Department of marine pilot aircraft at the plant "Red Pilot"

The short history of the Department of Maritime Aircraft Manufacturing (OMOS) is inextricably linked with the activities of the plant "Red Pilot" . Although the design bureau of D.P. Grigorovich existed in Leningrad for a little more than three years, it was largely due to its activities in the difficult years of the development of industry in the USSR that the Red Pilot managed to survive and successfully overcome the period of economic stagnation.

With the onset of spontaneous nationalization in industry, which followed shortly after the October Revolution , the production of aircraft in the young Soviet state practically ceased. In these conditions, the authorities began to look for ways to solve the problem. On 28 June 1918, the CPC adopted a decree on the nationalization of enterprises ^[3] to restore manageability in industry. On December 31, 1918, the Main Directorate of Aviation Plants (Glavkoavia) was formed under the Supreme Council of National Economy of the RSFSR. It was transferred on December 22, 1919 to the Military Industry Council under the Emergency Commissioner of the Workers 'and Peasants' Defense for the supply of the Red Army and Navy ^[4] .

Among Glavkoavia’s enterprises, the third number was Petrograd State Aviation Plant No. 3 (GAZ No. 3), which in 1922 became known as the Leningrad Aviation Plant GAZ No. 3 “Red Pilot”. In fact, the "Red Pilot" united the three first aircraft factories of Imperial Russia:

• Plant of the First Russian Association of Aeronautics - PRTV “S. S. Schetinin and K ^o ”(he is the Gamayun aircraft plant);
• The Aviation Branch of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works JSC, renamed the Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant in May 1915 (often abbreviated as Avia-Balt);
• Plant JSC aeronautics "V. A. Lebedev.

PRTV “S. S. Shchetinin and Co. "or the Gamayun Plant

The successes of aviation in France on aircraft design Farman, and Bleriot fascinated enthusiasts from Russia. Among those who in 1909 went to Paris to learn to fly, turned out to be a young athlete, motor boat lover Sergey Sergeevich Shchetinin . Upon learning that the All-Russian Aeroclub ^[5] decided to purchase aircraft abroad, he was excited to organize the manufacture of aircraft in Russia by factory. Having quickly found a companion with money in the face of the Moscow merchant Mikhail Andreyevich Shcherbakov, Shchetinin organized the First Russian Aeronautical Partnership ^[6] and in early 1910 set about equipping the first in Russia and Europe's first production aircraft manufacturing plant.

The plant is located on an area of ​​4 thousand square meters in the house 3/73 at the corner of Korpusnaya and Bolshaya Grebetskaya St. Petersburg side streets. From the very beginning, the joinery, mechanical, wing, assembly, wallpaper, paint shop and forge were organized. It was purchased and assembled: four woodworking, two turning and two milling machines, which were driven by a steam machine with a capacity of 60 horsepower. The production employed about 100 workers.

The plant took orders for aircraft types "Russia A" ^[7] and "Russia B" ^[8] . Moreover, until April 1914, on the order of the military department "Gamayun", produced 57 French monoplanes "Newport IV" ^[9] and 36 Farman type biplanes ^[10] .

According to the reviews of pilots, these planes were even superior to French in their qualities. They were distinguished by the thoroughness of the manufacture of parts, impeccable finish, a relatively low mass of machines. The key event in the activities of the “Gamayun” was the appearance here in 1912 of Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich , who arrived from Kiev . S. S. Schetinin appointed him the technical director, and in fact the chief designer of the plant.

In 1913, a member of the design department A. N. Sedelnikov persuaded Dmitry Pavlovich to repair the French Donne-Leveque hydroplane for free, broken by the pilot D. N. Aleksandrov ^[11] (according to other data, this pilot was P. E. Von Lipgart ^[12] ), but at the same time make the drawings of all parts. During the restoration process, changes were made to the structure. From this moment on, D.P. Grigorovich completely switched to the creation of seaplanes, and his cars gradually took leading positions in the world, which became especially apparent during the First World War . Naturally, the plant S. S. Schetinin became the leader in the production of seaplanes in Russia.

