Vladimir Petrovich Vetchinkin (russian: Владимир Петрович Ветчинкин) (June 29, 1888 - March 6, 1950) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

scientist in the field of

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

, and

wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

Doctor of Technical Sciences Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...

(1927), Honored Science Worker of the RSFSR (1946).

Biography

Vladimir Petrovich was born in

Kutno Kutno is a city located in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship since 1999, previously it was part of Płock Voivodeship (1975–1998) and it is now the capital of Kutno County. Dur ...

(then in the Russian division of Poland), the son of a Russian military officer. Vetchinkin graduated from Moscow Higher Technical School (MVTU) in 1915, the favorite student of

Nikolay Zhukovsky Nikolay Zhukovsky may refer to: * Nikolay Zhukovsky (revolutionary) (1833–1895), Russian revolutionary *Nikolay Zhukovsky (scientist) Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky ( rus, Никола́й Его́рович Жуко́вский, p=ʐʊˈkofsk� ...

and generally viewed as his successor. In 1913, they had created a vortex-sheet theory of aircraft propellers. In 1916, Vetchinkin and Zhukovsky created the aviation calculation and test bureau in the wind-tunnel laboratory of the Moscow Higher Technical School, and in 1918 he helped found the Zhukovsky Central Institute of Aerodynamics (TsAGI). He became a professor at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in 1923. In 1914, Vetchinkin began working with Anatoly Georgievich Ufimtsev on high performance windmills for electric power generation. Zhukovsky created a new division of wind motors in TsAGI to support this effort. They built an 8 kilowatt experimental wind generator in

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

in 1929. To store energy during lulls in the wind, it used a 360 kilogram flywheel contained in a vacuum chamber.Курск дореволюционный. Изобретатель-самоучка Анатолий Георгиевич Уфимцев
at www.old.kurskcity.ru From 1921-1925, Vetchinkin lectured on the theory of rockets and space travel, and was the first to present a correct theory of interplanetary flight based on elliptical transfer orbits (an idea usually attributed to

Walter Hohmann Walter Hohmann (; ; 18 March 1880 – 11 March 1945) was a German engineer who made an important contribution to the understanding of orbital dynamics. In a book published in 1925, Hohmann demonstrated a fuel-efficient path to move a spacecraft ...

). He was a member of the

Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel The Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel (OIMS, russian: Общество изучения межпланетных сообщений) was founded in Moscow in May 1924. It was a spin-off of a military science society at the Zhukovsky Airf ...

. From 1925-1927, he worked on problems of cruise missiles and jet aircraft, and he took part in the activity of RNII (Scientific Research Institute of Jet Propulsion). Vetchinkin was a key supporter of rocketry pioneer

Yuri Kondratyuk Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk (russian: Юрий Васильевич Кондратюк; ukr, Юрій Васильович Кондратюк; 21 June 1897 – February 1942), real name Aleksandr Ignatyevich Shargei (russian: Алекса́нд� ...

,Воспоминания о Никите Вячеславовиче Зволинском — иноке Никите
/ref> and helped him get his work published. He died in Moscow in 1950. The lunar crater Vetchinkin, on the far side of the Moon, is named after him.Курск дореволюционный. Изобретатель-самоучка Анатолий Георгиевич Уфимцев
at www.old.kurskcity.ru

Notes

1888 births 1950 deaths 20th-century Russian engineers Bauman Moscow State Technical University faculty Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute employees Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Aerodynamicists Soviet aerospace engineers {{Russia-scientist-stub Soviet mechanical engineers Russian aerospace engineers Russian mechanical engineers Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery People from Kutno