I remind beautiful words late Academician Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov: "In mathematics, the aesthetic side is important - a beautiful hypothesis often leads to the truth."
There is also a noticeable influence of art on science. I never cease to repeat the remark of Albert Einstein, striking in its paradox: "Dostoevsky gives me more than any thinker, more than Gauss." But Gauss is an outstanding mathematician!
It is from the words of these famous people we want to start a conversation in the great dual unity "science - art", dual unity, to which Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, the designer-artist-poet, had a direct relationship.
They will say: Antonov is the creator of aircraft, a talented designer. All his other hobbies are a typical "hobby", so to speak, necessary, but not mandatory conditions for relaxation after scientific work.
The fact of the matter is that this is far from being the case. Antonov was a typical exponent of those new remarkable processes.
which take place at the end of the second millennium (if you count by and large) as a result of the scientific and technological revolution that has covered all aspects of life.
We will try to understand this complex and extremely interesting process.
The ways of development of science are inscrutable, but in this rapid process, which led us to the scientific and technological revolution, one can discern its own patterns. Once upon a time, in the distant years of the formation of science, the scientist comprehensively covered almost all branches of human knowledge and culture. In his view, science was not divided into separate zones or sections. The exact sciences came close to art. The giant scientist worked with almost equal success in different areas of his life.
Such was the great Leonardo da Vinci. A brilliant artist, a brilliant inventor, a brilliant visionary... The technical creations of the great Italian are equal in importance to his creations as an artist. Creating constructions at the level of his century, the scientist boldly peered into the contours of the future. He gave projects aircraft which were not even thought of at the time. With the dedication of an innovative physician, he invaded the then reserved area of anatomy.
Mikhail Lomonosov was just as versatile. Being engaged in astronomy, discovering new laws in the development of chemistry, he wrote poetry, laying the foundations of Russian poetry. And it was not for nothing that in one of the early French encyclopedias it was written for posterity: "We ask you not to frighten the outstanding chemist Lomonosov with the famous poet Lomonosov." Yes, it was he, the great Lomonosov, both a poet and a scientist, who also created beautiful mosaic paintings.
Among people, like the giants of the distant past, there was no sharp boundary not only between the sciences, but also between science and art. The whole complex of human knowledge and worldview closed in their minds in a magic circle of talentedly resolved real problems.
But years passed, and in the increasingly complex science, the process of breaking up the general into separate departments began. Unable to grasp the vastness of knowledge with their minds, scientists specialized in narrow areas, locking themselves in a circle of individual industries, schools and directions. Only a physicist. And where is there to be at the same time an artist, a poet or a sculptor! Specialization seemed to have reached such a level that the scientist ceased to understand his neighbor in science, who was busy with nearby problems. Only mathematician. Only a mechanic. But once it was different: only Lomonosov, only Leonardo ...
But the years went on. Nothing is eternal under the Moon. And again, on the path of the scientific revolution, new lights began to flare up, highlighting new trends. The sciences were born, uniting, it seemed, incompatible, mathematics wove with its iron thread fragmented knowledge into various sections. Young cybernetics came to medicine. The study of space has led to a better knowledge of the geology of the planet. These processes served to unite previously unrelated, even seemingly antagonistic sciences.
The indisputable truth is that what is new in the development of science is often created in the border areas, near the frontiers that once separated scientists. All this forced us to reconsider the triumphant concept of narrow specialization in the direction of universalism.
A modern scientist is categorically obliged to know what is being done in neighboring areas of science. Often, the invasion of "foreign" territory causes a new leap in knowledge. And the more unexpected and, it seems, more disparate such an invasion, the more results we have the right to expect from this feedback in science.
Today, a new process is clearly visible in the world of science. Scientists seem to be returning to that already forgotten universalism of the past, which generously gave birth to the Lomonosovs and Leonardo.
It is safe to say that the development of science, as a part of human culture, is making another spiral turn of its evolution today, while dialectically returning scientists to the widest scope of the entire horizon, knowledge from science to art. We generally call this process a single word - creativity.
The creative process develops along a dialectical spiral. From the general to the particular and from the particular again to the general - such is the path of creativity, continuously enriched in the flow of time by more and more new achievements in the field of both science and art.
Today we observe how two threads - the thread of science and art - seem to be intertwined in a spiral, continuously enriching each other. Strange, but this is foretold in the old occult treatises.
Here we come to the main thing with which we started our conversation: modern science is making another round today, turning, for example, even to creative discoveries in the field of science fiction painting, imbued with a concrete sense of the future.
And what is amazing - the turns of the two helixes in the field of science and art are intertwined with each other, like a double genetic helix of DNA - the carrier of life. In its mysterious bowels are laid the nuclei of future possibilities - the genes of the future. Isn't this the living connection of outwardly incompatible science and art?
And what is most important - art, as it were, becomes an integral part of science and vice versa, the living juices of science nourish contemporary art.
We were convinced of this at the “Scientists Draw” exhibition, which was held in the very center of Kyiv in a new exhibition hall. It was in 1981, when Oleg Konstantinovich - who else? - took care of its organization.
Under the vaults exhibition halls canvases and graphic works of the most famous scientists and designers in the country were collected.
In front of the visitors of the exhibition there are several canvases of the General Designer. Hero of Socialist Labor Academician Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. Years are powerful and not powerful over the creativity of the designer and artist. After all, the creator of the super-heavy winged "Antey" and the most lifting aircraft in the world at that time - "Ruslan" turned to the palette and poetry, regardless of age. His paintings are predominantly blue, pastel shades. The elastic transparency of the air, through which the artist, as if from a bird's eye view, sees surprisingly young the world. Years go by, but the world on the canvases remains the same, his.
Beautiful picture "Our Motherland". As if flying among the plump mass of cumulus clouds, the viewer looks around his native country from an unusual perspective - this is the pilot's view. With the same vigilance, the scientist-artist peers into the microworld in the painting "The Structure of Matter" or tries to associate his feelings with such abstract concepts as "Rage ”, or as socially saturated as the “Battle for Peace”. Mature work by a mature artist. It is not easy to believe that these are the works of the world famous aircraft designer.
And he is not alone in this. Somewhere nearby are paintings by the founders of cosmonautics, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, Academician Boris Nikolaevich Yuryev, Patriarch of Russian Aviation Konstantin Konstantinovich Artseulov.
