It's always difficult to be first, but interesting
On the morning of March 27, 1943, the first Soviet jet fighter "BI-1" took off from the airfield of the Koltsovo Air Force Research Institute in Sverdlovsk region... Passed the seventh test flight to achieve maximum speed. Reaching a two-kilometer altitude and gaining a speed of about 800 km / h, the plane suddenly went into a dive at the 78th second after running out of fuel and collided with the ground. An experienced test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi, who was sitting at the helm, was killed. This disaster became an important stage in the development of aircraft with liquid-propellant rocket engines in the USSR, but although work on them continued until the end of the 1940s, this direction of aviation development turned out to be a dead end. Nevertheless, these first, albeit not very successful, steps had a serious impact on the entire subsequent history of the post-war development of Soviet aviation and rocketry.
"The era of propeller-driven airplanes should be followed by the era of jet airplanes ..." - these words of the founder of jet technology, KE Tsiolkovsky, began to be embodied in the mid-1930s of the twentieth century. By this time, it became clear that a further significant increase in aircraft flight speed due to an increase in the power of piston engines and a more perfect aerodynamic shape is practically impossible. The aircraft had to be equipped with motors, the power of which could not be increased without an excessive increase in the mass of the engine. So, to increase the flight speed of a fighter from 650 to 1000 km / h, it was necessary to increase the power of the piston engine 6 (!) Times.
It was obvious that the piston engine was to be replaced by a jet engine, which, having smaller transverse dimensions, would allow to reach high speeds, giving more thrust per unit weight.
Jet engines are divided into two main classes: air-jet engines, which use the energy of oxidation of combustible oxygen from air taken from the atmosphere, and rocket engines, containing all the components of the working fluid on board and capable of operating in any environment, including airless. The first type includes turbojet (turbojet), pulsating air-jet (PuVRD) and ramjet (ramjet), and the second - liquid-propellant rocket (LPRE) and solid-propellant rocket (TTRD) engines.
The first samples of jet technology appeared in countries where traditions in the development of science and technology and the level aviation industry were extremely high. These are, first of all, Germany, the USA, as well as England, Italy. In 1930, the project of the first turbojet engine was patented by the Englishman Frank Whittle, then the first working model of the engine was assembled in 1935 in Germany by Hans von Ohain, and in 1937 the Frenchman Rene Leduc received a government order for the creation of a ramjet engine.
In the USSR, however, practical work on the "jet" theme was carried out mainly in the direction of liquid-propellant rocket engines. The founder of rocket engine building in the USSR was V.P. Glushko. In 1930, then an employee of the Gas Dynamic Laboratory (GDL) in Leningrad, which at that time was the only design bureau in the world to develop solid-propellant missiles, he created the first domestic LPRE ORM-1. And in Moscow in 1931-1933. F. L. Tsander, a scientist and designer of the Jet Propulsion Research Group (GIRD), developed the OR-1 and OR-2 LPRE.
A new powerful impetus to the development of jet technology in the USSR was given by the appointment of MN Tukhachevsky in 1931 to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Chief of Armaments of the Red Army. It was he who insisted on the adoption in 1932 of the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars "On the development of steam turbine and jet engines, as well as jet-powered aircraft ...". The work begun after this at the Kharkov Aviation Institute made it possible only by 1941 to create a working model of the first Soviet turbojet engine designed by A.M. Lyulka and contributed to the launch on August 17, 1933 of the first in the USSR liquid-propellant rocket GIRD-09, which reached an altitude of 400 m.
But the lack of more tangible results pushed Tukhachevsky in September 1933 to merge the GDL and the GIRD into a single Jet Research Institute (RNII), headed by a Leningrader, 1st rank military engineer I. T. Kleimenov. His deputy was the future Chief Designer of the space program, Muscovite S.P.Korolev, who two years later in 1935 was appointed head of the rocket aircraft department. And although the RNII was subordinate to the ammunition management of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry and its main topic was the development of rocket shells (the future "Katyusha"), Korolev, together with Glushko, managed to calculate the most advantageous design schemes for the devices, types of engines and control systems, types of fuel and materials. As a result, by 1938, his department developed an experimental guided missile system, including projects of liquid-propellant cruise "212" and ballistic "204" long-range missiles with gyroscopic control, aircraft missiles for firing at air and ground targets, anti-aircraft solid-fuel missiles with guidance on the light and radio beam.
In an effort to get the support of the military leadership and in the development of a high-altitude rocket plane "218", Korolev substantiated the concept of a fighter-interceptor, capable of reaching great heights in a few minutes and attacking aircraft that broke through to the protected object.
But on June 30, 1939, German pilot Erich Varzitz took off the world's first jet aircraft with a liquid-propellant engine designed by Helmut Walter "Heinkel" He-176, reaching a speed of 700 km / h, and two months later, the world's first jet aircraft with a turbojet engine "Heinkel" He-178, equipped with the engine of Hans von Ohain, "HeS-3 B" with a thrust of 510 kg and a speed of 750 km / h.
In May 1941, the British "Gloucester Pioneer" E.28 / 29 made its maiden flight with the "Whittle" W-1 turbojet engine, designed by Frank Whittle.
Thus, Nazi Germany became the leader in the jet race, which, in addition to aviation programs, began to implement a missile program under the leadership of Wernher von Braun at a secret training ground in Peenemünde.
In 1938 the RNII was renamed to NII-3, now the "royal" rocket plane "218-1" began to be designated "RP-318-1". New leading designers, engineers A. Shcherbakov and A. Pallo, replaced the ORM-65 LPRE by V. P. Glushko with a nitric-acid-kerosene engine "RDA-1-150" designed by L. S. Dushkin.
And now, after almost a year of testing, in February 1940, the first flight of the RP-318-1 took place in tow behind the R 5 aircraft. Test pilot? P. Fedorov at an altitude of 2800 m unhooked the towing cable and started the rocket engine. A small cloud from an incendiary squib appeared behind the rocket plane, then brown smoke, then a fiery jet about a meter long. "RP-318-1", having developed a maximum speed of only 165 km / h, went into flight with a climb.
This modest achievement nevertheless allowed the USSR to join the pre-war "jet club" of the leading aviation powers.
The successes of the German designers did not go unnoticed by the Soviet leadership. In July 1940, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree defining the creation of the first domestic aircraft with jet engines. The decree, in particular, provided for the solution of issues "on the use of high-power jet engines for ultra-high-speed stratospheric flights."