By 1917, the plant "Gamayun" significantly increased its capacity. In the area of ​​the Komendantsky airfield , new workshops were built, where they managed to transfer most of the production and almost the entire machine park.

JSC Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant (Avia-Balt)

In June 1910, the Automotive and Aviation Divisions were opened in Riga at the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works (RBVZ) . It was not possible to set up the production of aircraft, and in 1912 it was decided to organize an aviation branch of the plant in St. Petersburg. Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was invited to head the design department of the branch upon the decision of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the RBWZ Joint-Stock Company MV Shidlovsky .

The location of the aviation department of the RBVZ in St. Petersburg is remarkable. From the middle of the XVIII century, the territory in the bend of the Black River , starting from the place of its confluence with the Bolshaya Nevka , and stretching along it for a whole kilometer towards the Gulf of Finland , was occupied by the country estate of the Stroganov graphs. In the central part of it there was a magnificent summer house surrounded by a park - the creation of A. N. Voronikhin . Soon the whole embankment on the right bank of the river from the Golovinsky bridge over the Black River became known as Stroganovskaya .

A century later, the cottage area on the right bank of the Bolshaya Nevka began to turn into an industrial zone. The Stroganovs' estate fell into decay. By the end of the 19th century, many buildings were destroyed, and in the beginning of the 20th century the dacha itself was demolished. On October 4, 1878, the mayor of St. Petersburg issued a special permission to the first guild merchant Mikhail Pavlovich Friedland at the forge ^[13] , located in the eastern part of the Stroganovs former estate at the mouth of the Black River (1 Stroganovskaya Embankment, 1). It was this smithy that became the aviation branch of RBVZ in 1912.

Already in 1912, the first aircraft were built, including the I. Sikorsky S-6B and S-10 biplanes, the S-12 monoplane, the S-5a and S-10 hydroplanes Hydro. Since 1913, the release of the world's first multi-engine aircraft of I. I. Sikorsky "Russian Knight" , and a year later, "Ilya Muromets . " During the First World War, the S-16 Sikorsky fighter showed itself well ^[14] . In May 1915, the aviation department of AO RBVZ gained independence and was renamed the Russian-Baltic Aeronautical Plant, with the abbreviation RBVZ preserved. Vladimir Viktorovich Slyusarenko ^[15] was appointed director of the plant, and N. N. Polikarpov was accepted as one of the designers.

JSC aeronautics "V. A. Lebedev "

In April 1914, the third Russian graduate aviator Vladimir Aleksandrovich Lebedev received permission to build several production facilities next to the Commandant airfield. Thus arose the aircraft factory “V. A. Lebedev ”, which began to produce airplanes, most often analogs of foreign models.

Before the organization of its production V. A. Lebedev has come a long way. A graduate of the law faculty of the Imperial St. Petersburg University , he went to France in 1909, where he graduated from the flight school of Henri Farman . After that, he was an instructor in the Petersburg Aviation Club. In 1910, he became one of the organizers of the St. Petersburg Aviation Association (PTA), after which, together with S. A. Ulyanin and merchant Wilhelm Avgustovich Lomach, he organized the St. Petersburg Aviation Association “V. A. Lomach and K ° ”(“ Ballooning ”).

With the support of A. Farman, V. A. Lebedev, and S. A. Ulyanin, built a PTA aircraft of the Farman-4 type, which showed good flight performance. Following this, in St. Petersburg, V. A. Lebedev set up the production of licensed aviawintes, which turned out to be a very profitable business. Finally, having increased his capital, he opened an airline at the Kolomyazhsky airfield at the place of the partnership “V. A. Lomach and K °.

At first, VA Lebedev specialized in the production of predominantly French aircraft models, such as the Deperdussen monoplane, the Voisin biplane, and later switched to the Albatross trophy German aircraft. Rebuilt under the engine "Salmson", it was produced under the name "Swan XII" ^[16]

After the merger of three Petrograd plants into a single “State Aviation Plant No. 3”, Glavkoavia approved the board of the chairman - A. L. Freiman, the manager - engineer EI Sivalnev and the master of the “Gamayun” plant - Mironov. The plant was launched mission, which mainly consisted in the release of previously mastered aircraft.