The work of these world-renowned scientists, designers and pilots is akin to art. Their aspirations are, as it were, illustrated by the words of O. K. Antonov, addressed primarily to the younger generation:
“The child literally from the first steps is eager to create. After all, he creates, and when he breaks, he explores. This thirst must be maintained, kindled. It is unacceptable to imprison a child in the vice of our adults: “you can”, “you can’t”, “sit still”! What would humanity have achieved if it consisted only of people who are exaggeratedly prudent? ..
I am for bloody noses, for bruises on my knees, for calluses on my hands. Let the guys argue, make mistakes, correct mistakes, learn to handle tools, a ruler, a brush. Let them not be afraid of difficulties, strive to fly further, higher, faster.
However, we must remember another simple truth, an ugly plane will not fly. Everyone needs wings, not only those whose fate is directly connected with aviation.”
The last words refer to us, to artists, to designers, workers, pilots and motorists, to you, reader.
Addressing the youth, the outstanding designer reveals this secret of scientific creativity - the indispensable connection between science and art.
An ugly plane ... Oh, how deplorable is the fate of its creators. Their offspring cannot see the sky!
We must attribute this principle to any kind of scientific and technical activity. Only harmony - a combination of beauty and rationality - gives true results in any field of creativity.
The latter also applies to the outstanding Odessa eye doctor N. Filatov, welding specialist B. A. Smirnov-Rusetsky, candidate of technical sciences M. D. Sterligova, Moscow mathematics professor A. T. Fomenko. Their paintings are innovatively fresh, and their craftsmanship is beyond doubt.
They are inspired by high aspirations, about which Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko spoke beautifully:
“There are many similarities between mathematics and painting, science and art. And most importantly, the scientist and the artist go to the discovery of the unknown, not known before them, and having made this discovery, they carry others along with them.
Isn't this the law of creativity? After all, it extends not only to painting, but also to poetry. Many scientists, designers write poetry and not only for family albums.
The publishing house "Soviet Russia" published two editions of the poetic book "The Muse in the Temple of Science". The poetry of scientists is widely represented in it. Among them is the poet Oleg Antonov.
And interestingly, many of the poets were also presented in the catalog of the exhibition "Scientists Draw". They are poets, artists, and scientists. What about their critics? Oh, they're almost always just critics.
All day long, people crowded at the entrance of this exhibition, wanting to join the mystery of creativity in many areas.
Scientists develop new theories. Scientists draw. Scientists write poetry. Scientists are creating… The guests of the exhibition are dizzy. But in them - reflections of eternal secrets and sacraments.
The guest book at the exhibition "Scientists Draw" contains poems by Candidate of Biological Sciences N. Bromley.
It is a lie that there is no poetry in science.
In the reflections of the great world
Hundreds of colors and sounds will catch the poet
And the sorceress-lyre will repeat.
A true scientist is also a poet,
Ever thirsty to know and foresee.
Who said that there is no poetry in science?
You just need to understand and see.
To understand and see... To leave in memory this good dozen paintings by the late President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician A. N. Nesmeyanov, who also wrote more than 300 poems. He, an outstanding organic chemist, needs these beautiful landscapes and still lifes as much as a sip of spring water, as a heart impulse, as deeply poetic lines about the essence of life.
Poetry and painting helped the founder of space biology, the innovator Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky. Creating his famous theory of the influence of solar cycles on life, the scientist wrote (or heard from above?) Beautiful poems and painted romantic landscapes. By the way, such giants as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Valery Bryusov, Maximilian Voloshin appreciated his poems.
And does not the work of Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Dmitry Ivanovich Blokhintsev tell us about the same connection between science and art? The outstanding physicist, who led the construction of the world's first nuclear power plant, was both a poet and a kind of artist. In addition to the most important theoretical articles on nuclear physics, Blokhintsev more than once published original theoretical articles on the nature of creativity, emphasizing the similarity of creative processes in science and art.
Everyone knows that Lenin's comrade-in-arms, the pioneer of the electrification of our country, Academician Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhizhanovsky composed poetry. The words of the famous "Varshavyanka" belong to him. Until now, new works by the revolutionary scientist, written by him in prison and exile, are being discovered.
And here are the lines of poetry by another scientist - an outstanding Soviet geneticist, Academician Nikolai Petrovich Dubinin. How figuratively he writes about the majestic river, where he once worked as an ornithologist, being exiled to the Urals during the years of repressions for his commitment to genetics on the slander of Academician Lysenko:
At the dawn of the Urals my blue-blue,
Like Damascus steel in silver.
Bending, he cuts the desert,
Swans calling for spring.
The poems of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Petryanov, a chemist, world-famous specialist in the field of aerosols, are interesting:
These hands can do everything.
If you want the whole world I will build them
These, skillful, mine ...
And how many songs I wrote with them -
These skillful, mine ...
After all, these hands can do everything.
Yes, these hands can do everything.
But I did not keep you with them -
These skillful ones, mine,
Though these hands can do everything.
What brevity and what poetic power in these repetitions of the image of omnipotent and such powerless hands.
And, finally, the poems of another outstanding scientist - the Hero of Socialist Labor, Academician Nikolai Alekseevich Shilo. A geologist, he worked for many years in the East and the Far North - that is why his literary works are devoted to the harsh nature of this region.
Cold sky and pale moon
The unheated sun above the earth.
There is no village here, not even a threshing floor -
The harsh world bent over me.
This frozen land is dear to me,
On a blizzard day, ringing in the wind,
When the blizzard swept open spaces.
Like a mother's hut, waking up in the morning.
Involuntarily I want to ask a question:
Who is the physicist here? Who is the lyricist?
They have grown together in a single image of a talented person. This creativity illuminates his face with its light.
And here are the verses from the same book by Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. He called them "The Sound of the Rain".
The rushing sound of the rain
Getting stronger, getting stronger...
Only this noise - not noise -
It's the music of the rain!
Drops are falling, flowing
On the stems, sliding to the ground,
By blade of grass, by blade of grass
Drops jump, shining,
Merging into streams
They run down the trunks to the ground
And from leaf to leaf
This is the music of the rain.
Dance of pearls in the branches.
Jumping, falling, flowing
Under the roots of warm moisture,
Dissolving the salt of the earth.
Silky noise and ringing -
Silence the music of the rain.
Fine comb, fine comb
Rain combs the winds.
Puddles black with anxiety
They look into the dark sky.
... The restless noise of the drip.
Quiet rain music.
The sense of beauty does not change the poet, who has been building airplanes all his life.
How to understand your statement about a beautiful plane? - Antonov was once asked.
