One of the main inventions of aviation - the parachute - appeared thanks to the dedication and efforts of just one person - the self-taught designer Gleb Kotelnikov. He had not only to solve many of the most difficult technical problems for his time, but also for a long time to achieve the start of mass production of a rescue kit.

early years

The future inventor of the parachute Gleb Kotelnikov was born on January 18 (30), 1872 in St. Petersburg. His father was a professor of higher mathematics at the capital's university. The whole family was fond of art: music, painting and theater. Amateur performances were often staged in the house. Therefore, it is not surprising that the inventor of the parachute, who had not yet taken place, dreamed of a stage in his childhood.

The boy perfectly played the piano and some other musical instruments (balalaika, mandolin, violin). At the same time, all these hobbies did not prevent Gleb from being keenly interested in technology. Having received from birth, he constantly made and collected something (for example, at the age of 13 he managed to assemble a working camera).

Career

The future that the inventor of the parachute chose for himself was determined after a family tragedy. Gleb's father died prematurely, and his son had to give up his dreams of a conservatory. He went to the Kiev Artillery School. The young man graduated in 1894 and thus became an officer. Three years of military service followed. After retiring, Kotelnikov became an official in the provincial excise department. In 1899 he married his childhood friend Yulia Volkova.

In 1910, the family with three children moved to St. Petersburg. In the capital, the future inventor of the parachute became an actor in People's House, taking the pseudonym Glebov-Kotelnikov for the stage. St. Petersburg gave him new opportunities for realizing his inventive potential. All previous years, the nugget continued to engage in design at an amateur level.

Passion for airplanes

At the beginning of the 20th century, the development of aviation began. Demonstration flights began to be carried out in many cities of Russia, including St. Petersburg, which were of great interest to the public. It was in this way that the future inventor met aviation. backpack parachute Gleb Kotelnikov. Being indifferent to technology all his life, he could not help but catch fire with an interest in aircraft.

By coincidence, Kotelnikov became an unwitting witness to the first death of a pilot in history. Russian aviation. During a demonstration flight, pilot Matsievich fell off his seat and died, falling to the ground. Following him, a primitive and unstable aircraft fell.

The need for a parachute

The accident involving Matsievich was a natural consequence of the insecurity of flights on the very first aircraft. If a person went into the air, he put his life on the line. This problem arose even before the advent of aircraft. IN XIX century balloons suffered from a similar unresolved issue. In the event of a fire, people were trapped. They could not leave the vehicle in distress.

Only the invention of the parachute could resolve this dilemma. The first experiments on its production were carried out in the West. However, the task technical features was extremely difficult for its time. For many years, aviation has been marking time. The inability to provide a life-saving guarantee to pilots seriously hampered the development of the entire aeronautics industry. Only desperate daredevils went into it.

Work on the invention

After a tragic episode on a demonstration flight, Gleb Kotelnikov (the one who invented the parachute) turned his apartment into a full-fledged workshop. The designer was obsessed with the idea of ​​​​creating a life-saving device that would help pilots survive in the event of a plane crash. The most surprising thing was that an amateur actor took on a technical task alone, over which many experts from all over the world had been struggling for many years to no avail.

The inventor of the parachute, Kotelnikov, carried out all his experiments at his own expense. Money was tight, often had to save on details. Copies of life-saving equipment were dropped from kites and Petersburg roofs. Kotelnikov acquired a pile of books on the history of flying. Experience passed one after another. Gradually, the inventor came to an approximate configuration of the future rescue vehicle. It was supposed to be a strong and lightweight parachute. Small and foldable, it could always be with a person and help out in the most dangerous moment.

Solving technical problems

The use of a parachute with an imperfect design was fraught with several serious flaws. First of all, this is a powerful jerk that was waiting for the pilot during the opening of the canopy. Therefore, Gleb Kotelnikov (the one who invented the parachute) devoted a lot of time to designing suspension system. He also had to redo the mounts several times. When using the wrong design of a life-saving device, a person could randomly rotate in the air.

The inventor of the aviation backpack parachute tested his first models on mannequin dolls. He used silk as a fabric. In order for this matter to be able to lower a person to the ground at a safe speed, it took about 50 square meters canvases. At first, Kotelnikov folded the parachute into a head helmet, but so much silk could not fit in it. The inventor had to come up with an original solution for this problem.

backpack idea

Perhaps the name of the inventor of the parachute would have been different if Gleb Kotelnikov had not guessed to solve the problem of folding the parachute with the help of a special satchel. In order to fit matter into it, I had to come up with an original drawing and intricate cutting. Finally, the inventor began to create the first prototype. In this case, his wife helped him.