From the very beginning there were great difficulties. According to the projects, in most cases the aircraft should have been provided with imported weapons and other equipment. Their construction involved the use of imported materials, including some hardwoods. Under the conditions of the Civil War, the supply of components ceased, and the stocks that remained in the factories were very scarce. For this reason, inside the country, it was necessary to organize the import-substituting production of many components. For this purpose, related factories were involved, which required additional time. Production of aircraft, meanwhile, has declined sharply.

In 1920, new problems were added. A former Gamayun factory burned down on Korpusnaya Street. Only its small branch remained - a few shops at the Commandant airfield. Fortunately, almost the entire machine park of production was preserved, moved to the branch office shortly before the fire.

On July 19, 1922, a commission appointed by the republic's Military Industry Council worked on the “Red Pilot”. N. Afanasyev was appointed director of the plant, E. I. Sivalnev became technical director, and V. I. Zverev became head of the technical department. The posts of heads of workshops were taken by: D.N. Rukhlov, I.I. Tyrone, Viljak, and others. K.K. Ergant supervised the laboratory, O. F. Kaplyur came to head the aerodrome.

Organizational changes were followed by changes in the factory plan. It was decided to build first eight, and since August fifty-six flying boats D. P. Grigorovich M-9bis. The construction of the aircraft was designed to use the available stock of boats for the M-9. Their number and determined the volume of the series, which had to be reduced to forty. The prototype hydroplane was named M-24. He was tested by the hero of the Civil War, the pilot Boris Chukhnovsky .

Soon after, the fate of the plant was in question. Due to lack of funds, by decision of the government of the republic, from October 1, 1923, the Krasny Pilot plant was about to close. The situation was saved by the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ODVF) ^[17] , which offered to use its funds to continue the construction of the M-24 series. The threat of closing the plant was temporarily removed.

A new misfortune happened in 1924. On September 23, the flood , which turned out to be the second largest in the history of the city, completely destroyed seaplanes, including several prototypes. All of them were in the hangars of the Krestovsky airfield. In the shops of the Black River, ready-made structures, logs and timber supplies were seriously damaged. To revive production, which had noticeably decreased after the flood, N. A. Afanasyev with E. I. Sivalnev and suggested D. P. Grigorovich to set up an experienced design bureau at the Red Pilot ^[18] .

Famous for his flying boats during the First World War, D. P. Grigorovich before the October Revolution managed to organize his own aircraft factory at the Commandant Airfield. He existed only a few weeks and was nationalized in early 1918. After that D.P. Grigorovich with an unknown mission was sent by the Bolsheviks to Sevastopol, but while he was on the way, the Soviet power in Crimea ceased to exist. As follows from the materials of the investigation filed after 10 years on charges of Dmitry Pavlovich of sabotage, he did not take part in Sevastopol during the whites , he did not have any relation to aviation, but he sailed on his own boat to foreign Black Sea ports and to Greece. activity, but simply - smuggling .

With the restoration of Soviet power in Crimea in November 1920, D. P. Grigorovich arrived in Moscow where he soon headed the design department of Glavkoavia. Almost at the same time, he assumed the leadership of the design department of the Krasny Pilot plant in Petrograd, where P. D. Samsonov, K. A. Wiegand and N. G. Michelson, based on his M-9 seaplane, created a modification of the M-9bis, which later received name M-24.

On May 14, 1923, the design department at Glavkoavia was almost fully transferred to the GAZ No. 1 “Dux” aircraft factory in Moscow, where Dmitry Pavlovich was appointed technical director. First of all, the department had to complete the work begun by the group of N. N. Polikarpov on the creation of intelligence officer R-1 . At the same time, a design mission was received for the design of two fighters I-1 and I-2 . All these planes were land, that Dmitry Pavlovich.

Usually, the reason for D. P. Grigorovich’s relocation to Leningrad and the organization of the OMOS organization called him a conflict with the director of the GAZ No. 1 “Dux” plant I. M. Nemtsov. The true reason was that the leadership of the Central Design Bureau of Aviatress had an understanding of the expediency of creating a specialized hydro-aviation design department. This coincided with the sincere desire of D. P. Grigorovich and part of his team to return to the design of flying boats. In addition, the threat of losing the Red Pilot plant, which by that time had the richest experience in the production of marine aircraft in the USSR, turned out to be real.

