The Soviet Union was the state that, despite all the difficulties and problems, could create real miracles of technology. Regularly, the country's engineers developed and implemented many projects. One of these outstanding designers of that era was the aircraft designer Petlyakov, whose biography will be discussed in detail in the article.
Birth
Aircraft designer Petlyakov was born on June 27, 1891. The future brilliant author of airplanes turned out to be the second child in a family of five and the first son. Volodya's parents permanently lived in Moscow, however, he himself was born in the village of Sambek, located not far from Taganrog, where his mother and father were resting at that time. The hero's father's name was Mikhail Ivanovich, and his mother's name was Maria Evseevna.
Family tragedy
When Vladimir Mikhailovich was five years old, his dad died suddenly, and the boy and the rest of his family moved to his mother's homeland - to the Krasnodar Territory. Financially difficult times have come, but even despite all the problems, Maria managed to give her children an education. The well-known today aircraft designer Petlyakov entered the Technical School in 1902, whichthat moment was the first in all of southern Russia (in 1966 it received the name of this great engineer).
Adult life
As a student, Vladimir regularly helps his mother with money, for which he gets a job in the railway workshops as an assistant foreman and a stoker. In 1910, after graduating from college, Petlyakov makes an attempt to move to the capital. But he failed to enter the local technical school. Returning to Taganrog, the young man begins his career as a mechanical technician, engaged in the repair of wagons and trains. And every evening he spends with textbooks in physics and mathematics. In 1911, Vladimir still becomes a student at a Moscow educational institution and, as a free listener, attends lectures by the legendary Zhukovsky on aerodynamics. In his second year, Petlyakov again leaves for Taganrog to help his relatives.
On the way to a dream
For almost 10 years, Vladimir Mikhailovich, before continuing his studies, worked in the Donbass, in Moscow, at the Bryansk Mechanical Plant, where he produced three-inch shells for the front. After that, he was an employee of a porcelain enterprise, the aerodynamic laboratory of the Moscow Higher Technical School, and the Taganrog railway depot, where he managed to become the head of the traction service section.
Continuing education
In the summer of 1921, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree, on the basis of which the future aircraft designer Petlyakov could again become a student. In 1922, he successfully defended his diploma within the walls of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Andthe plane, built on the basis of the drawings of Vladimir, was able to take off in 1923 and was named ANT.
Engineering work
After graduating from high school, aircraft designer Petlyakov begins his work at TsAGI. Within the framework of the ANT project, he was responsible for all the created wings in the bureau. The first flight distance record was set on the ANT-3 aircraft. On board, the crew covered a distance of 22,000 kilometers along the route Moscow - Tokyo - Moscow. Vladimir Mikhailovich put his hands and knowledge to the TB-1 bomber.
In general, in the Tupolev Design Bureau, Petlyakov was responsible for preparing aircraft for testing and subsequent transfer to mass production. The ANT-4 aircraft deserves special attention. The aircraft was involved in the flight between the USSR and the USA in 1929, which to a large extent contributed to the development of relations between states. In 1928, the designer Petlyakov became the project manager for the development of heavy bombers. As time has shown, it was this direction that became the main one for the engineer for the rest of his life.
In 1930, the TB-3, Petlyakov's bomber, was launched into the air, which later became the basis of the aviation of the USSR. For services to his homeland in 1933, Vladimir Mikhailovich received the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. TB-3s were used during the Soviet-Japanese and Soviet-Finnish wars, as well as during the Great Patriotic War. Also, these unarmed aircraft were able to deliver people to the first drifting polar station. The next brainchild of the designerwas a giant TB-4. And, although the aircraft did not enter mass production, it nevertheless played a key role in the creation of the propaganda aircraft ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky", on which Antoine de Saint-Exupery flew during his visit to the Soviet Union.
The real glory of the engineer was brought by his planes Pe. In 1934, Vladimir Mikhailovich's brigade was given the task of building the TB-7, which was named the Pe-8 in 1942. But due to the lack of all the necessary parts and poor supply of equipment, the aircraft was able to take off only at the end of 1936. For this reason, Petlyakov and Tupolev were arrested in 1937 and charged with sabotage.
Six months later, Vladimir was transferred to a special design bureau, where he was tasked with developing a long-range high- altitude high-speed fighter to escort the TB-7 during flights behind enemy lines.
The new combat vehicle took to the air for the first time on December 22, 1939. At the end of 1939, Petlyakov received 10 years in the camps with the complete confiscation of his property. The resulting VI-100 fighter was ordered to be converted into a dive bomber, and in just a month and a half. Aircraft designer Petlyakov and his team successfully fulfilled the order of the country's leadership. As a reward, the engineers were set free.
Before Vladimir Mikhailovich met with his relatives, the NKVD officers brought him to a department store and bought a new suit. Also, the designer was given a decent amount of money. The charges against the engineer were finally dropped only in 1953, many years later.after his death.
After his release, Petlyakov created the Pe-2 aircraft, of which 306 were produced in the country five months before the start of the Great Patriotic War. In the spring of 1941, Petlyakov received the Stalin Prize of the first degree for his contribution to the development of aviation in the USSR, and in September the second Order of Lenin was awarded to the engineer. In general, Petlyakov's aircraft were actively used in practice and received positive feedback from pilots.
Death
The tragic death of Petlyakov took place on January 12, 1942. On that day, Vladimir Mikhailovich flew from Kazan to the capital in order to meet with the then People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry Shakhurin and discuss the issue of Pe-2 production. But the plane on which the famous designer was flying crashed. The entire crew, passengers, including Academician Petlyakov, were killed.
