Soviet aircraft designer Academician Mikulin. Mikulin Alexander Alexandrovich, Soviet designer of aircraft engines. Young though old

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A. A. Mikulin
Active longevity

HEALTH ENGINEERING

A story about academician A. A. Mikulin and his book "Active Longevity"

And in large lecture halls sometimes embarrassment occurs. The speaker's speech was suddenly interrupted by the roar of a board torn off the hook, on which he had just drawn another graph. Two students rushed to put her in her place. A sympathetic noise ran through the audience: the guys were sweating from the effort, but the heavy structure did not succumb to their joint efforts. The lecturer at first watched the actions of the young people with some irony, then looked impatiently at his watch and said:

- Friends, leave the board alone for a minute. We need to organize work differently. You, - he turned to one of the students, - hold the board so that it does not break off the other loop and beat off your legs, and you stand on the side and see that the loop hits the hook exactly. And I…

And the venerable professor easily raised the edge of the board.

The student, dumbfounded by this turn of affairs, apparently remembering his summer practice in the construction team, commanded:

- Stop! Now mainai little by little, just a little bit more ... it's ready, sit down!

The professor wiped his hands with a handkerchief and calmly returned to the chair:

Thank you young people for your help. But before continuing our conversation, let me make one remark. Both of you in total, apparently, are forty years old, no more. I'm eighty. The conclusion follows from this: I strongly recommend doing physical education. And now let's get back to the jet engines used in domestic aviation.

The lecture was read by Academician Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin Enviable health and strength! But - it's hard to believe it today - about thirty years ago, medicine brought him back to life with great difficulty. Not only to lift weights - it was strictly forbidden to move. A life calculated by the minute, a life in which there was no time to take care of oneself, to listen to the beat of one's own heart, suddenly abruptly slowed down its rapid run.

“Until the age of fifty, like most people, I did not attach much importance to physical culture,” writes A. A. Mikulin. “However, when I fell seriously ill and ended up in the hospital, I had the desire and time to understand the complex structure of the human body. Having studied many books on the subject, I developed my own system, corrected and supplemented by criticism and experimental testing of my friends. This system has allowed me to overcome illnesses, stop aging and maintain my ability to work for many years, including today.”

It is necessary to look back to the past in order to understand not only why, but also, most importantly, how this person began to fight for his health, for his mind, because the answer would be too unambiguous, banal and fundamentally wrong: simply because he wanted to, as all people, live longer.

As is customary among designers, he gave himself a "technical task", formulating it from the very beginning as briefly and clearly as possible. Here it is:

1. Understand yourself and help everyone understand how the body works.

2. Help yourself and help everyone.

3. Longevity must be active.

According to the latest statistics, more than three hundred thousand people have crossed the ninety-year age limit in our country. Those over seventy are many millions. This is the result of the growth of the well-being of the Soviet people, a consequence of the successes of medicine. It is an important task to help such a huge army of people, who are knowledgeable and wise by experience, to find the strength and the opportunity to give their knowledge, work, and experience to society for as long as possible.

...Let's turn to the beginning of the 20th century. An extensive study, the walls seem to be made up of books. There is a green sofa, and two people are squatting near the sofa: the boy Sasha Mikulin and an elderly man with a huge sculpted forehead, a lush graying beard. A man brings some toy mechanism back to life.

“You have to love cars,” he says to his nephew with gentle edification.

We are in the office of Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky, the father of Russian aviation. Subsequently, this office will become a home for Alexander Mikulin for many years, and a green sofa - a bed. He will spend next to Nikolai Yegorovich the most difficult last years of his life, filled to the limit with scientific activity, organizational work for the benefit of the young Soviet state.

We remember this not at all in order to illuminate Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin with the brilliance of the glory of a person close to him. After all, the main thing is not a great relative, but the fact that the best was taken from him for building his own life, that the young man became a friend, assistant and successor to his work ...

At the Moscow Higher technical school NE Zhukovsky reads his famous course of lectures on aeronautics. A table lamp in the study, covered with a newspaper, burns late into the night. But when the scientist's hand weakens, his nephew acts as a diligent copyist of his lectures and articles. And when a scientist falls ill, the course of lectures is not interrupted. A young student enters the department, so far only in the role of a reader. And no one in the audience has an ironic smile. Everyone knows: Alexander Mikulin has the moral right to this reading, because he himself is a member of the aeronautical circle organized at the initiative of Zhukovsky at the school, which, by the way, includes such brilliant young people as A-Tupolev, A. Arkhangelsky, K. Ushakov , V. Vetchinkin, B. Stechkin.

In 1918, Zhukovsky sent a memorandum to the leadership of the Red Air Force, c. which proves the need to create an Aviation Design and Test Bureau:

“It is true that the accounting and testing bureau represents some expense for the Air Fleet Administration,” he writes, “but the maintenance of the accounting bureau during the year costs the same as three wrecked combat airplanes. In fact, at the Moscow airfield over the past five weeks, eight devices have been broken.

Zhukovsky's idea was immediately accepted. You can recruit staff. They already were - pupils of Zhukovsky and his like-minded people. The course of the Moscow Higher Technical School was completed by the first engineers-aeromechanics A. Arkhangelsky, A. Tupolev, B. Stechkin, V. Petlyakov, A. Mikulin.

The first work of the team was the glider. Glider and aviation? No need to be surprised. This is the basis of tomorrow's seaplanes. Boris Stechkin and Alexander Mikulin are working on the engine.

In 1919, again at the initiative of Zhukovsky, KOMPAS, the Commission for the Construction of Snowmobiles, was created. And again, among the initiators of this business, we see a young engineer A. Mikulin. Several designs of snowmobiles were used by the Red Army and the fight against whites, and then, in the twenties and thirties, snowmobiles began to successfully serve polar explorers.

- When slow-moving “shelves” were still flying in our sky, Nikolai Yegorovich told me: “Aviation will develop at the expense of engines,” recalls Academician A. A. Mikulin. – Probably, here it is necessary to look for the source of the cause, which I serve to this day.

Today, even a schoolboy is embarrassed to ask the question who is the designer of aircraft with the emblem of TU or ANT. Everyone knows - these are Tupolev cars. The famous attack aircraft, the "flying tank", came out of the Ilyushin Design Bureau - this is also known to everyone. The family of swift MiGs is Mikoyan and Gurevich...

But still remember the pre-war song?

The mind gave us steel arms-wings, And instead of the heart - a fiery motor!

Who is the designer of the engines of these aircraft, reliable, powerful, overtaking the engineering thought of their time by several years and allowing them to put forward and implement a bold slogan; “Fly above everyone, farther than everyone, faster than everyone!”?

This question can be safely asked not only to the student. The names of the creators of the "fiery hearts" are much less known.

... The legendary flight of Valery Chkalov across the North Pole to America on the Tupolev ANT-25 machine. Repetition of this flight by M. Gromov on the same type of machine. Let's add: with engines of the highest reliability and power for their time. Their designer A. A. Mikulin. He is the creator of the first aircraft engines of the original domestic design, both piston and turbojet, which were widely used in the air fleet.

The engines of A. A. Mikulin both before the war and in the post-war years (of course, no longer piston-jet engines) worked on many types of MiGs. The very first one back in 1937 at an altitude of 6000 meters developed a power of 1200 horsepower.

During the war years, the design bureau, headed by A. A. Mikulin, created a powerful AM-38 engine for the IL-2 attack aircraft, which the Nazis were afraid of like fire.

For two decades of design work - a lot of engines included in mass production. Huge stress work. She is highly regarded by the country. Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin - Hero of Socialist Labor (Diploma of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on conferring this honorary title No. 3). He is a laureate of four State Prizes, holder of many orders.

The creator of the perfect aircraft engines that brought fame and victories to our aviation, for decades he himself worked to wear and tear.

In his youth, he was fond of dressage Oryol trotters and had prizes at the races. Then he became an avid motorcycle racer and also competed. But the work made me forget about all these sports hobbies.

A. A. Mikulin was well aware of the motor resource of each engine, in the instructions he accurately indicated the rules for caring for it, the timing of the overhaul and current repairs, and the time of decommissioning. It is strictly necessary to comply with these rules in aviation. And his only and irreplaceable "motor" - the heart launched hopelessly.

Write off? He strongly disagreed. Examples of centenarians clearly prove that the resources of the body are much larger, we simply do not take care of ourselves, the body works for wear and tear and fails ahead of time.

The analytical mind of a scientist, a design engineer, and here, in a completely new problem, singled out the main links in the search chain - the impact on human life of biocurrents, the study of blood circulation, respiration, perspiration, the work of the muscular apparatus during movements, exercise.

Mikulin sat down for a completely new literature for him. Some of my friends advised not to waste time in vain, to study physical therapy as directed by the doctor. And that's all. And he diligently carried out all the instructions. But at the same time, he wanted to figure out why and how to do physical education, how to walk and run in order to get the maximum benefit from the movements for the body. He sought to analyze the main causes of aging and acted prudently, carefully. This time, the experimental base was not a test site, not a laboratory, but he himself.

Gradually, a hypothesis took shape about one of the main causes of aging - the sedimentation of metabolic products, or, as A. A. Mikulin calls them, “slags”, in the intercellular spaces. So, here, at this level, a person's help to his own body should begin. And this help is in constant movement, proper breathing, rational nutrition.

But the question may arise: isn’t A. A. Mikulin undertaking a too bold task, starting to develop his own system for combating old age, offering his own explanation for a number of physiological processes occurring in the body?

In our time, the field of research on the human body has expanded significantly. The chemist and physicist study life at the molecular level. A doctor, a physiologist, a mathematician, an electrical engineer, an acoustician, a cyberneticist, and even an atomic energy specialist work together. This coordinated work helps to quickly climb the steps of cognition of the most complex work of nature - man, helps to find new ways to deal with ailments that seemed incurable just recently, to maintain freshness of mind, good spirits, and physical strength until old age. And this gave the right to Academician A. A. Mikulin to join in the search from the standpoint of his extensive knowledge, giving rise to unexpected and impossible analogies and conclusions for a non-engineer, to reflect on the human body, to reveal the secrets of the harmonic interaction of its elements and the reasons for the mismatch of its work; look for ways to increase efficiency, durability and reliability, offer their own physical exercises, rules of behavior and nutrition; to invent devices and mechanisms. He confirms the validity of his thoughts, conclusions and recommendations by his personal practice, his own health and active work at the age of 82.