Soon the RK-1 (Russian - Kotelnikovsky) was ready. Inside a special metal satchel there was a shelf and two coil springs. Kotelnikov made the design so that it could open as quickly as possible. To do this, the pilot only needed to pull a special cord. The springs inside the satchel opened the dome, and the fall became smooth.

Finishing touches

The parachute consisted of 24 canvases. Slings went through the entire dome, which were connected on suspension straps. They were fastened with hooks to the base, put on a person. It consisted of a dozen waist, shoulder and chest straps. Leg wraps were also included. The parachute device allowed the pilot to control it when descending to the ground.

When it became clear that the invention would be a breakthrough in aviation, Kotelnikov became concerned about copyright. He did not have a patent, and therefore any outsider who saw the parachute in action and understood the principle of its functioning could steal the idea. These fears forced Gleb Evgenievich to transfer his tests to remote Novgorod places, which were advised by the inventor's son. It was there that the final version of the new life-saving equipment would be tested.

Fight for a patent

The amazing story of the invention of the parachute continued on August 10, 1911, when Kotelnikov wrote a detailed letter to the War Ministry. He described in detail the technical characteristics of the novelty and explained the importance of its introduction into the army and civil aviation. Indeed, the number of aircraft only grew, and this threatened new deaths of brave pilots.

However, Kotelnikov's first letter was lost. It became clear that now the inventor has to deal with terrible bureaucratic red tape. He started the War Department and various commissions. In the end, Gleb Evgenievich broke into the committee on inventions. However, the functionaries of this department rejected the idea of ​​​​the designer. They refused to issue a patent, considering

Confession

After a failure in his homeland, Kotelnikov achieved official registration of his invention in France. The long-awaited event took place on March 20, 1912. Then it was possible to organize general tests, which were attended by pilots and other persons involved in the young Russian aviation. They took place on June 6, 1912 in the village of Salyuzi near St. Petersburg. After the death of Gleb Evgenievich, this locality was renamed Kotelnikovo.

On a June morning, before the eyes of an astonished public, the balloon pilot cut the end of the loop, and a specially prepared dummy began to fall to the ground. Spectators watched what was happening in the air with the help of binoculars. A few seconds later, the mechanism worked, and the dome swung open in the sky. There was no wind that day, which caused the dummy to land right on its feet and, after standing there for a few more seconds, fell. After this public test, the whole world became aware of who was the inventor of the aviation backpack parachute.

Mass release of parachutes

First mass production RK-1 began in France in 1913. Demand for parachutes rose by an order of magnitude after the First World War. In Russia, rescue kits were needed for the pilots of the Ilya Muromets aircraft. Then, for many years, the RK-1 remained indispensable in Soviet aviation.

Under the Bolshevik rule, Kotelnikov continued to modify his original invention. He worked extensively with Zhukovsky, who shared his own aerodynamic laboratory. Experienced jumps with trial models of parachutes turned into a mass spectacle - they came great amount spectators. In 1923, the RK-2 model appeared. Gleb Kotelnikov supplied her with a semi-soft satchel. Several more modifications followed. Parachutes became more comfortable and practical.

Simultaneously with his Kotelnikov devoted a lot of time to helping flying clubs. He gave lectures, was a welcome guest in sports communities. At the age of 55, due to age, the inventor stopped experiments. He transferred all his legacy to the Soviet state. For numerous merits, Kotelnikov was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Being retired, Kotelnikov continued to live in the northern capital. He wrote books and textbooks. When did the Great Patriotic War, already elderly and weakly seeing Gleb Evgenievich, nevertheless, took an active part in the organization air defense Leningrad. Siege winter and famine inflicted swipe by his health. Kotelnikov was evacuated to Moscow, where he died on November 22, 1944. The famous inventor was buried on Novodevichy cemetery.

