Viktor Belyaev

Viktor Nikolayevich Belyaev (28 March 1896 — 25 July 1953) was a soviet aircraft designer, former head of the OKB-4 and the founder of the science of the strength of aircraft structures in the USSR.[1]

Viktor Nikolayevich Belyaev
Born(1896-03-28)March 28, 1896
Moscow
DiedJuly 25, 1953(1953-07-25) (aged 57)
Moscow
NationalityUSSR
Occupationaircraft designer
Notable work
BP-2, BP-3, DB-LK

Biography

Viktor Belyaev was born in the family of Nikolay Vasilyevich Belyaev, an engineer and founder of the Upper Volga railway,.[2][3] Before the revolution, he studied from 1918 at the Moscow University on the mathematics department. After the revolution, he managed to continue his studies for short periods of time at the Moscow Polytechnic Institute (1920-1922) and at the same time at the 1st Moscow State University (1922-1923).[4]

He began his professional activity in 1918. For some time he worked at a number of enterprises, including the railway, was engaged in teaching activities, and from 1925 he began his work in the aviation industry[4] as an engineer for strength in the design bureau of Dmitry Grigorovich.
In 1926 he transferred to TsAGI, to the design office of Andrey Tupolev in the brigade of Vladimir Petlyakov, where he participated in the strength calculations of the ANT-6, ANT-7, ANT-9, ANT-14, ANT-20 aircraft. Soon the Petlyakov team was transformed into a separate design bureau, in which, from 1931, V.N. Belyaev took the post of chief of the settlement brigade. In 1930, Viktor Belyaev began to work part-time as a researcher in the strength department of TsAGI.[4]
In the early 1930s, Belyaev created the BP-2 (TsAGI-2) glider, a prototype of an unusual aircraft he had conceived. In August 1934, on a glider rally in Koktebel, the flights of this glider showed excellent flight qualities.
In 1935, Viktor Nikolaevich consolidated his success by creating a record-breaking glider BP-3, which made its first flight on June 18, 1935. The aerodynamic quality of the glider was very high - 33 units. There is unconfirmed information about the construction of several BP-3 in the workshops of the school of sea pilots in the city of Yeisk.
In 1935, a competition for high-speed transport aircraft was announced by the Aviation All-Union Scientific Engineering and Technical Society (AviaVNITO) and the newspaper “At the Wheel”. The design team of Viktor Belyaev introduced a model of a twin-engine and two-body aircraft of an interesting pattern, called AviaVNITO-3. The project aroused great interest, was among the winners of the competition and was recommended for construction, but at the end none of the competing aircraft were built. In 1937 the design team began developing a bomber on the basis of the AviaVNITO-3 project. In 1939, Viktor Belyaev was appointed one of the chief designers of the TsAGI plant. In July 1940 he was awarded the degree of chief designer of the third category, together with the aircraft designers Artem Mikoyan, Mikhail Gurevich, Nikolay Kamov et al.

After returning from evacuation in 1943 and until the last days of his life, Viktor Belyaev worked at TsAGI. In 1940, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences without defending a thesis, and in 1946 the title of professor.[4]

Awards

Aircraft
Design of a glider BP-3
  • BP-2 (TsAGI-2)[5]
  • BP-3

Record glider of a tailless scheme with a backward swept wing with a central part in the form of a “seagull”. The first flight was made on July 18, 1935. According to unconfirmed data, several BP-3s were built in the workshops of the school of sea pilots in the town of Yeisk. BP-3 characteristics:
• Crew — 2 people.
• Wingspan — 20 m.
• Empty weight — 400 kg.
• Aerodynamic quality — 33:1.

Experimental aircraft with "flex wing".

  • EON

Experimental single fighter.

Long-range bomber - flying wing.
The Beljajew DB-LK was built and flew satisfactorily in 1939 and in 1940 it was presented to the public during the Moscow parade over the Red Square. Only one was built, and it was destroyed by the Soviet authorities due to the WWII.

Family

Father - founder and chairman of the Society of the Upper Volga Railway Nikolay Vasilyevich Belyaev, mother - Alexandra Alexandrovna, came from a family of merchants Alekseev, she emigrated to Nice. Older brothers and sister also emigrated after the revolution: Alexander (1891-1977) - to Berlin, Nikolay (1892-1969) - to Paris, Ksenia (1894-1985) - to Nice. Other family members[2] (brothers Alexey (1897 -?), Lev (1899 -?), David (1901-?) remained in the USSR.

See also

Bibliography

References
  1. Frolov V.M. 90 years since the birth of V.N. Belyaev // From the history of aviation and astronautics. M., 1986. Ed. 64. P.26.
  2. Savelov L.M. Pedigree book of the nobility of the Moscow province. Vol.1. Moscow, 1913. P.208.
  3. Materials for the biography based on the documents from the personal archive, the TsAGI archive, the funds of the Museum of N.Ye. Zhukovsky and literary sources compiled by V.N. Bychkov, 1983. - Scientific-memorial museum of N.Ye.Zhukovsky, inv. No. 11068.
  4. Frolov V.M. 90 years since the birth of V.N. Belyaev // From the history of aviation and astronautics. M., 1986. Ed. 64. P.20.
  5. BP-2 (TsAGI-2) http://www.airwar.ru/enc/glider/bp2.html
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