But still, what is the opinion of physiologists and biologists about the system of struggle for the creative longevity of an engineer - a specialist in aircraft engines, when they got acquainted with the manuscript in which this system was presented? Let's give them the floor.

Academician, Secretary of the Department of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences E.M. Crepe:

“After a lot of editorial work done by me together with the author in terms of the physiological ideas and facts touched upon, I believe that, on the whole, the manuscript is of great interest and useful for publication in the section of popular science literature.”

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor V. N. Guryev:

“The monograph is of great interest. We can agree with all the main provisions. The book is very helpful…”

“I did not find any flaws,” says Professor P. I. Gulyaev, head of the Laboratory of Physiological Cybernetics at Leningrad State University.

Academician A. L. Kursanov:

“I must admit that, as a biologist, I find some of our formulations too bold, but this should not prevent us from seeing the main thing in your work - its originality, which consists in the fact that you strive to understand the organization of the human body, evaluating it with the eyes of a design engineer and Mechanics. At the same time, you manage to see many phenomena familiar to us in a new light, which either convinces you that you are right, or encourages you to look for approaches to verify them, and therefore gives rise to creative thought.”

Academician A. A. Imshenetsky:

And finally, the opinion of the Academic Medical Council of the USSR Ministry of Health, sent to the editorial and publishing council of the USSR Academy of Sciences:

“The Scientific Medical Council of the Ministry of Health of the USSR does not object to the publication of the book by Academician A. A. Mikulin “My system for combating old age” (“Active Longevity”).

Deputy Chairman of the Academic Medical Council of the USSR Ministry of Health, Professor G.K. Ushakov.

A number of authoritative statements could be continued. According to the above, it is enough to turn with interest to the pages of this book, the purpose of which is to convince: you need to learn how to fight for yourself, for your health, in order to be useful to society as long as possible.

S. Chumakov

Chapter I
HOW THIS BOOK WAS BORN

Every person wants to live, be healthy and work as long as possible without feeling the burden of old age. But, they say, old age creeps up imperceptibly, and nothing can be done about it. How much fatalism and resignation to fate in such a generally accepted opinion! A person most often in the fight against old age goes on the defensive. The system of struggle, in general, is the same: “defensive lines” are erected from medicines, but victories over senile ailments turn out to be imaginary. Man imposes more and more prohibitions on himself every year; do not run, do not walk fast, do not lift weights, do not work, but all these prohibitions do not push back, but bring old age closer. The body is decrepit.

Somehow imperceptibly, the time comes when old acquaintances at a meeting instead of the usual “How are you?” ask the question: “How do you feel?”. “Let's creak a little,” you answer, and the main topic of conversation is not business, but health. There's nothing you can do - age. But maybe it’s not age that’s to blame, but we ourselves, and old age doesn’t creep up on us at all, but we ourselves drag it into the house, although it resists and repeats: “Yes, it’s too early for me to take you into my own hands.”

Thirty years ago I felt much worse and older than I do today. Until the age of fifty, like most people, I did not really care about my health, did not attach much importance to physical culture. However, when I fell seriously ill and ended up in the hospital, I finally had the time and desire to understand - as an engineer, electronics, mechanic and designer - the causes of aging of the human body, to develop an active system to combat old age. I wanted to do this not in order to “creak” for as long as possible and, having gone on a well-deserved rest, to observe from the outside how life is seething, but in order to be an active participant in it and work fully for as long as possible.

More than three hundred years ago, the science of gerontology arose, the task of which is to solve the problem of longevity and fight against old age. Thousands of physicians, biologists, physiologists and other scientists are working today to resolve these issues. Research institutes of gerontology have been set up in the USSR and other countries. Scientists from different fields exchange opinions at gerontological congresses. After all, there are more than two hundred hypotheses about the causes of old age, age-related diseases.

In the literature there is information about many centenarians. For example, Kentingern lived 185 years, Peter Zortai also lived 185. Natural longevity is not uncommon in the USSR. In our country over 30,000 workers and pensioners are over 100 years old and 300,000 are over 90 years old. I personally studied the life of the Abkhaz Comrade Kiut, who is 153 years old. He worked daily in the garden and mounted his horse without assistance. You can imagine what a horseman he was at 100 years old! All this suggests that people and their biological cells can live for a very long time. It is only necessary to create for the cells, specifically for the cells, such environmental conditions under which the new cells that are born as a result of division would not lose the young, full-fledged qualities of their relatives.

The topic of the living cell is the subject of many works in biophysics, biochemistry, and physiology. But only a specialist can understand these works. At the same time, I am convinced that every person should learn as early as possible at least the most basic information about the physiological, structural features of his body, which directly and primarily affect health, good spirits and longevity of working life.

As long as we are healthy or feel healthy, we exploit ourselves, our organs, our capabilities without looking back, without thinking about the consequences. We treat cars much more economically.

For example, you bought yourself a motorcycle. But you will not ride it until you study the design and purpose of its parts, the rules of driving. You won’t be able to use it for a long time if you start using it for wear and tear. You, too, will not be able to rationally use your organs until you know how they are arranged, what their capabilities are and how they should be helped in the name of maintaining working longevity. Therefore, in this book I touch on the most important, basic features of human physiology. These include the following: the impact on human life of biocurrents, blood circulation, respiration, perspiration, the role of physical culture, movement for the muscular apparatus.

IN Lately articles on how to be healthy began to appear more and more often in the press. Interesting, for example, are the articles of the famous Soviet surgeon, academician of medical sciences N. M. Amosov. G. Gilmour's pamphlet "Running for Life" was translated into Russian and published in large circulation. Some people are trying to experience yoga gymnastics.

However, many people, unfortunately, underestimate the decisive role of physical culture in our modern life and do not use it. I think this is because none of the published works has a deep explanation of why you need to exercise, why you need to walk and run, does not indicate how to walk and run.

It can be said with absolute certainty that the vast majority of people, especially over 35 years old, do not run and do the gymnastics necessary for health only because no one has explained to them in time why our body needs certain movements, no one has proved that peace leads to laziness, lethargy and weakness, which immobility hastens the onset of old age.

There are many recipes and recommendations. For example, one well-known doctor considers turpentine baths to be the main way to longevity. When checking, it turned out that, for example, they are contraindicated for me. Hence the conclusion: not every person is useful for every means, for two the same people not in the world. Therefore, I do not undertake to write about the benefits or harms of medications. This is what doctors should do.

The same means and methods of behavior that I have developed and tested many times over the course of three decades can be used by any person, since they concern only the basic vital properties and the fundamental foundations of the physiological nature of man.

I foresee a legitimate question about the right of an engineer to intrude into the field of physiology, give recommendations, develop and offer his system. I'll try to answer it. To do this, you need to make a small digression into history.

Not only physicians, but also great thinkers, scientists of the first centuries of our era, were engaged in studying the structure of the human body. This is evidenced by the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates (about human nature), Helen, Eudemus, and many other Alexandrian scholars from the school of Herophilus.

A particularly great contribution to the study of human and animal organs was made by the greatest genius of the Renaissance, painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and anatomist Leonardo da Vinci, who left behind a major work: “Anatomy of Recordings and Drawings”. This book, by the way, was published in 1965 by the Nauka publishing house. It gives a description of all the bones, internal organs, nervous and vascular systems, as well as the muscular apparatus, tendons, cartilage, and so on. For that time, only a completely exceptional, versatile thinker and scientist could do such a universal and laborious work.

Here is how Leonardo da Vinci describes the cause of human aging:

“Old people who live in perfect health die from lack of food; and this is due to the fact that their path to the mesenteric veins is continuously narrowed, due to the thickening of the membrane of these veins up to the capillary veins, which are the first to close completely. From this it follows that the old are more afraid of the cold than the young, and that those who are very old have skin the color of wood or dry chestnut, because this skin is almost devoid of nourishment. And with this sheath of veins in man the same thing happens as in oranges, in which the skin thickens and the flesh decreases as they become decrepit.

Although more than 450 years have passed since the time of Leonardo, his laconic judgment can still be considered very true evidence of one of the reasons for premature aging of people who did not understand their body and did not take elementary physiological measures to maintain a healthy state of their arteries and veins.

By the way, I pay special attention to this issue in the book, because no matter how different people are among themselves in terms of age, state of health, physical development, the functions of arteries and veins are the same for everyone, the laws of metabolism are common for all people.

In addition to the works of Leonardo, I would like to dwell on Andrei Vesalius' treatise On the Structure of the Human Body, published in 1543. His thoughts are topical even today, with modern development science and technology.

“There are many obstacles to the study of sciences and arts,” he wrote. - Far from no small harm is caused by an excessively fractional division of those teachings that complete each of these sciences. And an even greater obstacle is the narrow distribution of individual areas of work among various specialists ... (They) are so devoted to only one of its branches that the rest, which are most closely related to it and are inextricably linked with it, are left aside. Therefore, they never create anything outstanding ... "

This deeply correct idea can be attributed to the former teaching of medical sciences, which did not take into account the influence of electronics and electromagnetic fields on the healthy development of human cells, on its performance and longevity. And this is what I focus on in this book. After all, the influence of electromagnetic fields on all people is the same, They do not act selectively.

Recent years have been characterized by a comprehensive study of the human body by scientists of various specialties. In their ranks you will meet not only a doctor and a physiologist, but also specialists in the field of general biology, genetics, biochemistry, biophysics. The latest achievements of modern progress come to the service of medicine: laser, isotopes, cybernetics ... This list can be continued.

Today, a traumatologist can be found in the laboratory of the strength of materials of the Polytechnic Institute. Without knowledge of the strength characteristics of the bone, its resistance to compression, to twisting, it is impossible to imagine an effective treatment of fractures.

The remarkable surgeon Nikolai Mikhailovich Amosov, whose articles I mentioned above, in addition to the medical one, graduated from the correspondence industrial institute. A modern doctor needs engineering knowledge in order to be able to take a broader look at the functions and structure of the human body, to participate authoritatively in the implementation of scientific and technological progress in medical practice.

I am a design engineer by profession. This helped me, during the autopsies and dissections of anatomical objects, carried out by me under the guidance of anatomical specialists, to understand how nature designed the “mechanism” of a person. In addition, I had to deeply study the course of physiology and do a lot of experiments to clarify some physiological processes and facts, conduct a series of experiments to identify the laws of muscle contractions, information about which I did not find in textbooks, It was on the basis of all my works on physiology, after After a long test of each element of my system on myself, and then on my friends, I selected the necessary exercises for myself and recommend them to people of any age.