Parachute Kotelnikov

How more active person conquered the sky, the more acute the problem of life-saving equipment became. The number of victims in the world, including in Russia, grew. In the article "Victims of Aviation", published in the magazine "Aeronaut", it was indicated that of the 32 accidents registered by 1910, about three-quarters were Last year. If in 1909 four people died, then in the next - already 24 aviators. The list of aviation victims also included Lev Makarovich Matsievich, who crashed at the Kolomyazhsky Hippodrome in September 1910. Even more sad information is published in the Bulletin of the Air Force No. 4 for 1918, which says that in Russian military aviation parachutes were practically not used until 1917. This was explained by the "special position" of the tsarist generals, who believed that pilots with parachutes, in the event of the slightest danger, would leave expensive aircraft bought abroad. In addition, some generals, including those directly responsible for aviation, considered the parachute to be a dubious and unreliable means of salvation. However, statistics have refuted this conclusion. Only in 1917, out of 62 cases of using a parachute, 42 ended in a successful outcome, 12 pilots received bruises and injuries, and only eight died.

The archive has preserved a memorandum from Lieutenant of the Reserve Gleb Kotelnikov to the Minister of War V. A. Sukhomlinov, in which the inventor asked for a subsidy for the construction of a prototype backpack parachute and reported that “August 4, in Novgorod, the doll was dropped from a height of 200 meters, out of 20 times - not a single misfire. The formula of my invention is as follows: a rescue device for aviators with an automatically ejected parachute ... Ready to test the invention in Krasnoye Selo ... ".

The bureaucratic machine of the Military Department began to work. The letter ended up in the Main Engineering Directorate, the answer was delayed. On September 11, 1911, Kotelnikov asked in writing to expedite the answer. This time the SMI failed to remain silent, and already on September 13, Gleb Evgenievich received a notice of refusal to accept the invention. Lieutenant-General A. P. Pavlov, head of the electrotechnical part of the SMI, wrote: “Returning, according to your letter dated September 11, the drawing and description of the automatically operating parachute of your invention, the SMI notifies that the“ ejector pack ”invented by you does not ensure the reliability of opening parachute after throwing it out of the knapsack, and therefore cannot be accepted as a rescue device ... The experiments you have made with the model cannot be considered convincing ... In view of the above, the SMI rejects your proposal.

Having received a negative answer, Gleb Kotelnikov went with drawings and a model to an appointment with the Minister of War. The reception was held by the Deputy Minister, Lieutenant-General A. A. Polivanov. Right in his office, Kotelnikov demonstrated his model by throwing the doll up to the ceiling. The astonished general touched the Second Mannequin, which smoothly descended onto the green cloth of the ministerial table, and immediately filled business card, addressing the inventor to the Engineering Castle to General von Roop. On the way to the Engineering Castle, Kotelnikov went to the Committee for Inventions, where the official, seeing the visiting card of General Polivanov, wrote in a thick book: “50103. Collegiate assessor G. Kotelnikov - on a rescue pack for aviators with an automatically ejected parachute. October 27, 1911."

In the Main Military Engineering Directorate, General von Roop met the inventor respectfully:

Well, show...

Throw - the parachute opened ... General Roop immediately invited the officer:

In order to evaluate the rescue apparatus for aviators invented by Kotelnikov, appoint a special commission chaired by the head of the Aeronautical School, General Kovanko. The device is to be examined in the presence of the inventor on October 28 of this year.

At a meeting of the commission, General Kovanko puzzled the inventor, stating that after the pilot jumped out of the plane and opened the parachute, he would no longer need it, since his legs would come off during a jerk. However, Kotelnikov managed to get his parachute tested. Archival materials and periodicals of those years allow us to trace further fate inventions. In December 1911, the Bulletin of Finance, Industry and Trade informed its readers about the applications received, including the application of G. E. Kotelnikov, but “for unknown reasons, the inventor did not receive a patent. In January 1912, G. E. Kotelnikov made an application for his parachute in France and on March 20 of the same year received a patent for No. 438 612.

Convinced that he was right, Gleb Evgenievich calculated total area parachute for cargo weighing up to 80 kg. It turned out to be 50 sq. m, approximately the same as is accepted for modern types parachutes. First, there was an attempt to make a prototype knapsack from a three-layer arborite produced by O. S. Kostovich's plant, then the inventor settled on a lightweight version, making it from aluminum. In the spring of 1912, the satchel and dummy were ready for testing. And again Kotelnikov is forced to knock on the thresholds of the Military Department. On May 19, 1912, General A.P. Pavlov addressed A.M. Kovanko with a request to draw up a test program for the Kotelnikov parachute. In June, the head of the temporary aviation department, Lieutenant Colonel S. A. Ulyanin, and the adjutant of the school, drew up a parachute test program, which included dropping from a kite balloon, from a controlled balloon, and then from an airplane, if it turned out during the two previous tests that dropping a load with a parachute could not be dangerous.

