Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov was a Chief Designer of the Soviet Design Bureau OKB-276 which deals with the development, manufacture and distribution of equipment, especially aircraft engines, turbines and gearboxes.

Biography

Kuznetsov started his career as a professional coppersmith and he began working as a mechanic. In 1930 graduated from the school and enrolled at the Moscow Aviation College where he studied part-time and worked as a mechanic. In 1933 he joined the Aircraft Faculty in the

Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Aerospace Forces. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the fol ...

. There he studied under Prof. Nikolai Jegorowitsch Schukowski - then the head of the department for aircraft engines research. Kuznetsov received a degree with honors in November 1938. The topic of his diploma there was on motors: four-carburettor, 28-cylinder with a 4-star air-cooled power of 1500 hp at 3400 rpm and at an altitude of 6000 meters with two-high-speed driven centrifugal blowers. In April 1939, Kuznetsov became a member of Communist Party organization of the academy and was elected a faculty. On 4 April 1941 he successfully defended his thesis on the structural integrity of aircraft engines while under NKVD interrogation. In the period from July to September 1942 he trained under a senior engineer of 239 fighter division 6th air force who met George Malenkov and praised the ability of Kuznetsov and subsequently sent his deputy to become a Designer at the Ufa Aviation Plant. Here Kuznetsov worked from 1943 to 1949 first under the leadership of

Klimov UEC-Klimov () is a Russian manufacturer of gas turbine engines, main gearboxes and accessory drive gearboxes for transport aircraft. Originally established as ''Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau'' in Saint-Petersburg under the directio ...

then as chief designer. In 1949 he was transferred to Kuybyshev (currently the City of

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

) which was headed by the State union pilot plant number 2 on the development and manufacture of advanced jet engines now known as

Kuznetsov Design Bureau The Kuznetsov Design Bureau (, also known as OKB-276) was a Russian design bureau for aircraft engines, administrated in Soviet times by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. It was also known as (G)NPO Trud (or NPO Kuznetsov) and Kuybyshev Engine D ...

. There he worked with

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...

, the famous Soviet rocket designer under NKVD supervision and control.

Contributions

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, captured German turbine specialists were brought along with some of the gas turbines to the Soviet Union by the NKVD. In addition to the already established

Jumo 004 The Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use, and the first successful axial compressor turbojet engine. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany late in World War II, powering the Mess ...

and

BMW 003 The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II. W ...

engines they brought along the design documents and plans of Jumo 022 project. In 1949, Kuznetsov was appointed as chief designer of jet engines at OKB-276 ("Experimental design bureau-276") and started developing

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 ...

designs further with the help of the German specialists being held in NKVD custody. It proved to be a successful engine and was completed in 1955. The new turboprop engine, named

Kuznetsov NK-12 The Kuznetsov NK-12 is a Soviet turboprop engine of the 1950s, designed by the Kuznetsov design bureau. The NK-12 drives two large four-bladed contra-rotating propellers, diameter (NK-12MA), and diameter (NK-12MV). It is the most powerful tu ...

, displayed great performance and was developed up to 11,000 kW. It was used in the

Antonov An-22 The Antonov An-22 "Antei" (; ; NATO reporting name: "Cock") is a heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines, each driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers, ...

aircraft,

A-90 Orlyonok The A-90 ''Orlyonok'' () is a Soviet Union, Soviet ground effect vehicle, ''ekranoplan'' that was designed by Rostislav Alexeyev, Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeyev of the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau. The A-90 uses ground effect (aircraft), gr ...

Ekranoplane A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE or WIG), ground-effect craft/machine (GEM), wingship, flarecraft, surface effect vehicle or ekranoplan (), is a vehicle that is able to move over the surface by gaining su ...

and the

Tupolev Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. Maiden flight, First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Long Range Aviation, Long-Range Avia ...

strategic bomber among others. The later models produced around 15,000 kW. In 1954, he began work on a two-flow jet engine with afterburner, called the Kuznetsov NK-6, which was never completed. In 1957, he received the Order of

Hero of Socialist Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an 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 achievements in Soviet ...

for his contributions. From 1959 onwards, he was also involved in the development of engines for the projected Soviet N1 Moon rocket. The primary engines for the development rockets were Kuznetsov

NK-15 The NK-15 (GRAU index: 11D51) was a rocket engine designed and built in the late 1960s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. The NK designation was derived from the initials of chief designer Nikolay Kuznetsov. The NK-15 was among the most powerful ...

and Kuznetsov NK-15V (later developed into Kuznetsov

NK-33 The NK-33 ( GRAU index: 14D15) and its vacuum-optimized variant, the NK-43, were rocket engines developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet space program's ill-fated N1 Moon rocket. The NK-33 is am ...

and Kuznetsov NK-43). Ultimately, these designs were successful but arrived too late. By the time the bugs in this very advanced design were rectified, the N1 rocket program had been cancelled.Lindroos, Marcus
THE SOVIET MANNED LUNAR PROGRAM
''

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

''. Accessed: 4 October 2011. Several stockpiled

engines were refurbished and modified by

Aerojet Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, ...

and used for the

Orbital Sciences Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

. In the 1960s he developed aircraft engines specifically for the world's first supersonic transport aircraft to fly

Tupolev Tu-144 The Tupolev Tu-144 (; NATO reporting name: Charger) is a Soviet supersonic airliner, supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev in operation from 1968 to 1999. The Tu-144 was the world's first commercial supersonic transport aircraft wit ...

, the

Kuznetsov NK-144 The Kuznetsov NK-144 is an afterburning turbofan engine made by the Soviet Kuznetsov Design Bureau. Used on the early models of the Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic aircraft, it was very inefficient and was replaced with the Kolesov RD-36-51 The K ...

turbofan. This was however inefficient and replaced by the Kolesov RD-36. Based on these design experiences, the engine Kuznetsov NK-321 (also known as NK-32-1) was developed later for the supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber

Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing nuclear-capable heavy strategic bomber and airborne missile platform designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The aircra ...

, which is also in the more powerful version of the Tupolev Tu-144 (version Tu-144LL). In the late 1980s OKB- 267 began the development of the fuel sipping Turbo Fan Engine Kuznetsov NK-93, which has a by-pass ratio of almost 17:1 and thus an engine of a unique design in the world.

Awards

(Twice) * Honorary Citizen of Kuybyshev in 1982.

References

External links

Official Company's website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Nikolai Dmitriyevich 1911 births 1995 deaths Early spaceflight scientists Heroes of Socialist Labour Soviet inventors Soviet space program personnel Soviet spaceflight pioneers Soviet engineers Rocket scientists Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Biography

Contributions

Awards

See also

References

Further reading

External links