Now more and more attention is being paid to physical culture and sports. Many prominent scientists, medical workers, physical education workers write works on healthy behavior and useful exercises. Their advice I very much approve and I try to carry out. But the material contained in this book does not repeat the information available in modern publications on this topic. I would say just complements them.

I want to emphasize that my work is not a textbook. The theme of the work is an analysis of some of the main causes of aging that I have verified, theoretical and practical analysis, the role of biocurrents, respiration, perspiration, a comparison of the living conditions of primitive and modern man and an assessment of the role of physical culture.

In addition, I offer some of the devices I invented to combat old age. In the book, I show what allowed me to overcome illnesses, stop aging and maintain youth, performance for many years, including the present.

And I really want as many people as possible to take advantage of this information.

Nature did not seek to ensure the longevity of animals and humans, which is confirmed by many facts. For example, the fragility of the teeth, leading representatives of the animal world to premature death from starvation. Weakening of vision and hearing, which leads to death from defenselessness. Finally, premature death occurs from the accumulation of poisons and toxins in the intercellular spaces and from disruption of the nervous system.

Apparently, nature sought to accelerate the change of generations on Earth for the fastest passage of the process of self-improvement (evolution). Fresh buds on trees will not turn green until the wind blows off the old leaves. But man does not blindly obey nature. He fights, and the ways of this fight are different. Instead of teeth, he invented dentures. He made glasses to help his failing eyesight. He opposed the achievements of medicine to diseases. Aging of the body - physical education and sports.

The reader might think that these short lines exhaust the first information about man's struggle for longevity. Alas, they are not exhausted! It turns out that there is another enemy - insidious and invisible. His name is laziness and weak willpower.

Thousands of people have found an untimely death from "slagging" of the body and impaired nervous activity just because they were too lazy to repeat the cycle of physical exercises every morning. To win health, happy working longevity, it is not enough to buy a lot of books about the benefits of physical culture, it is not enough to hang posters on the wall describing morning physical exercises. The main thing is to find willpower in yourself or gradually cultivate it in order to defeat laziness. Only in this case success will be ensured.

Repeated and prolonged experiments have shown that both men and women, both adolescents and people of a very old age. However, for each person, the decisive condition for the usefulness of applying the recommendations is the obligatory observance of extreme gradualness and caution when mastering new exercises, to which the body was not previously accustomed.

Living cells cannot change their structure and vital activity in one or two days. This takes time. An elderly person or who has not previously been involved in physical education should be drawn into classes for a month.

Day after day, in each exercise, you should gradually add one or two movements (for example, lifting dumbbells). When running, add 5-10 steps every day, etc., up to a certain limit, individual for each person.

A sudden overstrain of forces is extremely dangerous for the body. On the contrary, gradualness in mastering the exercises leads to the strengthening of the whole organism, makes a person healthier, more resilient, and leads to longevity.

I also consider it necessary to say a few words about my attitude to medicine and biology.

It is difficult to find words bright enough to express admiration for the activities of our party and the Soviet state, aimed at further improvement medical care the population and the organization of people's recreation. Medicine, medical workers are doing a huge, useful work. True, it seems to me that in some cases, doctors, actively using medications, underestimate the role of such a factor as the independence of living cells, when a person will be able to create appropriate environmental conditions for their recovery, development and restructuring. There is a wide field for interesting research here.

If, for example, you do rowing without training, then after an hour of work on the oars, the palms will be covered with bloody bubbles, since the cells have not yet adapted to the new environmental conditions - constant friction against the oar tree. However, if such activities are approached gradually and reasonably, as one should do at the beginning of any sport, then after a few days hard calluses will appear on the hands. I examined under the microscope the structure of old and new cells. They have nothing in common!

Alexander Bolotin, Yakov Entis

A. A. Mikulin

In 1943, Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin, an outstanding designer of domestic engines, who did not even have a diploma from a higher educational institution, was recognized by the most famous scientists of our Saran, who by secret ballot elected him a full member of the Academy of Sciences. General designers of aircraft and engines A. N. Tupolev and V. Ya. Klimov were awarded the same honor after 10 years, S. V. Ilyushin, A. I. Mikoyan and A. M. Lyulka - after 25 years, A. S. Yakovlev - after 33 years. And only in the summer of 1950, at the age of 55, A. A. Mikulin received a diploma of graduation from the Zhukovsky Academy - unity: the fifth official document confirming his profession and not a cancer engineer.

He was a designer by the grace of God, an outstanding organizer, one of the creators of the aviation power of our state. A. A. Mikulin made a huge contribution to equipping domestic aircraft first class aircraft engines. This work can hardly be overestimated.

Alexander Mikulin began to deal with engines from his youth: while studying at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, he made a motor with his own hands - then still a boat. Soon his uncle N. E. Zhukovsky helped him move to Moscow to study at the Moscow Higher Technical School. Here, the young student begins to work actively in the circle of Professor Zhukovsky, together with subsequently known designers and scientists, among whom were A. N. Tupolev, A. A. Arkhangelsky, B. N. Yuryev, B. S. Stech-KIN, by the way, also the nephew of Nikolai Yegorovich. Together with Stechkin, he designed and built in Moscow the original two-stroke engine AMBS-1, which was large for those times with a power of 300 hp. with, an unusual layout, without a crankshaft, with direct fuel injection. The scheme turned out to be difficult to fine-tune, and work was stopped.

Mikulin tried his hand at various fields. In particular, he designed a tank. In 1917, he worked in the commission for the construction of the KOMPAS snowmobile at the newly created TsAGI. In 1921, Alexander Alexandrovich was invited as a designer to the newly organized department of aircraft engines of the Scientific Automotive Institute. He participated in the design of several engines and soon became NAMI's chief designer for aircraft engines. Here he actively participated in the creation of several projects. So, in 1925 - 1927. the design of a number of advanced aircraft TB-I, R-5, I-3 and others was launched, mainly for water-cooled engines. At that time, we did not have our own serial engines, and in order to free ourselves from import dependence, we decided to start producing the best foreign models under licenses. To study the experience of foreign motor building, purchase of technologies and equipment, a group of specialists was sent to the borders of Western Europe. In Germany, a license was acquired from BMW for the production of V-shaped 12-cylinder, high-altitude (re-sized) BMW-VI engines, which we called M-17.

Mikulin visited England (Rolls-Royce factories), France (Ispapo-Suiza), Italy (Fiat) and some other factories. Upon his return, he began to develop a high-power aircraft engine of an original design, which later received the designation M-34.

M-17 engines in various modifications were installed on the TB-1 and TB-3 bombers, the best R-5 reconnaissance aircraft at that time, the I-3 fighter, the R-6 multi-purpose aircraft, passenger and transport aircraft, MDR-2 flying boats and many others. . The motors were in production from 1931 to 1934, they remained in operation until 1943.

Aircraft engine M-17

However, despite the successful development of the M-17 and M-22 engines in mass production, it was essential to create a more powerful domestic engine. Numerous developments of experimental powerful motors in NAMI, CIAM and at factories made it possible to accumulate invaluable experience, for a number of reasons they were not introduced into production. The only exception was the M-34 engine, on the project of which Mikulin continued to work after moving to

1930 at CIAM (Central Institute of Aviation Motors).

The dimensions of the cylinder of the designed motor were the same as those of the M-17 motor - the cylinder diameter was 160, the piston stroke was 190 mm, which was to a certain extent determined by the desire to use the machine park available in the production of the M-17 motor. The mounting locations of the new motor were made the same as those of the M-17, based on interchangeability when installing a plane.

In March 1931, the development of the drawings was completed. The production base of CIAM was still in the organization stage, and therefore the manufacture of the first two motors was entrusted to plant No. 26, taking into account the machine tools of which the motor was designed. In April 1931, the drawings were handed over to the plant, and already in September, the first motor was received by CIAM for finishing tests. Bench state tests were successfully completed in November

The water-cooled M-34 engine, 12-cylinder, V-shaped, was low-altitude and had a rated power of 750 hp. With. The design of the motor was subordinated to the idea of ​​rigidity, which was ensured by the block design of the cylinders of the original scheme with a compressed jacket and sleeves unloaded from axial forces and a power circuit for connecting the head blocks to the crankcase on long anchor studs. The motor had other design features, in particular the central connecting rods (this ensured the equality of piston strokes in both blocks), oil-cooled exhaust valves, a four-valve cylinder head.

Many components and parts, of course, were buried by fine-tuning, but in the end the engine was successfully tested on TB-3 and R-5 aircraft and put into mass production at the Nb 24 plant named after. M. V. Frunze (now the Salyut plant). The fuel for the M-34, as well as for the engines M-17, M-22 and M-15, was a mixture of benzene with gasoline in different proportions.

A significant drawback of the M-34 engine was the lack of a gearbox, which, with its high power and high rotation frequency, led to a decrease in the efficiency of the propeller and a corresponding deterioration in some of the aircraft's flight characteristics. In TsIAM for the M-34, a gearbox designed by V. A. Dollezhal was developed, with which 9 motors were built in July 1932 for fine-tuning and testing. In May 1933, the geared motor, which received the designation M-34R, was tested and at the end of the same year it was put into series. Motors M-34 and M-34R in 1933 - 1935 installed on TB-3 aircraft, experimental ANT-42 (TB-7) aircraft, which were later called Pe-8, as well as on the record ANT-25 (RD) aircraft, on which in 1934 - 1937 gt. outstanding flights were made and a number of distance records were set by the crews of Gromov and Chkalov. On the basis of the M-34 engine, CIAM developed its marine version for torpedo boats designed by A. N. Tupolev. This motor was designated GM-34, had a reverse gear (transmission for forward and reverse) designed by V. M. Yakovlev. GM-34 passed state tests in 1934 and was successfully operated on the above-mentioned boats until the very Fatherland of the hi war and during it.

In 1935, further developments on motors of the M-34 type were transferred from CIAM to serial plant No. 24, and A. A. Mikulin himself in 1936 was appointed his chief designer. KB was also created there.

Soon, in 1936 - 1937, a more powerful and high-altitude M-E4FRN motor with a gearbox and driven centrifugal injection was produced, which had a valet power of 1000 - 1100 hp. With. (in various modifications) and nominal 900 - 1000 l. With. at altitudes of 3 - 4 km.

