TsAGI Scientist Publishes Book on Legendary Pilot Mikhail Gromov
18 October 2021
Dr. Sci. Gennady Amiryants, the famous aviation historian and TsAGI’s Chief Researcher for Strength, Load and Aeroelasticity, presented his book, Mikhail Gromov and his Comrades. The event took place in a Zhukovsky library this October.
The book is devoted to Professor M. Gromov, an outstanding test pilot, organizer, the first Head of the Flight Research Institute and the Test Pilot School. He was a psychologist for flight labor and ergonomics, a military leader, and a three-star general of aviation.
‘It is hard to overestimate the merits to the country done by this outstanding multitalented person. It was mostly due to Mikhail Gromov’s dedicated work—in particular, to his job as TsAGI’s Chief Pilot—that enabled the prodigious leap in pre-war national aviation development, as well as the creation of unique world-class Soviet aircraft technologies in the second half of the 20th century,’ said Gennady Amiryants.
This is the first comprehensive edition which tells about Mikhail Gromov, his time, and his soulmates. The book also emphasizes the significant role by Gromov’s wife, Nina. Her reminiscences on Mr. Gromov make the book especially valuable.
M. Gromov (1899 — 1985) was a test pilot, Honored Pilot of the USSR, Hero of the USSR, Three-Star General of Aviation and a Professor. He guided tests of those aircraft which would become a milestone for the national aviation industry. In the pre-war years, M. Gromov refined aircraft manufactured by Tupolev Design Bureau, including the legendary ANT-20 (also known as Maksim Gorky). From 1927 to 1941, M. Gromov worked in TsAGI as a test pilot; in 1936, he was assigned as a Chief Pilot. In 1941, he became the first head of the Flight Research Institute.