Massive Luftwaffe raids on British cities and the lack of sufficient numbers in the Soviet Union radar stations revealed the need to create a fighter-interceptor to cover especially important objects, on the project of which in the spring of 1941 young engineers A. Ya. Bereznyak and A. M. Isaev from the design bureau of designer V. F. Bolkhovitinov began to work. The concept of their missile interceptor with a Dushkin engine or a "close fighter" was based on Korolev's proposal put forward back in 1938.
When an enemy aircraft appeared, a "close fighter" was supposed to take off quickly and, having a high rate of climb and speed, catch up and destroy the enemy in the first attack, then, after running out of fuel, using the reserve of altitude and speed, plan for landing.
The project was distinguished by its extraordinary simplicity and low cost - the whole structure was supposed to be made of plywood from solid wood. The engine frame, pilot protection and landing gear were made of metal, which were removed under the influence of compressed air.
With the beginning of the war, Bolkhovitinov attracted all the OKB to work on the aircraft. In July 1941, a draft design with an explanatory note was sent to Stalin, and in August, the State Defense Committee decided to urgently build an interceptor, which was needed by the air defense units of Moscow. According to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, 35 days were given for the manufacture of the machine.
The aircraft, which received the name "BI" (a close fighter or, as journalists later interpreted, "Bereznyak - Isaev") was built almost without detailed working drawings, drawing its full-size parts on plywood. The fuselage skin was glued on a veneer blank, then attached to the frame. The keel was carried out at the same time with the fuselage, like a thin wooden wing of a coffered structure, and was covered with canvas. Even a carriage for two 20-mm ShVAK cannons with 90 rounds of ammunition was made of wood. The D-1 A-1100 rocket engine was installed in the aft fuselage. The engine consumed 6 kg of kerosene and acid per second. The total fuel supply on board the aircraft, equal to 705 kg, ensured engine operation for almost 2 minutes. The estimated take-off weight of the BI aircraft was 1650 kg with an empty weight of 805 kg.
In order to reduce the time for creating an interceptor, at the request of the Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry for Experimental Aircraft Construction A.S. Yakovlev, the glider of the BI aircraft was examined in a full-scale TsAGI wind tunnel, and at the airfield test pilot BN Kudrin began jogging and approaching in tow ... We had to tinker a lot with the development of the power plant, since nitric acid corroded tanks and wiring and had a harmful effect on humans.
However, all work was interrupted due to the evacuation of the design bureau to the Urals in the village of Belimbay in October 1941. There, in order to debug the operation of the liquid-propellant engine systems, a ground stand was mounted - the BI fuselage with a combustion chamber, tanks and pipelines. By the spring of 1942, the ground test program was completed.
Flight tests of the unique fighter were assigned to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, who made 65 sorties at the front and shot down 5 German planes. He had previously mastered the systems management at the stand.
The morning of May 15, 1942 forever entered the history of Russian cosmonautics and aviation, with the takeoff from the ground of the first Soviet aircraft with a liquid-propellant jet engine. The flight, which lasted 3 minutes 9 seconds at a speed of 400 km / h and a climb rate of 23 m / s, made a strong impression on everyone present. This is how Bolkhovitinov recalled it in 1962: “For us, standing on the ground, this take-off was unusual. With an unusually fast gaining speed, the plane took off from the ground in 10 seconds and disappeared from sight in 30 seconds. Only the engine flame spoke of where he was. Several minutes passed in this way. Frankly, my veins started shaking. "
The members of the state commission noted in an official act that "the takeoff and flight of the BI-1 aircraft with a rocket engine, first used as the main engine of the aircraft, proved the possibility of practical flight on a new principle, which opens up a new direction for the development of aviation." The test pilot noted that the flight on the BI aircraft is exceptionally pleasant in comparison with conventional types of aircraft, and the aircraft surpasses other fighters in ease of control.
A day after the tests, a solemn meeting and meeting were held in Bilimbay. A poster hung over the presidium table: "Greetings to Captain Bakhchivandzhi, a pilot who made a flight to a new one!"
Soon, the GKO decided to build a series of 20 BI-VS aircraft, where, in addition to two cannons, a cluster bomb was installed in front of the pilot's cockpit, which housed ten small anti-aircraft bombs weighing 2.5 kg each.
A total of 7 test flights were performed on the BI fighter, each of which recorded the best flight performance of the aircraft. The flights took place without flight accidents, only minor damage to the landing gear occurred during landings.
But on March 27, 1943, when accelerating to a speed of 800 km / h at an altitude of 2000 m, the third prototype spontaneously went into a dive and crashed into the ground near the airfield. The commission investigating the circumstances of the crash and death of test pilot Bakhchivandzhi was unable to establish the reasons for the delay of the aircraft at its peak, noting that the phenomena occurring at flight speeds of the order of 800-1000 km / h have not yet been studied.
The disaster hurt the reputation of the Bolkhovitinov Design Bureau - all unfinished BI-VS interceptors were destroyed. And although later in 1943-1944. a modification of the BI-7 was designed with ramjet engines at the wing ends, and in January 1945 pilot BN Kudrin performed the last two flights on the BI-1, all work on the aircraft was stopped.
The concept of a rocket fighter was most successfully implemented in Germany, where since January 1939, in a special "Section L" of the firm "Messerschmitt", where Professor A. Lippisch and his staff had moved from the German glider institute, work was underway on "Project X" - " on-site interceptor "Me-163" "Komet" with rocket engine, working on a mixture of hydrazine, methanol and water. It was an aircraft of an unconventional "tailless" scheme, which, for the sake of maximum weight reduction, took off from a special trolley and landed on a ski extending from the fuselage. The first flight at maximum thrust was performed by test pilot Dietmar in August 1941, and in October, for the first time in history, the mark of 1000 km / h was exceeded. It took more than two years of testing and refinement before the Me-163 was put into production. It became the first aircraft with a liquid-propellant rocket engine to take part in battles since May 1944. And although more than 300 interceptors were produced by February 1945, no more than 80 combat-ready aircraft were in service.
The combat use of Me-163 fighters showed the inconsistency of the missile interceptor concept. Due to the high speed of approach, the German pilots did not have time to accurately aim, and the limited supply of fuel (only for 8 minutes of flight) did not make it possible for a second attack. After running out of fuel on planning, the interceptors became easy prey for the American Mustangs and Thunderbolts. Before the end of hostilities in Europe, Me-163 shot down 9 enemy aircraft, while losing 14 aircraft. However, the losses from accidents and disasters were three times higher than the combat losses. The unreliability and short range of the Me-163 contributed to the fact that other jet fighters Me-262 and He-162 were put into mass production by the Luftwaffe leadership.
