"Ugly planes don't fly." The father of Soviet metal aviation.
Shown a model, Tupolev pronounced: "It's ugly. Ugly planes don't fly." The maxim became his lifelong creed — "Only beautiful airplanes fly well."
A student of Zhukovsky who built the world's first all-metal aircraft design bureau. Over 100 types flowed from his KB: the TB-1, TB-3, SB, and Tu-2 defined Soviet military aviation, while his all-metal stressed-skin philosophy reshaped the industry. Arrested in 1937 on charges of espionage, he designed the Tu-2 inside an NKVD sharashka. After the war came the Tu-16, the Tu-104 (the USSR's first jet airliner), the Tu-114, and the Tu-144, the world's first supersonic passenger aircraft. He mentored Korolev, Sukhoi, Petlyakov, Lavochkin, and Mil, a whole generation of Soviet aerospace. Three-time Hero of Socialist Labor, he died a natural death in 1972.
Career Timeline
- 1909–18Student of Zhukovsky; Russia's first aviation calculation bureau
- 1918–36TsAGI deputy, founded all-metal aircraft KB
- 1925–34TB-1, TB-3, ANT-25, Maxim Gorky — the heavy bomber era
- 1937–41Arrested; designed Tu-2 in NKVD sharashka TsKB-29
- 1943–52Tu-2 deployed; Tu-4 strategic bomber; Tu-16 jet bomber
- 1955–68Tu-104 jetliner; Tu-114; Tu-144 supersonic airliner
- 1956–72General Constructor of Soviet aviation; thrice Hero of Socialist Labor
Related historical events
1937 Arrest and the TsKB-29 Sharashka
On 21 October 1937, Tupolev was arrested on charges of sabotage and membership in an anti-Soviet organization. The indictment also claimed he had been an agent of French intelligence since 1924, a typical fabrication of the Great Terror era. On 28 May 1940, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment with confiscation of property.
But instead of a labor camp, Tupolev was placed in TsKB-29, a closed NKVD design bureau, nicknamed the 'Tupolev sharaga.' Here he was confined alongside other arrested aviation specialists, including Petlyakov, Myasishchev, and Korolev. Under guard, the imprisoned engineers continued designing aircraft the state desperately needed.
Out of this extraordinary arrangement came the front-line bomber 'Product 57', the Tu-2. First flown in January 1941, it was among the most advanced twin-engine bombers of its time. When Germany invaded, Tupolev was released on 19 July 1941 with his conviction expunged. The Tu-2 entered mass production in 1942; roughly 750 reached front-line units during the war, and production continued until 1952. Tupolev was fully rehabilitated on 9 April 1955. Stalin himself reportedly told Marshal Golovanov that he did not believe Tupolev was guilty.