Missilemen(3)

3. Graduation

We started pre-graduation practice in September 1973. As most of our group students I was appointed to the Plant Number 18, or simply “the eighteenth” like people called KuAZ, Kuibyshev Aviation Zavod (what means Plant) by its old military identification. This plant was evacuated from Voronez in 1941. And another airspace plant, “the first”, which is today’s Progress, was evacuated from Moscow. It is interesting that population of Bezymyanka, Samara’s industrial area, still call many of residential areas, apartment complexes as Voronez’s houses or Moscow’s ones. This is linked to those times when these buildings were owned by enterprises moved from corresponded cities.

Shop #54 was the place of my training. Fuselage sections were assembled there. I got not much new knowledge at this particular place, because master was busy and had no time for trainees. Technology was known for us and without any difficulties I described all processes in my practice log in needed for credit details. But plant excursions were really interesting and gave a chance to understand integrated process of aircraft manufacturing, arrange all these fragments into one integrated and complex picture. It seems that even now I myself could guide a group of students through the chain of shops and tell them about all the processes of passenger liner creation. Templet shop is the place to start such excursion. Or no, it is better to begin with museum, where the history of Voronez’s plant is described with many examples including Stalin’s telegram related to the Il-2, legendary ground attack airplane of the WWII, that “the front needs them like the air for breath”. And after the museum we could go to templet shop to see how airplane theoretical shapes, drawings of different parts and their attachments are transformed into rigs and tools which make possible for these details to be produced and assembled. Punching and half-finished product shop is the second one on the way. Here you can see how metal sheets and bars are obtaining shape of the aircraft details. Units’ shops are the following: wing, empennage, fuselage, lift devices, landing gear, control system shops allow you to see and hear how it happens. Riveting sound accompanies the process of half-finished product transformation into aggregates and units. Metal obtains airplane shape here now, but only the 7th shop, the shop of the final assembly, is the place were all these details became a machine for comfortable passenger transportation in the air. The shop occupies huge premises with sliding gates which are opened into airfield. The place attracted us as a magnet. It was so interesting to see final operations of aircraft assembling, when all equipment was installed, cables laid, engines and landing gear fixed. Just in this place you see the result of creation process and understand its complexity. The complexity and beauty of final product bewitches, do not let go, push you to try to understand, how all this happened. And additionally to this, the Tu-95s, strategic bombers, often were in this shop for repair. Of course they were very interesting for us too.

Assembled aircrafts were going into flight-test station then. After test program finishing they were painted into corresponded airline, Aeroflot mostly, colors, and pilots from these companies took them away. Repaired Tu-95s were tested here too. Being in the flight-test station we had a chance to climb into bomber’s cockpit. I liked to sit in the navigator place with excellent view in all directions. And I still remember specific smell of strategic bomber cockpit, smell of expensive leather and electronic equipment.

Practice took only the first part of the day. Once, in beginning of October, I met Kuzya in plant’s canteen. During the lunch time, supping pea’s soup by aluminum spoons from aluminum plates, we decided that it would be nice to go to Samarka, look how things are there, maybe cross the river and walk to Chernovka direction, check, if crayfish are still there in the lakes and backwaters. The weather motivated us for this, being sunny and warm.

”Let’s walk” – I proposed.

“No way, the tram is better and faster” – returned Kuzya.

After canteen’s smell the cool fall air seemed especially fresh and bracing. Nice looking plant’s central fir alley led us to the entrance check-point. We returned our passes to nicely smiling security female and dashed out at large. We run by Yungorodok which was built on in the fiftieth by houses of Stalin’s architecture, massive mansion of very imposing constrictions. Dry and sunny weather was staying for several days, therefore usual for fall season mud dried off and in several minutes we were on Kirovskaya Street, jumping into last car of the tram #10.

“Do we have to buy the tickets?” – asked Kuzya.

Some change chinked in my pocket. I got it out. It was two coins 3 kopecks each, just what we needed. I dropped them into cash box and tore off two tickets.