The first parachute tests were carried out on June 2, 1912 using a car. The car was dispersed, and Kotelnikov pulled the trigger belt. The parachute tied to the tow hooks opened instantly. The braking force was transferred to the car, and the engine stalled. And on June 6 of the same year, parachute tests took place in the Gatchina camp of the Aeronautical School near the village of Salizi. Of the commanding persons during the tests, there was no one higher than the company commander, no acts were drawn up. A mannequin weighing 4 poods 35 pounds was dropped from a height of 200 m in a wind of 14 m/s head down from a balloon gondola. Before the action of the device, the doll flew into one of the belts of the tethered balloon, because of which its head was torn off, which was weakly attached. After ejection, the parachute fully opened, flying only 12-15 m, and without any oscillatory movements descended in 70-80 fathoms, having a speed of about 1.5 m / s, and the descent of the doll occurred so smoothly that it stood on its feet for several moments and the grass at the site of the descent was barely flattened. The second test, on June 12, 1912, from a height of 100 and 60 m, gave the same results.

After one of the successful descents of the dummy, Lieutenant P.N. Nesterov said to Gleb Evgenievich:

Your invention is amazing! Allow me to repeat the jump immediately. I'll agree with Captain Gorshkov...

But the adjutant of the school intervened and forbade the experiment, and Lieutenant Nesterov ended up in the guardhouse. There are different assessments of this fact in the literature, but many agree that the severity of General Kovanko was excessive.

Although a full-weight dummy in flight uniform was repeatedly dropped from balloons and aircraft, and the results were known to the command, aviators were forbidden to use both domestic and foreign parachutes. The military department was not interested in this life-saving device for pilots.

In a memorandum dated October 6, 1912, Kotelnikov wrote to the Minister of War: “Back in August last year, I submitted to the Aeronautical Department of the Engineering Department the drawings of the rescue “parachute pack” invented by me for pilots. By the attitude of September 13, 1911, No. 715, the Aeronautical Department informed me that my device could not be accepted ... that my experiments with the model could not be considered convincing ... Meanwhile, in Sevastopol ... Efimov made an experiment of dropping a dummy with a device at a height of 100 m from a Farman biplane, and the result was brilliant. Finally, on September 26, Mr. Captain Gorshkov made an experience of throwing from a Blériot monoplane at a height of 80 m and the result was the same ... despite the obvious success of my device during various tests of it, at present Mr. Head of the Aeronautical School in his report addressed to the Aeronautical Department of the General Staff gives a review about my device, from which it is clear that: 1) in general, parachute descent should be considered dangerous, since in the wind, having sufficient forward speed, the descender can crash against an oncoming tree or fence ... 3) that the parachute is applicable exclusively in war ... such conclusions of the head of the Aeronautical School seem at least ... strange and naive.

I consider it my duty to report to Your Excellency what a strange attitude to such an important and useful cause like salvation the right people and devices for me, a Russian officer, and it is incomprehensible and insulting.

Such a detailed message to the Minister of War did not go unnoticed. Already on October 20, the head of the aeronautical department of the General Staff, Major General M. I. Shishkevich, urgently requested from A. M. Kovanko a report on the results of experiments on the Kotelnikov parachute. Having received such a dispatch from the General Staff, Kovanko demanded a written report from the Gatchina officials, who were forced to recall the events of the June days from memory in order to get out of an awkward situation. In a report dated November 16, 1912, the head of the aviation department wrote:

“I didn’t allow the dropping of a life-size dummy or a person, who conducted the experiments, staff captain Gorshkov, since I recognize this as extremely dangerous ... The tests done are quite enough to conclude that the parachute is completely unsuitable for military aviation ... The box with the latch of Mr. Kotelnikov does not improve things much and gives only a little more confidence in the opening of the parachute ... I ask for Your Excellency's petition to stop the aforementioned experiments due to their great risk and little benefit.

Based on the reports of his subordinates, A. M. Kovanko wrote to the head of the aeronautical department of the General Staff, M. I. Shishkevich:

“At the same time, attaching a report on the experiments carried out in the school entrusted to me with a parachute in the city of Kotelnikov, I consider it necessary to note that this device does not stand out in any way from a whole series of more or less ingenious devices that have been constructed up to now and have given, in general, very mediocre results.

From the above considerations, of course, it should not be concluded that parachutes are absolutely unsuitable, but it should only be borne in mind that cases of successful use of modern parachutes in aviation will be extremely rare, and therefore a parachute in the development that it has received at the present time must look without exaggerating its significance and without attaching special importance to it, as Mr. Kotelnikov does.”