M-34R engine

Based on the M-34FRN, AM-35 engines with a takeoff power of 1350 hp were developed. With. and an altitude of about 4.5 km and its variant AM-35A for Pe-8 with an altitude of 6 km. The engine has been significantly changed. In connection with the increase in power and speed, many components (crankshaft, gearbox, crankcase, oil system) were strengthened, the suction scheme was changed - the carburetor was placed after the driven centrifugal supercharger (CSP), the supercharger itself was radically redesigned. On the motors of the AM-35 series (and on the latest modifications of the M-34FRN), the design of the connecting rods was changed: instead of the forked (central) connecting rods used on the M-34, the main and trailer connecting rods were installed. Since, when using a trailed connecting rod, the stroke of the pistons in the series of piston rods with the trailed connecting rod is greater than in the series with the main connecting rods, the working volume of the cylinders has also changed somewhat - upwards. As a result, the right block had a piston stroke of not 190, but 196.77 mm, and the working volume increased from 45.8 liters to 46.66 liters. This required changes in the crankcase, blocks and some other nodes.

A fundamental change was made to the monitoring station: at the exit, instead of a simple throttle valve Polikovsky's blades were supplied. When the motor was throttled at a height below the calculated one, flow stalls occurred at the inlet part of the impeller. The Polikovsky blades directed the flow at the impeller inlet in such a way that the stall losses decreased, the efficiency of the monitoring station increased and the air heating in the monitoring station decreased; The power consumed by the monitoring station also decreased. As a result, the power of the motor itself increased the more, the higher the altitude of the motor. So, for the AM-35A, this gain was about 80 hp. s, and for AM-38 with low altitude - about 50 liters. With.

The AM-35 engine was installed on the Il-2 prototype - the experimental attack aircraft S V. Ilyushin BSh-2 (1938 -

1939), and the AM-35A engine with an altitude of 6000 m - on A.I. Mikoyan's fighters MiG-I and MiG-3. At the end

1940 AM-35A launched in a large series and well mastered. Recall that before the removal of the MiG-3 from production at the end of 1941, about 3,500 MiG-1 and MiG-3 aircraft were delivered.

However, the use of AM-35 on Il-2 attack aircraft showed that its power at low altitudes (at which attack aircraft operate) is insufficient, and high altitude is not needed at all. Based on the AM-35, Toshcha created a special AM-38 engine for the Il-2 with a lower altitude to 1650 m and increased to 1600 hp. With. takeoff and up to 1500 l. With. rated power.

Engine AM-38F

The use of AM-38 on the Il-2 made it possible to increase speed, maneuverability and combat load. The aircraft was put into production in the summer of 1941. It was necessary to significantly increase the production of motors. It was incredibly difficult to do this due to the evacuation of the aviation industry enterprises (including the plant that made the AM-35A and AM-38). And the stormtroopers were needed by the bleeding army like air, like bread. To provide Il-2 engines, a difficult decision was made - to remove the MiG-3, AM-35A from production and concentrate the efforts of the serial plant and Mikulin Design Bureau on the M-38 and its development.

The AM-38 motor differed from the AM-35A:

His crankcase was reinforced due to increased loads;

Another gearbox was supplied with a gear ratio of 0.732 (instead of 0.902 for AM-35A) to ensure optimal operation of the propeller for IL-2;

Slightly reduced compression ratio (6.8 instead of 7.0);

A new monitoring station was created with a transmission to the impeller of 11.05 instead of 14.6 for the AM-35, the oil system and cooling system were improved to ensure reliable operation of the motor with some insufficiency of oil and water radiators located in armored compartments

The AM-37 and AM-39 engines launched into the series and their modifications were removed, and the aircraft with them were ordered to be converted to other engines or discontinued. In the design bureau, work was continuously carried out to improve the AM-38 engine. Exploratory research remained main task. For the two-seat version of the Il-2, at the beginning of 1942, the AM-38F engine (forced) was made, which, with less power at altitudes than that of the AM-38, had an increase of 100 hp. With. takeoff power and the ability to work for a long time in takeoff mode in the altitude range of 0-1.5 km. In order not to increase the octane number of tonyaiva (the supply of high-octane fuel was a problem at that time), the compression ratio was reduced (6.0 instead of 6.8), the speed was increased in takeoff mode (2350 instead of 2150) and the boost was slightly increased at lower altitude. The monitoring station was different - with a reduced impeller diameter.

It was with these engines that the famous "flying tanks" Il-2 flew throughout the war - unique aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, which inscribed many glorious pages in its annals. To a large extent, AM motors contributed to this.

Still in 1940, A. A. Mikulin, together with the chief designers V. Ya. Klimov and S. K. Tumansky, took the initiative to develop design bureaus at serial plants into independent structures. The most persistent was A. A. Mikulin.

Blizzard February 1943. The Battle of Stalingrad has just died down. On the deserted bank of the Moskva River, not far from the Luzhniki gardens, near the cold and almost empty buildings of the former Orgavia-prom plant, a group of young people appeared - the first employees of the newly created plant N ° 300, which was entrusted with the development of aircraft engines. Treasurer A. A. Mikulin was appointed the responsible manager of the plant and its chief (later general) designer. Nssmotrya on hard times, the idea began to materialize; in a short time, production was established, an experimental base was created, and a room for a design bureau was found.

Alexander Alexandrovich was an excellent organizer, he was well versed in people and knew how to find the workers needed for the business, while showing courage and determination. So, he made sure that the outstanding scientist B.S. Stechkin became the deputy chief designer for the scientific, theoretical and experimental part, and the future academician was transferred to the plant from prison - the famous Kazan "sharaga".

Since February 1943, the Design Bureau has created many engines, including several modifications of the AM-39 engine (1870 hp), which in 1942-1945. was put on experimental versions of the Tu-2 aircraft, MiG-7, I-220 fighters, etc.

By 1944, with V. Ilyushin, the Il-10 attack aircraft was designed, which had almost 100 km / h more speed than the Il-2 at altitudes and near the ground. This aircraft was powered by an AM-42 engine with a take-off power of 2000 hp. With. and nominal 1770 l. With. at an altitude of 1600 m. It was the last serial Mikulinsky piston engine. In the end of the war and after it, several more experimental engines were made: AM-43, AM-44, AM-47, a turbocharger for the AM-44TK engine was developed for the Tu-2DB aircraft; on some engines, direct injection equipment (AM-39FNV) was installed, but they did not go into the series. The time of jet aviation began.

Mikulin's piston engines were the world's largest gasoline engines in terms of cylinder size, and although this created objective difficulties in fine-tuning and forcing, the power of serial engines 38/10-12 years old increased 3 times.

There were no similar engines abroad. Only at the end of the war did the Germans make the Daimler-Beni DB-603 engine with a cylinder size of 162x180 mm and a take-off power of 1800 hp. With.

Speaking about how highly appreciated and encouraged the activities of Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin, it should be recalled that back in 1940 he was awarded the highest rank- Hero of Socialist Labor (eighth in the country), awarded among other numerous awards - thundering orders of Lenin and, most significantly, two orders of Suvorov. (The status of the order says: "The Order of Suvorov is awarded to military leaders for outstanding success in command and control, excellent organization of military operations and the determination shown at the same time, as a result of which victory was achieved in the battles for the Motherland in the Patriotic War.")

And A. Mikulin was the winner of four Stalin (Government) Prizes. In August 1944, he - a purely civilian person - was awarded the rank of major general of the aviation service.

Shortly before his death in February 1985, Alexander Alexandrovich summed up his activities as follows: “I managed to do something in aviation. But years have passed, and many of my engines, and the aircraft on which they were installed, have become monuments AND museum exhibits. And I consider the pilot plant, which I organized 42 years ago, to be my main brainchild.

At the height of the war and in the post-war years, it was extremely difficult to build an actually new, advanced plant for that time. However, already in February 1946, Mikulin began work on the design and production of jet gas turbine engines, which are fundamentally different from piston engines.

Jet engine RD-ZM

OKB-300 engines have always been distinguished by their originality. This was also the first gas turbine AMTKRD-01, which had an original scheme: an eight-stage axial compressor, although at that time centrifugal, countercurrent combustion chamber with 22 individual sleeves located in a common casing dominated everywhere to reduce the length of the engine - above the compressor, single-stage turbine and electrically adjustable jet nozzle. The launch was carried out from an air turbo starter.

I must say that this engine, like the AM-3 that followed it, was the largest for that time, and there was no suitable aircraft for it right away. However, an event soon occurred, about which we have so far little reported: a large group of German aviation specialists was taken out of Germany. Those of them who had previously worked at the Junkers company, headed by Deputy Chief Designer Brunold Baade, brought the EF-131 aircraft in disassembled form - a long-range bomber with a reverse sweep wing, with six YuMO-004 engines (two bundles of three engines ). Naturally, the replacement of six engines with two Mikulin ones was very tempting: the total thrust was greater, the aerodynamics improved significantly, the whole layout of the machine and especially its power plant became simpler. In fact, it turned out to be a new, very promising EF-140 aircraft, or simply "140".

The creation of AMTKRD-01 was fraught with many difficulties due to the novelty of the whole business: we had not made gas turbine engines before.

Among many others, I remember the episode with the creation of a new heat-resistant alloy in the country. At the end of the 1940s, at the time when we had just begun to deal with jet technology, Mikulin called the chief metallurgist of the plant and one of the authors of these memoirs and put a small metal bar with a cross section of about 10x10 mm and a length of about 60 mm on the table. At the same time, he said that Klimov, whom Stalin instructed to design an engine based on the English Nin engine, had brought two such samples from England, and this one was one of them. The British made turbine blades from such a heat-resistant alloy. (One could only guess how these samples got to Klimov.) It was clear: there would be no similar foreign alloy in the Soviet Union - there would be no domestic turbojet engine either. We advise Alexander Alexandrovich to call the "count" right there on the "Kremlin". In the jargon that was then common among the leaders of the military-industrial complex and leaders of the metallurgical industry, the first deputy minister of ferrous metallurgy, who was directly in charge of the Glavspetsstal plants, A. G. Sheremetyev (hence the “count”), was so called behind his back. We are scheduled to meet on the same day, or rather, on the same night, at one o'clock in the morning (in those years - and this came from Stalin - the leaders of the state and their subordinates worked until the morning). We arrive at Nogin Square in Minchermet, Alexander Alexandrovich informs Sheremetyev about Stalin's assignment and says that it is impossible to create a turbojet engine without a new heat-resistant alloy. At the same night, Sheremetyev by telephone gives a firm instruction to the director of the famous metallurgical plant Elektrostal, a well-known metallurgist M.E. Koreshkov.