Messerschmitt Me.262 (German Messerschmitt Me.262 "Schwalbe" - "swallow")
The leadership of the Soviet aviation industry in 1941-1943. was focused on the gross production of the maximum number of combat aircraft and the improvement of serial samples and was not interested in the development of promising work on jet technology. Thus, the BI-1 disaster put an end to other projects of Soviet missile interceptors: Andrey Kostikov's 302, Roberto Bartini's R-114 and Korolev's RP.
But information from Germany and the Allied countries became the reason that in February 1944 the State Defense Committee in its decree pointed out the intolerable situation with the development of jet technology in the country. Moreover, all developments in this respect were now concentrated in the newly organized research institute jet aircraft, whose deputy chief Bolkhovitinov was appointed. This institute brought together groups of jet engine designers who had previously worked at various enterprises, headed by M. M. Bondaryuk, V. P. Glushko, L. S. Dushkin, A. M. Isaev, A. M. Lyulka.
In May 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted another decree, which outlined a broad program for the construction of a jet aviation technology... This document provided for the creation of modifications of the Yak-3, La-7 and Su-6 with an accelerating LPRE, the construction of "purely rocket" aircraft at the Yakovlev and Polikarpov design bureaus, an experimental Lavochkin aircraft with a turbojet engine, as well as fighters with air-jet motor-compressor engines at the Mikoyan Design Bureau and Sukhoi. To this end, the Su-7 fighter was created in the Sukhoi design bureau, in which the RD-1 liquid-jet developed by Glushko worked together with a piston engine.
Flights on the Su-7 began in 1945. When the RD-1 was turned on, the aircraft's speed increased by an average of 115 km / h, but the tests had to be stopped due to the frequent failure of the jet engine. A similar situation developed in the design bureaus of Lavochkin and Yakovlev. On one of the experimental La-7 R aircraft, the accelerator exploded in flight, the test pilot miraculously managed to escape. While testing the Yak-3 RD, test pilot Viktor Rastorguev managed to reach a speed of 782 km / h, but during the flight the plane exploded, the pilot died. More frequent accidents led to the fact that the tests of aircraft with "RD-1" were stopped.
One of the most interesting projects of interceptors with a rocket engine was the project of the supersonic (!) Fighter "RM-1" or "SAM-29", developed at the end of 1944 by the undeservedly forgotten aircraft designer A. S. Moskalev. The aircraft was designed according to the "flying wing" of a triangular shape with oval leading edges, and its development was based on the pre-war experience of creating aircraft "Sigma" and "Strela". The RM-1 project was supposed to have the following characteristics: crew - 1 person, power point - "RD2 MZV" with a thrust of 1590 kgf, wingspan - 8.1 m and its area - 28.0 m2, takeoff weight - 1600 kg, maximum speed - 2200 km / h (and this is in 1945!). TsAGI believed that the construction and flight tests of "RM-1" - one of the most promising areas in the future development of Soviet aviation.
In November 1945, the order to build the RM-1 was signed by Minister A. I. Shakhurin, but in January 1946 the order to build the RM-1 was canceled by Yakovlev. A similar Cheranovsky BICH-26 (Che-24) supersonic fighter project based on a "flying wing" with a rudder and a variable sweep wing was also canceled.
The post-war acquaintance with German trophies revealed a significant lag in the development of domestic jet aircraft construction. To close the gap, it was decided to use German engines "JUMO-004" and "BMW-003", and then create their own on their basis. These engines were named "RD-10" and "RD-20".
In 1945, simultaneously with the task to build a MiG-9 fighter with two RD-20s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was tasked with developing an experimental fighter-interceptor with an RD-2 M-3 V rocket engine and a speed of 1000 km / h. The aircraft, designated I-270 ("Zh"), was soon built, but its further tests did not show the advantages of a rocket fighter over an aircraft with a turbojet engine, and work on this topic was closed. Further liquid jet engines in aviation, they were used only on experimental and experimental aircraft or as aviation accelerators.
“… It’s scary to remember how little I knew and understood then. Today they say: "discoverers", "pioneers". And we walked in the dark and stuffed huge bumps. No special literature, no technique, no well-established experiment. The stone age of jet aircraft. We were both complete burdocks! .. "- this is how Alexei Isaev recalled the creation of BI-1. Yes, indeed, because of their colossal fuel consumption, aircraft with liquid-propellant rocket engines did not take root in aviation, forever giving way to turbojets. But having made their first steps in aviation, liquid-propellant rocket engines have firmly taken their place in rocketry.
In the USSR, during the war years in this regard, a breakthrough was the creation of the BI-1 fighter, and here the special merit of Bolkhovitinov, who took under his wing and managed to attract to work such future luminaries of Soviet rocketry and cosmonautics as: Vasily Mishin, First Deputy Chief designer Korolev, Nikolai Pilyugin, Boris Chertok - chief designers of control systems for many combat missiles and launch vehicles, Konstantin Bushuev - head of the Soyuz - Apollo project, Alexander Bereznyak - cruise missile designer, Alexey Isaev - developer of liquid-propellant rocket engines for submarine and space missiles devices, Arkhip Lyulka is the author and the first developer of domestic turbojet engines.
I-270 (according to NATO classification - Type 11) is an experienced Mikoyan design bureau fighter with a rocket engine.
Received a solution and the mystery of the death of Bakhchivandzhi. In 1943, the T-106 high-speed wind tunnel was put into operation at TsAGI. It immediately began to conduct extensive research on aircraft models and their elements at high subsonic speeds. The BI model was also tested to identify the causes of the crash. According to the test results, it became clear that the "BI" crashed due to the peculiarities of the flow around the straight wing and tail at transonic speeds and the resulting phenomenon of pulling the aircraft into a dive, which the pilot could not overcome. The crash of March 27, 1943, the BI-1 was the first that allowed Soviet aircraft designers to solve the problem of the "wave crisis" by installing a swept wing on the MiG-15 fighter. Thirty years later, in 1973, Bakhchivandzhi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Yuri Gagarin spoke about him like this:
"... Without the flights of Grigory Bakhchivandzhi, perhaps there would have been no April 12, 1961" Who could have known that exactly 25 years later, on March 27, 1968, like Bakhchivandzhi at the age of 34, Gagarin would also die in a plane crash. They were really united by the main thing - they were the first.
