Perhaps some admirers of everything Soviet, who do not know the principle “do not make yourself an idol,” will condemn me. I absolutely don't want to give a damn about the Soviet past, for that there is something like that, but I also wanted to give a picture of what was happening for a long time.
Understanding is a very difficult thing. Especially when you begin to really understand that everything could be different. And - especially - in our aviation of the 40s of the last century.
Speech, as everyone already understood, will focus on the actual murder of the most talented designer Nikolai Polikarpov. It is clear that no one mixed him with poison and did not put it against the wall. But it worked out that way, without poison and bullets.
Question: can Polikarpov be considered a saint, around whom there was one … one known substance? Yes, Nikolai Nikolaevich was a man who was convulsively alien to the society in which he had to live and work. Alas, this is so. But there were also many worthy, honest and principled people in his life. I will try to mention them as much as possible.
The serpentarium, which was called the "Soviet school of aircraft designers", was exactly what I called it in one of my previous articles. But here, without sentimentality: the built planes are awards, orders, immunity. And for this it was possible to go to any meanness and stabs in the back.
And so it happened in general with this wonderful person and brilliant designer - Nikolai Polikarpov.
Let's start with the facts that I already wrote about in the materials on the MiG-3 and I-180. That is, since 1939.
Before the Rubicon
So, 1939. We can say that the Polikarpov Design Bureau finished it with good results. In fact, the Ivanov project was worked out, which later became the Su-2, the SPB bomber was created on the basis of the VIT-2, and, of course, all forces were directed to the introduction of the I-180 into the series.
And the design work was going on for the future. First, we worked on a Project K / Project 61 high-altitude fighter powered by the AM-37 engine.
And the designer himself worked on another project of a fighter under an air-cooled engine of S. K. Tumansky or A. D. Shvetsov. The design bureaus of these engineers created the same two-row "stars" with a capacity of 1600-2000 hp.
Polikarpov kept these works secret, and for good reason.
At the end of 1939, after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Polikarpov was sent to Germany as part of the Soviet delegation. Yes, the trip was more than useful, our engineers got the opportunity to get acquainted with the weapons of the former enemy in the war in Spain with their own eyes.
But on his return, Polikarpov was forced to do things so far from designing that he would not want to be in his place.
Robbery in Soviet style
While Polikarpov was studying Messerschmitts and Heinkels in Germany, his design bureau was defeated. At plant # 1, director Artem Mikoyan created his own R&D department headed by himself and Mikhail Gurevich. The new structure grabbed everything from the Polikarpov Design Bureau that could be reached. From ordinary employees to leading engineers.
True, not everyone voluntarily ran to Mikoyan, like Gurevich. There were people who had to be convinced, and there were those who were even intimidated. But in the end Mikoyan and Gurevich took about 80 designers and promising projects from the Polikarpov Design Bureau.
When, after the death of Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich, his name was immediately excluded from the name of the company, I think it was even fair from some side.
To be fair, Polikarpov was given a piece of candy. Awarded the Stalin Prize for the creation of the MiG-1 aircraft. And he was appointed director and chief designer of plant # 51, which at that time did not even exist. In this position, Polikarpov remained until his death. Not for long, in general.
In general, the plane was stolen (in general, two, "Ivanov", as it were, also "flew away"), they were kicked out of the plant, the designers were taken away. It's about time what? Correctly, based on the experience and data obtained in Germany, start building a new aircraft!
Against Focke-Wulf
Nikolai Nikolaevich, with the remaining loyal employees, begins work on the "62" project. He is I-185.
In general, things were still going on with the introduction of the I-180, but the I-185 promised to be better. I-180 met the requirements of that time and even exceeded them. But, having visited Germany, Nikolai Nikolayevich realized that other modifications would follow the Bf-109D, and Kurt Tank, who liked to boast under schnapps, also hinted that they had something.
Foresight of a genius or information just received? We will never know the truth, but it is a fact: Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Gorbunov, Pashinin rushed to create aircraft similar to the 109th. Polikarpov began work on a completely different machine.
The main working qualities of the future aircraft were vertical and horizontal maneuver, high speed and rate of climb, armament. Polikarpov had the best idea of what the fighter of a future war should be like. And what he did (I-185) was not the beginning, but the end of that war.
