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Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov | |
|---|---|
| Николай Николаевич Поликарпов | |
 Polikarpov in 1941 | |
| Born | 9 June [O.S. 28 May] 1892 |
| Died | 30 July 1944(1944-07-30) (aged 52) |
| Nationality | Russian Empire Soviet Union |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Aeronautical engineering |
| Employer | Polikarpov Design Bureau |
| Significant design | Po-2,I-15,I-16 |
Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov (Russian:Никола́й Никола́евич Полика́рпов; 9 June [O.S. 28 May] 1892 – 30 July 1944) was aSovietaeronautical engineer and aircraft designer, known as the "King of Fighters". He designed theI-15 series of fighters, and theI-16 Ishak (Russian:ишак,lit. 'donkey' phonetically close to itsRussian:И-16 orRussian:И-шестнадцать,romanized: I-shestnadtsat',lit. 'I-sixteen' designation) "Little Donkey" fighter.
Polikarpov was born in the village of Georgievskoye nearLivny inOryol Governorate. He was the son of a village priest in theRussian Orthodox Church. He initially also trained for the priesthood and studied at the Oryol Seminary before moving toSaint Petersburg Polytechnical University in 1911, where he became fascinated with the fledgling aviation work being carried out under the shipbuilding department. Polikarpov graduated in 1916 and went to work forIgor Sikorski, the head of production at theRussian Baltic Carriage Factory. While working for Sikorski, Polikarpov helped design the massiveIlya Muromets four-engine bomber for theImperial Russian Air Force.
Polikarpov stayed in Russia after theRussian Revolution and rose to become head of the technical departmentDux Aircraft factory in 1923. Polikarpov was responsible for some of the first indigenous aircraft designs in the Soviet Union during the 1920s, including theI-1 fighter (1923),R-1 reconnaissance plane (1927),U-2 utility biplane (1927–1928),I-3 fighter (1928),R-5 reconnaissance bomber (1928). Notably, theU-2, Russian nicknameKukuruznik (loosely translated: "crop-duster"; post-1944 designation Po-2),[1] remained in mainstream production until 1952 and over 30,000 examples were produced.[2]
In 1928 under provisions of thefive-year plan for experimental aircraft design, Polikarpov was assigned to develop the primarily woodenI-6 fighter for delivery by mid-1930. The plan was unrealistic and failed. As such, in October 1929,[3] Polikarpov and around other 450 aircraft designers and engineers were arrested on fabricated charges of sabotage and counter-revolutionary activities, after which he wassentenced to death. In December, after two months of waiting for execution, he was transferred to aSpecial Design Bureau of OGPU set atButyrka prison and had the sentence changed to 10 years offorced labor.[4] Polikarpov and the others were moved to Central Design Bureau 39 (TsKB-39) to complete theI-5 project.[5] After a successful demonstration of the new design, the sentence was changed to a conditional one, and in July 1931 he was granted amnesty together with a group of other convicts. It was not untilde-Stalinization in 1956 that the criminal charges were officially dropped posthumously.
After the release he initially worked withPavel Sukhoi since 1931, developing theI-16 in 1933 andI-15 in 1934. Then he worked underIlyushin in 1937. In 1938 he established an independent design bureau. In 1939 he completed work on theI-153. In 1939 he was ordered to make a trip toNazi Germany. In his absence, his plant director and chief engineer, along with design engineerMikhail Gurevich put forth a proposal for a new fighter, theI-200, and received approval to create a new Design Bureau under the leadership ofArtem Mikoyan, whose brotherAnastas Mikoyan was a senior politician underJoseph Stalin. On his return, Polikarpov found that his Bureau no longer existed, with his engineers at the newMiG bureau. Nine years after his death, in 1953 his plant was given over to theSukhoi bureau.
Polikarpov was subsequently appointed professor at theMoscow Aviation Institute in 1943. He died on 30 July 1944[6] fromstomach cancer. He is buried inNovodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Polikarpov was a recipient of numerous awards, including theStalin Prize (1941, 1943) andHero of Socialist Labor (1940).Polikarpov Peak in thePamir Mountains was named after him.
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