In June 1955, an experimental aircraft "104" developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau took off from an airfield near Moscow in Zhukovsky. Factory tests of the aircraft began, which by the fall of the same year will turn into a Tu-104 jet airliner - the third in the world, the second commissioned and the first in the USSR.
The very theme of "104th" got off the ground only after Stalin's death, although proposals for the creation of a jet passenger fleet were repeatedly put forward under him. But the leader, with his inherent parsimony and a penchant for repeated reinsurance, inexorably "hacked" such ideas. The country had just overcome the post-war devastation and could not afford substantial "non-core" spending, and the reactive passenger aviation at the beginning of the 50s, it was still not a problem of prime necessity for the Soviet national economy.
A joke is widespread among railway students: "Soviet cars are not designed to carry passengers, they are adapted for it." When creating the first Soviet jet liner, the Tupolev Design Bureau used a similar principle, but seriously and competently. The successful Tu-16 bomber was taken as a basis (the plane "104" even at one time bore the Tu-16P index - "passenger") in order to gain resources and time for general development of the structure.
Thus, the task of training flight technical personnel was also facilitated, and they also saved on ground maintenance equipment.
As one of the arguments in favor of creating such an aircraft, A.N. Tupolev cited the possibility of flying at high altitude, "over the weather" - screw passenger aircraft, which had a small ceiling, suffered mercilessly from turbulence. But it was there that the first jetliner was guarded by a new, as yet unknown danger.
When it comes to a passenger plane, the first thing that seriously worries potential passengers is reliability. Who in the USSR has not heard the black song: "Tu-104 is the fastest plane: it will take you two minutes to the grave"? For all its offensiveness, it somehow reflected the harsh reality. The plane was made in a hurry. The accident rate of the new car exceeded reasonable - by today's standards - indicators. Over the entire history of operation, 37 cars have suffered serious accidents - 18% of the total number produced. At the same time, it should be noted that the 104th behaved much more decently in flight than its English competitor Comet, the De Havilland company (23% of lost vehicles), which had an unhealthy habit of falling apart in the air due to fatigue loads in a carelessly designed fuselage.
The first Tu-104 aircraft flew in early November 1955. Thus, it took very little time to develop. During this flight, there were some problems: during the flight, the plane was suddenly thrown up, after which control of the machine was lost for some time. The pilots called this condition "catch". The reason for this phenomenon could not be determined. Despite this, the operation of the aircraft continued, and the tests did not stop.
Khrushchev liked the Tu-104 plane so much that he even decided to fly it to Great Britain in 1956. Since the problems with the plane could not be resolved, he was persuaded to abandon such a flight. But it was necessary to demonstrate to the world the successes of Soviet aircraft construction. Therefore, by order of Khrushchev, the Tu-104 was driven to the British capital.
The arrival of the Soviet airliner, according to the British press, had an effect comparable to the landing of a UFO. The next day, the second copy of the Tu-104 flew to London, with a different number. British newspapers reported that it was one and the same plane, and the "Russian priests" were "repainting the numbers on their experimental plane." "Russian priests" are Russian pilots dressed all in black. Chief Designer A.N. Tupolev was offended and, firstly, ordered to allocate funds to the pilots to dress in something fashionable and not black, and the next day - March 25, 1956 - send three Tu-104s to London at once, which was done.
It was a triumph for the Soviet Union - after all, at that time no other country in the world had operating jet passenger airliners.
First regular flight Tu-104 performed on September 15, 1956. And in 1958, a black streak began.
As shown further development events, problems with "pickup" were not resolved. In August 1958, the Tu-104, having lost control, crashed, resulting in the death of 64 people. Designer Tupolev denied in every possible way that there were any problems, and the disaster, according to him, was due to the fault of the crew. There is a version that the plane simply did not have enough fuel. But after a while the second Tu-104 also crashed, going into a spin and crashing into the ground.
And two months later, exactly the same situation developed near Kanash.
On October 7, 1958, the new Tu-104A with the tail number CCCP-42362, operated by the crew of the most experienced pilot Harold Kuznetsov, performed the flight Beijing - Omsk - Moscow. The flight altitude was 12 kilometers. In the salon were mainly foreign citizens - a delegation of Chinese and North Korean Komsomol activists.
The weather in Moscow was bad, and at the Gorky alternate airfield, too, and after the flight over Kazan, the dispatcher ordered to turn around and proceed to Sverdlovsk, suitable for landing. During the turn at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the aircraft most likely got into a zone of strong turbulence and a "catch" occurred - a spontaneous increase in the pitch angle uncontrolled by the crew. Suddenly, the plane was thrown up sharply, and with such force that such a huge colossus flew up two kilometers, left the echelon up, lost speed, fell onto the wing and went into a spin.
In the situation that arose, the crew did everything possible to save the aircraft. But the lack of elevator travel did not allow the car to be taken out of lethal mode. Harold Kuznetsov, knowing that the Birobidzhan story might be repeating itself, ordered the radio operator to broadcast his words to the ground.
The commander of the crew, Harold Kuznetsov, and the co-pilot, Anton Artemyev, tried to level the plane, taking over the steering wheel all the way. But it did not help. Then the plane went down sharply, disobeying control. Thus, the plane entered a steep uncontrollable dive. On supersonic speedalmost vertically, the plane was heading towards the ground.
Here the crew accomplished the almost impossible: Commander Harold Kuznetsov, in two minutes of falling from a height of 13 kilometers, managed to broadcast the features of the vehicle's behavior by radio. The connection worked almost until the very moment of the collision with the ground. The last words of the commander were: “Goodbye. We are dying. "
The plane crashed in the Vurnarsky region of Chuvashia, a few tens of meters from the canvas railroad Moscow - Kazan - Sverdlovsk, not far from the Bulatovo village. 65 passengers and 9 crew members were killed.
According to the results of the work of the state commission, the accident lasted no more than two minutes.
The information transmitted by Kuznetsov was of great value, since all the previous incidents remained unsolved. None of the investigations conducted by specialists from the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet, the Air Force, the State Research Institute, as well as the Tupolev Design Bureau itself, could shed light on what actually happened. Many assumptions were put forward: technical malfunction, defects in design, bad weather conditions, crew errors.