Early in the morning we leave for Elektrostal, which is 20 km from Noginsk. Here in Koreshkov's office, with the participation of the technical management of the plant, a detailed plan for creating a new plant is immediately developed. Only metallurgical specialists can imagine how daunting a task this is - using a small (about 60 grams) bar, having determined its chemical composition, create a new technological process, including "unravel", or rather, with the help of numerous experiments to determine the system of complex heat treatment.

A very intense meeting was already coming to an end; Mikulin raised the question of when the first batch of such an alloy would be created. The chief engineer of the plant, a major specialist in the development of special alloys, M. I. Zuev, named a very short time - three months. And the leaders of Elektrostal, who previously knew about Mikulin’s temperament only by hearsay, immediately experienced it to the full. There is no need to retell what kind of dressing he does to Zuev. Having laid out his entire "arsenal" of arguments (no, no, he did not resort to foul language - by the way, Alexander Alexandrovich never, even in terrible anger, resorted to such a technique), Mikulin demanded that our order be completed in a month. Considering that the director of Elektrostal, Koreshkov, was a member of the Central Committee of the party, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in general, as they say, a man of no timidity, who, as he said, "also did not order the road to the Kremlin to Comrade Stalin," one can imagine what this "discussion" resulted in.

Nevertheless, Mikulin achieved his goal. Immediately, an hourly round-the-clock schedule is drawn up, a number of processes are transferred to a parallel mode, all experimental and serial services of the plant are turned on. Exactly 30 days later, the first 600-kilogram batch of a special heat-resistant alloy, called Nimonic-80, was delivered to our plant.

During this time, dies and other necessary equipment were designed and manufactured at the plant at the same pace, new equipment was installed, and the technological process was worked out on ordinary steel. Therefore, the Nimonic-80 that arrived at the plant was immediately put into production. IN normal conditions It took many years to create such alloys.

In January 1948, AMTKRD-01 successfully passed state bench tests. Its main details:

Maximum thrust ... 3300 kgf

Specific fuel consumption… 1.2 kg/kgf

Air consumption through the compressor… 65 kg/s

Weight… 1720 kg

On September 30, 1948, the first flight of the EF-140 was carried out from the Teply Stan airfield (the same one where the residential microdistrict of Moscow is now). For the plant, this was a very important event: for the first time in the air there was the first turbojet engine created by a team led by A. A. Mikulin.

In February 1948, work began on the design of the AMRD-02 turbojet engine. He had the same circuit, but the compressor was nine-stage. In March 1949, he successfully passed state tests. Its main details:

Maximum thrust ... 4250 kgf

Specific fuel consumption… 1.05 kg/ps-h

Maximum air flow… 75 kg/s

Max gas temperature in front of the turbine. 1120 K

Weight… 1675 kg

Work on the first two turbojet engines gave Mikulin and his Design Bureau a lot. It was possible to move on.

During this period, engines with a thrust of about 5000 kgf began to appear abroad. We have projects for aircraft under gas turbine engines of the same thrust. But in OKB-300 they already understood the prospect, and in June 1949 they began designing the largest and most powerful turbojet engine in the world in those years with a thrust of 8700 kgf, which was named AM-3. It had an eight-stage axial compressor, fourteen individual direct-flow combustion chambers enclosed in a common casing, a two-stage turbine and an unregulated nozzle. For the first time in domestic practice, it used a belt bypass of air from the compressor to ensure stability of operation in transient conditions and a specially designed and originally built gas turbine starter driven through a fluid coupling.

AM-3 engine diagram

In April 1950, the first copy of the AM-3 engine was assembled and development tests began. His

Basic data:

Maximum thrust ... 8700 kgf

Specific fuel consumption in nominal mode (I = 7000 kg) ... 0.95 kg / kgf-h

Maximum air flow… 150 kg/s

The degree of increase in air pressure in the compressor

Weight… 3100 kg

Customers were immediately found for this engine - general designers A.N. Tupolev, who created the Tu-16 aircraft, and later the passenger Tu-104, and V. M. Myasishchev with his M-4 strategic bomber. It was the height of the Cold War, work on these topics was of extreme importance, and therefore control over the progress of work was carried out at the highest level.

The deadlines - in a year the Tu-16 should start flying - required the creation of a wide front of work for all participants, and above all for engine engineers.

One must give Alexander Alexandrovich his due for his ability to create new, collective forms of labor in extreme situations. Then, when the release of drawings and the manufacture of critical components that determined the deadline for the creation of the entire engine seemed completely unrealistic, A. A. Mikulin introduced a form of organization of parallel labor that had not been practiced by anyone before him: temporary teams consisting of designers, technologists and production -nogo master. If necessary, they included metallurgists, toolmakers. The technologists who participated in these emergency works temporarily moved to the Design Bureau. Such a team, as a rule, achieved a large gain in time. The organization of the brigade was fixed by the corresponding order, and the work was generously rewarded.

Subsequently, our friends-rivals at other experimental enterprises of the aviation industry began to use this form of organizing urgent work. It is known from foreign periodicals that the British firm Rollas-Royce also introduced such a system, but much later.

It must be assumed that not without the influence of Mikulin, during urgent work, all the technical managers of the plant were constantly in the design teams: the chief engineer, the head of production, the chief metallurgist, the chief inspector, and even the heads of the main production shops. This helped to carry out work with a significant lead time. There were also leaders, as they are now called, of the commercial service: about the right materials, forgings, stampings, units, bearings, they recognized in advance, without waiting for technologies and specifications, directly from a Whatman sheet.

It was necessary to expand production - a month later, almost all factory shops were working in a green shift. Experimental services were the busiest section, since it was necessary to create a lot of different installations, consoles, and lay many kilometers of communications. Finally, it was necessary to urgently put into operation a flying laboratory, since without a certain program of work it was impossible to start flying the Tu-16.

To resolve many issues, it was necessary to get "go-ahead" at the highest level, since Stalin personally followed everything related to aviation. It was difficult even for a minister to get to him. However, this did not apply to the general and chief designers, listening test pilots: Stalin liked to receive this information without intermediaries, first-hand. It was decided that Tupolev would go, who would represent the interests of all participants in the creation of the Tu-16. Call Poskrebyshev - Stalin's secretary, the time is set: tomorrow at 14 o'clock.

The next day at 11 o'clock Tupolev was at Mikulin's. It must be said that relations between these general constructors have always been difficult, but when it came down to it, all ambitions were thrown aside and the question of who would go to whom was decided on the basis of common interests.

The authors of the article had the privilege of being present at this very important meeting. There were few participants - except for Mikullinne, the deputy chairman of the military-industrial complex Istyagin, deputy ministers P.V. Dementiev (later the minister) and V.P. Balandin. Mikulin had the most questions, he actually led this small meeting. They outlined the order in which to put questions to Stalin, laid out the documents ...

Tupolev was absent for just over an hour; almost all issues were resolved, the necessary orders were given and the deadlines for their implementation were set. The commachine-administrative system was not so bad, now it would take several months to make a decision of this kind.

And on April 27, 1951, test pilot Nikolai Ryabko first took off the Tu-16 with two AM-3 engines. The life of this engine was long - about 30 years. It was one of the most reliable - due to engine failure, there were practically no accidents, let alone disasters, it had a long resource. It is not superfluous to recall that 26 world records were set by the planes on which the Mikulin "oroyka" stood.

It would seem that having achieved the greatest achievements in the creation of the AM-3 engine, A. A. Mikulin could only be engaged in its further improvement, as other designers usually did. But it would not be Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin.

At the end of the 40s, on the basis of a coherent theory similar to a gas turbine engine created at the Design Bureau, he developed the idea that reducing the dimension of a gas turbine engine to a certain limit leads to a decrease in its specific gravity. Already in 1951, engine drawings were issued in terms of dimensions (in terms of air consumption and thrust) 4 times less than AM-3. Naturally, the work of the OKB on two such different topics caused great breastfeeding, especially in production. Nevertheless, in March 1951, all working drawings of the AM-5 engine

AM-5A engine diagram

I axial eight-stage compressor: 2 - direct-flow annular combustion chamber; 3 - two-stage gas turbine: 4 - jet nozzle: 5 - front compressor housing with drive box: 6 - external communications system

were ready, and in May of the same year the first copy was already assembled and its bench tests began. Even now, or maybe right now, these terms seem fantastic.

The AM-5 engine in its design is very similar to its older brother AM-3: an eight-stage axial compressor, an annular direct-flow combustion chamber, a two-stage turbine, and an unregulated jet nozzle. Autonomous oil system with oil cooling in an oil cooler. For the first time in the practice of aircraft engine building, an electric starter-generator was used as a reversible electric machine.

Basic data of the AM-5 engine:

Maximum thrust ... 2000 kgf

Specific fuel consumption in nominal mode ... 0.88 kg / kgf-h

Maximum air flow… 37.5 kg/s

The degree of increase in air pressure in the compressor

Maximum gas temperature in front of the turbine IZO K

Weight… 445 kg

As planned by Mikulin, the engine had a record low specific gravity - 0.22, which was one and a half times less than that of other domestic and foreign turbojet engines created in those years. This engine was standard on the Yak-25 all-weather fighter-interceptor, which made its first flight on June 19, 1952.

Artem Mikoyan showed great interest in the new engine. On June 25, 1952, test pilot Grigory Sedov on a twin-engine Mikoyan CM-2 aircraft showed a record speed of 1220 km / h. However, in order to obtain supersonic speed, it was necessary to introduce a forage regime and obtain higher thrust values. Almost simultaneously with October 1952, the work of the Mikoyan Design Bureau began on the creation of the MiG-19 aircraft and the Mikulin Design Bureau on the AM-9 engine (later known in the series as the RD-9B). Even bearing in mind the big difference in complexity between the previous and currently created engines, one cannot fail to emphasize the truly fantastically short terms for designing, manufacturing the first engines, testing and debugging. Already 16 months after the start of design in January 1954, Grigory Sedov took to the air the first supersonic domestic fighter MiG-19 with two RD-9Bs.