An analysis of the state of the German aviation showed that more advanced modifications of the Bf-109E would soon appear, and what was created there in the Focke-Wulf was generally incomprehensible.
It is difficult to give an answer without seeing the subject of confrontation, but Polikarpov not in vain bore the title of "King of Fighters".
Give me a motor
It is clear what will be discussed now. About the fact that for a brilliant machine you need an engine, if not a brilliant one. Who will move this car.
And the engine should be more powerful than the M-88, from which they began to dance with the I-180. There were theoretically engines, but Polikarpov ordered to lay 4 cars at once for the installation of different engines. Not intentionally.
Then, as always, the Soviet detective story about engines began.
The first version of the I-185 was designed for the M-90 engine of the Zaporozhye Design Bureau, with a capacity of 1750 hp. Not a bad indicator, by 1942 it was brought to 2080 hp.
On May 25, 1940, the construction of the I-185 under the M-90 was completed. By this time, we received the first M-90. The motor turned out to be completely inoperative. Note that the I-185 could make its first flight in June 1940.
The story with the M-90 began to drag on, and the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry Shakhurin, realizing the importance of the case, gave instructions to install an M-71 engine with a capacity of 2000 hp on one of the finished copies of the I-185. The M-71 was considerably heavier than the M-90 and had a larger diameter. It was an 18-cylinder twin-row engine. The design speed with it came out somewhere in the region of 650-660 km / h, that is, a cut higher than the LaGG-1 and Yak-1. And comparable to the MiG-1.
The arrival of the M-71 was waited all the way, but the motor was never ready. And already in November 1940, Shakhurin, with his authority, ordered the installation of another engine from the Shvetsov Design Bureau, M-81, on the I-185. 14-cylinder and with a capacity of 1600 hp
Minus 400 "horses" is not good, but so far bearable.
But the M-81 entered the Design Bureau only in December and … in an inoperative state! The motor was put in order on its own. Until the final death of the engine, the plane performed 16 flights. Speed on a defective motor, producing 1400 hp at most. turned out to be close to 500 km / h. That confirmed the calculations of Polikarpov and instilled optimism and confidence.
In March 1941, by order of Yakovlev, flights were officially terminated, because the People's Commissariat of the aviation industry decided not to deal with the development of the M-81 engine.
But a ray of hope dawned. The first M-71 engine was received!
And right there, Polikarpov sent a complaint to Yakovlev: the motor has a power 15% lower than the declared one and the weight is 13% higher than the nominal. The second M-71, received next, weighed 1079 kg instead of 975 declared, but at least produced the indicated number of "horses".
The motor worked disgustingly. All attempts to debug it have failed. The M-71 worked just as badly for Sukhoi on the Su-6 attack aircraft.
As a result, all three built copies of the I-185 ended up on the ground with a very vague prospect of waiting for the moment when the engines would be brought up to condition. Or, as Polikarpov wrote in his memo, "to a state that allows at least minimal risk to test the aircraft."
The situation is not easy. Literally a year ago, the idea of another purchase of imported motors for another copy was in the air. This time it was about the American "Wrights" and "Pratt-Whitney". But they abandoned the idea, since they seemed to have their own on the way.
However, they did not pull their own, and the M-90, M-81 and M-71 hung in the finalization stage for more than a year.
There was an attempt to buy several BMW-801s from "friends" from Germany, but the question was openly delayed, and in 1941 the Germans were no longer such friends, and they refused to sell the motors.
In fact, it took Polikarpov a year to lift the I-185 off the ground. On the eve of the war - an impermissible luxury.
If you read Yakovlev's book "The Purpose of Life", then there is a rather cynical description of Polikarpov's defeat in the fight against "young unknown designers" (quote from Yakovlev). As I said, they were not that young and completely unknown. Rather, on the contrary, they are very suitable for all offices. Deputy People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry, head of a department of the same NKAP, supervisors of factories in the NKAP system, brother of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Stalin's ally.
Can Polikarpov be acquitted? Necessary. 4 moves in 4 years, the withdrawal of the best employees, the actual defeat of the design bureau - what is it like?