All the bumps, of course, fell on the pilots' heads, since no one doubted the technical characteristics of the aircraft. But the information transmitted by Kuznetsov dotted the i's. From the information received, the commission concluded that the liner was caught in a huge updraft. None of the designers could even imagine that this was possible at an altitude of more than 9 kilometers, since simple piston machines could rise to a much lower height. Therefore, such a phenomenon as turbulence was considered a trifle. Until tragedy struck.
Kuznetsov's crew got into the very center of the vertical air flow. Later, in the process of reproducing the flight, the designers managed to determine its parameters: the width of the air flow was about 2 kilometers, the length was about 13, the thickness was about 6 kilometers. At the same time, its speed was approaching 300 kilometers per hour.
It was urgently necessary to find a way to combat such a dangerous natural phenomenon. As a result, the maximum flight altitude was lowered, the structure itself was modernized, new methods of machine alignment were developed, but still the problem was not completely solved. The high accident rate remained at the same level, but it was difficult to determine what was the reason - either design errors or pilot unavailability.
The transmitted information was enough to find and fix the problem. The aircraft centering rules were changed, the stabilizer angle was changed and the elevator was modified. The maximum flight altitude has also been reduced. The aircraft's propensity to "catch" was greatly reduced.
After that, the Tu-104 carried passengers for another three decades, and although it was not without disasters (after all, about 200 aircraft were built and flew), their reasons were already different. For a long time, the Tu-104 became the main passenger aircraft of Aeroflot: for example, in 1960, a third of the passenger air traffic in the USSR was carried out on the Tu-104. For 23 years of operation, the Tu-104 fleet has carried about 100 million passengers, having spent 2,000,000 flight hours in the air and performed more than 600,000 flights.
Much credit for this belongs to Harold Kuznetsov and his crew. Here are their names:
Kuznetsov Harold Dmitrievich - PIC instructor
Artemov Anton Filimonovich - FAC
Rogozin Igor Alexandrovich - co-pilot
Mumrienko Evgeniy Andreevich - navigator
Veselov Ivan Vladimirovich - flight mechanic
Fedorov Alexander Sergeevich - radio operator
Smolenskaya Maya Filippovna - flight attendant-translator
Goryushina Tatiana Borisovna - flight attendant
Maklakova Albina - flight attendant
Unsurprisingly, the plane took on a bad name. In 1960, the Tu-104 liner was discontinued, and its place was temporarily taken by Il-18 turboprop liners. And since a long runway was needed to disperse the Tu-104, it was also used on domestic flights infrequently.
The need arose to create new passenger aircraft. Tupolev decided not to retreat from the intended path. As a result, the first modification of the Tu-104, Tu-124, was created, which also had a high accident rate. Therefore, another version was created - Tu-134. This aircraft was more successful, therefore, since the beginning of operation in 1967, it still flies on domestic flights. And only in 1972, the first Tu-154 jetliner appeared, which was not converted from a military vehicle, but was originally designed as a passenger one. This is one of the favorite aircraft of Russian experienced pilots.
Aeroflot removed the last Tu-104s from regular airlines only in 1979. But by that time the plane had firmly taken root in military aviation - it was used to train pilots of naval missile carriers, as a flying laboratory, for meteorological research and as a command plane. Finally, flights of the "104" were terminated only at the beginning of 1981, after an overloaded vehicle belonging to the Soviet Navy crashed at a military airfield near Leningrad. The command staff almost completely died on it. Pacific Fleet - 52 people, of which 17 admirals and generals, including the commander of the fleet, Vice-Admiral Emil Spiridonov, who owned the ill-fated vehicle.
Such a bitter experience forced domestic designers to think over new aerodynamic forms that could withstand air currents.
Officially, the last flight of the Tu-104 took place in November 1986. But some people claim that at the very end of the 80s they saw the "104" on the platforms of regional airports and even in flight. The son of a warrior and the grandfather of Soviet jet airliners did not want to retire, remaining a kind of kind ghost in an impoverished but comfortably inhabited castle of the Russian civil aviation.
Near Moscow, on the Kiev highway, at the turn to Vnukovo airport, a Tu-104B was met, standing on a high pedestal. As it turned out, this plane was installed in 2006, before it was another Tu-104B in Vnukovo, which, by someone's stupid order, was cut in 2005. The side number of the car is not real, the number USSR-L5412 was worn by the first Tu-104, which performed the first flight with passengers.
On June 20, 1939, the first ever experimental He.176 jet aircraft, created by German aircraft designers, flew. With some lag, jet engines were released by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, as well as Japan.
1. First pancake
Work on the creation of the first jet plane were started at Heinkel in 1937. Two years later, the He.176 made its first flight. After five flights, it became clear that he did not have the slightest chance of going into the series.
The designers chose for it a liquid-jet engine with a thrust of 600 kgf, in which methanol and hydrogen peroxide are used as fuel and oxidizer. It was assumed that the car would develop a speed of 1000 km / h, but it was only possible to accelerate it to 750 km / h. The huge fuel consumption did not allow the aircraft to move more than 60 km from the airfield. The only advantage over conventional fighters was their tremendous rate of climb, equal to 60 m / s, which was three times higher than that of machines with piston engines.
The fate of the He.176 was also influenced by a subjective circumstance - Hitler did not like the plane during the show.
2. The first serial
Germany was ahead of everyone else in creating the first serial jet aircraft. It was the Me.262. It made its first flight in July 1942, and entered service in 1944. The aircraft was produced both as a fighter, and as a bomber, and as a reconnaissance aircraft, and as an attack aircraft. In total, almost one and a half thousand vehicles entered the army.
The Me.262 used two Jumo-004 turbojet engines with a thrust of 910 kgf, which had an 8-stage axial compressor, a single-stage axial turbine and 6 combustion chambers.
Unlike the He.176, which succeeded in devouring fuel, the Messerschmitt jet was a successful aircraft with excellent flight characteristics:
Maximum speed at altitude - 870 km / h
Flight range - up to 1050 km
Practical ceiling - 12200 m
Climb rate - 50 m / s
Length - 10.9 m
Height - 3.8 m
Wingspan - 12.5 m
Wing area - 21.8 m2
Empty weight - 3800 kg
Curb weight - 6000 kg
Armament - up to 4 x 30-mm guns, from 2 to 14 suspension points; the mass of suspended rockets or bombs is up to 1500 kg.
