Among the outstanding figures of the Soviet Union Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev occupies a place of honor. Perhaps his name is not known to everyone and everyone, but in the field of aircraft construction he is a legend. More than any of his colleagues, he succeeded in creating amphibious aircraft, which to this day are among the best on the planet. They are produced under the brand name "Be" (the first syllable of the creator's surname). Beriev left to his descendants not only many aircraft models, but also a school in which his students continue to design seaplanes.
Childhood
In the Georgian city of Tbilisi (Tiflis), Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev was born on February 13, 1903. His nationality is Georgian. His father's surname originally sounded like Beriashvili. But since the vast majority of the inhabitants of Tbilisi were Russians, Mikhail Solomonovich did not feel very comfortable and changed his surname. All four of his children grew up as Berievs.
The father of the future aircraft designer worked as a simplelaborer, and mother - Ekaterina Prokhorova (apparently, was Russian) - worked as a laundress.
Young George is very lucky with school. Its director, being a great enthusiast, tried to provide students with a quality education, enriching the standard program. Children were constantly taken on excursions and broadened their horizons in many other ways. The impressions of his school years will forever remain in Beriev's memory. And a huge shock of childhood was for him the first time he saw an airplane flight, performed by ace Sergei Utochkin. Perhaps it was during that air show that the boy's dream of the sky was born.
But, after graduating from school, fifteen-year-old Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev did not become a pilot, but went to an iron foundry. True, he worked there for only a couple of years.
Education
The guy's parents, although they were very poor, believed that they were obliged to give education to their children. Therefore, they did everything possible for George to enter the Higher Primary School in Tbilisi. Studying was easy for the young man, but he especially liked technical subjects. In 1916, Beriev successfully graduated from this school and immediately entered another - railway, where he received the speci alty of a mechanic.
The guy failed to graduate. The Civil War flared up more and more, and Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev, being an ardent admirer of the Bolsheviks, first joins the Komsomol, and then volunteers for the Red Army.
Only a few years later he managed to continue his education. This timethe choice fell on the polytechnic in Tbilisi.
Dream of the sky
Analyzing the fate of an outstanding figure, today we can say that Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich was born "winged". The dream of heaven, which originated in childhood, became even sharper in youth. The guy tried to enter the Yegorievsk Pilot School, but it didn’t work out - he had to study at the Polytechnic. Only George was not one of those who give up. A year after entering, he found a compromise, transferring from Tbilisi to Leningrad, where the Polytechnic Institute had a shipbuilding department and an aviation department. Life was on track… The dream was getting closer.
Students practiced at the Krasny Pilot plant, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the country. During practice, 27-year-old Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich took to the skies for the first time. True, so far only as a passenger.
Career start
The 20-30s were marked by the rapid development of hydroaviation in many countries of the world, including the Union. For the development of this industry, the Soviet government specially created OMOS (Department of Marine Experimental Aircraft Building). A graduate of the Polytechnic University came here to work.
Beriev's next job was a design bureau led by French aircraft designer Paul Richard. Georgy Mikhailovich first served as a calculator, and then designed knots.
KB functioned for three years and during this time was not marked by any significant achievements. Therefore, the contract with the Frenchman was not renewed, and the bureau was disbanded. Individual employees, among whom was Beriev, moved to the Central Design Bureau of TsAGI. A highly qualified specialist was entrusted with the post of deputy head of the marine department of the Central Design Bureau-39.
Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich works tirelessly and very soon creates an aircraft that in the next twenty years was indispensable in the aviation of the USSR Navy. We are talking about the most massive device of those years - the all-metal seaplane MBR-2.
Foreign experience
After the launch of the MBR-2, its designer was noticed and noted by the government. The authorities decided that Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev, whose biography was simply impeccable (born in a proletarian family, joined the party, fought in the Red Army), was worthy of a trip abroad in order to learn from experience.
The business trip lasted 6 months, and during this time Beriev managed to visit aircraft manufacturing enterprises in England, France, Italy and even the United States of America. The delegation of Soviet aircraft designers returned to their homeland in July 1934.
Chief Designer of the Central Design Bureau of Naval Aircraft Construction
After Beriev's return, he was transferred to Taganrog, where at the aircraft plant, holding the position of chief designer, he literally creates design bureaus from scratch.
The Taganrog period of Georgy Mikhailovich's activity includes such his "children" as the civilian version of the MBR-2 - MP-1, presented in two modifications - for the transport of passengers and cargo.