At the end of 1924, D. P. Grigorovich moved to Leningrad. Along with him, part of the staff of the Duxa design department went from Moscow. First of all, this is A. N. Sedelnikov , who started with Dmitry Pavlovich on the Gamayun and traditionally held the position of his deputy, as well as a former naval pilot V. L. Korvin-Kerber , who, since Dux, led the pilot production of aircraft. In Leningrad, almost the entire design department of the Krasny Pilot plant entered OMOS. Among them: K. A. Wiegand ^[20] and A. L. Gimmelfarb ^[21] and Z. I. Zhurbina ^[22] , who were involved in aerodynamic calculations and strength calculations in OMOS; P. D. Samsonov ^[23] , who was in charge of aircraft design, and N. G. Mikhelson , an employee of D. P. Grigorovich, starting from 1910 and always heading the drawing bureau. A year later, in early 1926, a young specialist, yesterday's graduate of the Institute of Railway Engineers VB Shavrov was accepted to help P. D. Samsonov.

The department was located on the territory of the former JSC RBVZ Avia-Balt at the mouth of the Black River. The department was allocated rooms in a wooden two-story building of the plant management - the so-called "children's dacha", preserved from the time of Stroganov. Overcoming the consequences of the devastating floods of 1924 was the main difficulties of the first months of the existence of the OMOS, as well as the entire “Red Pilot” plant.

OMOS projects

SUWP. ^[24] Ironically, the first task for OMOS was a land plane project. By order of the recently organized joint-stock company of Ukrainian air communications, Ukrvozdukhput (UVP), in just 90 days, an airplane was designed and built, which was called SUVP.

The fuselage and the wing struts welded from steel pipes, the wooden wing and plumage, the weave from the canvas - that was how the firstborn of the passenger air fleet looked. The plane was built without a purge model and without static tests. Only the strength of the wing was tested by a load of six people. The plane passed flight tests and October 12, 1925 made a flight from Leningrad to Moscow. The next day, the newspaper Pravda enthusiastically wrote about this. For several years, the “liner”, designed for only three passengers, was successfully operated on the air lines of Ukraine, which proved its reliability. Nevertheless, for financial reasons, the construction of the series had to be abandoned.

MRL-1. ^[25] In the early summer of 1925, the construction of the MRL-1 with the Liberty engine of 400 liters was completed. with., the design of which began in Moscow. The problems were brought by the engine "Liberty", because the factory was the first to deal with an engine of such power. After finishing at the Krestovsky airfield, the pilot A.D. Melnitsky carried out tests of the machine. On the water, the boat was very stable, but the run was long. Soon it finally became clear that the plane was unsuccessful.

I-2 and I-2bis. Besides MRL-1, another “debt” arrived from Moscow. The I-2 fighter has so far not been able to bring to serial production. In Moscow, the pilots sometimes made opposing demands on the fighter. In May 1925, V. L. Korvin-Kerber delivered a plane to Leningrad. Here the pilots A.D. Melnitsky and L.I. Gix continued the tests. Since the GAZ No. 1 and Krasny Pilot factories had already begun serial production, it was not possible to eliminate all the shortcomings. Instead, a modified fighter I-2bis was designed. But here too, difficulties arose, since the requirement to simplify and cheapen the aircraft was in contradiction with the need to ensure its high flight-fighting qualities. In general, the I-2 and I-2bis turned out to be not the most successful aircraft of D. P. Grigorovich, but the fighters were mass-produced and were in service with the Air Force.

