![Wiktor Fjodorowitsch Bolchowitinow jung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Wiktor_Fjodorowitsch_Bolchowitinow_jung.jpg)
Viktor Fyodorovich Bolkhovitinov (Виктор Фёдорович Болховитинов) (4 February 1899 – 29 January 1970) was a Soviet engineer and team-leader of the developers of the
Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 was a Soviet short-range rocket powered interceptor developed during the Second World War.
Early design
Soviet research and development of rocket-powered aircraft began with Sergey Korolev's GIRD-6 project in 1932. H ...
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
. He was also the lead designer of the
Bolkhovitinov DB-A bomber named after him.
Bolkhovitinov was one of the first graduates of the
Zhukovsky Academy. In 1934, he designed a modernized version of the
Tupolev TB-3
The Tupolev TB-3 (russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovshchik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early ...
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
called the DB-A (long-range bomber of the academy). On August 12 of 1937, a DB-A attempted to fly over the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
to the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, but the crew perished.
In 1937, he designed the
"S" or "Spartak", a small sleek high-speed bomber with a long greenhouse
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
. Two
contra-rotating props were driven by a pair of
Klimov M-103
The Klimov M-103 is a V12 liquid-cooled piston aircraft engine used by Soviet aircraft during World War II.Gunston 1989, p.90.
Design and development
The M-103 was a further development of the Klimov M-100 engine that was itself a licensed copy ...
V-12 engines
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The fi ...
. Development of the aircraft and its planned variants was discontinued when the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
began.
In 1940, Bolkhovitinov became head of his own experimental
design bureau OKB-293. Based on a plane design by
Bereznyak and Bolkhovitinov a few years earlier, and inspired by the attempt of NII-3 to build a
ramjet
A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...
powered plane, Bolkhovitinov decided to build a
rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
-powered short-range
interceptor
Interceptor may refer to:
Vehicles
* Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft
* Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car
* ...
. This was the BI-1.
In 1944, A.G. Kostakov, head of the
State Institute of Reactive Technology (GIRT) was arrested. GIRT and Bolkhovitinov's OKB-293 were merged into the 'Scientific-Research Institute 1' (NII-1), a new
jet propulsion
Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. Reaction engines operating o ...
research institute
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
. Bolkhovitinov was head of research in NII-1. In 1946, his division was turned over to
Matus Bisnovat
Matus Ruvimovich Bisnovat (russian: Матус Рувимович Бисноват, 23 October 1905, Nikopol – 8 November 1977) was a Soviet aircraft and missile designer. Bisnovat attended the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), graduating in 1 ...
, forming
Zavod 293.
Bolkhovitinov received a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in 1947 and became a full-time
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
at the
Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy
Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Air Force.
The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the following sp ...
in 1949.
See also
*
Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 was a Soviet short-range rocket powered interceptor developed during the Second World War.
Early design
Soviet research and development of rocket-powered aircraft began with Sergey Korolev's GIRD-6 project in 1932. H ...
*
Bolkhovitinov DB-A
Bibliography and further reading
* Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995.
* Taylor, Michael J.H. . " Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. Studio Editions. London. 1989.
1899 births
1970 deaths
20th-century Russian engineers
Military personnel from Saratov
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star
Aircraft designers
Russian aerospace engineers
Russian major generals
Soviet aerospace engineers
{{USSR-bio-stub
Soviet major generals
Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery