Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev

About museum

Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev (15 (28) September 1902, Yefremov, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire – 14 October 1978, Moscow) was a Soviet aircraft designer, Major-General of Engineering (1944), Chief Designer of OKB-23, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1959), Professor (1947), Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR (1972), Hero of Socialist Labour, and recipient of the Lenin Prize. In 1918 he graduated from the real school in his hometown. In 1920 he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School (MVTU), which he graduated from in 1926. He began his design work at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the aviation department under the supervision of A. N. Tupolev and V. M. Petlyakov (1926). He participated in the development of wings for the TB-1, TB-3, and ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" aircraft.  

In 1934 he headed a team for the development of experimental aircraft. He led the development of the torpedo-bomber/rocket-carrying bomber ANT-41 (T1). In 1936 he was sent to the United States to the aircraft division of the Douglas Aircraft Company. In 1937 he headed the design bureau at Aircraft Plant No. 84 (Khimki, Moscow Region), overseeing the preparation of documentation to start licensed serial production of the Douglas DC-3 passenger/transport aircraft. In February 1946, after the OKB was disbanded for economic reasons, Myasishchev was reassigned to teaching. From 1946 to 1949 he was Dean of the Aircraft Engineering Faculty of the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze (MAI) and head of the Department of "Aircraft Structures and Design." In 1947 he became a professor at MAI.  

In the early 1950s Myasishchev proposed to the state leadership the creation of a strategic aircraft with a flight range of 11–12 thousand kilometers. The proposal was approved by I. V. Stalin, and on 24 March 1951 an OKB was established at Moscow Plant No. 23 in Fili to create the first Soviet intercontinental jet bomber; Myasishchev was appointed its chief designer, and from 1956 he served as the Chief Designer of OKB-23. In 1953 the first Soviet turbojet strategic bomber, the M-4, powered by four turbojet engines, took off; in 1956 the jet strategic bomber 3M flew. Vladimir Mikhailovich lived and worked in Moscow. He died on 14 October 1978 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.