Grigorovich Dmitry Pavlovich (1883-1938) went down in history as a talented, educated aircraft designer and engineer. The first domestic aircraft were designed by his mind, however, the harsh repression machine did not spare him either …
Biography of Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich
Dmitry Pavlovich was born on January 25, 1883. Born into an intelligent family. His family boasts famous writers in the male line. My father worked at a sugar factory, after that he began to serve in the military department. Yadviga Konstantinovna - the mother of the future engineer - was the daughter of a zemstvo doctor. After graduating from college, Dmitry entered the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In 1911 he left for St. Petersburg, where he began to engage in journalism, publishing a technical journal Vestnik aeronautics. He graduated from these two schools with honors and went to Europe for experience.
Love to design
The twentieth century was a turning point in the history of the world. The scientific and technological breakthrough gave impetus to the development of new industries. Young intelligent people of the beginning of the twentieth century were fond of aviation, this hobby also appeared with Grigorovich Dmitry Pavlovich. According to the memoirs of his first wife, in 1909 Dmitry graduated from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, then he began to get involved in aviation, luring her into this area. It was then that he caught fire with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating an airplane of his own design. Not far from his institute, he rents a small space and converts it into a studio.
Inventions of Grigorovich Dmitry Pavlovich
Fun facts:
- Dmitry created the first aircraft from bamboo. According to the wife, their room and workshop were littered with bamboo, motors and other details. The aircraft had no name.
- In 1909, a small sports biplane G-1 with a capacity of 25 horsepower was designed. A successful test took place on January 10, 1910 in Kyiv.
- A young engineer dreamed of building a seaplane. This desire had a logical justification. Russia was rich in water resources and needed an aircraft that could land on water. In 1913, the world's first "flying boat M-1" was designed
- After a short period of time, an improved version of "M-1" was created, and then "M-2" and "M-4"
- In 1915, the "flying boat M-5" was designed and assembled, which in many ways surpassed foreign analogues.
- In the hottest years of the First World War, a young designerGrigorovich Dmitry Pavlovich created the world's first seaplane fighter "M-11", the cockpit of which was upholstered with armor.
USSR adopts experience from Western countries
At the end of the 1920s, the Soviet government curtailed the new economic policy and embarked on the rails of industrialization. The difficult economic and technical situation forced Stalin to resort to various, not even the most humane, means.
In January 1928, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR got acquainted with the report of Air Force Chief Pyotr Baranov on the state of aviation. After reviewing it, the Revolutionary Military Council decided that the technical condition of aviation was at a decent level, with the exception of its fighter part. Naval reconnaissance aviation also contradicted the assigned tasks, which did not satisfy the leadership.
The Soviet government decided to create a design bureau on the American model. The United States placed its engineers in luxury hotels, where the best conditions were created for their life and work. However, along with such a standard of living, the strictest discipline was introduced with temporary isolation from the outside world. The Americans concluded that only in such conditions are secret developments and designs the most effective and protected from enemy counterintelligence.
Arrest and detention
It would seem that a brilliant engineer who gave not only his native country, but alsothe world of shiny model airplanes? Why was Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich arrested?
In the Soviet Union, the American experience was only partially used. The difference lay in the living conditions of the engineers. Instead of comfortable rooms, scientists received prison cells. This was explained by the desire of the authorities to organize the most stringent and strict discipline. Legally, this was framed as a prison sentence under article.
Arriving in custody, the designers designed various versions of the future fighter. The aircraft was given the code BT-13 (internal prison - 13th option). All the engineers who were assembled in the design bureau were dominated by the OGPU. After the first significant results, the prisoners were allowed to see relatives.
A couple of months later, a pleasant surprise was organized for the prisoners. They were brought to the workshop of the factory at number 39. Inside the hangar were relatively comfortable beds and a large table with a stack of newspapers and magazines that the engineers could read. They were allowed to accommodate themselves as they saw fit and given some freedom. The arrested were given large portions for lunch, after a while they were provided with a hairdresser, they began to take buses to the bathhouse.
The great engineers of the Stalin era worked in such conditions, which, according to the management, gave a phenomenal result. In 1991, Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich was rehabilitated.