During the period of hostilities, the Me.262 shot down 150 aircraft. The losses amounted to 100 aircraft. Such an accident rate was largely associated with both inadequate training of pilots for flying on a fundamentally new aircraft, and with defects in the engine, which had a low resource and low reliability.
3. One way ticket
The liquid-jet engine was used in only one production aircraft during the Second World War. In the Japanese manned aircraft Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka, designed for kamikaze. From the end of 1944 to the end of the war, 825 of them were produced.
The plane was built on the "cheap and cheerful" principle. A wooden glider with 1.2 tons of ammonal in the bow was equipped with three liquid-propellant rocket engines that operated for 10 seconds and accelerated the aircraft to a speed of 650 km / h. There were no landing gear or takeoff engines. The bomber delivered Ohka on a harness at a visual distance to the target. After that, the LPRE was ignited.
However, the effectiveness of this scheme was not high. Because the bombers were detected by the locators of the American naval ships before the kamikazes were aimed at the target. As a result, both bombers and airplanes-shells stuffed with ammonal perished senselessly on distant approaches.
4. British long-liver
The Gloster Meteor was the only Allied jet aircraft to take part in World War II. It made its first flight in March 1943, entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1944, was produced until 1955, and was in service with the Air Force of a number of British military allies until the end of the 70s. A total of 3555 vehicles of various modifications were produced.
During the war period, two modifications of the fighter were produced - F. Mk I and F. Mk III. F. Mk I squadron shot down 10 German V-1s. F. Mk III, due to their special secrecy, were not released into enemy territory. And they were supposed to repel the attacks of the Luftwaffe, based near Brussels. However, starting in February 1945, German aviation was exclusively engaged in defense. Of the 230 Gloster Meteors produced before mid-1945, only two were lost: they collided during an approach in heavy cloudiness.
LTH Gloster Meteor F. Mk III:
Length - 12.6 m
Height - 3.96 m
Wingspan - 13.1 m
Wing area - 34.7 sq.m.
Takeoff weight - 6560 kg
Engines - 2TRD
Thrust - 2 × 908 kgf
Maximum speed - 837 km / h
Ceiling - 13400 m
Range - 2160 km
Armament - 4 cannons 30 mm
5. Latecomer with an appeal
The American Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star began arriving at British airfields just before the end of hostilities in Europe - in April 1945. He did not have time to fight. The F-80 was widely used as a fighter-bomber several years later during the Korean War.
The first-ever battle between two jet fighters took place on the Korean Peninsula. F-80 and more modern transonic Soviet MiG-15. The victory was won by the Soviet pilot.
A total of 1,718 of these first American jet aircraft were produced.
LTH Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star:
Length - 10.5 m
Height - 3.45 m
Wingspan - 11.85 m
Wing area - 22.1 m2
Takeoff weight - 5300 kg
Engines - 1TRD
Thrust - 1 × 1746 kgf
Maximum speed - 880 km / h
Climb rate - 23 m / s
Ceiling - 13700 m
Range - 1255 km, with PTB - 2320 km
Armament - 6 machine guns 12.7 mm, 8 unguided rockets, 2 bombs 454 kg.
6. Soviet-style tender
The first Soviet experimental aircraft BI-1 was designed in the spring of 1941 for twenty days and took a month. The wooden glider, to which the liquid-propellant engine was attached - it was purely Stakhanov style. After the start of the war, the plane was evacuated to the Urals. And in July they started testing. According to the plans of the designers, the BI-1 was supposed to reach a speed of 900 km / h. However, when the famous test tester Grigory Yakovlevich Bakhchivandzhi approached the 800 km / h line, the plane lost control and crashed to the ground.
The normal way to create a jet fighter came only in 1945. And not even one, but two. By the middle of the year, the twin-engine MiG-9 and the single-engine Yak-15 were designed. They took off into the air on the same day - April 24, 1946.
The MiG was more fortunate in terms of using it in the Air Force. As a result of a comparison of the characteristics of the two machines, in which Stalin also took part, the Yak-15 was ordered to be made a training aircraft for training jet pilots.
The MiG-9 became a combat vehicle. And already in 1946 he began to enter the Air Force. In three years, 602 aircraft were produced. However, two circumstances strongly affected its fate, in connection with which the MiG-9 was discontinued.
Firstly, its development was carried out at an accelerated pace. As a result, until 1948, changes were regularly made to the aircraft design.
Secondly, the pilots were very suspicious of the new machine, which required a lot of effort to master and did not forgive even minor errors in aerobatics. They were much more accustomed to the Yak-15, which was as close as possible to the Yak-3, well known to everyone. Actually, it was built on its basis with the required minimum deviations.
And in 1948, the more advanced MiG-15 replaced the first jet fighter, which turned out to be damp.
LTH MiG-9:
Length - 9.75 m
Wingspan - 10.0 m
Wing area - 18.2 m2
Takeoff weight - 4990 kg
Engines - 2TRD
Thrust - 2 × 800 kgf
Maximum speed - 864 km / h
Climb rate - 22 m / s
Ceiling - 13500 m
Flight duration at an altitude of 5000 m - 1 hour
Armament - 3 guns.
On June 20, 1939, the first ever experimental He.176 jet aircraft, created by German aircraft designers, flew. With some lag, jet engines were released by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, as well as Japan.
1. First pancake
Work on the first jet aircraft began at Heinkel in 1937. Two years later, the He.176 made its first flight. After five flights, it became clear that he did not have the slightest chance to enter the series.
The designers chose for it a liquid-jet engine with a thrust of 600 kgf, in which methanol and hydrogen peroxide are used as fuel and oxidizer. It was assumed that the car would develop a speed of 1000 km / h, but it was only possible to accelerate it to 750 km / h. The huge fuel consumption did not allow the aircraft to move more than 60 km from the airfield. The only advantage over conventional fighters was their tremendous rate of climb, equal to 60 m / s, which was three times higher than that of machines with piston engines.
The fate of the He.176 was also influenced by a subjective circumstance - Hitler did not like the plane during the show.
2. The first serial
Germany was ahead of everyone else in creating the first serial jet aircraft. It was the Me.262. It made its first flight in July 1942, and entered service in 1944. The aircraft was produced both as a fighter, and as a bomber, and as a reconnaissance aircraft, and as an attack aircraft. In total, almost one and a half thousand vehicles entered the army.
The Me.262 used two Jumo-004 turbojet engines with a thrust of 910 kgf, which had an 8-stage axial compressor, a single-stage axial turbine and 6 combustion chambers.
