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.

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

See also

Bibliography and further reading