And Yakovlev writes:
Indeed, in those days Polikarpov was gloomy. It was from what. And there was something to be happy about Yakovlev.
However, the war put everything in its place, and it was not Polikarpov's fighters that were powerless before the Germans. I-16, sorry, was weaker, and it was not a secret. It was the newest fighters of Yakovlev and others that were beaten by the Messers. And this is a fact that is difficult to get rid of.
But on the part of Alexander Sergeevich it is simply blasphemous to reproach Polikarpov, who had already died by that time, for not providing the proper fighter. The fighters gave "young and unknown". And the fact that all three new Soviet fighters were absolutely not equal to the Bf-109E - is Polikarpov to blame?
Fools and scoundrels
Meanwhile, there was a motor for the I-185. All the same Shvetsov. All in the same Perm. Arkady Dmitrievich performed a double miracle at that time.
The first is that he created the M-82 with a capacity of 1700 hp. and (especially valuable) the motor was quite small in diameter, only 1260 mm.
Second, he defended his engine when the order came from the NKAP to switch the plant to water-cooled engines. With the help of the first secretary of the Perm regional party committee, Gusarov, Shvetsov managed to break through to an appointment with Stalin.
The whole problem of that time was precisely that Stalin physically could not accept and listen to everyone. Alas. Even without being an expert in industry, Iosif Vissarionovich realized that Shakhurin and Yakovlev were doing obvious idiocy, trying to transfer the plant from the production of air-cooled engines to liquid ones. A completely different technological process.
In early May 1941, after a meeting with Shvetsov, Stalin canceled the decree of the NKAP on the Perm plant, and then a decision was made to transfer the M-82 for repeated state tests. The motor passed the test, and on May 17 there was a decree to start the series.
Yes, when Stalin pulled back his subordinates, things went very quickly. But we lost six months anyway.
I’m wondering what Yakovlev and Shakhurin would babble about in their memoirs and who would be accused of not having engines for La-5, La-7, Tu-2?
By the way, the ASh-82 in its modifications after the war regularly carried not only airplanes, but also helicopters. La-9, La-11, Yak-11, Il-12, Il-14, Mi-4 - all this was flown on ASh-82. And direct descendants are still plowing in our aviation even today.
It looked like it was with a 57mm anti-tank gun. They took it off, abandoned it, and when it turned out that there was nothing to beat the Tigers with, they ran around like turpentine, faithfully looking Stalin in the eyes with the question: "What are we going to do, Comrade Stalin?"
And after death, blame everything on the commander-in-chief. I didn't notice, I didn't stop, I didn't order.
Yes, Shakhurin, to his credit, served his time and then admitted mistakes in his memoirs. Yakovlev did not fall to an apology. But I am sure that if they had the opportunity to write memoirs after such a situation, I am sure they would amicably accused Stalin, who did not stop them.
Yakovlev steals from Polikarpov again
So, at the end of 1940, we still seemed to have an aircraft head and shoulders above the development of the "young and early". Well, on paper, at least.
It is clear that the NKAP was completely uninterested in the I-180 and I-185 machines, there were enough people around and around who were eager for orders and awards. It's clear.
In general, all that was needed - in the interests of the country, to give Polikarpov the opportunity to bring the plane to mind, and Shvetsov to build motors. They both, in fact, just wanted to do this.
But no, the NKAP is hindering this line with all its might. It was only on May 5, 1941 that Polikarpov finally received an official assignment for the I-185 with the M-82.
By that time, the Design Bureau had worked out two versions of the aircraft: using the existing fuselage and building a new, somewhat elongated one - specifically for the M-82.
Moreover, having forgiven Mikoyan, Polikarpov began work on a unified propeller-driven group, since at that time it had already become clear that the MiG-3 was, to put it mildly, “not a cake”. And he needs a different motor. And initially, the MiG was developed precisely by the Polikarpovites.
The speed of the I-185 was estimated at 600-625 km / h. That is, better than any of the "young and early". But this is not the main point. Speed is great. How to fight?
