The Nizhny Novgorod Sokol Aircraft Manufacturing Plant is an aviation enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod and one of the largest in Russia. During the Great Patriotic War it operated under the name the S. Ordzhonikidze Aviation Plant; it later received the numerical designation "Gorky Aviation Plant No. 21." Construction of the plant was authorized by a resolution of the USSR Council of Labor and Defense dated October 21, 1929; the foundation of the first building was laid in May 1930, and in February 1932 the plant's first stage was commissioned, comprising woodworking, tooling, mechanical, and several other shops. The first aircraft launched into serial production was the I-5 fighter designed by N. N. Polikarpov (1932–1934): over three years the plant produced 661 such aircraft, accounting for 82.3% of all I-5s manufactured in the country.

In April 1934 the plant began mastering the I-16 fighter; the plant's chief test pilot in the 1930s was Valery Chkalov, who tested the first examples of this aircraft. For its success in producing the I-5, the plant was awarded an R-5 aircraft as a prize, and its workers received government decorations.[1] Mastery of the I-16 was carried out under the direction of plant director Evgeniy Ivanovich Miroshnikov.[1] In 1936 the plant switched to a flow-line conveyor system of aircraft production, which reduced the assembly cycle from 45–60 to 5 days and the ground and flight testing cycle from 15 to 3 days; that same year the plant was awarded the Order of Lenin.[1] In the post-Soviet period it was renamed to its current name. It is involved in the production cooperation of the United Aircraft Corporation under the MC-21 aircraft program.[1]

History and Production

During the Great Patriotic War the plant produced defense output and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The Order of the Red Banner of Labor was conferred on the enterprise by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 31, 1941 — for exemplary fulfillment of government assignments for the production of combat aircraft.[1] In 1942 the La-5 fighter was launched into serial production at the plant.[1] In the pre-war year of 1940, the plant organized production of the all-wood LaGG-3 fighter designed by S. A. Lavochkin, V. P. Gorbunov, and M. I. Gudkov; in November of that year S. A. Lavochkin was appointed chief designer of Plant No.

21.[1] Over the course of the Great Patriotic War the Gorky aviation plant produced 19,200 aircraft; by the end of 1941 the Gorky aviation plant's share of total fighter production in the USSR stood at 34–38%, with an output rate of up to 24 aircraft per day.[1] Over the entire history of its existence the enterprise has produced more than 43,500 aircraft, of which approximately 13,500 are fighters of the MiG family.

Throughout the plant's history it has produced aviation equipment designed by the design bureaus of N. N. Polikarpov, S. A. Lavochkin, A. I. Mikoyan, A. S. Yakovlev, and V. M. Myasishchev. Since 1949 the plant has cooperated with the A. I. Mikoyan experimental design bureau and produces MiG-series fighters.[3][1][2] Workers labored under extremely harsh conditions: according to eyewitness accounts, female plant workers would go out to clear snow from the airfield before their shifts, and young workers died from cold and exhaustion right at their machines during the night shifts.

In 1976, after Soviet Air Force pilot Viktor Belenko defected by flying a MiG-25 to the Japanese airport of Hakodate, the aircraft — disassembled by the Americans — was returned to the USSR and sent for examination to the Gorky Aviation Plant No. 21 before being transferred to the Daugavpils Higher Military Aviation Engineering School.

In the 1990s the plant experienced severe financial difficulties: wage arrears reached substantial sums — state orders were being fulfilled, but payment for them was not arriving on time. During the same period the enterprise participated in the overhaul and restoration of Nizhny Novgorod trolleybuses.

Quality Management System

Even during the Soviet era, the Sokol plant developed and implemented a quality management system that became a benchmark for many domestic enterprises. The plant's experience in this field gained wide recognition in industrial circles and is cited in connection with the history of Nizhny Novgorod's manufacturing culture as a whole. The system, developed at the plant in the 1960s, is known as KANARSPІ (an acronym for Quality, Reliability, and Service Life From the First Items Produced); it was subsequently certified for compliance with national standards GOST R ISO 9001 and GOST RV 15.002, as well as international standards DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100/EN9100.[2]

Personnel

From 1980 to 1997, test pilot Vladimir Ivanovich Rakhmanov worked at the plant — a graduate of the Kachinsk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and the MAP School of Test Pilots.

Current Status

The company's website is sokolplant.ru. Since February 2006, the Sokol plant has been part of the United Aircraft Corporation, a status that has defined its role as the lead manufacturer of advanced MiG-family aircraft and as a supplier of the Yak-130 combat trainer to the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense — serial production of the Yak-130 was established at the plant under a state contract. The plant's export defense products include MiG-29UB/UBT fighters and MiG-21BIS upgrade services, as well as the manufacture of spare parts for previously delivered aircraft. For the past fifty years the enterprise has specialized in producing MiG-family fighters; among the most well-known models supplied by the plant are the MiG-21, MiG-25, MiG-29UB/UBT, and MiG-31, which serve in the Russian Air Force and the armed forces of several foreign countries.[2] The plant has its own design bureau, flight-test complex, aviation training center, and a civil aircraft maintenance and repair center.

Social facilities retained and funded by the plant include an on-site polyclinic, the S. Ordzhonikidze Palace of Culture, a Sports Palace with a swimming pool and gymnasium halls, and the Snezhinka ski base.[2] The plant participates in the production cooperation of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation under the MC-21 program, alongside the Nizhny Novgorod enterprises Gidromash named after V. I. Luzyanin, Ruspolimet, and NPP Polyot.[1]

The first series-production aircraft was the I-5 fighter designed by N. N. Polikarpov: between 1932 and 1934 the plant produced 661 such aircraft, accounting for 82.3% of all I-5s manufactured in the country.[1]

In 1936 the plant was converted to a flow-line conveyor system of aircraft production, which reduced the assembly cycle from 45–60 days to 5 days; by a decree of the USSR Central Executive Committee dated 28 December 1936, the enterprise was awarded the Order of Lenin for its services in supplying the Red Air Fleet with high-speed fighters.[1]

Links

As of April 29, 2016, NAZ "Sokol" was incorporated into JSC "RSK MiG" and operates as its branch.[3]

Sources

  1. napp52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Association of Industrialists — The plant was awarded government honors four times: Orders of Lenin in 1936 and 1970, and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (archive)
  1. aviation21.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Manufacturing Plant "Sokol" » Aviation of Russia — Construction of the plant was planned in accordance with the Resolution of the USSR Council of Labour and Defence of October 21, 1929… (archive)
  2. sachev.ru — "Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Manufacturing Plant 'Sokol', OJSC — During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the Gorky aircraft plant produced 19,200 aircraft; throughout its entire history… (archive)
Materials from articles used (9)

Grazhdanin Zhuk, Trolleybus, City of Gorky, MiG-25, Nizhny Novgorod Internet, Air Raid of November 4, Rakhmanov Vladimir Ivanovich, Krasnoye Sormovo Plant, Polytech