It seems to me that in our aviation it is felt especially clearly, - Antonov answered the dull interviewer. - a close relationship between high technical excellence and beauty. We know perfectly well that a beautiful plane flies well, and an ugly one does not fly well, or even does not fly at all. This is not superstition, but a completely materialistic position. This is a kind of natural selection within our consciousness. For many years, some purely technical, calculated and experimental, proven solutions have been developed. Having this partially even subconscious information, the designer can often go from beauty to technology, from aesthetic solutions to technical solutions.
According to Antonov, his artistic education is also of great importance in the designer's work.
That's why being able to draw, he says, is so important to a designer. That is why the designer, when talking with the designer, does not part with the pencil. Talking, explaining, he draws. A few touches - and the idea of \u200b\u200bthe design becomes clearer ...
No wonder Diderot, the head of the French encyclopedist philosophers of the 18th century, stated:
"A nation that will teach its children to draw as much as to read, count and write will excel all others in science, arts and crafts."
How true! The fact that Oleg Konstantinovich knew painting in all its subtleties, understood art, is clear from his correspondence with the commander of the French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen squadron in 1977.
“Dear Mr. Pierre Poulard!
I cordially congratulate you on the award of the international Lenin Prize for strengthening peace among peoples.
I take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful gift that brought me great joy. It is doubly valuable to me: firstly, as a masterful reproduction of one of the early works of the Impressionists; secondly, as the work of our great friend, the commander of the glorious Normandie-Niemen squadron.
I really love the art of the Impressionists, who made one of the greatest revolutions in art, I admire their steadfastness in defending their aesthetic convictions, their vision of the world.
There are quite the name of Bertha Morisot is rare.
Don't you think that, despite the relatively modest role in the development of Impressionism, her works, at least those that I managed to see, now, after a hundred years, seem surprisingly modern?
We know very little of her work. However, not a single painting by Berthe Morisot is mentioned even in the wonderful broadcasts.
It seems to me that someday it will be “discovered”, as, for example, Jan Vermeer of Delft was “discovered”.
I am sending you transparencies of some of my amateur works: Our Land, Catastrophe.
With best wishes, sincerely yours Antonov.
Antonov ardently supported the unknown artist Alexei Kozlov, whom he knew and whose work he highly appreciated.
A letter from the academician addressed to the director of the State Tretyakov Gallery with a request to support a talented person has been preserved.
Here is the letter:
“Ten years ago I got acquainted with the works of Kozlov, a very peculiar and deeply national artist.
He is a simple soldier, a participant in the Second World War, upon returning to his village Pyshug in the Kostroma region and graduating from an art college, he devoted himself entirely to painting.
For many years he lived in poverty, lived from hand to mouth ...
One of his works, in my opinion, deserves to be acquired by the State Tretyakov Gallery headed by you.
We are talking about a portrait of his friend - forester Kipriyan Zalessky. This is not a portrait of an individual. This is a collective image of a Russian person, seen through the prism of the whole amazing history of our people. The thing is both poetic and deeply philosophical. Her painting is excellent. It may well be put on a par with the world's best portraits by Velasquez, Valentin Serov, Modigliani, Nesterov. The portrait of Kipriyan Zalessky is, like everything else written by him, at his home, in the workshop: Savelovsky per., 8, apt. 6.
Antonov.
The example of the artist Kozlov is not unique.
Many cases are known when Oleg Konstantinovich stood up for artists.
His view of painting was original and, of course, original.
Looking at the picture, Antonov said, look for a projection where all the lines converge at one point. Find it, then everything will be instantly enlightened. This is the wonder of art. Then Platonov's painting "It's snowing" suddenly starts to warm you up. And vice versa, the painting "Fire" is cold. This is the magic of painting, concludes Antonov.
AN UGLY PLANE WILL NOT FLIGHT
I recall the wonderful words of the late Academician Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov: "The aesthetic side is important in mathematics - a beautiful hypothesis often leads to the truth."
There is also a noticeable influence of art on science. I never cease to repeat the remark of Albert Einstein, striking in its paradox: "Dostoevsky gives me more than any thinker, more than Gauss." But Gauss is an outstanding mathematician!
It is from the words of these famous people that we want to start a conversation in the great duality of "science - art", duality, to which Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, the designer-artist-poet, had a direct relationship.
They will say: Antonov is the creator of aircraft, a talented designer. All his other hobbies are a typical "hobby", so to speak, necessary, but not mandatory conditions for relaxation after scientific work.
The fact of the matter is that this is far from being the case. Antonov was a typical exponent of those new remarkable processes.
which take place at the end of the second millennium (if you count by and large) as a result of the scientific and technological revolution that has covered all aspects of life.
We will try to understand this complex and extremely interesting process.
The ways of development of science are inscrutable, but in this rapid process, which led us to the scientific and technological revolution, one can discern its own patterns. Once upon a time, in the distant years of the formation of science, the scientist comprehensively covered almost all branches of human knowledge and culture. In his view, science was not divided into separate zones or sections. The exact sciences came close to art. The giant scientist worked with almost equal success in different areas of his life.
Such was the great Leonardo da Vinci. A brilliant artist, a brilliant inventor, a brilliant visionary... The technical creations of the great Italian are equal in importance to his creations as an artist. Creating constructions at the level of his century, the scientist boldly peered into the contours of the future. He gave projects of aircraft, which were not even thought of at that time. With the dedication of an innovative physician, he invaded the then reserved area of anatomy.
Mikhail Lomonosov was just as versatile. Being engaged in astronomy, discovering new laws in the development of chemistry, he wrote poetry, laying the foundations of Russian poetry. And it was not for nothing that in one of the early French encyclopedias it was written for posterity: "We ask you not to frighten the outstanding chemist Lomonosov with the famous poet Lomonosov." Yes, it was he, the great Lomonosov, both a poet and a scientist, who also created beautiful mosaic paintings.
Among people, like the giants of the distant past, there was no sharp boundary not only between the sciences, but also between science and art. The whole complex of human knowledge and worldview closed in their minds in a magic circle of talentedly resolved real problems.
But years passed, and in the increasingly complex science, the process of breaking up the general into separate departments began. Unable to grasp the vastness of knowledge with their minds, scientists specialized in narrow areas, locking themselves in a circle of individual industries, schools and directions. Only a physicist. And where is there to be at the same time an artist, a poet or a sculptor! Specialization seemed to have reached such a level that the scientist ceased to understand his neighbor in science, who was busy with nearby problems. Only mathematician. Only a mechanic. But once it was different: only Lomonosov, only Leonardo ...