In five minutes we were on the last stop, BTEC, what means Bezymyanka’s Heat and Electrical Center, the power station that smoked the sky with its high chimneys. We walked further by Kirovskaya and soon were on the river. In those times here, on the beach, there were boats and boatmen that were eager to help you to cross the river. For ten kopecks only you could reach other Samarka’s bank, and to go into water-meadows.

Big wooden flat boat for 10-12 passengers was used as a ferry. There were 8 fishermen on the board. The boat’s nose was on a sand bank. Kuzya got into and went to stern.

“Let’s push it off?” – rather proposed than asked I.

“Okay” – replied ferryman.

I pushed boat to the water and sat on the nose. L-6, old one-cylinder motor of six horsepower, was beating briskly, turned screw and propelled boat to the opposite bank.

Path, leading to the meadows and lakes, had its beginning on the beach of the opposite bank where we shoaled soon. One particular lake was interesting for me and we quickly strode that way. I catch crayfishes here in late fall, usually at the end of October, beginning of November. The lake is shallow and has thick layer of silt on the bottom. Before freezing-over the water becomes ideally transparent and silt is covered with glossy crust. The swimming is like gliding above the bottom. The goal is to find a lusterless spot on the glossy surface. This spot means that crayfish is here. You have to poke a hand into slit and catch the crayfish. The big ones were hidden here for the winter stay. And once, instead of a crayfish I caught a sleeping tench. It was very unexpectedly. But pimpled glove on my dry “Sadko” suit helped me to hold the fish, which even didn’t flutter being frightened. A yellow-greenish tench was good enough, and was cooked in fish soup. In that sunny day water was covered by thin ice in some places what made the catching process even more remarkable.

And today the sun shined again. Approaching the lake I saw that silt is like a mirror on the bottom reflecting sun beams.

“Next Sunday will go here for crayfishes” – I announced.

“It will be cold for beer, let’s make mulled wine” – proposed Kuzya.

Bulgarian Cabernet was available in liquor stores in Kuibyshev and other Russian cities in seventies everywhere. This wine was not very popular due to its low alcohol contents and, like many said, sour taste. But strong vermouths and ports never stayed on the shelves long. And the price of these wines, ports and vermouths were approximately same, one ruble with some changes for a bottle. Interesting, that in same time shop windows were packed with bottles of light Cuban rum Club-99. Very nice drink, and the price was same as for vodka. But vodka was more popular, because it was thought that vodka is better for real Volga style drinking, and next morning headache after standard portion of vodka is much lower than after same portion of rum. The standard was half liter bottle per person per night. But we, Kuzya, Rusakovs and our friends, drank this rum in cocktails, daiquiri in particular. The recipe was taken from Hemingway. But lemons were deficit product. Therefore, if somebody brought these fruits from Moscow, we made frozen daiquiri and drank quite big portion in one gulp.

“Maybe will take rum?” – asked I.

“But we have no lemons” – replied Kuzya.

“OK, let’s take three bottles of Cabernet. And I have sugar, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and laurel leaves”.

Reconnaissance was finished and we were back to the ferry.

“Do you have money?” – asked Kuzya, when we were in the boat.

“Ten-ruble note”.

“And I have five. Let’s go to the Snowflake”.

“Let’s go”.

The “Snowflake” café was situated on Kuibysheva Street, just opposite to the “Ghiguly” hotel. We liked the place: simple and cost-effective. Waitresses knew that we are students and behave without restaurant stiffness, do not awaiting big tips from us, and didn’t cheat us in counting, what was common in that time. Live music, many young people, easy way to make new acquaintance – very nice place. The food was without extravagances, drink too. However, for some time we drank gin of Hungarian production there. But once I made comment that juniper smack resembles me a taste of Taiga toothpaste. After this we returned to vodka “Siberian”, which was the best in this place.

Practice passed rapidly and in November we started diploma project. Gena Reznichenko, young Assistant Professor from Aicraft Structural Design cheir, was my diploma supervisor. We discussed possible variants and decided that fiberglass agricultural airplane is an interesting subject where I can use my algorithms for sandwich panel optimization, develop it and implement for the wing, fuselage and empennage of this airplane.