Unlike the He.176, which succeeded in devouring fuel, the Messerschmitt jet was a successful aircraft with excellent flight characteristics:
Maximum speed at altitude - 870 km / h
Flight range - up to 1050 km
Practical ceiling - 12200 m
Climb rate - 50 m / s
Length - 10.9 m
Height - 3.8 m
Wingspan - 12.5 m
Wing area - 21.8 m2
Empty weight - 3800 kg
Curb weight - 6000 kg
Armament - up to 4 x 30-mm guns, from 2 to 14 suspension points; the mass of suspended rockets or bombs is up to 1500 kg.
During the period of hostilities, the Me.262 shot down 150 aircraft. The losses amounted to 100 aircraft. Such an accident rate was largely associated with both inadequate training of pilots for flying on a fundamentally new aircraft, and with defects in the engine, which had a low resource and low reliability.
3. One way ticket
The liquid-jet engine was used in only one production aircraft during the Second World War. In the Japanese manned aircraft Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka, designed for kamikaze. From the end of 1944 to the end of the war, 825 of them were produced.
The plane was built on the "cheap and cheerful" principle. A wooden glider with 1.2 tons of ammonal in the bow was equipped with three liquid-propellant rocket engines that operated for 10 seconds and accelerated the aircraft to a speed of 650 km / h. There were no landing gear or takeoff engines. The bomber delivered Ohka on a harness at a visual distance to the target. After that, the LPRE was ignited.
However, the effectiveness of this scheme was not high. Because the bombers were detected by the locators of the American naval ships before the kamikazes were aimed at the target. As a result, both bombers and airplanes-shells stuffed with ammonal perished senselessly on distant approaches.
4. British long-liver
The Gloster Meteor was the only Allied jet aircraft to take part in World War II. It made its first flight in March 1943, entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1944, was produced until 1955, and was in service with the Air Force of a number of British military allies until the end of the 70s. A total of 3555 vehicles of various modifications were produced.
During the war period, two modifications of the fighter were produced - F. Mk I and F. Mk III. F. Mk I squadron shot down 10 German V-1s. F. Mk III, due to their special secrecy, were not released into enemy territory. And they were supposed to repel the attacks of the Luftwaffe, based near Brussels. However, starting in February 1945, German aviation was exclusively engaged in defense. Of the 230 Gloster Meteors produced before mid-1945, only two were lost: they collided during an approach in heavy cloudiness.
LTH Gloster Meteor F. Mk III:
Length - 12.6 m
Height - 3.96 m
Wingspan - 13.1 m
Wing area - 34.7 sq.m.
Takeoff weight - 6560 kg
Engines - 2TRD
Thrust - 2 × 908 kgf
Maximum speed - 837 km / h
Ceiling - 13400 m
Range - 2160 km
Armament - 4 cannons 30 mm
5. Latecomer with an appeal
The American Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star began arriving at British airfields just before the end of hostilities in Europe - in April 1945. He did not have time to fight. The F-80 was widely used as a fighter-bomber several years later during the Korean War.
The first-ever battle between two jet fighters took place on the Korean Peninsula. F-80 and more modern transonic Soviet MiG-15. The victory was won by the Soviet pilot.
A total of 1,718 of these first American jet aircraft were produced.
LTH Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star:
Length - 10.5 m
Height - 3.45 m
Wingspan - 11.85 m
Wing area - 22.1 m2
Takeoff weight - 5300 kg
Engines - 1TRD
Thrust - 1 × 1746 kgf
Maximum speed - 880 km / h
Climb rate - 23 m / s
Ceiling - 13700 m
Range - 1255 km, with PTB - 2320 km
Armament - 6 machine guns 12.7 mm, 8 unguided rockets, 2 bombs 454 kg.
6. Soviet-style tender
The first Soviet experimental aircraft BI-1 was designed in the spring of 1941 for twenty days and took a month. The wooden glider, to which the liquid-propellant engine was attached - it was purely Stakhanov style. After the start of the war, the plane was evacuated to the Urals. And in July they started testing. According to the plans of the designers, the BI-1 was supposed to reach a speed of 900 km / h. However, when the famous test tester Grigory Yakovlevich Bakhchivandzhi approached the 800 km / h line, the plane lost control and crashed to the ground.
The normal way to create a jet fighter came only in 1945. And not even one, but two. By the middle of the year, the twin-engine MiG-9 and the single-engine Yak-15 were designed. They took off into the air on the same day - April 24, 1946.
The MiG was more fortunate in terms of using it in the Air Force. As a result of a comparison of the characteristics of the two machines, in which Stalin also took part, the Yak-15 was ordered to be made a training aircraft for training jet pilots.
The MiG-9 became a combat vehicle. And already in 1946 he began to enter the Air Force. In three years, 602 aircraft were produced. However, two circumstances strongly affected its fate, in connection with which the MiG-9 was discontinued.
Firstly, its development was carried out at an accelerated pace. As a result, until 1948, changes were regularly made to the aircraft design.
Secondly, the pilots were very suspicious of the new machine, which required a lot of effort to master and did not forgive even minor errors in aerobatics. They were much more accustomed to the Yak-15, which was as close as possible to the Yak-3, well known to everyone. Actually, it was built on its basis with the required minimum deviations.
And in 1948, the more advanced MiG-15 replaced the first jet fighter, which turned out to be damp.
LTH MiG-9:
Length - 9.75 m
Wingspan - 10.0 m
Wing area - 18.2 m2
Takeoff weight - 4990 kg
Engines - 2TRD
Thrust - 2 × 800 kgf
Maximum speed - 864 km / h
Climb rate - 22 m / s
Ceiling - 13500 m
Flight duration at an altitude of 5000 m - 1 hour
Armament - 3 guns.
There are pioneers in any business: what is completely customary today was once new. Probably, few people will be able to remember a flight on an airplane, from the windows of which the propeller was visible (nevertheless, in Europe, regional airlines often use turboprop aircraft). Turbojet engines rule the world today - apparently, nothing better has been invented at the moment, and hydrogen and atomic planes do not fly yet. Almost 80 years have passed since the first efficient motor of this type appeared.
The German engineer Ernst Heinkel is behind the implementation of the idea, but who owns it is another question. As often happens, the idea was thought out by another person (who eventually remained in the shadows), then, thanks to the money and resources of large business, it was possible to bring it to life.