But the years went on. Nothing is eternal under the Moon. And again, on the path of the scientific revolution, new lights began to flare up, highlighting new trends. The sciences were born, uniting, it seemed, incompatible, mathematics wove with its iron thread fragmented knowledge into various sections. Young cybernetics came to medicine. The study of space has led to a better knowledge of the geology of the planet. These processes served to unite previously unrelated, even seemingly antagonistic sciences.
The indisputable truth is that what is new in the development of science is often created in the border areas, near the frontiers that once separated scientists. All this forced us to reconsider the triumphant concept of narrow specialization in the direction of universalism.
A modern scientist is categorically obliged to know what is being done in neighboring areas of science. Often, the invasion of "foreign" territory causes a new leap in knowledge. And the more unexpected and seemingly disparate such an invasion, the more results we can expect from this feedback in science.
Today, a new process is clearly visible in the world of science. Scientists seem to be returning to that already forgotten universalism of the past, which generously gave birth to the Lomonosovs and Leonardo.
It is safe to say that the development of science, as a part of human culture, is making another spiral turn of its evolution today, while dialectically returning scientists to the widest scope of the entire horizon, knowledge from science to art. We generally call this process a single word - creativity.
The creative process develops along a dialectical spiral. From the general to the particular and from the particular again to the general - such is the path of creativity, continuously enriched in the flow of time by more and more new achievements in the field of both science and art.
Today we observe how two threads - the thread of science and art - seem to be intertwined in a spiral, continuously enriching each other. Strange, but this is foretold in the old occult treatises.
Here we come to the main thing with which we started our conversation: modern science is making another round today, turning, for example, even to creative discoveries in the field of science fiction painting, imbued with a concrete sense of the future.
And what is amazing - the turns of the two helixes in the field of science and art are intertwined with each other, like a double genetic helix of DNA - the carrier of life. In its mysterious bowels are laid the nuclei of future possibilities - the genes of the future. Isn't this the living connection of outwardly incompatible science and art?
And what is most important - art, as it were, becomes an integral part of science and vice versa, the living juices of science nourish contemporary art.
We were convinced of this at the “Scientists Draw” exhibition, which was held in the very center of Kyiv in a new exhibition hall. It was in 1981, when Oleg Konstantinovich - who else? - took care of its organization.
Under the arches of the exhibition halls, canvases and graphic works of the most famous scientists and designers in the country were collected.
In front of the visitors of the exhibition there are several canvases of the General Designer. Hero of Socialist Labor Academician Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. Years are powerful and not powerful over the creativity of the designer and artist. After all, the creator of the super-heavy winged "Antey" and the most lifting aircraft in the world at that time - "Ruslan" turned to the palette and poetry, regardless of age. His paintings are predominantly blue, pastel shades. The elastic transparency of the air, through which the artist, as if from a bird's eye view, sees the world around him in a surprisingly youthful way. Years go by, but the world on the canvases remains the same, his.
Beautiful picture "Our Motherland". As if flying among the plump mass of cumulus clouds, the viewer looks around his native country from an unusual perspective - this is the pilot's view. With the same vigilance, the scientist-artist peers into the microworld in the painting "The Structure of Matter" or tries to associate his feelings with such abstract concepts as "Rage ”, or as socially saturated as the “Battle for Peace”. Mature work by a mature artist. It is not easy to believe that these are the works of the world famous aircraft designer.
And he is not alone in this. Somewhere nearby are paintings by the founders of cosmonautics, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, Academician Boris Nikolaevich Yuryev, Patriarch of Russian Aviation Konstantin Konstantinovich Artseulov.
The work of these world-renowned scientists, designers and pilots is akin to art. Their aspirations are, as it were, illustrated by the words of O. K. Antonov, addressed primarily to the younger generation:
“The child literally from the first steps is eager to create. After all, he creates, and when he breaks, he explores. This thirst must be maintained, kindled. It is unacceptable to imprison a child in the vice of our adults: “you can”, “you can’t”, “sit still”! What would humanity have achieved if it consisted only of people who are exaggeratedly prudent? ..
I am for bloody noses, for bruises on my knees, for calluses on my hands. Let the guys argue, make mistakes, correct mistakes, learn to handle tools, a ruler, a brush. Let them not be afraid of difficulties, strive to fly further, higher, faster.
However, we must remember another simple truth, an ugly plane will not fly. Everyone needs wings, not only those whose fate is directly connected with aviation.”
The last words refer to us, to artists, to designers, workers, pilots and motorists, to you, reader.
Addressing the youth, the outstanding designer reveals this secret of scientific creativity - the indispensable connection between science and art.
An ugly plane ... Oh, how deplorable is the fate of its creators. Their offspring cannot see the sky!
We must attribute this principle to any kind of scientific and technical activity. Only harmony - a combination of beauty and rationality - gives true results in any field of creativity.
The latter also applies to the outstanding Odessa eye doctor N. Filatov, welding specialist B. A. Smirnov-Rusetsky, candidate of technical sciences M. D. Sterligova, Moscow mathematics professor A. T. Fomenko. Their paintings are innovatively fresh, and their craftsmanship is beyond doubt.
They are inspired by high aspirations, about which Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko spoke beautifully:
“There are many similarities between mathematics and painting, science and art. And most importantly, the scientist and the artist go to the discovery of the unknown, not known before them, and having made this discovery, they carry others along with them.
Isn't this the law of creativity? After all, it extends not only to painting, but also to poetry. Many scientists, designers write poetry and not only for family albums.
The publishing house "Soviet Russia" published two editions of the poetic book "The Muse in the Temple of Science". The poetry of scientists is widely represented in it. Among them is the poet Oleg Antonov.
And interestingly, many of the poets were also presented in the catalog of the exhibition "Scientists Draw". They are poets, artists, and scientists. What about their critics? Oh, they're almost always just critics.
All day long, people crowded at the entrance of this exhibition, wanting to join the mystery of creativity in many areas.
Scientists develop new theories. Scientists draw. Scientists write poetry. Scientists are creating… The guests of the exhibition are dizzy. But in them - reflections of eternal secrets and sacraments.
The guest book at the exhibition "Scientists Draw" contains poems by Candidate of Biological Sciences N. Bromley.
It is a lie that there is no poetry in science.
In the reflections of the great world
Hundreds of colors and sounds will catch the poet
And the sorceress-lyre will repeat.
A true scientist is also a poet,
Ever thirsty to know and foresee.
Who said that there is no poetry in science?
You just need to understand and see.
To understand and see... To leave in memory this good dozen paintings by the late President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician A. N. Nesmeyanov, who also wrote more than 300 poems. He, an outstanding organic chemist, needs these beautiful landscapes and still lifes as much as a sip of spring water, as a heart impulse, as deeply poetic lines about the essence of life.