MR-2. ^[26] Shortly after the delivery of the passenger CELP, the OMOS staff began work on the project of the marine intelligence officer MRL-2 (MP-2). The plane was completed by the autumn of 1926. His sea pilot, A. D. Melnitsky, successfully began his tests. Already on the first flight of September 22, he set off with two passengers on board - D. P. Grigorovich and V. L. Korvin-Kerber. After a series of tests, the plane, according to the conclusion of A. D. Melnitsky, was ready for state tests. Unexpectedly, the pilot F.S. Rastegayev entered the state commission of the scientific research institute UVVS that arrived from Moscow. The following record was kept in the protocol ^[27] :

Convince the chairman of the commission to replace the pilot Dmitry Pavlovich failed. It was also refused to put the second pilot, A.D. Melnitsky, in the cockpit. The tests were conducted on October 19, 1926 near Gutuyevsky Island. Out on the redan, the boat began to sway, but finally, with difficulty, it came off and began to gain altitude. Having spent some time in the air, the plane, swaying strongly, began to decline. It was obvious that the pilot was working too sharply with levers. Suddenly the boat turned upside down and fell into the water near the coast. When we got to the crash site, we saw a wrecked plane, with a pilot hanging on belts. Three hours later, F. S. Rastegaev died. A very promising project was immediately closed.

MUR-2. ^[28] In the same period, the task was given to modernize the legendary Grigorovich M-5 flying boat for training aircraft using the Ron engine. The aircraft received the name of the MUR-1, but it turned out that it was unsuitable as a training. With a slightly reworked boat called MUR-2 it was used for experimental purposes in Sevastopol. The plane was useful because it, as a result of research conducted by TsAGI , managed to create strength standards for flying boats.

ROM-1. ^[29] In the summer of 1925, the OMOS received its main task - to build a long-range naval intelligence officer, named ROM-1 (high seas intelligence officer). The task was formulated very tough and not quite professional. An excessively long range and flight duration should have been provided by two relatively weak (450 hp) Lorrain-Dietrich engines. For the first time, the designers of D. P. Grigorovich were to design an all-metal boat and a wooden upper wing. Preliminary calculations showed that a given flight range required a significant fuel reserve, which inevitably led to a significant increase in payload, and hence the ROM-1 mass, which could be at least six tons.

It was necessary to begin with the organization at one of the factories for the release of kolchugalyuminievye (so-called Kolchuginsky metallurgical plant was called duralumin) sheets, pipes and rivets. Work on the project and the construction of a prototype lasted more than a year. At the beginning of 1927, static tests were carried out, the results of which had to make some modifications that increased the aircraft’s weight limit by more than 10 percent.

In the summer of 1927, L. I. Gix began testing ROM-1. Immediately having problems. Almost after each flight, it was necessary to make changes to the project and deal with alterations of varying complexity. Against the background of problems with other projects, D. P. Grigorovich clearly understood that ROM-1 must be successfully completed. With the onset of autumn, he decided to continue the tests on the Black Sea. Together with the pilot L. I. Giksa, a brigade headed by V. L. Korvin-Kerber went to Sevastopol. The tests were continued, a lot of design changes were made, but the optimal effect could not be obtained. At the beginning of 1928, the pilot S.T. Rybalchuk ^[30] continued the tests. Until the end of March, ROM-1 performed more than forty flights, but it became clear that the intelligence officer would never meet the stated requirements.

ROM-2. ^[31] Fearing that ROM-1 will not be able to be done as it is required by the task, already in 1926 a project ROM-2 for two BMW-IV engines with a capacity of up to 680 liters was initiated in OMOS. with. The plane turned out to be better than its fellow, but was tested after the abolition of OMOS, the arrest of D. P. Grigorovich and the leading developers of the project. Without the author's accompaniment, the fate of the aircraft was predetermined.

Initiatives of OMOS employees performed without the participation of D. P. Grigorovich

Sc. ^{[32] The} aircraft of the deputy chief designer of OMOS, A. N. Sedelnikov, and the pilot production manager V. L. Korvin-Kerber, was designed and built in 1925 at the suggestion of a polar pilot B. G. Chukhnovsky for the needs of polar aviation. "SK" differed extremely low landing speed, which allowed her to take off from small platforms, as well as high aerodynamic properties. The aircraft was built and flew well, but did not develop due to the low power of the engine.

