Gleb Kotelnikov
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Gleb Yevgeniyevich Kotelnikov | |
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USSR | |
Rank | Air Force of the USSR, Major-General |
Gleb Yevgeniyevich Kotelnikov (Russian: Глеб Евгеньевич Котельников, January 30 [
Early life
He was born in the family of a professor of mechanics and higher mathematics. Parents were fond of theater, and this hobby influenced their son. From childhood he sang, played the violin, and also liked to make different toys and models.
He graduated from the
Professional career
In 1911, he created his first parachute RK-1 (which stands for Rantseviy (knapsack) or Russian Kotelnikova (by Kotelnikov), 1st model), that was successfully employed in 1914 during
Having witnessed the death of a talented Russian pilot Lev Matsivich and been shocked by it, he became obsessed with the idea of constructing a parachute, to which he devoted several years of his life as well as all his personal savings. In 1911 he applied for a patent to the Committee on Inventions in France and was granted the patent under the number 438612, in which he summarized the function of his parachute:
The working principle of the apparatus is as follows: in case of an emergency, a pilot, wearing it on his back, could throw himself out of an aircraft, opening a knapsack by pulling a cord attached to its lock. In case of an unexpected fall the device can work quite automatically. For that purpose the lock of the parapack is connected with a carriage of an aircraft by means of a cord which would open the lock of a parapack being stretched under the weight of a falling man.[citation needed]
At first G.Kotelnikov called his invention a safety apparatus, a knapsack-parachute and later on it got the name of RK-1.[citation needed]
In 1912, on a road near
Kotelnikov continued to be an important figure in the development of parachutes and parachuting in the Soviet Union. In 1924 Kotelnikov for the first time applied the soft packing of parachute instead of a hard casing.
Kotelnikov died November 22, 1944, during World War II. The village Saalisi, where he first tested his parachute was renamed Kotelnikovo in his honor. His grave at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow became a place of pilgrimage for Russian paratroopers.
References
- ^ Залуцкий Г. В. Изобретатель авиационного парашюта Г. Е. Котельников. — М.: 2-е изд., 1953.
- ^ a b c d Parachuting at the site Divo: The Russian Book of records and achievements (in Russian)
- ^ Russian parachute of Kotelnikov Archived 2010-12-01 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
External links
- History, at margaret.imec.msu.ru