In the winter of 1912/13, the RK-1 parachute designed by G. E. Kotelnikov, contrary to negative attitude The generals were presented by the commercial firm Lomach and Co. to a competition in Paris and Rouen. On January 5, 1913, Ossovsky, a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, made his first RK-1 parachute jump in Rouen from the 60-meter mark of a bridge spanning the Seine. The parachute worked brilliantly. The Russian invention was recognized abroad. And the tsarist government remembered him only during the First World War.

At the beginning of the war, reserve lieutenant G. E. Kotelnikov was drafted into the army and sent to the automotive unit. However, soon the pilot G. V. Alekhnovich convinced the command to supply the crews of multi-engine aircraft with RK-1 parachutes. Soon Kotelnikov was summoned to the Main Military Engineering Directorate and offered to take part in the manufacture of backpack parachutes for aviators.

Only during the years of Soviet power did the inventor see the flourishing of military and sports parachuting, the full and unconditional recognition of his work. In 1923, Gleb Evgenievich created a new model of a backpack parachute - RK-2, and then a model of a parachute RK-3 with a soft backpack, for which a patent for No. 1607 was received on July 4, 1924. In the same 1924, Kotelnikov manufactured a cargo parachute RK 4 with a dome with a diameter of 12 m. On this parachute, it was possible to lower a load weighing up to 300 kg. In 1926, G. E. Kotelnikov transferred all his inventions to the Soviet government.

The Great Patriotic War found Gleb Evgenievich in Leningrad. Having survived the blockade, he left for Moscow, where he soon died. At the Novodevichy cemetery, the grave of the outstanding Russian inventor is often visited by pilots, paratroopers, paratroopers. Bowing their heads, they read the inscription on the marble plaque: “The founder of aviation parachuting Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov. 30.1.1872 - 22.XI.1944" In commemoration of the first test of a full-scale model of a backpack parachute, the village of Salizi in the Gatchina region was named Kotelnikovo. A modest monument depicting a parachute was erected not far from the training ground.

This day in history:

Few people know that Gleb Evgenievich KOTELNIKOV

invented a backpack parachute, among other things, because he was very fond of ... theater

The parachute was invented in the lobby of the Bolshoi...

Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov was born on (18) January 30, 1872 in St. Petersburg in the family of a professor of mechanics and higher mathematics. Parents were fond of the theater, and this hobby was instilled in their son. From childhood he sang and played the violin. He also liked to make different toys and models. Graduated from Kiev military school(1894), and after serving three years of compulsory service, he retired. He served as an excise officer in the province.

He helped to organize drama clubs, he sometimes acted in performances, and continued to design. In 1910, Gleb returned to St. Petersburg and became an actor in the troupe of the People's House on the St. Petersburg Side (pseudonym Glebov-Kotelnikov). By the way, over time, his son Anatoly became a fairly well-known Soviet playwright under the name Glebov (Kotelnikov).

In 1910, Kotelnikov, impressed by the death of the pilot Lev Matsievich, began to develop a parachute.

Before Kotelnikov, the pilots escaped with the help of long folded "umbrellas" fixed on the plane. Their design was very unreliable, besides, they greatly increased the weight of the aircraft. Therefore, they were rarely used. In December 1911, Kotelnikov tried to register his invention - a free action backpack parachute in Russia, but for unknown reasons he did not receive a patent.

He was prompted to create such a scheme by the picture he saw in the lobby of the Bolshoi Theater, when a woman took out a huge silk scarf from a small handbag...

The parachute had a round shape, fit into a metal satchel located on the pilot with the help of a suspension system. At the bottom of the knapsack under the dome there were springs that threw the dome into the stream after the jumper pulled out pull ring. Subsequently, the hard satchel was replaced with a soft one, and honeycombs appeared at its bottom for laying slings in them. This design of the rescue parachute is still used today.

He made a second attempt to register his invention in France, having received a patent on March 20, 1912.

The RK-1 parachute (Russian, Kotelnikova, model one) was developed within 10 months, and Gleb Evgenievich made its first demonstration test in June 1912. First, tests were carried out using a car. The car was dispersed, and Kotelnikov pulled the trigger belt. The parachute tied to the tow hooks instantly opened, and its braking power was transferred to the car, forcing the engine to stall.

A few days later the parachute was tested in the Gatchina camp of the Aeronautical School.