Poetry and painting helped the founder of space biology, the innovator Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky. Creating his famous theory of the influence of solar cycles on life, the scientist wrote (or heard from above?) Beautiful poems and painted romantic landscapes. By the way, such giants as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Valery Bryusov, Maximilian Voloshin appreciated his poems.
And does not the work of Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Dmitry Ivanovich Blokhintsev tell us about the same connection between science and art? The outstanding physicist, who led the construction of the world's first nuclear power plant, was both a poet and a kind of artist. In addition to the most important theoretical articles on nuclear physics, Blokhintsev more than once published original theoretical articles on the nature of creativity, emphasizing the similarity of creative processes in science and art.
Everyone knows that Lenin's comrade-in-arms, the pioneer of the electrification of our country, Academician Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhizhanovsky composed poetry. The words of the famous "Varshavyanka" belong to him. Until now, new works by the revolutionary scientist, written by him in prison and exile, are being discovered.
And here are the lines of poetry by another scientist - an outstanding Soviet geneticist, Academician Nikolai Petrovich Dubinin. How figuratively he writes about the majestic river, where he once worked as an ornithologist, being exiled to the Urals during the years of repressions for his commitment to genetics on the slander of Academician Lysenko:
At the dawn of the Urals my blue-blue,
Like Damascus steel in silver.
Bending, he cuts the desert,
Swans calling for spring.
The poems of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Petryanov, a chemist, world-famous specialist in the field of aerosols, are interesting:
These hands can do everything.
If you want, I'll build a whole world with them, -
These, skillful, mine ...
And how many songs I wrote with them -
These skillful, mine ...
After all, these hands can do everything.
Yes, these hands can do everything.
But I did not keep you with them -
These skillful ones, mine,
Though these hands can do everything.
What brevity and what poetic power in these repetitions of the image of omnipotent and such powerless hands.
And, finally, the poems of another outstanding scientist - the Hero of Socialist Labor, Academician Nikolai Alekseevich Shilo. A geologist, he worked for many years in the East and the Far North - that is why his literary works are devoted to the harsh nature of this region.
Cold sky and pale moon
The unheated sun above the earth.
There is no village here, not even a threshing floor -
The harsh world bent over me.
This frozen land is dear to me,
On a blizzard day, ringing in the wind,
When the blizzard swept open spaces.
Like a mother's hut, waking up in the morning.
Involuntarily I want to ask a question:
Who is the physicist here? Who is the lyricist?
They have grown together in a single image of a talented person. This creativity illuminates his face with its light.
And here are the verses from the same book by Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov. He called them "The Sound of the Rain".
The rushing sound of the rain
Getting stronger, getting stronger...
Only this noise - not noise -
It's the music of the rain!
Drops are falling, flowing
On the stems, sliding to the ground,
By blade of grass, by blade of grass
Drops jump, shining,
Merging into streams
They run down the trunks to the ground
And from leaf to leaf
This is the music of the rain.
Dance of pearls in the branches.
Jumping, falling, flowing
Under the roots of warm moisture,
Dissolving the salt of the earth.
Silky noise and ringing -
Silence the music of the rain.
Fine comb, fine comb
Rain combs the winds.
Puddles black with anxiety
They look into the dark sky.
... The restless noise of the drip.
Quiet rain music.
The sense of beauty does not change the poet, who has been building airplanes all his life.
How to understand your statement about a beautiful plane? - Antonov was once asked.
It seems to me that in our aviation it is felt especially clearly, - Antonov answered the dull interviewer. - a close relationship between high technical excellence and beauty. We know perfectly well that a beautiful plane flies well, and an ugly one does not fly well, or even does not fly at all. This is not superstition, but a completely materialistic position. This is a kind of natural selection within our consciousness. For many years, some purely technical, calculated and experimental, proven solutions have been developed. Having this partially even subconscious information, the designer can often go from beauty to technology, from aesthetic solutions to technical solutions.
According to Antonov, his artistic education is also of great importance in the designer's work.
That's why being able to draw, he says, is so important to a designer. That is why the designer, when talking with the designer, does not part with the pencil. Talking, explaining, he draws. A few touches - and the idea of \u200b\u200bthe design becomes clearer ...
No wonder Diderot, the head of the French encyclopedist philosophers of the 18th century, stated:
"A nation that will teach its children to draw as much as to read, count and write will excel all others in science, arts and crafts."
How true! The fact that Oleg Konstantinovich knew painting in all its subtleties, understood art, is clear from his correspondence with the commander of the French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen squadron in 1977.
“Dear Mr. Pierre Poulard!
I cordially congratulate you on the award of the international Lenin Prize for strengthening peace among peoples.
I take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful gift that brought me great joy. It is doubly valuable to me: firstly, as a masterful reproduction of one of the early works of the Impressionists; secondly, as the work of our great friend, the commander of the glorious Normandie-Niemen squadron.
I really love the art of the Impressionists, who made one of the greatest revolutions in art, I admire their steadfastness in defending their aesthetic convictions, their vision of the world.
There are quite the name of Bertha Morisot is rare.
Don't you think that, despite the relatively modest role in the development of Impressionism, her works, at least those that I managed to see, now, after a hundred years, seem surprisingly modern?
We know very little of her work. However, not a single painting by Berthe Morisot is mentioned even in the wonderful broadcasts.
It seems to me that someday it will be “discovered”, as, for example, Jan Vermeer of Delft was “discovered”.
I am sending you transparencies of some of my amateur works: Our Land, Catastrophe.
With best wishes, sincerely yours Antonov.
Antonov ardently supported the unknown artist Alexei Kozlov, whom he knew and whose work he highly appreciated.
A letter from the academician addressed to the director of the State Tretyakov Gallery with a request to support a talented person has been preserved.
Here is the letter:
“Ten years ago I got acquainted with the works of Kozlov, a very peculiar and deeply national artist.
He is a simple soldier, a participant in the Second World War, upon returning to his village Pyshug in the Kostroma region and graduating from an art college, he devoted himself entirely to painting.
For many years he lived in poverty, lived from hand to mouth ...
One of his works, in my opinion, deserves to be acquired by the State Tretyakov Gallery headed by you.
We are talking about a portrait of his friend - forester Kipriyan Zalessky. This is not a portrait of an individual. This is a collective image of a Russian person, seen through the prism of the whole amazing history of our people. The thing is both poetic and deeply philosophical. Her painting is excellent. It may well be put on a par with the world's best portraits by Velasquez, Valentin Serov, Modigliani, Nesterov. The portrait of Kipriyan Zalessky is, like everything else written by him, at his home, in the workshop: Savelovsky per., 8, apt. 6.
