnikov returned to St. Petersburg and entered the troupe of the People's House on the St. Petersburg side as an actor.

Kotelnikov with the parachute he invented

In the same year, impressed by the death of the aviator Lev Matsievich, he began to develop an aviation parachute. 10 months of hard work led Kotelnikov to create the world's first free action backpack parachute. In December 1911, Kotelnikov tried to register it in Russia, but for unknown reasons he was unable to obtain a patent. An attempt to register the invention in France turned out to be more successful - on March 20, 1912, Kotelnikov received a patent for the RK1 parachute (Russian, Kotelnikova, 1st model).

The first demonstration tests took place in 1912. On June 2, on the racing highway near Tsarskoye Selo, a test was carried out with the help of a Russo-Balt car, which accelerated to full speed, after which Kotelnikov opened a parachute, which caused the car's engine to stall. Thus, Kotelnikov also became the inventor of the braking parachute. On June 6, RK1 was tested in the camp of the Aeronautical School near the village of Salizi near Gatchina. A mannequin weighing about 80 kg with a parachute attached to it was dropped from a balloon from different heights. All throws were successful, but the Main Engineering Directorate of the Russian Army did not accept Kotelnikov's parachute for production for fear that it would encourage pilots to leave the airplane at the slightest malfunction.

In the winter of 1912-1913, Kotelnikov's business partner Wilhelm Lomakh presented the RK1 parachute at a competition in France. On January 5, 1913, in Rouen, Vladimir Ossovsky, a student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, made the first jump in history with a backpack parachute from a bridge over the Seine 60 meters high. Kotelnikov's invention was recognized in Europe, where from the middle of 1913 it began to be widely copied on the basis of two PK1 samples sold by Lomakh.

With the outbreak of World War II, the Russian military department remembered the invention of Kotelnikov and ordered him 70 parachutes for Ilya Muromets aircraft. During the war years, RK1 has proven itself from the best side. In addition, Kotelnikov was instructed to develop a parachute that could lower a heavy cannon from the Ilya Muromets after it fired shots at the enemy. Although this idea was ultimately unsuccessful, in the course of the task, Kotelnikov invented and successfully tested the world's first cargo parachute.

Nikita Khrushchev at the UN (was there a shoe?)

As you know, history develops in a spiral. This fully applies to the history of the United Nations. For more than half a century of its existence, the UN has undergone many changes. Created in the wake of the euphoria of the victory over Nazi Germany, the Organization set itself bold and in many respects utopian tasks.

But time puts a lot in its place. And the hopes for creating a world without wars, poverty, hunger, lack of rights and inequality were replaced by a persistent confrontation between the two systems.

Natalia Terekhova tells about one of the most striking episodes of that time, the famous “Khrushchev’s shoe”.

REPORTAGE:

On October 12, 1960, the most stormy meeting of the General Assembly in the history of the United Nations took place. On this day, the delegation of the Soviet Union, headed by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, submitted for consideration a draft resolution on granting independence to colonial countries and peoples.

Nikita Sergeevich delivered his usual emotional speech, which abounded in exclamation marks. In his speech, Khrushchev, not sparing expressions, denounced and stigmatized colonialism and the colonialists.

After Khrushchev, the representative of the Philippines rose to the rostrum of the General Assembly. He spoke from the position of a country that had experienced all the hardships of colonialism and, after many years of liberation struggle, achieved independence: “In our opinion, the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should have covered and provided for the inalienable right to independence not only of the peoples and territories that still remain ruled by the Western colonial powers, but also by the peoples of Eastern Europe and other areas deprived of the opportunity to freely exercise their civil and political rights and, so to speak, swallowed up by the Soviet Union.

Listening to the simultaneous translation, Khrushchev exploded. After consulting with Gromyko, he decided to ask the Chairman to speak on a point of order. Nikita Sergeevich raised his hand, but no one paid any attention to him.

The famous foreign ministry translator Viktor Sukhodrev, who often accompanied Nikita Sergeevich on trips, told about what happened next in his memoirs: “Khrushchev liked to take his watch off his hand and turn it around. At the UN, he began banging his fists on the table in protest at the Filipino's speech. In his hand was a watch, which simply stopped.

And then Khrushchev angrily took off his shoe, or rather, an open wicker sandal, and began to knock on the table with his heel.

This was the moment that went down in world history as the famous "Khrushchev's boot". Nothing like the hall of the UN General Assembly has not yet seen. The sensation was born right before our eyes.

And finally, the head of the Soviet delegation was given the floor:
“I protest against the unequal treatment of the representatives of the states sitting here. Why is this lackey of American imperialism coming forward? It affects the issue, it does not affect the procedural issue! And the Chairman, who sympathizes with this colonial rule, he does not stop it! Is it fair? Lord! Mr Chairman! We live on earth not by the grace of God and not by your grace, but by the strength and intelligence of our great people of the Soviet Union and all peoples who are fighting for their independence.

