Nikolai Ilyich Kamov (; 24 November 1973) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, a pioneer in the design of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s, and founder of the

Kamov JSC Kamov () is a rotorcraft Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturing company based in Lyubertsy, Russia. The Kamov Design Bureau (OKB, design office prefix Ka) has more recently specialised in compact helicopters with coaxial rotors, suitable for ...

helicopter design bureau.

Biography

Kamov was born in a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

family, in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, but lived in Tomsk until his death on November 24, 1973 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He graduated from Tomsk Polytechnic University with an engineering degree in 1923. Kamov worked with Dmitry Grigorovich and later - for

TsAGI The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, , TsAGI) is a Russian national research centre for aviation. It was founded in Moscow by Russian aviation pioneer Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky on Decemb ...

. In 1940, he was assigned to establish the new helicopter

OKB OKB () is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "" (), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau." It could also mean or "Special Design Bureau" in english. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and ...

which was later named after him. Nikolai Ilyich Kamov died on November 24, 1973, he was 71 years old.

Awards

* 1972 -

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

* 1962, 1972 -

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

* 1957, 1971 - Orders of the Red Banner of Labour * 1972 -

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

* Doctor of Technical Sciences

Memory

* Buried at the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

* Since 1992 one of the two main Soviet-Russian helicopter manufacturers bears a surname of Nikolai Kamov * In 2018

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

airport renamed into Tomsk Kamov Airport to commemorate Nikolai Kamov by decree of the President of the Russian Federation

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. * Monument to aircraft designer M.L. Mil and N.I. Kamov in Irkutsk on Lenin Street (architect Sergey Demkov). The opening was on July 5, 2023. * The M.L. Mil and N.I. Kamov National Helicopter Center ("NCV Mil and Kamov"), established in 2019 on the basis of JSC "Moscow Helicopter Plant named after M.L. Mil" and JSC "Kamov". The company is part of the Russian Helicopters holding company.

References

1902 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Russian engineers People from Irkutsk People from Irkutsk Governorate Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute employees Tomsk Polytechnic University alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Russian aerospace engineers Russian mechanical engineers Soviet aerospace engineers Soviet mechanical engineers Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Russian scientists {{USSR-engineer-stub

Biography

Awards

Memory

See also

References