Pawel Ignatievich Grochowski

Pawel Ignatievich Grochowski ( Russian Павел Игнатьевич Гроховский ; born March 6 ^{. Jul} / 18th March  1899 ^greg. In Vyazma ; † 2. October 1946 ) was a Soviet pilot and inventor . In the 1930s he was instrumental in building up the Soviet airborne troops through his suggestions and designs . For example, he developed parachutes for lowering tanks and the first glider .

Life

Pawel Grochowski attended the three-class community school in Vyazma and then began an apprenticeship as a pharmacist with his uncle in Moscow. During the October Revolution of 1917 he volunteered for the Baltic Fleet, where he served on the battleship Petropavlovsk . A little later he switched to the land forces and from 1919 to the Volga Fleet, where he was promoted to company commander. From 1920 to 1921 Grochowski worked in Moscow as a commissioner at the headquarters of the naval forces for the Black Sea and Azov coasts.

Grochowski really wanted to be a pilot. Since he had no prior knowledge in this area, however, he had to complete an apprenticeship as a technician beforehand. Then he successfully passed the military aviation school. In addition, Grochowski dealt with technical questions of military aviation and constructed his first small aircraft. He was noticed and transferred to Moscow, where he worked as a test pilot and continued to work intensively on his research. It was there in 1931/32 under his direction that the first Soviet cargo glider G-63 , designed by Boris Urlapov , was built , which Grochowski also flew himself.

In 1934 Grochowski was appointed head of a design office in the Experimental Institute of Military Aviation (GUAP) in Leningrad. There he developed, among other things, the dropping system of the bomber TB-3 , designed for heavy weapons (tanks), dropping transport cabins for paratroopers and dropping devices for floating tanks. In 1931 he developed the first Soviet air refueling system . Grochowski registered a total of 114 patents, many of which, however, were not realized or remained prototypes. In 1936 Grochowski's office was closed. He was arrested in 1942 and died in prison in 1946.

Pawel Grochowski was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1933 and promoted to division commander.

Aircraft types

Pawel Grochowski was involved in the development of the following types:

• the one and two-seater cargo gliders G-63 and G-63bis " Jakow Alksnis " (span 28 m, wing area 70 m², payload 1700 kg, towing speed 250 km / h)
• the all-metal flying wing G-37 (1934), a prototype was built and tested by Valery Chkalov
• the motorized cargo glider G-32, which could carry 16 soldiers in the wings (1935, a prototype)
• the G-26 with unicycle chassis and V12 engine Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs (1936, not completed)
• the heavy escort fighter G-38 (also: LK-2) with two engines Gnome-Rhône 14Krsd, two SchWAK cannons and four SchKAS -MG (1936, not completed)

literature

• Wilfried Copenhagen : Lexicon Soviet Aviation . Elbe-Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-933395-90-0 , p. 78-80 .
• Vladimir Kazakov: The first and the last cargo sailors . Part 1. In: Fliegerrevue . No. 12/84 , p. 370-374 .
• Vladimir Kazakov: About air catapults, flying platforms and other unusual constructions . In: Horst Skull (Ed.): Deutscher Fliegerkalender '91 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-327-01028-5 , p. 115-120 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pyotr Butowski: MiGs on the fuel line. In: Flieger Revue. 9/1999, p. 33.
2. ↑ Владислав Грибовский: Они были первыми. In: Техника - молодёжи журнал. No. 3, 1990, pp. 63-65. ISSN  0320-331X .
3. ^ Ferdinand CW Käsmann: World record aircraft. Aviatic, Oberhaching 1999, ISBN 3-925505-48-2 , pp. 168/169.