Employees of the plant managed by Beriev managed toto create the first catapult amphibious aircraft KOR-1 in the USSR. The model was not perfected, but it was put into production.
Among the significant achievements of those years is also the improved MBR-2, which received the "name" MBR-7; MDR-5, created for long-range maritime reconnaissance; development of the apparatus KOR-2, belonging to the class of catapult monoplanes, and others.
A dream come true
Working in Taganrog, Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich, an aircraft designer of the highest class, continued to dream of the sky. He wanted to not only create winged vehicles, but also control them!
And then the idea comes to his mind to find like-minded people and create a flying club. Conceived - done! The authorities made concessions to the eminent designer and gave him two U-2 aircraft. On them, everyone who wanted to learn to fly. Got a "crust" pilot and Beriev.
In the future, he took the helm more than once, including his brainchild - the MBR-2. And once, even while driving the latter, he got into a difficult situation. The plane's engine failed, and the pilots had to put the device on the water in bad weather. Balancing on the waves, they put the bird's heart in order, took off and safely reached the airport.
Thus, Georgy Beriev proved in practice that he created a worthy model. And also - finally, his childhood dream came true!
The Great Patriotic War
Productive activity was treacherously interrupted by the fascist invasion. The Great Patriotic War began. DesignBeriev's bureau was evacuated to Omsk, where work continued on the vital KOR-2 for the country. Time was running out, the government was in a hurry, although its true motives were initially incomprehensible.
Later it turned out that KOR-2 was supposed to perform the functions of a light bomber during naval battles. To this end, the bureau redesigned the model somewhat, and it was launched into mass production.
1943, when the Design Bureau was already working in Krasnoyarsk, dates back to the project of the first flying boat, created by Beriev. It was a new generation ship. But, unfortunately, he did not have time to fight. The first copy of the LL-143 (or Be-6) was assembled just in time for victory - in May 45th, and the country began producing devices in 1946. Production was carried out in Taganrog.
Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich received high awards for a real breakthrough in the domestic aircraft industry:
- 2 Orders of Lenin.
- 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor.
- Medal for Military Merit.
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".
- Anniversary medals.
- Named weapon.
- Stalin Prize of the second degree.
- USSR State Prize.
After the war
At the end of the Great Patriotic War, the design of aircraft received a new round of development. The Taganrog Design Bureau produced one model after another.
Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich, whose photo was already familiar to readers of Soviet newspapers, soon after the legendary Be-6 gave the country a multi-purpose seaplaneBe-8, which served as a flying laboratory for a long time (hydrofoils were tested on it).
The next brainchild of the bureau was the Be-R1 naval reconnaissance aircraft, and after it came the turn to see the light of the Be-10, which was equipped with swept wings for the first time. The plane was presented during a crowded air show, and later twelve world records were made on it. True, the age of the Be-10 turned out to be insultingly short, because the device was created from an extremely short-lived aluminum alloy.
The military industry developed all over the world, and nuclear submarines entered the "podium". Their destruction - that is the goal that the designers of amphibious aircraft now had to pursue. And Beriev creates another masterpiece - the Be-12, affectionately referred to as the "seagull". This unit could find and destroy submarines. For him, the designer received another award - the State Prize. "The Seagull" made it possible to set forty-two world records.
Some deviation from the “topic” was the creation of the P-10 projectile under the leadership of Georgy Mikhailovich. He had nothing to do with amphibians.
Recent years
The last years of his career Beriev devoted to the creation of projects, most of which remained unrealized. Among them, for example, amazing "ekranoplanes" that can fly over any plane due to the air cushion. Some developments simply did not have time to take root in life, because they lost their relevance. And others are still waiting in the wings and still look fantastic.
In the late 1960s, after a second heart attack,Georgy Mikhailovich leaves the Design Bureau. But he does not sit idle in retirement, continuing his analytical and research work. Tries to predict the future of aviation. He is a member of various scientific and technical councils of the country. Until the very last days Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich remains in the ranks. The major general left this world on July 12, 1979.
Legacy
A native of Tbilisi, the son of a simple laborer, a great dreamer and a tireless worker, has come an interesting way. He left behind not only the legendary models of aircraft, which even erect monuments (among them, for example, the Be-6), but also a unique school. In the Beriev Design Bureau, to this day, developments are underway and models of aircraft are being designed, maneuvering between two elements - air and water. School of Georgy Mikhailovich is the world leader in the field of hydroaviation.
Teacher managed to throw good grains. And the soil turned out to be fertile…
