TUPOLEV THE MAN AND HIS AIRCRAFT PAUL DUFFY ANDREI KANDALOV To SLK and Lidia Copyright © 1996 Paul Duffy and Andrei Kandalov First Published in the UK in 1996 by Airlife Publishing Ltd This edition published 1996 by SAE International Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Number 96-70235 ISBN 1 56091-899-3 SAE Order No. R-173 Permission to photocopy for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by SAE for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), provided that the base fee of $.50 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923. Special requests should be addressed to the SAE Publications Group. 1-56091-899-3/96 $.50 Printed in Hong Kong Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001, USA Dear Readers, I am pleased to introduce a book about the history of our Tupolev Joint Stock Company in the name of academician A. N. Tupolev, well-known in the countries of former Soviet Union and its allies. Its history is not so well-known in the West. This book is one of the first publications in the West about our Design Bureau and aviation industry, especially all-metal aircraft, one of the most influential founders of which was Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev. This, I hope, will help make our work better known and understood by more people. Our country and our industry are going through a very difficult period of time. We need to develop our contacts with the aviation industry and airlines in other countries and we hope that this book will help us to do so. General Director of the Tupolev Joint Stock Co. Valentin T. Klimov Moscow, 1996 Preface and Acknowledgements The aviation industry in the Soviet Union was organ- Tu-204 is in production. My thanks to my friends at ised very differently to that of the West. With the Aviastar for that, particularly Viktor Mikhailov, government essentially the producer and consumer, director general, and Nikolai Katchalov, commercial different ministries controlled almost every aspect of director, for their courtesy. And Kharkov, where the the industry. The Ministry of Aviation Industry was Tu-124 and 134, along with some missiles, were built. responsible for everything to do with the design and Anatoli Myalitsa, the deputy director for foreign production of aircraft, aero engines and components, economic matters, assisted me there. Repair factory and the Ministry of Defence plus the Ministry of Civil N407 in Minsk, now called the Minsk Aircraft Repair Aviation were responsible for the operation of Works, was also very helpful; I would like to thank these aircraft, and for aerodromes and maintenance general director Arkadi Yamov and chief technologist facilities. Thus, while the ministries maintained Anatoli Igumnov for their friendliness and helpful- contact as necessary between each other, at lower ness. They gave me an excellent insight into the Soviet levels this was not usual, sometimes even within the system and the reasons behind the system. same ministries. The former Aeroflot division which is now The Aviation Industry was divided into several Vnukovo Airlines was one of the operators which specialist categories. Highest amongst these were the helped me understand Soviet aircraft and operations. design bureaux, from where the ideas were developed I would like to thank Yuri Kashitsin, the general into reality. Each bureau had its own specialist work- director, Mikhail Bulanov, and his unrelated shop where it produced one, or sometimes two, colleague, Nikolai Bulanov, both deputy directors prototypes. The prototypes were test-flown by the general. I must also make mention of Igor Pikalov, bureau and by a specialist government research and their ever helpful chief of protocol, and pilots, test facility. If all went well, then the bureau would navigators and flight engineers - Mikhail Lila, Anatoli pass over production drawings to a production factory Dymnov, Mikhail Pkhedo, Yurgi Parfentiev and and send a team to the factory to ensure that any prob- Viktor Borzenin; and Yuri Sitnik, who flew the lems were solved; while it kept an eye on the Vnukovo 204 exactly as I had requested for the cover programme, there were no commercial links with of this book, and for company promotion. the factory or the operator. The Domodedovo division, now the Civil Aviation So preparing a book about Tupolev was very United Enterprise, was also very helpful. My thanks to different to writing about a Western producer, where general director Leonid Sergeev of Domodedovo and the design and production facilities maintain close Olga Tokareva for their help, and to Tu-114 pilots and contact. I was fortunate to be working with Andrei engineers Trifon Bashilov, Mikhail