Today "steel birds" fly in the sky quickly and easily. To achieve this result, people have done a great job. Among others, aircraft designer Vladimir Petlyakov made his modest contribution to this matter.
Starting conditions
The talented Soviet aircraft designer Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov was born on June 27, 1891 in a large family. Parents at that time lived in Moscow. Volodya turned out to be the second child of five children. The child was brought up in the Orthodox tradition. When he was four years old, his father suddenly died. Mother and children moved to Taganrog to stay with relatives. In this city, the boy graduated from a parish school. After completing his primary education, he entered the local technical school.
This educational institution was opened in the south of Russia to train skilled workers. Vladimir showed remarkable talent for technical disciplines. To financially support the family, Petlyakov worked as an apprentice in railway workshops. Here, in practice, he mastered metal science, methods of processing and hardening metals. In 1911, after completing his studies, the young specialist went to Moscow and entered the mechanical faculty of the Higher Technical School.
Production activity
Since there were large-scale political cataclysms in the country - revolution, civil war - it was possible to complete their studies only in 1921. Petlyakov was hired by the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. The engineer began to design his first aircraft in the laboratory of Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev. Under the guidance of an experienced designer, Petlyakov was able in a short time, using theoretical training and practical skills, to create a new aircraft model.
In the construction of the aircraft, metal assemblies and elements were used instead of wood parts. The original approach was appreciated by the specialists and the young designer was given a more important task. Petlyakov constantly creates and improves metal planes for aircraft for various purposes. The next in the line of ANT-2 aircraft was built entirely of metal. The car turned out to be quite good, although the design was finalized and modernized several times.
Dive bomber
Throughout the 1930s, the Soviet country developed its own industry. "Uncouth" and illiterate men from remote villages and villages came to machine-building enterprises. Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov worked on the tasks set by the Party and the Government. After 1937, when the war in Spain ended, Petlyakov's design bureau was instructed to create a multipurpose dive bomber. Engineers and workers completed the task, the Pe-2 aircraft passed all the mandatory tests.
For the successful fulfillment of the state assignment, Petlyakov received the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize of the first degree. All employees of the design bureau and the pilot plant were given worthy bonuses. When the war began, Petlyakov was appointed chief designer at one of the aircraft factories. Vladimir Mikhailovich died tragically in a plane crash on January 12, 1942. He flew from Kazan to Moscow for an important meeting.