The ability to produce a new engine so quickly was largely due to the fact that the AM-5 engine of the same dimension and design was taken as its basis. The first - "zero" stage of the compressor was attached to the eight stages of the "five" compressor, the blades of which (for the first time in the practice of domestic aircraft engine building) worked at transonic speeds. The combustion chamber is tubular-annular: ten direct-flow flame tubes in a common casing. The turbine is two-stage, but the main difference is the afterburner with a three-position nozzle.

Finishing work was intensively carried out at the plant, and in April 1955 state bench tests were successfully completed.

Basic data of the RD-9B engine:

Thrust in afterburner mode ... 3300 kgf

Thrust at nominal (maximum, non-afterburning mode) ... 2150 who

Specific fuel consumption in cruising mode

Maximum airflow…43.3 kg/s

The degree of increase in air pressure in the compressor is 7.5

Maximum gas temperature in front of the turbine 1150 K

Weight… 700 kg

Specific gravity… 0.212

MiG-19 was an outstanding machine of its time. The new design of the wing with a sweep of 55 ", afterburners and an all-moving stabilizer - these are the main features of this aircraft. It had excellent flight data. On March 19, 1954, test pilot G. A. Sedov received a record result: a maximum speed of 1450 km / h ( M 1.4).

The glory of the MiG-19 extended far beyond the borders of our country, it was put into service in many areas of the world, had numerous modifications.

Even earlier, at the beginning of 1953, Mikulin, realizing that the speeds of military aircraft would begin to increase rapidly, decided to create an engine for vehicles flying at supersonic speeds. Its design began in May 1953. It was the first domestic twin-shaft turbofan engine, originally called AM-11. It should be borne in mind that by the mid-1950s the Soviet Union had firmly taken the leading position in the world in the creation of supersonic aircraft. In such a situation, it was important and very prestigious not only to consolidate success, but also to develop it. For this purpose, the MiG-21 triangular wing aircraft is being created at the Design Bureau headed by A. I. Mikoyan. He needs

Scheme of the RD-96 engine

there was a fundamentally new engine that could work stably in all flight modes, have a small specific gravity and a fairly large afterburner thrust.

All these qualities were satisfied by the last engine, designed and built at plant 300 under the direction of Mikulin. On the AM-11 (PI 1-300) engine, a two-shaft eusonic compressor was used. Structurally, the two-shaft rotor of the compressor and turbine are made in an original way, without outriggers. The combustion chamber is rough-annular: ten direct-flow flame roughs in a common casing. Forage chamber with all-mode jet nozzle. For the first time, the principles of regulation of two-shaft turbofan engines were developed, including those with offsets at eu-sonic speeds.

The creation of such a fundamentally new machine was associated with large breasts. Revolutionary ideas (especially the eusonic compressor) aroused objections from the conservative part of scientists. Natural delays in such a matter irritated the bureaucratic army of the defense department of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Ministry of Aviation Industry. Unexpectedly for the entire staff of the Design Bureau and the plant, on January 20, 1955, A. A. Mikulin was relieved of the post of general designer and responsible head of plant N ° 300.

Considering the authority and merit of A. A. Mikulin, there is no doubt that the order was dictated at the very top of the pyramid of the party and the state. If we omit the insignificant and, by the way, unsubstantiated cavils, then in fact he was charged only with what was formulated in the order as follows: “Comrade. Mikulin makes mistakes in choosing the direction of development of aircraft engines, comes up with vicious ideas In terms of the use of supersonic compressors, high temperatures and a number of other issues that confuse and make the work of creating engines * difficult. What is more here - cynicism or technical illiteracy? In this tongue-tied accusation, every word is a shameless distortion of the essence of the issue. After all, even then the most far-sighted and experienced specialists, primarily Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin and Boris Sergeevich Stechki.gu, it was quite obvious that the main road in the creation of highly efficient turbojet engines lies through the use of supersonic compressors and high lemneratures. Oshl already created in our country and widely implemented turbojet engines confirmed this. The following years, both with us, and we were the flagship in the creation of turbojet engines, and with others, including foreign firms, these principles found their indisputable confirmation. And what are the words: “The work on creating engines will be busy”? How and to whom will it be loaded? None other than to numerous clerks who sat in bureaucratic offices. He could not "load the work" of other creative organizations. And this is all after the creation of AM-3, AM-5, RD-9B and when the first samples P-l 1-300. His great service to the Fatherland in the creation of piston engines, which contributed to the glory of our state before and during the Great Patriotic War, was also forgotten.

As you know, it is natural for a person to retain in memory mainly positive and vivid events. In dashum case we are talking about almost constant brilliant successes. Of course, even then there were serious mistakes, miscalculations, and hence the scoldings, because Mikulin's keen eye rarely passed unnoticed by any violation. A very severe punishment immediately fell upon the head of the guilty.

For many years, designers and testers remembered the first launch of AMTKRD-01. Then the launches were made from a powerful electric motor. At the first attempt to start this turbojet engine, an unfortunate embarrassment occurred - the electric motor was selected without taking into account the direction of rotation of the turbocharger. The most severe punishments immediately fell upon the guilty. The deputy chief designer was immediately released from work, and other leaders involved in this were severely punished. It is not clear whether A. A. Mikulin knew the decree of Peter I: “All the ranks in the service should be remembered, all the projects should be in perfect working order, so as not to ruin the treasury in vain and not cause damage to the Fatherland. Whoever starts projecting anyhow, I will deprive him of that rank and order him to fight with a whip. Because of the temperament of our leader, sometimes these punishments were undeserved and, therefore, offensive. But, as a rule, almost everyone who worked at the plant at that time had these grievances quickly erased from their memory, because A. A. Mikulin was not vindictive and had a rare gift to encourage initiative and excellent work. He himself was an inexhaustible source of the most seemingly incredible ideas and designs. Everyone who communicated with him over the years was struck by his ability to continuously give out ideas "to the mountain". These were also design, often overturning all rapese adopted (including those proposed by him) fundamental decisions, and technical ideas, and innovations in the field of pile organization, and much more. Not all of them were indisputable, but a significant part of them struck with their unique originality, originality, and, most importantly, they often gave the only correct solution to a particular problem. In just 12 years (and they included the years of the establishment and formation of the plant) from February 1943 to January 1955, under the leadership of A. A. Mikulin, eight (!) State tests of engines were successfully completed.

To those who then worked next to him, some of his actions seemed extravagant, sometimes leading to confusion, but after many years, discarding the alluvial husk, you are convinced that he was a divinely illumined designer and a wise organizer of an experienced aircraft engine building.

He never divided his co-workers into "ours" and "not ours", "whites", "blacks", communists and non-party people. The criteria were talent, hard work and commitment. In short, Mikulin adhered to the thesis, which much later, however, on a different occasion, was formulated by the leader of the Chinese state Deng Xiaoping: "It does not matter what color the cat is, as long as it catches mice."

His team was large, but he knew many people personally. And when, and this was almost daily, there was a need for very urgent and skilled work, for the completion of which he took literally hours (everyone knew his catchphrase - “Tomorrow by 10.00”), he usually said to the appropriate leader: “And you entrust this designer Yurov”, nyai “technologist Shcherbakov”, or “copper Petrov”, or “turner Filyutkin”, etc. About those who were trained by A. A. Mikulin, it can be said with confidence that they have kept for many years ability and ability to work to the limit of their capabilities. And when a person says: “I worked under the leadership of Mikulin”, this is almost always evidence not only of high professionalism, but also of the fact that he is able to work with full dedication. Hence the results. One fact: six chief designers left the OKB-300 team and headed other design bureaus.

Last lifetime photograph of designer A. A. Mikulin

Alexander Alexandrovich lived to old age died at the age of 91. He always kept fit, did not smoke, did not drink strong drinks, ate very moderately.

The range of his sports activities was very wide, but most of all he was fond of tennis and motorsport, his tennis partners were people widely known in the country, for example, people's artist Igor Ilyinsky. Until the age of 85, Alexander Mekeandrovich systematically played tennis. He owned the car to perfection. Back in 1933, Sergo Ordzhonikidze presented him with a gift - the first-born of the Soviet passenger car industry GAZ-1. on which Mikulin squeezed the maximum speed for this car of 90 km / h. And in 1937, after the record flights of the crews of Chkalov and Gromov, in addition to the next order, by the decision of the Council of People's Commissars, he was awarded an American passenger car. According to Mikulin, it is known that he was given the opportunity to choose almost any car, and he, of course, chose the fastest - Pontiac. This dark graphite-colored machine served him faithfully before the war, throughout the war, and until the end of the 40s. He drove almost all domestic and many foreign cars, and in old age he was content with the battered Zhiguli. A small detail: in those distant years, when Mikulin was the head of the plant, ground transportation did not work in the best way, at the stops near the Park of Culture and at the plant, workers of the plant often crowded in anticipation of the transportation. Whether he was driving himself or driven by a driver, he would, as a rule, stop and put half a car in.

He drove cars not only very fast, but, it would be permissible to say, famously, confounding the traffic cops, who usually knew who was driving and behaved accordingly ... Even when Mikulin was already over 85 years old, he had to sit with him in car, to watch how the guards of the auto movement respectfully retreated, although the road was covered with ice, and the speed exceeded all conceivable limits. Knowing his excellent driving skills, literally two weeks before his ninetieth birthday (!) the traffic police issued him a new driving license.

A separate conversation is worthy of a separate conversation designed by him at the end of the war between times (now it would be called the fashionable word “hobby”, there were a lot of such “hobbies” throughout his life) and the “health machine” manufactured at the factory, on which he literally maintained his athletic shape until the last days of life. A small batch of these machines (about 50) was manufactured at the plant by the mid-40s. And now in Moscow sports shops you can see imported, modernized models, in which the contours of the Mikulin “health machine” are easily guessed.

Excommunicated from his beloved work, to which he devoted the long and best years of his life, Alexander Alexandrovich looked for an outlet for his inexhaustible energy in other directions, for example, when creating an air ionizer, improving textile production.

Only when his ill-wishers passed away or left the leadership, the well-deserved fame began to return to Alexander Alexandrovich.

A. A. Mikulin died on May 13, 1985. There is no need to retell the contents of the obituary signed by the leaders of the state and outstanding scientists, but let us draw the attention of readers to the fact that Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin is called “the founder of the Soviet aircraft engine building” in it. That says it all , however, after his death.

Mikulin Alexander Alexandrovich (2 (14) 02.1895 - 13.05.1985), Soviet designer aircraft engines, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1943), Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service (1943), Hero of Socialist Labor (1940). Member of the CPSU since 1954.