Shidlovski, Kandalov. Andrei has worked with Tupolev the man Veniamin Malishev and Vladislav Konopko; and to and the bureau for fifty-four years. His approach to Ivan Levandovski and Vladimir Kuznetsov, then of much of the work matched mine, although there were Krasnoyarskavia, for their help at the beginning of the times when he told me that he couldn't understand project. why I wanted particular data; nevertheless, he went In Tupolev itself, my thanks are due to Valentin searching for it. And, even though he was first deputy Klimov, the current director general, and Yuli to the general designer until 1991, much of the data Kashtanov, his first deputy for putting up with my was difficult and occasionally impossible even for him questions over the last few years. Lev Lanovski and to obtain. Yuri Vorobiev, chief designer of the Tu-204 With the consent of Tupolev, we asked permission programme and the -204C respectively, and Igor to visit many of the production factories and repair Kalygin, chief designer of the Tu-334, were always factories. Few replied, and all except one said no. friendly and willing to help, as was Vladimir Rigmant, Fortunately, in my six years working in Russia and the director of the excellent A. N. Tupolev museum, who Soviet Union I had made many of my own contacts, gave considerable help in preparing the chart of the and thus was able to visit Ulyanovsk, where the design programmes undertaken by the bureau. It was Paul Duffy (left) and Andrei Kandalov Lidia Kandalova disappointing, however, to receive virtually no In closing, I would like to remind readers that photographs from the bureau; those that are credited although Russian people are very like their Western to Tupolev in the book came from Andrei Kandalov's counterparts, sometimes their traditions are a lot personal files. However, I was very fortunate to receive different; for instance, a Russian would usually an impressive range from Maksimillian Saukke, an address a colleague by the colleague's name and engineer working in the design bureau and author of patronym, so I should call my co-author 'Andrei several books in Russian on A. N. Tupolev; although Inokentievich'. I didn't, and he didn't expect me to. he is not a photographer, he has collected photographs Similarly, in this book, I have adopted the Western of relevance to the Tupolev story for many years. He practice in most places of just giving the first name also provided the three-view drawings. (when known). Konstantin Udalov, the general director of Avico In the three years of research for this book I have Press, has been a Soviet aviation author and historian become painfully aware of how much is missing from for over twenty years now. He opened his files freely it. I am conscious that there are several chapters and to augment the photographs in this book. Valentin details not covered as well as I would like. The Soviet Vetlitski, Avico's artist, who had previously worked as system is changing, but it will take some time to bring a technical artist with MiG, provided the line it to the standards of information normally available drawings, and Vasili Karpi, the editor-in-chief of the to the West. Production details is a principal example: Russian aviation newspaper Vozdushni Transport also Andrei and I have done what we can, but it is far from provided some photos and a lot of background complete, and virtually all of Tupolev's pre-war material. Thierry Montigneaux, executive officer of records were destroyed as the Nazis advanced on the Federation Aeronautique International, came up Moscow in 1941. So there are still gaps. If anyone has with the current list of Tupolev records. any information which adds to the contents, please let I would also like to thank my long-term friend John me know. W. R. Taylor for his help, advice and assistance in And whatever about people, Russia's Cyrillic preparing this book. alphabet is very different to the Roman alphabet used A special word of thanks must go to Svetlana in the English speaking world. Thus it might just Kirillova for the assistance she has given in the trans- happen that I have spelt a word or name slightly differ- lation of the huge volume of documents involved in the ently in various chapters of the book. If you find it, it preparation of the book. My Russian is very limited, follows that I didn't at the proof reading stage. I and without her work the book would have had to wait apologise. another ten years. And to Lidia Kandalova, Andrei's wife, who provided enthusiasm and support for the Paul Duffy project, not to mention excellent catering, as Andrei Shannon, Ireland and I argued the text. June 1995 Contents Author's note on A. N. Tupolev 8 ANT-21/MI-3 64 A.