Antonov.
The example of the artist Kozlov is not unique.
Many cases are known when Oleg Konstantinovich stood up for artists.
His view of painting was original and, of course, original.
Looking at the picture, Antonov said, look for a projection where all the lines converge at one point. Find it, then everything will be instantly enlightened. This is the wonder of art. Then Platonov's painting "It's snowing" suddenly starts to warm you up. And vice versa, the painting "Fire" is cold. This is the magic of painting, concludes Antonov.
From the book About spacecraft author Feoktistov Konstantin PetrovichROCKET, PLANE OR ROCKET PLANE? No matter how much they talk about future ships and stations, not only design problems determine the possibility and economics of their creation. Such is the nature of astronautics that at all times much will depend on the means of purely
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From the book We are children of war. Memoirs of a military test pilot author Mikoyan Stepan AnastasovichChapter 22 Aircraft SU-15 I will continue the story about the interceptors of the Design Bureau of P. O. Sukhoi. Starting from 1960, Su-9 aircraft began to enter some air defense combat regiments. Since the state tests have not yet been completed, we have issued a "Preliminary Opinion" so that they have
From the book Planes fly to the partisans (Notes of the Chief of Staff) author Verkhozin Alexander MikhailovichThe plane landed without a pilot. The crew of the young commander of the ship, Leonid Shuvaev, consisted of fighting Komsomol members. They carried out the tasks diligently, with a twinkle. They were trusted to bomb the fascist troops and fly to drop cargo to partisans. In preparation for the "rail war"
From Tupolev's book author Bodrikhin Nikolay GeorgievichThe main aircraft In the early 1950s, with the advent of nuclear weapons, the aggravated international political situation demanded an early strengthening of the strategic component of Soviet military aviation. Stalin really liked the Tu-16 aircraft, and, once calling
From the book Anatoly Serov author Chalaya Zinaida AkimovnaPlane This was the first plane seen by Anatoly. Of course, before, it happened, a steel bird would fly high over a field or a city, and the boy's eyes would accompany it until it disappeared into the distance. Tolya was then less than a year old, and the "airplane" did not yet possess his imagination. But with
From the book "Flaming Motors" by Arkhip Lyulka author Kuzmina LidiaSu-27 - the plane-legend In the late 60s, the United States was hard at work on the creation of a new complex specialized fighter to gain air superiority, the F-15. The echoes of this purposeful large-scale activity reached our designers.
From the book Winged Guards author Sorokin Zakhar ArtemovichThe Plane Didn't Return In October, it's already winter on the Kola Peninsula. With it comes the polar night. The earth is tightly wrapped in snow, severe frosts begin, snow charges fly in. To me, accustomed to the southern climate, such an early and severe winter was in
From the book The Purpose of Life author Yakovlev Alexander SergeevichRocket and plane Grandiose advances in rocket technology. Will missiles replace aircraft? - Opinions of foreign experts. - Planes of the near future. - From Moscow to New York in 3-4 hours. - And a rocket and a plane! - A trip to the landfill. - Government meets new
From the book Unknown Lavochkin authorPlane "130" This aircraft was designed for the ASh-83 engine. It was expected that its maximum speed would reach 725 km / h at an altitude of 7500 m, the range - 1450 km, and the ceiling - 10,500 m. But the planned engine, as you already know, did not wait, and it was replaced by a battle-tested one
From the book Unknown "MiG" [Pride of the Soviet aviation industry] author Yakubovich Nikolay VasilievichAircraft "152" After the La-150, the aircraft "152", built taking into account already accumulated experience, began to claim the role of the first combat vehicle OKB-301. While retaining the classic layout of its predecessor, the new fighter has been largely redesigned. He became mid-range and more
From the book Pages from the flight book author Golubeva-Teres Olga TimofeevnaWaiting for a plane December 28, 1995 88°22’55’’ S latitude, 80°38’03’’ W e. The day is quiet. White mist. I made a compass fixture. Went 12 hours. I'm waiting for the plane to come and drop the groceries for me. Two left
From the author's bookThe plane - in the smoke "... 12.1.45 at 20.47 hours. there was a breakdown of the Po-2 aircraft. The plane took off in front of the most directing gates, but did not gain altitude ... Load: 6 bombs ... "I think: what is luck? I remember my very first flights when I want to excel. All around in
I couldn't get past this day!
Today, November 10, is Andrey Nikolaevich Tupolev's birthday!
He is a GENIUS aircraft designer, the creator of a design bureau of his own name.
Over 100 types of aircraft were designed under Tupolev's leadership, 70 of which were mass-produced. On his aircraft, 78 world records were set, about 30 outstanding flights were made.
Milestones from the life and work of Tupolev Design Bureau:
1925 - Andrei Nikolaevich created the all-metal twin-engine aircraft TB-1 (ANT-4), the world's first serial all-metal heavy twin-engine monoplane bomber. In addition to the Moscow-New York flight, TB-1 participated in the rescue of the crew of the Chelyuskin icebreaker - pilot A.V. Lyapidevsky took the first batch of Chelyuskin from the ice floe.
1932 - under the leadership of Tupolev, the ANT-25 aircraft was designed by the brigade of P. O. Sukhoi.
1936 - flight from Moscow to the Far East (crew commander - V.P. Chkalov, co-pilot - G.F. Baidukov, navigator - A.V. Belyakov). The 9375 km flight lasted 56 hours before landing on sand spit Udd Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk.
On June 18, 1937, the ANT-25 aircraft flew along the route Moscow - the North Pole - the United States of America, landing at the airport in Vancouver, (crew commander - V.P. Chkalov, co-pilot - G.F. Baidukov, navigator - A V. Belyakov)
1934 - Multi-engine aircraft model "Maxim Gorky". He had eight engines, usable area more than 100 m² and a passenger capacity of up to 60 people.
1952 - New model - Tu-16 jet bomber. He was able to reach speeds of over 1000 km/h. Still in service with the Chinese army!
1955 - The first domestic jet civil aircraft appeared - Tu-104.
1952 - Tu-95 (according to NATO codification: "Bear") - the legendary turboprop strategic bomber-missile carrier, one of the fastest propeller-driven aircraft in the world.
The world's last adopted and mass-produced turboprop bomber. More than half a century in service!