In 1923 he began working as a designer at the Scientific Automotive Institute (since 1925 he was the chief designer). In 1929 he developed the design of the AM-34 engine, which was successfully tested in 1931. The engine was installed on the ANT-25 aircraft, on which in 1937 V. P. Chkalov and M. M. Gromov made long-range non-stop flights over the North Pole to the United States. Built under the leadership of M. in 1939, the AM-35A engine was installed on MiG fighters.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, he supervised the creation of powerful AM-38 and AM-38f engines for Il-2 attack aircraft and GAM-35f for coastal defense boats.

Since 1943 general designer of aircraft engines.

He was awarded 3 orders of Lenin, 6 other orders, as well as medals.

At the age of 50, doctors pleased him with the fact that he had only 2 years left to live. He created during this time his health system and lived for another 40 years.

Books (1)

Active longevity

How to maintain health and prolong creative activity? This question worries many. In the book by A. Mikulin, an attempt was made to reveal the physiological patterns of aging of the body and find ways to prolong an active creative life.

Reader Comments

Anatloiy/ 01/16/2019 I want to say on my own behalf, I fully share what Valentin said on 08/19/2012, you can’t say it better, I have nothing to add

Arkady/ 1.04.2017 This book is not perceived only by those people who have not yet been touched by the disease. Thanks to this book, I live. Many thanks to Alexander Alexandrovich for his work.

Gregory/ 04/10/2016 Alexander Alexandrovich’s personal account for work in 1951-1955 He personally demonstrated the retraction system to me It was in his office at factory 300, obviously in 1954, and at the same time showed me buckling on my feet with a heel tear I did this for many decades And thank God Now, similarly to the proposals of Alexander Alexandrovich, I am engaged in the prevention of aneurysm. In my opinion, it helps. I do it by decomposing 3 and 4-digit numbers into factors.

Paul/ 16.03.2016 Very good book! I recommend everyone to read and engage in a healthy lifestyle! Active longevity to you!

margarita/ 12/21/2015 I'm looking for a book but I want to change my life with sores to a healthy one

isak/ 11/25/2015 you are all so smart, where do fools come from in your country and in such quantities

irach/ 10/31/2015 the most important thing is that the author experienced everything for himself as a true doctor in antiquity.

Vladimir/ 08/14/2015 When an engineer takes on a humanitarian or natural science field, as a rule, something very interesting results. From what I remember: Geodakyan with his theory of sex, Fomenko with his mathematical approach to history. And now also Mikulin with his approach to physiology. These areas are always lacking common sense, moderation, corrosiveness and practicality, characteristic of the engineering approach. And similar authors bring them there. Many thanks to them for that.

Arsenty/ 4.08.2014 Anatoly you are an atheist and a skeptic. Of course, life will not be fun for you at all. And the book is good.

Anatoly/ 03/25/2014 Turning in this book the human body into "cubes" from known physical phenomena and effects, a contemporary of giant construction sites, unfortunately, lost sight of one "cube" folk wisdom: "if God decides to punish a person, he deprives him of his mind." So far, the cages of a respected author lack intelligence. However, I have a suggestion. So that after a couple of thousand years the book does not lose its relevance, it must somehow be updated and supplemented. Moreover, everyone loves the game of cubes. I played a little and I liked that oxygen can be transferred to the right place "by wire" from erythrocyte to erythrocyte. And, I think, a "small cart" for "Vagon" of talented content would not hurt here ...

Anatoly/ 01/31/2014 Reply to Lyudmila, who wrote: "For 30 years, Alexander Aleksandrovich Mikulin has been one of the examples of human perfection for me" - It's nice to read such lines. I remember I went to take the laboratory with a malaise. Was last in line. While I was waiting, I read the very cordial memoirs of one woman about L.D. Landau, and two hours later I was already well.

Anatoly/ 01/31/2014 Answer to Valentin, who wrote: "Pay attention, the most sensible books about health are hushed up: Bragg's Miracle of Starvation..." - Modern man, who has powerful energy, should understand that one should not expect a miracle from starvation. But, if you live laziness without miracles, then you need to learn to "rest from food", which a normal person, at least, should always want ...

Tata/ 11.11.2013 I am very happy that I found this book. For me, this is a great help in planning. healthy lifestyle life. I recommend it to all sane people.

Nikita/ 07/18/2013 Found a mention in the biography of Gubanov (Lifexpert). Previously, according to him, this book was a chipboard - for official use, i.e. top secret, like Carnegie used to be.

Valentine/ 19.08.2012 I agree with the previous assessments. On my own behalf, I want to add that the very fact of ignoring this wonderful book by our unfortunate Aesculapius suggests that the pharmaceutical mafia is omnipotent and invincible today ... They need to earn money, not treat people. Please note that the most sensible books on health are hushed up: "The Miracle of Starvation" by Bragg, "Running from a Heart Attack" by Lydiard, "The Secret Wisdom of the Human Organism" by Zalmanov, "Say Goodbye to Illness" by Gogulan... Neumyvakin, Buteyko, Vilunas, Montignac... All these authors care about human health, but this is not included in the plans of modern doctors, who benefit from people getting sick as often as possible ...

A.A. Mikulin was one of the first Soviet designers who created aircraft engines suitable for mass use, which withstood the test of long-distance flights and war.

Alexander Mikulin was born on February 2, 1895 in Vladimir. Mikulin's father - also Alexander Alexandrovich - was a mechanical engineer who graduated from the Imperial Moscow Technical School (MVTU named after Bauman, now - MSTU). Subsequently, he worked in Vladimir as a factory inspector.

Mikulin's mother, Vera Yegorovna, was the sister of Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky. Childhood Alexander Mikulin Jr. spent in the estate of Zhukovsky, was brought up under his influence. Alexander's passion for design manifested itself in early childhood. So, he conceived the idea of ​​lifting buckets of water from a well with the help of a steam turbine designed and built by him. When tested under light load, the turbine worked normally. However, when trying to boost the turbine, "turning on steam", the designer failed: the boiler exploded. The inventor himself suffered a little. Thus, the first acquaintance with a turbine engine in his life took place.

As a child, Alexander well mastered German and French. Subsequently, this came in handy for him: in Kyiv, Mikulin entered the Ekaterininsky real school, where teaching was conducted mainly in German.

From his youth he was engaged in the flight of airplanes.

He studied, in general, not bad, but without much diligence. The exception was physics. Young Mikulin loved to craft, giving vent to his passion for design. Quite by chance, he met the German Schreiber, who worked under the contract as a driver and mechanic for a private Daimler-Benz car. Thanks to this acquaintance, Alexander became seriously interested in studying an automobile engine, helped to sort it out, and learned to drive a car. From that moment on, Mikulin was captured by the idea of ​​​​creating a motor of his own design. He began to sketch out various options for internal combustion engines, as well as steam turbines. One of his original ideas turned out to be related to the scheme of the Wankel motor that appeared later.

Alexander even started the practical construction of an internal combustion engine in the physical laboratory of the school. However, at the same time, he violated the rules that had developed in the school, and it was not possible to complete the creation of the motor: it all ended in a scandal.

As a student, Alexander listened to the lectures of N.E. Zhukovsky, was familiar with the novice designer I. I. Sikorsky.

In the spring of 1914, Mikulin successfully passed the exams for the second year and received permission to transfer to the ITU. Soon he moved to Moscow, settling in Zhukovsky's apartment. In Moscow, student Mikulin was actively involved in the work of Professor Zhukovsky's aeronautical circle.

Even then - among the equal members of the circle - Mikulin stood out for his outstanding design talent. He drew superbly, and his sketches of the original arrangements of various mechanisms were distinguished by exceptionally accurate graphics and completeness of technical solutions. Alexander proposed a number of design improvements for the laboratory and experimental equipment used by the circle.

In August 1914 the First World War began. Soon N.E. Zhukovsky, who was considered the most authoritative scientist in the field of aircraft and hydrodynamics, took the post of head of the inventions department at the Military Industrial Committee.

Zhukovsky wrote the famous work "Bombing from an Airplane" and announced a competition for the development of aerial bombs. Among others, Mikulin was assigned to create an incendiary bomb. Tests of a fairly wide range of bombs were carried out at Khodynka. The design developed by Mikulin himself was recognized as the best incendiary bomb. He was awarded an honorary diploma and a prize of a thousand rubles in gold. The latter, however, was recommended to be donated to the needs of the war, which he did.

After the October Revolution, Mikulin worked in the aviation laboratory of the Moscow Higher Technical School, in the committee for inventions, then under the guidance of Professor N.R. Brilinga as a designer developed snowmobiles at TsAGI.

In 1924, Mikulin was instructed to independently develop a low-power motor for the T-19 tankette. The motor was put into production and released in a small series. It became the second tank engine created by Mikulin. Then low-power motors "Alpha" and "Beta" were designed and built.

In 1926, Mikulin became NAMI's chief designer for aircraft engines. With his participation, the NAMI-100 (M-12) engine with a power of 100 hp was developed, designed for the U-2 training biplane. However, it was not possible to bring the motor to the deadline. In part, the failure can be explained by the death of Mikulin's father, because from that moment on, all the worries about the family fell on Alexander's shoulders. Another, more advanced M-11 engine, designed under the direction of A.D., was transferred to mass production. Shvetsov.

Soviet air fleet was in dire need of a powerful engine to create efficient heavy bombers.

NAMI engine builders were given the task of developing an aircraft engine with a power of 700 hp. Brilling personally led the process of designing the motor, which received the name M-13.

The main bet was made on the M-13. The development of the engine drawings was led by Mikulin. The prototypes were expected to be assembled at the M.V. Frunze, formed by the merger of the factories "Motor" and "Ikar" with their subsequent reconstruction. In 1928, the first three experimental M-13 engines arrived for testing at NAMI.

Already the first tests of the novelty led to disappointment: the M-13 was able to develop a power of no more than 600 hp. More trouble followed. During operation, the motor began to collapse: the valve plates came off the rods and, crushed by the pistons, flew into the manifold. The same happened with the second and third prototypes. The failure with the M-13 undermined faith in the possibility of creating a powerful aircraft engine on its own. This point of view was also new leader NAMI Zelinsky. But Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin did not intend to retreat. He believed that as a result of developments, including unsuccessful ones, invaluable design experience is accumulated, without which it is impossible to create a workable machine.

In 1930, Mikulin began to implement the idea that he had matured in 1928: the creation of an engine that was superior in power to the M-17. On initial stage he met with serious opposition from the leadership of NAMI. Despite this, in May 1930, Mikulin managed to achieve approval of the engine layout he proposed.

