Viktor Fedorovich Bolkhovitinov (Виктор Фёдорович Болховитинов) (4 February 1899 - 29 January 1970) was a Soviet engineer, team-leader of the developers of the Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1

Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1

Soviet research and development of rocket-powered aircraft began with Sergey Korolev's GIRD-6 project in 1932. His interest in stratospheric flight was also shared by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky who supported this early work...

 aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

.
Bolkhovitinov was one of the first graduates of the Zhukovsky Academy

Soviet military academies

There were/are a number of military academies in the Soviet Union/Russia of different specialties.Unlike Western military academies such as West Point, Soviet, now Russian, military and police institutions referred to as "academy" are post-graduate professional military schools for experienced...

. In 1934, he designed a modernized version of the Tupolev TB-3

Tupolev TB-3

The Tupolev TB-3 was a heavy bomber aircraft which was deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and during World War II. It was the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, TB-3 performed bomber and...

 bomber

Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

 called the DB-A (long-range bomber of the academy). On August 12 of 1937, a DB-A attempted to fly over the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

 to the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, but the crew perished.

In 1937, he designed the "S" or "Spartak"

Bolkhovitinov S

|-See also:-References:* Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9* Taylor, Michael J.H. . “ Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. Studio Editions. London. 1989. ISBN 0517691868 Maslov, Mikhail...

, a small sleek high-speed bomber with a long greenhouse canopy. Two contra-rotating props

Contra-rotating propellers

Aircraft equipped with contra-rotating propellers, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating propellers, apply the maximum power of usually a single piston or turboprop engine to drive two propellers in contra-rotation...

 were driven by a pair of Klimov M-103

Klimov M-103

|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...

 V-12 engines

V12 engine

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

. Development of the aircraft and it's planned variants was discontinued when the war

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

 began.

In 1940, Bolkhovitinov became head of his own experimental design bureau OKB-293

OKB

OKB is a transliteration of the Russian acronym for "Опытное конструкторское бюро" - Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro, meaning Experimental Design Bureau...

. Based on a plane design by Bereznyak and Bolkovitinov a few years earlier, and inspired by the attempt of NII-3 to build a ramjet

Ramjet

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...

 powered plane, Bolkhovitinov decided to build a rocket

Rocket engine

A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...

-powered short-range interceptor

Interceptor aircraft

An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...

. This was the BI-1.

In 1944, A.G. Kostakov (head of the jet propulsion institute NII-3) was arrested. NII-3 and Bolkhovitinov's OKB-293 were merged into NII-1, a new jet propulsion

Jet engine

A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

 research institute

Research institute

A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...

. Bokhovitinov was head of research in NII-1. In 1946, his division was turned over to Matus Bisnovat

Matus Bisnovat

Matus Ruvimovich Bisnovat , Soviet aircraft and missile designer.Bisnovat attended the Moscow Aviation Institute , graduating in 1931. In 1938, he headed a research team in Central Aero-Hydrodynamics Institute TsAGI, Zhukovsky, where several high-speed experimental airplanes were developed, the...

, forming Zavod

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

 293.

Bolkhovitinov received a doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in 1947 and became a full time professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

at the Zhukovsky Academy in 1949.