According to the preliminary design, completed in May, the armament of the I-185 with the M-82A consisted of three (!!!) synchronous ShVAK cannons and two synchronous ShKAS machine guns. And it was possible to stick it in the wing on the SHKASU.
By brilliantly placing this entire battery around the engine, Polikarpov did not give a chance to any of the Germans, not even the five-point Messerschmitt, since three synchronous cannons are three synchronous cannons.
This, when compared, is the FW-190. But the 190th is, excuse me, 1943. But not 1941. And again, the Focke-Wulf has cannons in its wings. That is, spread. The I-185 is more accurate at the exit, which means it is more efficient.
The I-185 with the M-82A made its first flight in August 1941. In September, flights began at the flight test institute. Simultaneously with the tests of the I-185 with the M-71 engine.
Even with a very crude M-71 engine, which, moreover, was constantly junk, the I-185 M-71 showed a speed of 620 km / h. The prospects of using air-cooled engines have become obvious, and please evaluate what Yakovlev did.
By order of Yakovlev, the drawings of the I-185 propeller group with the M-82A and the installation of ShVAK synchronous cannons were transferred to the Lavochkin, Mikoyan, Yakovlev design bureaus. This significantly accelerated work on the creation of aircraft with air-cooled engines La-5, MiG-9M-82 (variant of the MiG-3) and Yak-7M-82.
And Polikarpov? What about him?
And with Polikarpov, Shakhurin and Yakovlev acted in a very peculiar way.
In October 1941, work at the OKB was stopped due to the evacuation. The Polikarpov Design Bureau was evacuated to Novosibirsk, but not to an aircraft plant. The Yakovlev Design Bureau has moved to the aircraft plant # 153!
And Polikarpov was provided with the premises of the city menagerie and the aeroclub airfield …
In general, it is very difficult for me to assess the human qualities of Polikarpov. When they beat you in the back and spit in your face like this, when they do not let your plane fly with all their might, an understanding of this person's deepest spirituality and love for his homeland arises.
Five months - and in February 1942, the I-185 M-71 and I-185 M-82A were presented for state tests. On March 28, these tests were successfully completed.
Battle trials
Test pilot Pyotr Yemelyanovich Loginov wrote in his flight assessment:
A huge payload for a fighter, 500 kg of bombs, 8 RS, 3 ShVAK with a colossal stock (almost 200 per barrel) of shells. Excellent takeoff and landing properties of the aircraft. High speeds above the ground and in altitude, very good climb rate give me the right to conclude that the I-185 M-71 is one of the best fighters in the world.
Peter Emelyanovich Loginov tested many aircraft of that time: La-5, La-5N, I-153, MiG-1. He also made the first flight on the I-185 and carried out combat tests of the aircraft. Pyotr Loginov died in 1944 in a battle with four German fighters.
His son, Captain Valentin Petrovich Loginov, died in 1962, until the last moment turning the emergency fighter away from the large village of Angelovo near Moscow (it still exists near Mitino).
Can you not believe the words of such people?
Leading engineer of the Air Force Research Institute Iosif Gavrilovich Lazarev:
1) The I-185 M-71 aircraft in terms of its flight characteristics is higher than all existing domestic serial and foreign aircraft.
2) In terms of piloting technique and takeoff and landing properties, the aircraft is simple and accessible to pilots of average and below average qualifications …
3) … During testing, the aircraft lifted 500 kg of bombs (2x250 kg) and took off and landed with 4 bombs of 100 kg each.
And, finally, the general conclusion of the Air Force Research Institute:
The I-185 M-71 aircraft, armed with three ShVAK-20 synchronous cannons, meets the modern requirements of the front and can be recommended for service with the Red Army Air Force …
The I-185 M-82A … is second only to the I-185 M-71, surpassing all production aircraft, both ours and foreign …
The flying technique is similar to the I-185 M-71, i.e. simple and accessible to pilots with lower intermediate qualifications.
Immediately after the state tests, a flight was carried out by front-line pilots who received aircraft in Novosibirsk. The commander of the 18th Guards IAP, Major Chertov, and the squadron commander, Captain Tsvetkov, wrote to Shakhurin in a memo dated 1.04.42:
After flying the I-185 M-71 aircraft, we report our considerations: speed, maneuverability, armament, ease of takeoff and landing, low mileage and takeoff run, equal to I-16 type 24, survivability in battle, similar to I-16, comparative ease and pleasantness. in piloting technique, the possibility of repair in the field, the ease of retraining pilots, especially with the I-16, give the right to recommend putting this aircraft into serial production.