The diploma project had three big parts: general design of the airplane, aggregate design, research part. There was something else, not very important, related to economics and business processes, as I remember. General design was based on the statistical analysis of the prototypes for airplane aerodynamic scheme, take off weight and other fundamental aircraft parameters definition. So called “equation of existence” was used for this purpose. General design consisted of aerodynamic analysis, selection of the engine and equipment, structural load path layout, selection of the major structural materials, general aircraft layout. It is interesting, that in attempt to satisfy one of the most important requirements for agricultural aircraft, which is good vision of the ground, I “invented” a new scheme, where pilot’s cockpit was placed above engine in the aircraft nose. No one of the prototypes had same. And I really never seen airplane with such layout, or even heard about them. Only several years later, working in the Design Bureau named after Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin, I found out that similar airplane existed. It was Il-20, ground attach airplane, designed in 1948. Just same requirements, good ground view, led Ilyushin’s designers to the scheme, which I invented as new in 1973.

My unique algorithm with three inserted loops (strength, general stability, local stability) was effective and fast. “Promin-M” computer was situated in the Room #420 on the fourth flow of the third building. Many hours I spent there debugging the program and making its runs. Even now it seems as a surprise that this program found design variables, thicknesses and sizes, that look very proportionally and could be manufactured.

The project work was going smoothly. When engineering was finished I started drafting, the process, which I never liked. But it was done without big problems too. My right hand was good trained. And I didn’t use plastic cures even for aerodynamic shapes drawing. Small circles were drawn without compasses, by hand too. Preliminary commission in the beginning of February estimated percentage of readiness and assigned February 18 as a day of my defense.

The SEC (State Examination Committee) sited in the KuAI’s assembly hall in the third building. A1 whatman format drawings were fixed by magnets to special steel rigs installed on the stage. Committee members took places in the first two rows of audience chairs. Other public, friends and fans sited behind. Events were dynamic: 10 minutes for the report, 15 minutes for discussion, 5 minutes for comments and decoration changes for new drawings. Up to ten defenses were happened during the day. The day results were announced after last defense and all successfully processed were awarded with the official academic badge in the form of rhomb with the USSR coat of arms on the sky-blue background, silver wings and the KuAI inscription. Badges were fixed on coat’s lapels of fresh baked aerospace engineers to excite envy in those who hadn’t defended yet. But this was not the only difference between them. Free and light-hearted fresh engineers were a problem for the university authority, because they started to celebrate the event with huge enthusiasm.

But in my case it happened that I was the first defended in our team, and had no chance to celebrate this alone. Instead of celebration I got additional work and responsibility to help my delayed friends. Particularly they delegated general layout drawing of the ambulance variant for the military-transport turboprop that was designed by Pasha Pivovarov. I tried to do my best and used compasses even. But Pasha criticized my drawings, took offence and thought that I am not accurate enough working on his project.

”Why this cross section of the board rib is not exact? Why lightening holes are not circular?” – asked he.

“Pasha, they are circles! Do you see these axes of symmetry? They are even more circular than in my airplane” – I tried to make my excuse.

“Of course, you got the A, and for me you are doing anyhow, for C only” – continued Pasha.

Yes, my diploma project got excellent mark. It seems that Pasha envied a little. He didn’t see my project drawings, but was confident that A can be got only for good looking carefully issued plots. I just on my first year of aerospace university studies understood well that drafting is a separate profession, that design and engineering need their own skills.

All defenses were finished at the end of February. Soviet Army officers of new conscription got their direction to the place of service. Kuzya, Gena Schekov and I were directed to the Vinnitskaya Army. The graduation party happened in the student canteen of the third building on the third of March. This event is worth to be specially described. Next day I left Kuibyshev for Poltava for my vacation. We agreed with Gena and Valerka meet each other in Kiev’s Borispol airport on our way to the army’s headquater.