W-1 . The amphibian flying boat V. L. Korvin-Kerber and designer V. B. Shavrov was designed at the suggestion of B. G. Chukhnovsky for the needs of polar aviation. The project was completed by the autumn of 1927, but due to the subsequent collapse of the OMOS, the prototype aircraft was built at home in the apartment of V. L. Korvin-Kerber from April to October 1928 with the involvement of mechanic N. N. Funtikova. After the arrest of V.L. Corvin-Kerber in November 1928, the plane ended up V. B. Shavrov alone. After acceptance by the State Commission and the installation of a more powerful engine called the “ Sh-2 ”, the amphibian was mass-produced for many years.

OMOS Disintegration

By the autumn of 1927, insurmountable contradictions had accumulated inside the OMOS. The chain of failures that befell the collective in Leningrad led to a conflict between D. P. Grigorovich and most of his entourage.

Back in the years of work in Moscow, his staff noted that Dmitry Pavlovich, with all his outstanding designer talent, was not at all a talented leader:

“I must say that Grigorovich never differed with big administrative data, but his assertiveness and enthusiasm allowed him to significantly change the nature of work at plant No. 1 and achieve great success in the implementation of the production program”

- ^[33]

Colleagues have always paid tribute to Dmitry Pavlovich’s workability, his inherent meticulousness in work and a systematic approach. His employee since 1916, M. M. Shishmarev, recalled:

“Grigorovich watched the scales with great attention. Each metal scan was planned. In the specification on each drawing put theoretical weight of each part; the weights of units and assemblies were entered in the journal, and every day after the bureau staff left, Grigorovich calculated the total weight and compared it with the calculation data ”

- ^[27]

At the same time, certain features of Dmitry Pavlovich’s character, some features of his communication with his subordinates, which began to manifest themselves at the very beginning of the famous designer’s creative path, were alarming. The same M. M. Shishmarev wrote:

“... A new designer came to the Shchetinin plant. Grigorovich instructed him to draw the size of the motor at the right scale, giving a general view of the motor. When, instead of the size, Grigorovich was presented on a given scale with a general view of the engine with all the smallest details, Grigorovich demanded that the designer should be fired ... "

- ^[27]

Intolerance to the opinions of others, the suppression of any initiative began to manifest itself particularly strongly in Dmitry Pavlovich in the second half of 1927.

A year later, during the investigation in case No. 63641 of D. P. Grigorovich and several of his former subordinates, most of the witnesses, even those who paid tribute to Dmitry Pavlovich, were forced to admit that his leadership style has changed in recent months crude authoritarianism.

In the first weeks of 1928, the OMOS practically ceased to exist. Formally, this happened in March, when the work on the ROM-2 project was completed in Leningrad, and the team sent there by VL Korvin-Kerberra returned from Sevastopol with tests of ROM-1. D.P. Grigorovich himself went to Moscow at the end of 1927, having learned that, at his request, the Central Design Bureau of Aviatress created an experienced department, called OPO-3. Only P. D. Samsonov, Z. I. Zhurbina, K. A. Wiegand, and V. B. Shavrov left with him. The last two left OPO-3 several months later.

The history of the OMOS is not over. The last chord were arrests and charges of sabotage under Art. 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR five of its key personnel, including Dmitry Pavlovich himself, as well as the organization of convicted specialists from the first aviation “sharaga” , known as TsKB-39 OGPU.

It should be noted that, as a prisoner, having once again headed a large team of designers and engineers, Dmitry Pavlovich managed to return to his normal style of work.

Memory

After the collapse of the USSR, in the last decade of the 20th century, the branch of the Northern Plant at the mouth of the Black River, where the Red Pilot plant was located and the Department of Marine Experimental Aircraft Engineering D. P. Grigorovich was located, was closed. By 2016, an elite residential complex “Riverside” was built on the historic site. Only to the right of the Golovinsky bridge over the Black River, in the depth of the public garden, the wooden summer house Golovin, which once belonged to the Strogonov dacha complex, is preserved. This is all that today reminds of the place where the domestic aircraft construction began.

• Shavrov V. B. The history of aircraft designs in the USSR before 1938: Works by D. P. Grigorovich and the OMOS team. 3rd ed., M., 1986, -C. 423–431 ;
• Korvin-Kerber VL The history of the development of the domestic aviation industry. 55 years from the date of occurrence / Report, 1965