But it's too early to start rejoicing. So, it seemed that a panacea against the "Messers" had been found, all that remained was to put it on stream, and …
And no decision was made on the aircraft.
You can start to wonder.
And all the more surprising, because on December 24, 1941, after testing the captured Bf-109F at the Air Force Research Institute, the leadership of the institute sent A. S. Yakovlev a letter, which, in particular, said: "At the present time we do not have a fighter with flight and tactical data better or at least equal to the Me-109F."
And then the question arises: "we" - who is this? Showered with honors, awards and money, Yakovlev, Mikoyan and Gorbunov and their comrades?
Many people writing on this topic often say, they say, the NKAP relied on the La-5. And here there is only a certain bitterness of understanding. Well, who are you trying to deceive, gentlemen? La-5 began to pass factory tests only in March 1942, what are you all about?
And to be honest, after the titanic efforts of the creators of LaGG-3, who struggled to breathe life into their plane. Yes, Lavochkin did it. But how!
The plane itself was created clandestinely. And Semyon Alekseevich collected La-5 in a barn on the back of the plant in Gorky. And if not for the first secretary of the Gorky regional party committee (again the party intervened) Mikhail Ivanovich Rodionov, who took a chance and went to Stalin for a report from La-5, it is still unknown how everything would have turned out with him (La-5).
In defense of Lavochkin, I want to say that although the La-5 was inferior in flight data and weapons to the I-185 with the M-82A, it also had a certain advantage. La-5 production could be adjusted at the factories that produced LaGG-3, of which there were as many as five. What, in fact, happened in practice.
Perhaps those who write in defense mean that Yakovlev relied on his air-cooled fighter, the Yak-7 M-82. Yes, in fact it was a good aircraft with good weapons. And it is not a fact that, when brought to mind, this machine would be worse than the La-5.
But the I-185 was already there !!! I flew !!! He fought !!!
And the best result of the work of the I-185 is, from my point of view, the act, which was signed by the head of the Air Force Research Institute, Major General P. A. Losyukov on January 29, 1943.
The I-185 aircraft with the M-71 design comrade. Polikarpov, armed with three synchronous ShVAK-20 cannons with 500 rounds of ammunition, with a fuel supply of 470 kg, is the best modern fighter.
In terms of maximum speed, rate of climb and vertical maneuver, the I-185 with the M-71 surpasses the domestic and latest production enemy aircraft (Me-109G-2 and FV-190).
The last blow and lies of Yakovlev
Everything seemed to be going well: an excellent fighter is being launched into series, which surpasses all existing aircraft of our time, moreover, it has already developed modifications …
But the decision to adopt the I-185 was not followed.
The fate of the I-185 was decided by the discussion of the letter that Polikarpov wrote on February 4 to Stalin. Really fearing new delays and frames.
All the meanness of the moment, oddly enough, was described by Yakovlev in the book "The Purpose of Life". I have two copies of this book in my library. 1972 and 1987. So, over the course of 6 reprints, Yakovlev spoke more and more about the I-185. He gave out the truth by a teaspoon, but nonetheless.
In the latest edition, Yakovlev writes the following legend:
… I-180 was built in the amount of three copies. In the first of them, at the very beginning of flight tests, Valery Chkalov died. On the second, after a short time, the military test pilot Susi crashed. Later on the third I-180, the famous test tester Stepanchenok, making an emergency landing due to engine stop, did not reach the airfield, crashed into the hangar and burned down.
It is clear why Yakovlev needed to pull out two I-180s and one I-185 out of all the I-180 and I-185 built, pass them off as 3 experienced I-180s, each of which killed a test pilot. I wrote about this at the beginning. Orders, awards, glory and honor.
… Shakhurin and I tried to objectively assess the car and give it the most comprehensive description possible. But since the plane passed only part of the factory tests, it was impossible to give a final conclusion.