It must be said that in the middle of Khrushchev's speech, the simultaneous translation was interrupted, as the interpreters frantically searched for an analogue of the Russian word "kholuy". Finally, after a long pause, the English word "jerk" was found, which has a wide range of meanings - from "fool" to "bastard". Western reporters who covered events at the UN in those years had to work hard until they found an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language and understood the meaning of Khrushchev's metaphor.

Immediately after people began to take to the air, first in balloons, and then on airplanes, the question of their salvation in the event of an accident at high altitude became acute. On the first planes, long folded structures in the form of umbrellas were used for this, which were fixed on the fuselage. These were very unreliable devices that greatly increased the weight of the aircraft, so they were used extremely rarely.

In balloons, the evolution of means for a relatively soft landing when falling from many kilometers in height went its own way. They used heavy and uncomfortable linen products that were tied to the bottom or side of the balloon. It is clear that in the event of an accident, it was far from always possible to correctly use such a design.

Everything changed in 1912, when the Russian inventor Gleb Kotelnikov tested his backpack parachute.

Biography of the designer

Gleb Kotelnikov was born in St. Petersburg in 1872, his father was a professor of mechanics and higher mathematics. The main hobby of the parents was the theater, and the boy also fell in love with him. Since childhood, he has been playing the violin and singing. However, he also liked something else - making different toys and models with his own hands.

In 1894, Gleb graduated from the Kiev Military School and, after 3 years of compulsory service, retired. Kotelnikov leaves for the provinces and lives a quiet, measured life - he serves as an excise official, helps in organizing drama circles, and sometimes plays in performances himself. He does not give up his design hobby.

Tragedy as a trigger

In 1910, Kotelnikov returned to St. Petersburg and joined the troupe of the People's House on the St. Petersburg side. He plays under the pseudonym Glebov-Kotelnikov.

September 24, 1910 (old style) in St. Petersburg was a beautiful windless weather. On this day, the first aeronautics festival in Russia was scheduled. The audience was delighted with the unprecedented spectacle, and suddenly one of the planes began to fall apart in the air. A pilot fell out of it from a height of 400 m, who had no chance of surviving. So, in the first aviation accident for the Russian Empire, the famous aviator Lev Matsievich died.

Gleb Kotelnikov witnessed the tragedy, and at that moment he firmly decided that this should not happen again. So the 38-year-old actor turned into a parachute designer.

Making a parachute

Kotelnikov's work on the creation of the first folding backpack parachute was completed in December 1911, that is, 15 months after the death of Matsievich. The inventor replaced the heavy linen with light and strong silk. Gleb Evgenievich sewed a thin elastic cable into the edges of the parachute. The slings were divided into two groups, fixed on the shoulder girths of the suspension system. The result was a structure that a person could control while descending to the ground.

The main feature of Kotelnikov's parachute was that he put it in a small shoulder pack. At its bottom was a special shelf with strong springs underneath. Due to this solution, the parachute was instantly thrown out when the person pulled out the retaining ring in the air. The first model was named RK-1 - short for Russian, Kotelnikova, model 1.

After successful tests with a dummy, the development was proposed to the military department, but the Russian bureaucratic machine did not share the enthusiasm for the invention. One of the Grand Dukes even called a parachute a thing harmful to aviation, since with it the pilot will save himself, and not the plane, at the slightest danger.
Kotelnikov did not give up and continued to work on the invention, which Russian aviation still needed when it started.

After the revolution and the Civil War, Kotelnikov remained in Soviet Russia. In 1923, he presented the RK-2 model, and a little later, the RK-3 with a soft pack. Modern parachutes of Russian paratroopers have almost the same design as the RK-3. The airborne troops appeared in our country in 1929 precisely thanks to Gleb Evgenievich and his developments.

Almost simultaneously with the RK-3, Kotelnikov created the RK-4 cargo parachute. It is distinguished by an enlarged dome with a diameter of 12 m and the ability to lower a load weighing up to 300 kg. However, this parachute was not used. In 1926, Kotelnikov handed over all his inventions to the Soviet government.

The inventor met the beginning in Leningrad. He survived part of the blockade, and after the first winter in the besieged city was evacuated. Kotelnikov waited until the blockade was lifted from his native city, but did not live to see the end of the war. He died at the end of 1944 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

The first test of the Kotelnikov parachute took place in the village of Salizi, which in 1949 was renamed Kotelnikovo (Gatchinsky district of the Leningrad region). A small monument with a parachute depicted on it still stands next to the training ground.

The grave of Gleb Evgenievich is a place of pilgrimage for paratroopers. They tie parachute strings to the trees next to his tombstone.