Engineer Ernst Heinkel
Heinkel was born in Germany in January 1888. In his youth, he had nothing to do with aviation, which then took only the first serious steps. The German enthusiastically studied mechanical engineering in Stuttgart, worked as a turner apprentice in a foundry and followed the development of zeppelin. Ernst's professional future was particularly influenced by the crash with one of these aircraft in 1908. Then the experimental LZ 4, already participating in a series of test flights, was destroyed by fire during landing to repair a broken engine. "The future belongs to planes" - Heinkel decided for himself.
By 1911, Ernst, then 23, had built his first aircraft. As the test flight showed, engineering skills required further improvement - the young man was injured and walked away from them for a long time. Someone would give up, but that era was remembered by enthusiastic people. Rather, history remembers only such. Beginning in 1914, the German worked in large aircraft manufacturing companies, was engaged in the design of aircraft. Sometimes he is credited with developing the popular Albatros B.II biplane, but many historians refute this information.
Shortly after the end of the First World War, in 1921, Heinkel took over as chief designer at Caspar-Werke, reorganized after a long hiatus. However, very soon the engineer leaves her due to disputes with the founder of the company Karl Kaspar regarding the rights to the design of the aircraft produced. Surely Ernst highly appreciated his own experience and professionalism, so in 1922 the Heinkel-Flugzeugwerke company appeared.
The firm was looking for ways to circumvent the Versailles Treaty, which imposed serious restrictions on Germany in terms of the production of technology. At some point, Heinkel was strongly supported by the Japanese government. The fact is that Japan was at the same time a major customer of Heinkel-Flugzeugwerke and was part of a special commission that checked whether the company complied with the agreements enshrined in the Versailles Treaty. It is alleged that this allowed Ernst to prepare in advance for the upcoming inspections, and then, as if nothing had happened, continue to work (the Japanese warned about the events ahead of time).
In the 1930s, Heinkel's company was no longer “one of the”, but was ranked among the industry leaders. The firm naturally attracted the attention of the Reich Chancellor, who soon usurped power. "In 1933 I joined the party, but I was never a Nazi," - so Ernst wrote much later. By the way, in 1948 he was arrested for collaborating with the Nazi regime, but then acquitted due to his connections with the conspirators who were planning to overthrow Hitler.
Heinkel He 178
Heinkel-Flugzeugwerke has been actively investing in the development and research of new types of motors. Therefore, when the young engineer Hans von Ohain came to Heinkel, the head of the company happily used the technology patented by this man (von Ohain registered a jet engine in 1935). It is worth noting that not long before that, regardless of Hans, Sir Frank Whittle had received a patent for a turbojet engine, but the British plane took off later - he received support from the government after it became known about the successful tests of the He 178.
Von Ohain visited Heinkel with a proposal to build a workable aircraft using his engine. The project took several years to complete, as a decision was made to improve the design, making the system more powerful and efficient.
Heinrich Hertel, Karl Schwerzler and Siegfried Gunther contributed to the creation of the world's first operating turbojet aircraft. The latter took part in the development after the Second World War soviet fighter MiG-15. Work on the He 178 was carried out without government support; the company's own funds were used to create the concept and prototypes.
The first flight
The He 178 made its first takeoff attempt on August 24, 1939. Rather, it was a test "jump" over the strip. A few days later, on August 27, Captain Erich Varzitz made a full-fledged flight (a couple of months before that, he had raised the He 176 jet).
According to the available data, the maximum speed of an aircraft with a metal fuselage and wooden wings, on board of which there was only one pilot, was slightly less than 500 km / h (according to other information - about 600 km / h), the flight range reached 200 km.
The first independent flight ended without unnecessary pathos and sharp turns. Everything was ruined by a bird that got into the engine: the flame went off, but Varzits was able to safely land the car. The aircraft was also demonstrated to representatives of the Ministry of Aviation. The flight lasted only 10 minutes, and it was pointless to use the He 178 in that state. This was the opinion of the special commission.
Probably, the decision not to support Heinkel's project was influenced by the development of the BMW 003 and Junkers Jumo 004 engines with state support. The additional burden was seen as superfluous, and the war that had begun was to end soon (there was such an opinion). The engineer decided to continue the work, which led to the appearance of the world's first fighter with a turbojet engine - the He 280.
The Heinkel-Flugzeugwerke company continued to develop engines, which, in general, were the prospects for aircraft of this type. On March 30, 1941, the He 280 made its debut flight, but again failed to satisfy the commission's requests. It didn’t help that he used kerosene and didn’t burn high-octane fuel like “classic” flying vehicles. Heinkel over and over again attempted to prove the superiority of his designs over competing aircraft. In speed races, the He 280 outperformed the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, but to no avail. Only in 1942, after a demonstration battle between these two aircraft, the Ministry of Aviation recognized the promising nature of the He 280 - it turned out to be more maneuverable and faster.
As a result, Heinkel-Flugzeugwerke received an order for 20 prototypes and 300 production He 280s. However, Ernst had to solve problems with the HeS 8 engines, which were replaced by the more advanced but complex HeS 011. This negatively affected the execution of the order, and the engineer was forced to use the Junkers Jumo 004 imposed on him. Heavy and huge engines nullified all the positive aspects of the He 280. As a result, the jet Messerschmitt Me 262 emerged victorious in this competition, while only nine Heinkel aircraft were produced. He lose. And around the same time, his property was nationalized. In fact, this means that the engineer was detained and demanded to transfer control over the enterprise to Hermann Goering, later recognized as a war criminal. After that Ernst went to Vienna, where he founded a new company.
After some time, participating in the competition of Nazi Germany Jägernotprogramm, Heinkel presented his "dream fighter" - He 162 Salamander. Today such a program would be called a "prototype competition" - few of the participants were able to go beyond the design stage. The planes on display are pure retro-futurism by today's standards. Ernst's brainchild looked to match them, but one of the prototypes was able to accelerate to an incredible 900 km / h. This could make it the fastest aircraft in World War II ...
In the early 50s of the last century, Ernst Heinkel founded a new company that began producing bicycles, mopeds and sidecars - aircraft construction in Germany was banned for some time. In 1955, the restrictions eased, and the company began assembling aircraft for orders from abroad (including one of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter modifications for the United States). The creator of the world's first turbojet aircraft died in 1958.
A short list of sources: World War II Database, Aerospaceweb.org, EDN, Scientists and Friends,
