Genrikh Vasilyevich Novozhilov (; 27 October 1925 – 28 April 2019) was a Soviet and Russian

aircraft designer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. He was a key designer of multiple

Ilyushin The Open joint-stock company , public joint stock company Ilyushin Aviation Complex, operating as Ilyushin () or as Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a Russian aircraft manufacturer and design bureau, founded in 1933 by Sergey Ilyushin , Sergey Vladimir ...

passenger aircraft including the Il-18, Il-62,

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

, and

Il-96 The Ilyushin Il-96 () is a Russian four-engined jet long-haul wide-body airliner designed by Ilyushin in the former Soviet Union and manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Russia. It is powered by four high-bypass Avi ...

Family and early life

Novozhilov was born on 27 October 1925 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the son of military engineer Vasily Vasilyevich Sokolov, and his wife Iraida Ivanova Novozhilova, a servicewoman. The family lived near Clean Ponds, where one of his neighbours in the communal apartment worked in civil aviation. His parents divorced in 1937, with Novozhilov raised by his mother and attending School No. 233 V.R. Menzhinsky. The young Novozhilov aspired to be a pilot, but in September 1939 he suffered a severe leg injury, having to undergo several operations at the . He later recalled that "They plowed up the leg from the knee to the foot," ending his dreams of being a pilot. He was also keen on photography, with some of his work exhibited at the 1st All-Union Children's Photo Exhibition in 1939. After the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

in 1941, Novozhilov and his mother were temporarily evacuated to

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

. They returned to Moscow in August 1942, where Novozhilov began work at the physics department of the

Moscow Aviation Institute Moscow Aviation Institute () is an engineering research university in Moscow, Russia. It is designated a National Research University. Since its inception the institute has been spearheading advances in aerospace technology both within Russia a ...

, and a year later became a student in the aircraft-construction department. Here he first met

Sergey Ilyushin Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin (; – 9 February 1977) was a Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau. He designed the Ilyushin Il-2, Il-2 Shturmovik, which made its maiden flight in 1939. It is the most produced ...

when Ilyushin attended the faculty's graduation banquet. Novozhilov would later recall Ilyushin's spontaneity, and his skill at dancing and singing.

Ilyushin designer

Novozhilov then began an internship at OKB-240, the

design bureau OKB () is a transliteration of the Russian initials for "" (), which translates to "Experimental Design Bureau." It could also mean or "Special Design Bureau" in english. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and ...

overseen by Sergey Ilyushin. He was duly enrolled as a design engineer on 1 July 1948, with a salary of 900 rubles. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1949 and continued to work at the bureau. He participated in the design of the Il-14 passenger aircraft, as well as military planes including the attack aircraft Il-40 and the bombers Il-46 and Il-54. During his early years Novozhilov specialised in fuselage design, under the tutelage of . The Ilyushin design bureau was often in competition with the designs produced by

Tupolev Tupolev ( rus, Туполев, , ˈtupəlʲɪf), officially United Aircraft Company Tupolev - Public Joint Stock Company, is a Russian aerospace and Arms industry, defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow. UAC Tupolev is succes ...

design bureau. Ilyushin designs that Novozhilov helped to work on at this time included the Il-14 passenger aircraft, the two-seater attack jet Il-40 and the bomber Il-46. Eventually Tupolev's rival offering, the Tu-14, was adopted for the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

instead of the Il-46. Novozhilov instead worked as lead engineer on the Il-54. The Il-54 was also cancelled by the Soviet government in the mid-1950s with only two prototypes built. By the late 1950s, with Soviet interests fixed on the

Space Race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

, the Ilyushin design bureau faced closure. In 1956 Novozhilov was elected secretary of the bureau's party committee, but returned to engineering in September 1958, being tasked as appointed deputy chief designer of the passenger aircraft Il-18, and their operation with

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

. Novozhilov attempted to avoid the appointment, arguing that he had not been involved with building the aircraft, nor was he very familiar with their operation. Ilyushin was unconvinced. Novozhilov therefore had to travel widely in his new capacity, as well as working with emergency commissions after accidents to determine their causes, and develop preventative measures. Novozhilov would later admit that this proved particularly useful experience for him, and was necessary for developing his design interests. Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-76TD at Zurich Airport in May 1985

Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-76TD at Zurich Airport in May 1985

In 1964 Novozhilov was appointed first deputy general designer and tasked with overseeing the development and mass production of the Il-62. His success at this led to the award of the

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

in early 1970 to members of the Ilyushin bureau, including Novozhilov. On 26 April 1971 Novozhilov was awarded the title of

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

after the completion of the state's eighth five-year plan. In mid 1970 Sergey Ilyushin, then aged 77, announced his retirement and on 28 July, in the presence of Aviation Industry Minister , Novozhilov was named as his successor and general designer of the Moscow bureau of the "Strela" works. On 25 March the following year the

, a military transport aircraft, began its test flights at

Khodynka Aerodrome Khodynka (, ''Khodynskiy''), officially Frunze Central Aerodrome, formerly known as Central (''Tsentralny'', ), was an airport in Moscow, Russia, located northwest of the centre of the city. History The aerodrome was founded on 17 June 1910, w ...

, overseen by Novozhilov with Sergei Ilyushin in attendance. It became the most popular passenger and military transport aircraft of the Soviet Union. Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-86

Since 1969 the design bureau had been developing the first Russian wide-body passenger aircraft, the Il-86. There was now great demand for long distance high capacity civil aviation, and the government had stipulated a nominal range of 2,400 kilometres. As Novozhilov was returning from

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

with Aviation Industry Minister Pyotr Dementyev and the Minister of Civil Aviation Boris Bugayev, he noted that the bureau was investigating potentially doubling the range of the Il-86. The ministers promptly made him sign to commit the new aircraft to a new stipulated range of 5,000 kilometres. After considering developments of the IL-62 and IL-76 designs, Novozhilov and his team produced a completely new design capable of such range while carrying 350 passengers. The first testflight of the new IL-86 took place on 22 December 1976. After it was successfully concluded, Novozhilov promptly ordered another the following day, and then three further ones before the New Year. He co-founded the

MAKS Air Show MAKS (, ) is an international air show held at Zhukovsky International Airport, the home of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast, Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow, Russia. The event was organized by the Russian Ministr ...

, and led the work on the long-haul IL-96-300 and Il-114

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

. Since 2006, Novozhilov served as Chief Science Adviser to Ilyushin.

Honours and awards

Novozhilov had been a corresponding member of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

since 15 March 1979, and on 26 December 1984 he was elected a full member for his work in the separation of mechanics and control processes. His scientific work was related to "aerodynamic research, the reliability of complex structures, the development of fundamentally new approaches to the so-called manufacturability of the machines and mechanisms being developed". Novozhilov held some 150 patents on various design innovations, and on 23 June 1981 he was awarded his second Hero of Socialist Labour. Novozhilov served as a deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

from 1974 to 1989, then as a People's Deputy of the USSR from 1989. He became a member of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

in 1986. As well as his two Heroes of Socialist Labour, Novozhilov held a number of other state awards. He was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

three times, on 10 February 1969, 26 April 1971 and 23 June 1981; the

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

on 27 October 1975; the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

on 22 July 1966; the

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

on 7 December 1957; and the

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

on 29 December 1992. He also received the

Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow The Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow () is an award of the Russian Orthodox Church, established in 1988. There are three classes. History The Order was created by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Pimen I, and the Holy Synod of 28 ...

Third Class and the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

in three classes. He had married Lyudmila Ivanovna Lisina, a

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

on 23 April 1966. The couple had a son, Sergey Genrikhovich, born in 1967, who became an aircraft engineer. Late in life Genrikh Novozhilov listed his interests as tennis and photography. Novozhilov died on 28 April 2019 at the age of 93. He was buried on 7 May at the

Federal Military Memorial Cemetery The Federal Military Memorial Cemetery (Russian: Федеральное военное мемориальное кладбище) is a national cemetery of Russia, located in Mytishchinsky District, Moscow Oblast, on the north-eastern outskirts ...

References