At different heights, a mannequin weighing about 80 kg was dropped from a balloon with a parachute. All throws were successful, but the Main Engineering Directorate of the Russian Army did not accept it for production due to fears of the head of the Russian air force, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, that at the slightest malfunction, aviators would leave the airplane.

In the winter of 1912-1913, the RK-1 parachute was presented by the commercial firm Lomach and Co. to a competition in Paris and Rouen. And on January 5, 1913, a student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (!) Ossovsky first jumped with a parachute RK-1 in Rouen from a 60-meter mark of a bridge thrown over the Seine. The parachute worked brilliantly.

The Russian invention was recognized abroad. And the tsarist government remembered him only during the First World War. At the beginning of the war, reserve lieutenant Kotelnikov was drafted into the army and sent to the automotive units. However, soon the pilot Alekhnovich convinced the command: it was necessary to supply the crews of multi-engine aircraft with RK-1 parachutes. It was then that soon Kotelnikov was summoned to the Main Military Engineering Directorate and offered to take part in the manufacture of backpack parachutes for aviators.

Gleb Evgenievich with a test dummy Ivanoi Ivanovich

In 1923, Gleb Evgenievich created a new model RK-2. Later, the RK-3 model with a soft backpack appeared, for which a patent was received on July 4, 1924. In the same year, Kotelnikov made a cargo parachute RK-4 with a dome 12 m in diameter. This parachute could lower a load weighing up to 300 kg.

In 1926, Kotelnikov handed over all his inventions to the Soviet government.

On July 26, 1930, near Voronezh, Soviet paratrooper pilots led by B. Mukhortov for the first time made a series of jumps from aircraft using parachutes designed by Gleb Kotelnikov. Since then, skydiving enthusiasts have been celebrating the unofficial Skydiver's Day.

Forgotten pages of the Great War

Parachute Kotelnikov

Kotelnikov with a parachute

own invention

The word "parachute" consists of two words and translated from French in literally means "against falling". In the summer of 1917, parachutes appeared in the army.

It would seem that since the word is French, therefore, the subject itself was invented in France. Although this rule does not always work. For example, the famous Olivier salad has a clearly French name, but was created in Russia. And so it was with the parachute. The inventor of the first modern parachute was a Russian self-taught designer Gleb Kotelnikov. He patented his brainchild in 1912. Moreover, not only in Russia, but also in several European countries in particular France. So there is no doubt about who owns the palm.

The first jump was also made by a Russian man - a student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory Vladimir Ossovsky. He successfully parachuted into the French city of Rouen from a height of 60 meters in January 1913. Gleb Kotelnikov, a career officer in the Russian army who graduated from the Kiev military school and retired after three years of service, did not invent a parachute for entertainment. In October 1910, during the All-Russian Aeronautics Festival, pilot Lev Matsievich died at the Kolomyazhsky airfield near St. Petersburg. He opened a sacrificial list in Russian aviation. The death of Matsievich in front of an audience of many thousands made a tremendous impression, including on the actor of the troupe of the People's House on the Petrograd Side, Gleb Kotelnikov. The retired lieutenant suddenly realized that it was necessary to create a means of salvation for pilots and other aeronauts. And got down to business.

Gleb Kotelnikov with test dummy Ivan Ivanovich

The backpack parachute he created a year later was initially tested on dummies weighing 80 kg. And always successful. However, official structures were in no hurry to accept and put the invention on stream. They proceeded from the statement of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, who oversaw the nascent aviation, the meaning of which was that the presence of life-saving equipment on board at the slightest malfunction would provoke the pilot to leave the plane. And airplanes purchased abroad are expensive ... Typical in this sense is the reply from the head of the Electrical Engineering Department of the Main Engineering Directorate (GIU), Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlov (in many materials on this topic, he is erroneously called A. P. Pavlov, although in fact the name - patronymic of the general - Alexander Alexandrovich) wrote: “Returning the drawing and description of the automatically operating parachute of your invention, the SMI notifies that the“ ejector pack ”invented by you does not ensure the reliability of opening the parachute after throwing it out of the pack, and therefore cannot be adopted as a life-saving device... The experiments you have made with the model cannot be considered convincing... In view of the above, the SMI rejects your proposal. It is curious that after about a month, General Pavlov retires. However, the retrograde general could be the result of the instructions of the already mentioned Grand Duke. And it does not matter that all the numerous tests carried out from a stationary and flying balloon and airplane showed the reliability of the design. If anything caused criticism from experts, in particular, the first Russian aviator, later military pilot Mikhail Efimov, it was the weight of the knapsack. With 15 kilograms on your back, movement in the cramped space of aircraft of that time was very difficult. The baskets of balloons did not differ in comfort either.

