History of the Faculty of Aircraft Engineering
of the National Aerospace University
"Kharkiv Aviation Institute"

Not even 30 years have passed since the first time a person took to the air in an airplane (the flight of the Wright brothers), and already in Kharkiv, the Kharkiv Aviation Institute is being organized on the basis of the aircraft engineering specialty of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute. One of the two faculties of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, created in 1930, was the faculty of aircraft engineering.

Dmytro Ksandrov (1930 - 1935), Dmytro Lyukevich (1935 - 1940), Oleksandr Litvinov (1940 - 1941, 1947 - 1952, 1957 - 1963), Stepan Blyashenko (1942 - 1945), Vadim Kononenko (1952 - 1957), Fedir Yasynskyi (1963 - 1965), Boris Cherepennikov (1965 - 1967), Oleksiy Zaitsev (1968 - 1972), Lev Malashenko (1967 - 1968, 1972 - 2001), Vitaly Kobrin (2001), Serhiy Plankovskyi (2001) -2018) worked as deans of the faculty in different years. From 2018 until now, the dean of the aircraft engineering faculty is Dmytro Krytskyi.

Blyashenko, Kononenko, Semenov, Petrov, Fefelov, Ponomarenko, Rubanov, Bukin, Shelomov, Slesarev, Tyurev, Kobylanskyi, Fursa, Malashenko, Bayev, Semenchyn, Graivoronskyi, Nosyk, Redko, Meshcheryakov, Sikulskyi, Kushnarenko, Melnyk, Sokruto, Dyachenko, Lviv, Skopintsev, Zaklinskyi, Kapitanova, Karatanov, Stolyarchuk, Grigoryovych worked as deputy deans in different years. 

With the transfer of Neman to work at KhАІ in 1930, the idea arose about the need to create new planes with high aerodynamic characteristics. Neman captivated the students with his ideas and began work on the real design of high-speed aircraft. The first work using the method of real design was the creation of a new high-speed passenger plane KhАІ-1. It was an all-wooden monoplane. To reduce aerodynamic resistance, the wing and tail were designed according to the cantilever scheme. When designing, Neman put forward the principle of no protruding part in the flow. For this purpose, for the first time in the practice of domestic aircraft construction, not a specialized design bureau, but students developed a retractable landing gear. According to the calculations of the young designers, all these measures made it possible to reduce the total resistance of the aircraft by 1.5-2 times and increase the flight speed by 20-30% with the same engine power.

In the pre-war years, the aircraft engineering faculty was engaged not only in the design of aircraft. Since November 1937, a student rocket circle worked at the faculty under the leadership of Proskura, whose members were engaged in the study and creation of powder rockets, liquid-jet engines, experimental launchers, devices and parachutes for launching rockets.

The training of highly qualified specialists in aircraft construction, versatile research work in the departments and laboratories of the faculty was interrupted by the war.

During the Great Patriotic War, the faculty continued to train specialists in Kazan, being one of the basic components of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute. Associate professor Blashenko was the dean at that time. In the conditions of evacuation in Kazan, the training of specialists had to be started again. Students combined their studies with work at the factory. In these conditions, special attention was paid to the teaching methodology and the organization of students' independent work. In 1944, the graduation of faculty specialists took place under evacuation conditions. Most of the students of this graduation became highly qualified specialists. Among them was the future head of the aircraft production department, the rector of the KhAI Kononenko. In the post-war years, the faculty underwent a process of restructuring work in accordance with the requirements of scientific and technological progress. The branch industry mastered the design and production of jet aviation equipment. Taking into account the development of aviation science and the needs of the aviation industry, the training of engineering personnel in new technology was organized.

In 1953, the Department of Aircraft Design was separated from the Department of Aircraft Design, headed by Professor Vynokurov. In the late 1950s, candidate of technical sciences, associate professor of the aircraft design department, Kuzmin was sent to the Beijing Aviation Institute as part of the delegation of the Khai Aviation Institute to help organize the educational process. Until now, the numbering of departments at the Moscow, Kharkiv and Beijing aviation institutes coincides.

In the 1960s and 1970s, further development of the Institute took place, and with it the Faculty of Aircraft Engineering. The contingent of students at the faculty at this hour consisted of: 1966 - 2399 people, 1967 - 2579 people, 1968 - 2699 people, 1969 - 2730 people, 1970 - 2674 people, 1971 - 2508 people , 1972 - 2393 people, 1973 - 2356 people, 1974 - 2358 people, 1975 - 2388 people.

The annual admission to the faculty was equal to 550 - 575 people. The maximum admissions were in 1964 - 1966.

In 1992, at the Department of Aircraft and Helicopter Design, an educational computer center of CAD / SAM / SAE was organized, which raised the design process to a qualitatively new level, allowing students to develop drawings of new structures and design technical documentation from the master geometry of the aircraft and its aggregates The opening of the center was made by the efforts of Ryabkov, Grebenikov, and Furashev.

Since 2001, some structural changes have also taken place in order to improve the educational process. The Department of Life Safety was transferred from the Faculty of Aircraft Engineering to the Faculty of Aircraft Construction (2001, Head of the Department - Professor Kobrin), the Department of Robotics and the specialty "Robotic Systems and Complexes" was transferred to the Faculty of Aviation Engines (2002, Head of the Department - Professor Kostyuk), the department of energy and electrical engineering was transferred to the faculty of aircraft control systems (2003, head of the department - Professor Vnukov).

In recent years, the laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine at the Faculty of Aircraft Engineering were: Kryvtsov (2001, "Development of theoretical foundations and implementation of new high-performance technologies that increase the resource and reliability of aircraft engine units and assemblies"), Fomichev and Sokolyanskyi (2003, "Complex theoretical and experimental studies on the definition and resource of the aircraft glider").

Currently, there are seven departments within the faculty:

- aerohydrodynamics;

- aircraft strength;

- design of airplanes and helicopters;

- aircraft manufacturing technologies;

- information technology design;

- ecology and technological safety;

- automobiles and transport infrastructure.

All departments of the faculty have well-equipped educational and scientific laboratories, equipped with modern computing equipment. Under the guidance of highly qualified teachers, students of the faculty receive the necessary knowledge and acquire skills for creating modern airplanes and helicopters, complex engineering objects. Students receive sufficient knowledge to work in the system of integrated computer technologies. Almost all students complete diploma projects, which are submitted on magnetic media, without a manual graphic part.

Ukraine is one of the largest aviation countries in the world. Its successes in the creation of aviation equipment are generally recognized, including in recent years, thanks to the An-124, An-225, An-70, An-140, An-38, An-74, An-148 and others. Undoubtedly, such successes would not be possible without the highly qualified staff trained by our university. A worthy place here is also occupied by graduates of the faculty of aircraft engineering, who form the backbone of the managerial engineering personnel of these enterprises. For example, at the ANTK named after Antonov currently employs more than 700, and at KhDAVP - more than 710 graduates of the aircraft-building faculty of the KhAI.