But Malenkov still had the acts of THREE state tests at the Air Force Research Institute, and the acts were accompanied by reviews of test pilots and front-line pilots, who, unlike Yakovlev, appreciated the car at its true worth.
I just assume that "an attempt to objectively evaluate the car" was as objective and truthful as the fairy tale in the book for the broad masses … Sucks, in general, comrades Shakhurin and Yakovlev tried.
But to be honest, Shakhurin did not go into design business. He was the production coordinator. He had a whole deputy for design affairs. Yakovlev.
A lot of reasons have come down to our days why the I-185 did not go into production. And the plant was not vacant, and it took a long time to rebuild production, the unfinished M-71 engine …
Problems with the motor are the reason that touched all the designers. Let's just say it's a black line that stretches through the entire history of our aviation. But there was a motor!
But there were also those "young obscure" designers who really wanted to become kings. And they did not like the situation of having an aircraft head and shoulders above their car. Lavochkin and Gudkov in 1942 simply would not have started working on the La-5 and Gu-82, but would have found themselves in general incomprehensible in what position.
Yes, and Yakovlev would have had a very difficult time. The I-185 is not Yak-1, Yak-7, Yak-9, or even Yak-3. Unable to resist the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs, they would also be unnecessary.
It turns out that the I-185 was needed only by Polikarpov, fighter pilots, and even engine builders.
Meanwhile, already in the skies of Stalingrad, the Bf-109G-2 showed its complete superiority over all Yakovlev's fighters (Yak-1, Yak-7, Yak-9) in speed, climb rate and armament. And the La-5, which appeared in the same place, had minimal speed advantage, only at the ground in afterburner.
The I-185 with the M-71 engine surpassed the Bf-109G-2 at the ground by 75-95 km / h, at an altitude of 3-5 km - by 65-70 mm / h, at 6000 m - by 55 km / h, and only at heights of 7, 5 - 8 km the speed advantage passed to the Messerschmitt. But somehow they did not fight on the Eastern Front.
It remains to recognize at last …
We have to admit that in that war we fought in numbers. But not quality. Yes, numerical superiority in the sky is, of course, good, but when this number is achieved by such things as dismantling "all the extra" type of oxygen equipment, machine guns, ammunition from the plane …
And with one cannon, go against the Messerschmitts, which had from 3 to 5 barrels and Focke-Wulfs with six barrels, four of which were cannon.
However, I already wrote about this in an article about the Yak-1.
By and large, at that time the NKAP and the Air Force Research Institute were doing what was always called eyewash. Very often today you come across discussions about how important the number of aircraft is for gaining air supremacy. This amount helped a lot on 1941-22-06, for some reason no one remembered. And Germany and the allies had almost 5,000 aircraft against 11,000 in the Red Army Air Force.
In general, you can talk endlessly about the bends of Yakovlev and Shakhurin. Especially about Yakovlev, a man with not the clearest conscience.
Yes, in the end we got along without the I-180 and I-185 in that war. In general, we have done a lot without anything. Without the industry of Ukraine, lost in the first year, without the bread of the Black Earth Region, without trained and competent military leaders, without an army ready for war …
We have done without a lot. The only question is - at what cost. But we know the price paid by the Soviet people. And we must understand that each such "cost" is measured in a certain number of human lives.
All this looks very strange today, even in 80 years. Excellent examples of military equipment either did not reach the series at all (I-180, I-185, Su-6, ZiS-2), or required such efforts that it is even strange to talk about it today. You don't have to go far for examples here, just remember the history of the Il-2, Tu-2, T-34, Su-100.
Polikarpov was consoled with another handout - the Stalin Prize for the I-185. But the dead don't need money. The order for the design of a high-altitude interceptor with a pressurized cockpit based on the I-185 turned out to be useless.
Cancer of the esophagus at the age of 52 knocked down Polikarpov. On July 30, 1944, Nikolai Nikolaevich died.
Immediately after the death of the Polikarpov Design Bureau was disbanded, all projects were stopped and closed. On the basis of the design bureau, V. N. Chelomey created his own design bureau, which was engaged in the creation of cruise missiles.
What have we lost? What have we got? It's hard to judge.