Military pilot

Gleb Alekhnovich

World War I began, and Lieutenant Kotelnikov was drafted into the army and was sent to the South-Western Front in the automobile troops. However, he was soon recalled to the rear. They remembered "above" about his parachute. And they decided to start introducing the invention into the practice of aeronautic forces and aviation. They decided to start by providing the crews of heavy Ilya Muromets bombers with parachutes. This decision was "pushed through" by military pilot Gleb Alekhnovich, the commander of the Muromets-V crew. Kotelnikov ordered 70 copies. The order was fulfilled, but for two years the parachutes lay dead weight. Military pilots did not use them. There was no order. Yes, experience too.

In the meantime, by the middle of 1916, tethered balloons began to be intensively used as observation points and artillery fire adjustments. From a height, as they say, you can see better. This method of reconnaissance proved to be effective, but also extremely dangerous. German fighters hunted for balloons on both the Western and Eastern fronts with particular passion. After the use of the parachutes of the French company "Jucmes" near Verdun, which saved the lives of several observers, it was no longer necessary to prove the relevance of the use of slings and silk. But at the GVTU (formerly the SMI until 1913) they entered according to the “good” Russian tradition: instead of using their own invention, which also proved its reliability, they preferred to buy parachutes in France. For gold, of course. Bought 200 pieces. Parachutes were also ordered for Kotelnikov, but their number was scanty.

Inventor

aeronautic

parachute Georges Jucmes

Separately, about the "zhukmes" parachutes. There is a version that this is the author's invention of the famous European aeronaut Georges Jucmes. There is another. After Kotelnikov's backpack parachute was demonstrated in 1912 at an exhibition in France, representatives of the Zhukmes company became interested in it. Fortunately, the invention could be borrowed, since it was represented by the private Russian company Lomach and K, and not at all official structures Russia. In any case, by technical specifications"zhukmes" lost to RK-1. In an attempt to simplify the design, the French brought the lines into one bundle behind the shoulders of the paratrooper, which deprived him of any opportunity to maneuver and increased the risk of breaking the mount. In the Kotelnikov apparatus, the slings were divided into two bundles and located on the shoulders, which made it possible to control movement in the air.

In May 1917, the training of aircrews in parachuting began. They studied both at the "zhukmes" and at the Russian RK-1. So, for example, on the table of the commander of the Officer Aeronautical School, Lieutenant-General Alexander Kovanko, a report was laid down: “On May 12 (Old Style - author's note), experiments were carried out with Kotelnikov's parachute. Twice, from a height of 200 and 300 meters, a stuffed animal weighing 5 pounds was dropped. Both times the parachute opened, and the stuffed animal smoothly sank to the ground. Then Lieutenant Ostratov got up in the basket, who, putting on a parachute belt, jumped out of the basket from a height of 500 meters. For about three seconds the parachute did not open, and then opened, and Ostratov quite safely sank to the ground. According to Lieutenant Ostratov, he did not feel any painful phenomena during the descent. I consider it necessary to bring to your attention such positive results of the parachute test. A successful parachute descent should give aeronauts greater confidence in parachutes.”

In parallel, there were jumps with a less perfect French apparatus behind them. For example, a lieutenant of one of Anoshchenko's aeronautic detachments took a risk, after which he summarized: "Now we firmly believe in parachutes, we believe that in a dangerous moment they will save us." The day before, a similar attempt was made by Staff Captain Sokolov. He jumped from a height of 700 meters from the side of the balloon basket and landed without damage. Not all training jumps with "zhukmes" ended successfully. In a short period, several aeronauts died. Oddly enough, the statistics of jumps of that time have been preserved. With "zhukmes" 56 jumps were made. 41 were successful. In eight cases, the paratroopers died, in seven they received various injuries. There were only five experienced jumps from RK-1 behind him. And all ended well. By the way, what does the abbreviation RK-1 mean. Very simply: "The Russian Kotelnikov is the first." It looked like this: a satchel in the form of a metal container with a hinged lid at the top, which was fixed with a special belt. Inside the container there is a spiral spring and a plate, which, like a piston, pushed the stacked dome with slings out of the container.

Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov died in 1944, having survived the Siege of Leningrad. He had a lot of inventions in the field of parachute construction. Therefore, he rests at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. In St. Petersburg, on the 14th line of Vasilievsky Island, on the house where the inventor lived in 1912-1941, there is a memorial plaque. And the village of Salizi near Gatchina, where the first tests of the RK-1 were carried out, was renamed Kotelnikovo in 1949.

Mikhail BYKOV,

especially for Polevoy Post

It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci invented the parachute 530 years ago, in 1483. Why he did it, no one knows. Apparently, Leonardo himself did not know this either. After all, in those distant, distant times, it was impossible to use a parachute, because then there was nothing to fly on - not balloons, no aviation. And there was no landing then either. Leonardo could only jump from different buildings, for example, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But why jump from it? For what? That is, the invention appeared before the need for it. Therefore, due to uselessness, the parachute was forgotten for as much as 300 years.

Parachute - a necessary thing

They remembered the “anti-fall” device (namely, the word “parachute” is translated as such) only in the 18th century, when the first balloons appeared, which often fell along with their passengers. Parachutes were then made of linen, and although they were strong, they were heavy. They were tied at the bottom or side hot air balloon. Later, the fabric began to be rubberized, and the parachute became even heavier. In addition, a folded parachute took up a lot of space. Therefore, when the first airplanes began to fly, parachutes were either not used or were stowed along the fuselage. In short, this thing used to be very inconvenient to use.

And in 1911, an ordinary Russian actor of the St. Petersburg People's House, Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov (1872–1944), came up with a parachute design that became popular all over the world. Moreover, this design, with some minor changes, is still used today.

Kotelnikov significantly reduced the weight of the parachute. He replaced heavy linen with strong but light silk. He sewed a thin elastic cable into the edge of the parachute, and divided the lines into two groups, which were attached to the shoulder girths of the suspension system. This allowed the skydiver to control the flight of his saving friend. People stopped aimlessly and limply hanging in the air under the influence of the wind. It became possible even to hold competitions on the accuracy of landing.

And finally, the most important invention of Kotelnikov - he put the parachute in a small metal backpack attached to the body of the paratrooper. At the bottom of the satchel was special shelf, and under it - strong springs that instantly threw the parachute out when the jumper pulled out the retaining ring. The parachute has become maneuverable, compact and comfortable.

Kotelnikov's knapsack

Kotelnikov called the first parachute model RK-1, which meant "Kotelnikov's Knapsack". A few years later, he improved the RK-1, and the RK-2 and RK-3 appeared. The metal satchel was replaced with a canvas one in the form of an envelope, and there were also “honeycombs” that prevent the lines from tangling. Modern parachutes have almost the same design.

To be sure of the reliability of the device, Gleb Evgenievich personally conducted numerous tests on reduced models. The lifeguard worked flawlessly!

A parachute in aviation is a harmful thing

Kotelnikov, of course, wanted to quickly register and put into production this important invention for aviation, which could save the lives of many pilots. But here he ran into the ruthless Russian bureaucracy.

First, Gleb Evgenievich went to the Main Military Engineering Directorate. But the head of the department stated bluntly:

"A parachute in aviation is a harmful thing, since pilots, at the slightest danger, will be saved by parachutes, providing planes of death."

Then Kotelnikov turned to the War Ministry. The inventor asked for subsidies for the manufacture of an experimental parachute and for more serious tests. But even here he was refused, since one authoritative member of the commission believed that "the aviator's legs would come off from the blow when the parachute opened."

In 1912, Kotelnikov, with the help of the St. Petersburg entrepreneur V. A. Lomach, was able to build two prototypes of his backpack parachute. Full-scale tests were successfully carried out in the air: different aviators dropped a dummy of Ivan Ivanovich with a parachute at different heights. Kotelnikov's invention worked perfectly - it never failed, and Ivan Ivanovich did not receive any damage.

In the same year in Paris international competition paratroopers Lomach showed the invention of Kotelnikov in action. The French were delighted and bought both samples from him, and then set up their own production.

There is no prophet in his own country...


And in Russia, Kotelnikov's parachutes were remembered only two years later, when the First World War began. An experimental batch was made for Sikorsky's planes, but then the officials decided to buy parachutes abroad anyway. Although foreign analogues were exactly the same as those of Kotelnikov, because they were made according to his samples.

Already in Soviet times Gleb Evgenievich developed the world's first cargo parachute RK-4. Its dome had a diameter of 12 meters, so it was possible to lower up to 300 kilograms of cargo on it.

Overall rating of the material: 4.9

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