The Soviet Union was a state that, despite all the difficulties and problems, could create real miracles of technology. The country's engineers regularly developed and implemented many projects. One of such outstanding designers of that era was the aircraft designer Petlyakov, whose biography will be considered in detail in the article.
Birth
Aircraft designer Petlyakov was born on June 27, 1891. The future brilliant author of the aircraft was the second child in a family of five and the first son. Volodya's parents constantly lived in Moscow, however, he was born in the village of Sambek, located near Taganrog, where his mother and father were resting at that time. The father of the hero of the article was Mikhail Ivanovich, and the name of the mother was Maria Evseevna.
Family tragedy
When Vladimir Mikhailovich was five years old, his dad died suddenly, and the boy with the rest of his family moved to his mother’s homeland - in the Krasnodar Territory. It was hard material times, but even despite all the problems, Maria managed to educate her children. Petlyakov, a well-known aircraft designer today, enters the Technical School in 1902, which at that time was the first throughout the south of Russia (in 1966 it received the name of this great engineer).
Adulthood
As a student, Vladimir regularly helps his mother with money, for which he takes a job as a craftsman’s assistant and a fireman. In 1910, after graduating from college, Petlyakov made an attempt to move to the capital. But he failed to enter the technical school there. Returning to Taganrog, the young man begins his career as a mechanical technician engaged in the repair of wagons and trains. And every night he spends with textbooks in physics and mathematics. In 1911, Vladimir nevertheless became a student at a Moscow educational institution and, as a free listener, attended lectures by the legendary Zhukovsky on aerodynamics. In the second year, Petlyakov again leaves for Taganrog to help his relatives.
On the way to a dream
For almost 10 years, Vladimir Mikhailovich worked until his next studies 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 the porcelain enterprise, the aerodynamic laboratory of MVTU, the Taganrog railway depot, in which 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 defends his diploma within the walls of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Moreover, the aircraft, built on the basis of the drawings of Vladimir, in 1923 was able to fly into the air and was called ANT.
Engineering work
After graduation, aircraft designer Petlyakov begins his work at TsAGI. As part of the ANT project, he was responsible for all the wings created in the bureau. On the ANT-3 aircraft, the first record in flight range was set. On board, the crew covered a distance of 22,000 kilometers along the route Moscow - Tokyo - Moscow. Vladimir Mikhailovich also put his hands and knowledge to the TB-1 bomber.
In general, in the Tupolev Design Bureau, Petlyakov was responsible for preparing the aircraft for testing and subsequent transfer to serial production. Special attention should be given to the ANT-4 aircraft. 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 the states. In 1928, designer Petlyakov became the head of projects involved in the development of heavy bombers. As time has shown, it was this area that became the main one for the engineer for the rest of his life.
In 1930, TB-3, a Petlyakov bomber, was raised into the air, which later became the basis of Soviet aviation. For services to his homeland in 1933, Vladimir Mikhailovich received the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star. TB-3 were involved during the Soviet-Japanese and Soviet-Finnish wars, as well as during the Great Patriotic War. Also, these aircraft without weapons were able to deliver people to the first drifting polar station. The next brainchild of the designer was the giant TB-4. And, although the aircraft did not go into mass production, it nevertheless played a key role in creating the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky propaganda aircraft, on which Antoine de Saint-Exupery flew during his visit to the Soviet Union.
The real glory to the engineer was brought by his Pe planes. In 1934, the team of Vladimir Mikhailovich received the task of creating the TB-7, called the Pe-8 in 1942. But due to the lack of all necessary parts and poor supplies of equipment, the plane could take off only at the end of 1936. For this reason, Petlyakov and Tupolev in 1937 were arrested 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-speed high-speed fighter to escort the TB-7 during flights to the enemy rear.
The new combat vehicle first took off on December 22, 1939. In late 1939, Petlyakov received 10 years of 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 completed the order of the country's leadership. In return, the engineers were released.
Before Vladimir Mikhailovich met with his family, the NKVD officers brought him to the department store and bought a new suit. Also, a decent amount of money was allocated to the designer. Finally, the charges against the engineer were dropped only in 1953, many years after his death.
After his release, Petlyakov created the Pe-2 aircraft, which five months before the start of World War II in the country produced 306 units. 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 engineer was awarded the second Order of Lenin. In general, Petlyakov’s aircraft were actively used in practice and received positive feedback from pilots.
Death
The tragic death of Petlyakov occurred on January 12, 1942. On that day, Vladimir Mikhailovich flew from Kazan to the capital in order to see the then People’s Commissar of the Aviation Industry Shakhurin and discuss the issue of Pe-2 production. But the plane on which the illustrious designer was flying crashed. The entire crew, passengers, including academician Petlyakov, were killed.