On July 30, 2010, a world record for non-stop flight for serial aircraft was set - in 43 hours, bombers flew about 30 thousand kilometers over three oceans, refueling four times in the air. Part of Russia's nuclear triad
At the Belaya airbase
1957 - intercontinental passenger aircraft Tu-114.
1963 - Tu-134 - Over the long years of operation, the Tu-134 showed its reliability and efficiency. In terms of the reliability coefficient, the Tu-134 has proven itself to be practically trouble-free. An outstanding feature of the aircraft is the hitherto unsurpassed limitations on the values of the headwind (30 m/s) and side (20 m/s) wind components during takeoff and landing.
11-Tu-134UBL, nicknamed "Pinocchio", is designed to train Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 pilots.
1968 - Tu-154, the most massive Soviet jet passenger aircraft, which until the end of the first decade of the 21st century remained one of the main aircraft on medium-range routes in Russia
1968 - Tu-144 - The world's first supersonic airliner, which was used for commercial transportation. The first flight was two months earlier than the Concorde. The Tu-144 is also the first passenger airliner in history to break the sound barrier (June 5, 1969).
The plane overcame Mach 2 on May 25, 1970, flying at an altitude of 16300 m at a speed of 2150 km/h.
1969 - Tu-22M. Long-range supersonic missile-carrying bomber with variable wing geometry
1977 - Tu-22M3. Carrier of Kh-22 cruise missiles. Thunderstorm of NATO aircraft carrier groups.
1981 - Tu-160 - Supersonic strategic bomber-missile carrier with variable sweep wing. It is the largest and most powerful supersonic and variable wing aircraft in the history of military aviation, as well as the heaviest combat aircraft in the world. Also the fastest bomber in the world. An integral part of the Russian nuclear triad, along with the Tu-95.
A decision was made to resume production of the Tu-160.
1989 - Tu-204 - one of the few passenger aircraft, which in practice confirmed the possibility of a safe completion of the flight with all engines inoperative. On January 14, 2002, the Tu-204-100 aircraft No. 64011 of Siberia Airlines, flying from Frankfurt to Novosibirsk, ran out of fuel in adverse weather conditions 17 km from Omsk Airport and made a successful landing with two inoperative engines. No one was hurt during the landing, and the plane returned to service soon after.
1996 - Tu-214. Tu-214SUS - An aircraft that provides communications to the President of Russia.
Photos are not all mine (mine are signed)
A Russian proverb states that "they meet by their clothes, they see them off by their mind." Usually it is customary to interpret it as the superiority and priority of "mind" over "clothes". Looks like it's time to take a fresh look at the old wisdom.
In this statement, one can clearly see a dismissive, and even contemptuous attitude towards “clothes”, which is often accepted in Russia. After all, it is the internal content that is truly significant and valued.
And indeed, the wrapping, “clothing”, appearance is not more important than the inner content, but it must be worthy of it. Moreover, somehow it turns out that great essences are usually accompanied by an attractive shell.
As Tupolev said: “Only beautiful planes". And the great aircraft designer is worth believing.
Almost a hundred years ago, Russia proposed to the world a fundamentally new socio-political project that promised a better, more just arrangement for all mankind.
And this one new project was accompanied by such ingenious and innovative works of artists, poets, architects, directors and a general public upsurge that the world draws inspiration from them to this day.
And, probably, it is no coincidence that the internal decline of the Soviet project was also reflected in external forms - boring, formal nomenclature, which have lost the light, strength and inspiration of the first decades.
Now in Russia they write a lot about the internal content of the current processes in the country, understand the causes and mechanisms of its revival, in the body of a new social unity, in the symbolic depth of what is happening.
The West, in turn, writes about the new Russian threat, about the effectiveness of the Russian information war. At the same time, his observations and conclusions about the essence of the processes taking place in Russia often seem to us ridiculous, superficial and simply stupid.
But it doesn't matter, because he, the West, is completely and completely right about something else - that he adequately and sensibly assesses the threat to himself, based not on the essence of changes, but on the forms they take.
Russia is conducting an information offensive in the world, and in many directions at once - in politics, culture, social trends, and art. The funny thing is that this is largely a spontaneous and internal process. Russia is looking for new meanings and new forms in all this, primarily for itself.
This process involves both the state and non-state structures, and just ordinary citizens. Moreover, it is the state, due to its traditional bureaucratic clumsiness, that most often acts awkwardly. The St. George Ribbon campaign came out of the bowels of RIA Novosti, and the Immortal Regiment was invented by ordinary Tomsk journalists.
But this process of revival is so large-scale and powerful that even the “side effects” that go to the rest of the world are enough for Western experts and the media to fight in alarmist hysteria that “the Russians are coming.”
The animated series "Masha and the Bear" promotes the most traditional values (hard work, honesty, kindness, caring for others, etc.), but in a completely modern package. The girl Masha is wearing a sundress and a headscarf, but under them are short-haired swirls and fashionable sneakers.
The Sochi Olympics turned out to be one solid proof that Russians can do things beautifully and know how to work with modern technologies. And the “icing on the cake” was the ring that did not open at the opening, which turned out to be so effectively beaten at the closing of the Games.
Immediately after the Olympics, almost right off the bat, the world saw a Russian performance from a completely different sphere. We are proud that Crimea returned home bloodlessly, that is, the essence of what happened. But no less important is how outwardly beautiful the operation "Polite people" turned out to be.
The PR campaign of the Russian army, of course, is striking in its effectiveness, efficiency and innovation. Both proven and state-of-the-art methods are used. Work in social networks, press tours for the Russian and foreign press, a whole Patriot park, which is just starting its promotion.
May 9 parade last years turned into one grandiose attraction, part of which are both rehearsals and unexpectedly placed cameras (in the cobblestones of Red Square, on the gun barrels of tanks, in the cockpits of fighters), which allow you to give amazing and previously impossible angles.
By the way, about the cameras.
Recently, another Western expert erupted in an alarmist article about a new secret weapon of the Russian information war - drones, thanks to which the Russian media learned how to create extremely effective videos, in particular from war zones.
And here we return from external forms to internal content.
Russia manages to overcome the extremely negative background of the Western media and the most intense information campaign against itself because events regularly and more often occur that the Western media cannot ignore, and in themselves they carry such a grandiose positive message that they reach the world even through negative interpretations and comments.
This happens solely because they are based on something very real, and the matter is not limited to an attractive "wrapper".
Drones, of course, are in the Western media. But it is the Russian military correspondents who regularly climb into the thick of things in order to make the appropriate report. And this is what Western experts do not understand: the secret weapon of Russian journalism is not drones, but Russian journalists themselves.