The development of working drawings was completed by July 1930. In October, testing of the experimental unit began, and by August 1931, a run-in and preliminary test of the "full-scale" motor was carried out. From August 2 to November 7, the engine, which received the designation M-34, successfully passed 100-hour state tests and was transferred to serial production at the beginning of 1932.

M-34 had outstanding technical data for its time and surpassed the best foreign models. Its nominal power was 750 hp, and the takeoff power was 850 hp. with a dry weight of 535 kg.

After the state tests of the M-34R motor (A.A. Mikulin. G.F. Ulyanov, L.S. Tatko, V.P. Petrov, A.A. Rosenfeld, etc.)

Simultaneously with the preparation of the M-34 motor for introduction into the series, the development of a gearbox, a supercharger, and a variable pitch propeller began in order to improve its technical characteristics. In 1931, the design of the M-34R gearbox version was completed, in parallel, the design of the M-34N motor with a two-speed supercharger, which provided an altitude of 5000 m, was carried out.

The M-34RN motor, equipped with a gearbox and a supercharger, passed state tests in 1934. The director of the Soviet pavilion at the 2nd International Aviation Exhibition, held in 1934 in Copenhagen, noted in his report that visitors to the exhibition showed the greatest interest precisely in the M motor -34RN, which was not inferior to foreign ones in terms of decoration and technical data.

The M-34 engine in various modifications was installed on a number of serial aircraft, such as TB-3, R-Z, MDR-2. The world's largest aircraft "Maxim Gorky" was equipped with the same engines. Of particular note is the use of the M-34 on RD aircraft. In 1934, on an RD-1 aircraft, a crew of pilots M.M. Gromov and A.I. Filin, navigator I.T. Spirin, a flight was made to a distance of 12,411 km along a closed route. The aircraft was in the air for 75 hours, which was comparable to the life of the engine. In 1936, the crew of V.P. Chkalova, G.F. Baidukov and A.V. Belyakov on an RD (ANT-25) aircraft with an M-34 engine made a non-stop flight along the route: Schelkovo - Kamchatka - Udd Island with a length of 9374 km, and in 1937 they also flew along the route Schelkovo - North Pole - Portland (USA) with a length of 8509 km. In the same year, the crew consisting of M.M. Gromova, A.B. Yumashev and S.A. Danilina made a flight on the route Schelkovo - North Pole - San Jacinto (USA) with a length of 10,148 km. At the same time, a new world record was set for the flight distance in a straight line without landing. Flights to America were carried out along completely undeveloped routes, in very difficult weather conditions. So, Gromov's crew encountered three cyclones during the flight. "American" flights became a real triumph for Soviet aviation, its pilots and navigators, the aviation industry and, in particular, the domestic engine building industry. At the same time, it was the triumph of Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi, the aircraft designer, and the huge success of Mikulin, the motor designer.

In the early 40s, AM-38, AM-38 FN and AM-42 appeared. Reliable engines were mass-produced. Mikulin brought piston engines to perfection.

During the Great Patriotic War, he also supervised the creation of powerful GAM-35f engines for coastal defense boats.

In 1940, Alexander Alexandrovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and in 1943 he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1944, the aircraft designer was awarded the rank of major general of the engineering service.

In the postwar years, the issue of gas turbine engines was discussed. Mikulin, his deputy for design S.K. Tumansky and deputy for science B.S. Stechkin were instructed to create an engine with greater thrust. In 1947, the first turbocompressor jet engine TKRD-1 with a thrust of 3780 kilograms of force was designed. In the future, according to his scheme, more and more powerful engines were created.

Mikulin Design Bureau created powerful engines for jet bombers and passenger aircraft. Among them was the AM-3 and its modifications with thrust up to 11,500 kgf. The industry has been producing them since 1952. These engines were installed on Tu-16 bombers, Tu-104 aircraft and long-range bombers. The developed engines were in service for more than 20 years. They were distinguished by reliability, long service life and maintainability.

In the early 1950s, based on scientific research Mikulin Design Bureau developed powerful engines with low specific gravity and overall dimensions. One of these RD-9B engines was widely used in fighters.

Mikulin introduced the regulation of heaters by rotary blades, two-speed heaters, high inflation and air cooling in front of the carburetor, developed the first domestic turbocharger and variable pitch propeller.

The inquisitive mind of the designer turned not only to engines. He became interested in the effect of static electricity on a person and suggested periodically grounding the human body and increasing the humidity in the room using an ionizer, which he himself invented. Perhaps these measures helped the scientist to maintain vigor and efficiency for over 80 years.

Alexander Alexandrovich died in 1985 and is buried on Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Mikulin Alexander Alexandrovich - Chief Designer of the Moscow Aircraft Engine Plant named after M.V. Frunze of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry of the USSR.

Born on February 2 (14), 1895 in the city of Vladimir in the family of a mechanical engineer. He graduated from a real school in Kyiv. Having seen the demonstration flights of one of the first Russian aviators S.I. Utochkin, Mikulin became interested in aviation. He studied at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, where then a course of lectures was read by an outstanding scientist, the "father of Russian aviation" N.E. Zhukovsky, to whom Mikulin was a maternal nephew. Due to lack of funds, Mikulin was unable to complete his studies.

Then he moved to Riga and entered the Russian-Baltic Plant there, where at that time they mastered the production of the first aircraft engines. There Mikulin worked as a locksmith, shaper, assistant to the head of the assembly department. In 1914, Mikulin moved to Moscow, where he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School, graduating in 1922. During his studies, Mikulin participated in the creation of the country's first aerodynamic laboratory, his colleagues at work and study were A.N. Tupolev, V.P. Vetchinkin, B.S. Stechkin, B.N. Yuryev, A.A. Arkhangelsky . While studying, Mikulin and Stechkin created a 300 horsepower two-stroke engine in which fuel was to be supplied directly to the cylinders. This principle of fuel supply was subsequently applied to all piston engines.

Since 1923 - a draftsman-designer at the Scientific Automotive Institute, since 1925 - the chief designer of this institute. The first design work was the NAMI-100 automobile engine. And then Mikulin began to create the first domestic aircraft engines, one of which, a 12-cylinder V-engine, created in 1928, was named AM-34 in 1933 and put into mass production.

The creation of the AM-34 was a breakthrough for the Soviet aircraft engine industry. This engine was made at the world level. AM-34s were installed on the ANT-25 aircraft of A.N. Tupolev, who flew over the North Pole to the United States of America, on the giant aircraft Maxim Gorky, as well as on the TB-3 and TB-7 bombers. The successful design of the AM-34 made it possible to make it the base engine for modifications installed in various types of aircraft.

In 1930-1936, A.A. Mikulin worked at the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P.I. Baranov, at that time the only organization where the scientific and design forces of aircraft motors were concentrated. Since 1936 - chief designer of the Moscow aircraft engine plant named after M.V. Frunze.

In 1939, A.A. Mikulin created the AM-35A engine, which at an altitude of 6000 m developed a power of about 880 kW (1200 horsepower). It was installed on fighters designed by A.I. Mikoyan and Pe-8 bombers.

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

During the Great Patriotic War, A.A. Mikulin supervised the creation of powerful AM-38, AM-38F and AM-42 engines for Il-2 and Il-10 attack aircraft, GAM-35F engines for torpedo boats and river armored boats.

Since 1943, A.A. Mikulin was appointed general designer of aircraft engines and chief designer of an experimental aircraft engine building plant No. 300 in Moscow. He owns a number of new ideas in engine building: he introduced the regulation of superchargers with rotary blades, two-speed superchargers, high boost and air cooling in front of carburetors; developed the first Soviet turbocharger and variable pitch propeller.

In 1943, A.A. Mikulin was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, bypassing the level of a corresponding member. The paradox is that Mikulin had only a secondary technical education. A diploma of graduation from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy was awarded to him only in 1950 in recognition of scientific achievements.

In the post-war period, under the leadership of A.A. Mikulin, the TKRD-1 engine (the first turbocompressor jet engine) was created with a thrust of 3780 kgf (1947), then engines were developed according to his scheme, which for a long time remained the most powerful in heavy bomber and passenger jet aviation of the USSR . Following him, powerful turbojet engines AM-1, AM-2, AM-3 were created (the latter successfully worked for many years on the Tu-104 aircraft), as well as turbojet engines for Mikoyan fighters and intelligence officers A.S. Yakovlev. In total, in 1943-1955, under the leadership of A.A. Mikulin, dozens of types of aircraft engines were created, of which 8 were put into mass production. In the years 1935-1955, simultaneously with a huge employment in design and production work, he taught at the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N.E. Bauman and at the Air Force Engineering Academy of the Red Army.

The outstanding activity of the largest Soviet designer of aircraft engines came to an abrupt end in 1955. After the removal from the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR G.M. Malenkov, who highly appreciated the activities of A.A. Mikulin, the Minister of Aviation Industry P.V. Dementyev decided to get rid of him. Mikulin was not only removed from the post of chief designer, he was generally removed from work in the aviation industry.

An old comrade and colleague of Mikulin, Academician B.S. Stechkin, took Mikulin to work as a researcher in the laboratory of engines of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he worked until 1959.

In retirement, Mikulin remained the same restless and creative person that he always was. He took up the problems of maintaining health, proposed a number of new ideas, some of which were used in the sanatorium treatment of patients. When the Ministry of Health refused to publish Mikulin's book on medical topics, the academician entered a medical institute at the age of 76 and in 1975 passed the state exams "with excellent marks". The following year, he defended his Ph.D. thesis in medicine based on a book he had prepared. Then it was published under the title "Active Longevity". He tested all his medical ideas on himself, and having big health problems in the middle of his life, he managed to strengthen his body and reach the 90-year milestone.

Laureate of the Stalin Prizes of the USSR (1941, 1942, 1943, 1946).

Major General of the Aviation Engineering Service (08/19/1944). He was awarded three orders of Lenin (10/28/1940, 07/2/1945, 01/24/1947), orders of Suvorov 1st (09/16/1945) and 2nd (08/19/1944) degrees, three orders of the Red Banner of Labor (07/10/1943, 06/10/1943 .1945, 02/14/1975), Orders of Friendship of Peoples (02/14/1985), Red Star (02/21/1933), "Badge of Honor" (08/13/1936), medals, including "For Military Merit" (11/05/1954) .