The notorious concert of the Mariinsky Orchestra in Palmyra, which caused such a controversial reaction in the West, is also about this. Yes, it was an amazing action of political PR for Russia. So the opponents are not in vain gnashing their teeth.
But what was at its core? And it was based on several dozen classical musicians who flew to the warring country, and not to the deep rear, but close to the front line.
And then they drove to the concert venue for seven hours in a bus under the scorching sun on this blood-drenched land, where danger could lie in wait for them at any moment. And there they played - at the place where mass executions had taken place a few months before. For each of the musicians and their conductor, this was indeed an act of civil and human courage.
It was this courage - both of the musicians and Alexander Prokhorenko, who died a heroic death near Palmyra - that filled the concert with true high meaning and symbolism. ancient city, despite any pragmatic considerations of its organizers.
So the West, which is worried about the informational and ideological expansion of Russia, is absolutely right in its fears. Russia offers the world an alternative, and this alternative - both in content and in form - is so powerful that it is increasingly and more successfully resisting the all-out anti-Russian campaign of the West.
I think that the designer Tupolev would be pleased today: a very beautiful aircraft is obtained from modern Russia.
Let's share a look at some non-trivial solutions in the field of aviation, doomed to failure at first glance, but nevertheless, managed to get off the ground and conquer the sky. These devices, which are not at all like airplanes, did not go into a full-fledged series, which means they are not familiar to the general public. Today we correct this undeserved omission.
Avrocar (1952)
Although Nazi Germany lost in World War II, its engineering legacy deeply impressed the Allied specialists with its achievements and multiple developments, prototypes that were seriously ahead of their time and the then development of engineering by the leading world powers. What were only Hitler's secret flying discs, copying ancient Indian apparatuses of aliens - vimanas.
Apparently, impressed by the success in this field, the American designers accepted the challenge and, together with their British colleagues, began to develop their own flying saucer. One of the offspring of such design research was the AvroVZ-9V Avrocar vertical take-off fan. Despite the ambitious declared characteristics, the design, on which the Canadians spent about seven years and a solid budget, could not rise above one and a half meters above the ground against the three-kilometer ceiling declared in the technical specifications. The speed of movement also left much to be desired.
Such a flying fan was produced in only two copies and was able to fly with two people on board - a passenger and a pilot. The rather large size of the unit left no chance for the development to be realized at least in the form of an alternative urban transport. And although the “flying saucer” was capable of low flights above the ground, the military was not interested in it. But today, such developments are gaining popularity again, judging by the appearance of flying bicycles in Russian laboratories.
VVA-14 (1972)
Perhaps seeing a Soviet amphibious aircraft inspired George Lucas to create the Millennium Falcon in his famous Star Wars saga. It is the contours of the futuristic space starship that resemble the forms of a vertical take-off torpedo bomber, created in Taganrog according to the project of aircraft designer Robert Bartini. Taking into account the restrained confrontation between the two superpowers in those years, many projects were developed with a view to operational military operations already on the territory of an overseas military enemy. Therefore, the creation of a water ekranoplan capable of delivering many thousands of tons of cargo, equipment and manpower by sea was a very promising undertaking. Built two really operating units were very impressive in size. The ekranoplan had as many as twelve lifting engines and two sustainers. Together with the payload, the twenty-five-meter apparatus weighed more than fifty tons. True, for all its versatility and successful tests, the seaplane did not go into mass production.
Caproni Ca.60 (1921)
The idea of transatlantic flights to carry multiple passengers has been bugging engineers since the turn of the century. Connecting the Old World with the New Highway is a business that can glorify daring geniuses and bring solid profits. It was in pursuit of such solutions that a twenty-meter seaplane-airliner appeared in 1921, designed to carry a hundred passengers. The Italians approached the matter on a grand scale - three stacks of wings from heavy bombers, which themselves consisted of three carrier planes, were installed on a long cigar of the hull. As a result, the plane boasted nine wings ready to lift it into the air. It only remained to verify this on test flights! But the first flight showed the shortcomings of such a design: having risen to a height of about twenty meters, the miracle plane broke and crashed into the water. Fortunately, no one was hurt. And the plane itself was even restored after the crash. True, he no longer made further flights, but simply burned out ingloriously, possibly as a result of sabotage.
Vought V-173 Skimmer (1942)
Another attempt to reduce the length of the runway has turned into a completely suitable unit, nicknamed “pancake” for its outlandish appearance. Indeed, the plane resembled the aforementioned culinary dish with its profile. Despite the ridiculous appearance, the aircraft turned out to be very mobile in the air and justified the hopes placed on it. All thanks to powerful motors that drive propellers so large that they would touch the ground on takeoff, if it were not for the elongated front landing gear rods, due to which the cockpit lifted up into the sky at a very sharp angle. This unit served as a prototype for a larger and heavier carrier-based fighter of the same shape and similar design. Such developments did not go into a series, despite the very encouraging characteristics, since the Second World War at the time of the proposed introduction of prototypes has already ended.
Stipa-Caproni (1932)
If anyone has not seen a flying barrel, we advise him to take a look at the brainchild of Italian engineers who, before the start of World War II, created an amusing two-pilot aircraft that used the principle of a turbofan engine to escape from the ground. Indeed, the aircraft was a prototype of the turbine of a modern passenger airliner, to which a wing was screwed from each side. This fat man had very modest dimensions, but he managed with a very modest power plant and could accelerate to a speed of 130 km / h. Unfortunately, the military did not show enough interest in this development, and its value to the aviation industry was revealed later, when it came time to pay attention civil aviation and the turbofan engine layout has become very attractive for increasing the power of the power plants of the new conquerors of the skies.
McDonnell XF-85 Goblin (1948)
A plane resembling a flea and appearance, and in size, but nevertheless, being a jet fighter, was assembled by American engineers in the late forties of the last century. Such a miniature airplane was hung like a Christmas tree decoration under the fuselage of a large strategic bomber and was there during the entire lengthy flight of the giant to its destination. With the threat of intercepting a bomber by enemy fighters, the baby pilot stopped drinking coffee and took his place in a miniature cockpit using a special ladder. Further, the micro-fighter undocked, made a counterattack and, in case of success, docked again to its native pylon. The concept at that time would have made it possible to cope with the low range of conventional escort fighters, but the small dimensions of the Goblin did not allow it to compete on an equal footing with enemy interceptors, therefore, the model could not perform its functions of effectively protecting bombers. Therefore, there was no question of any mass production of babies.
