Nikolay Nikolaevich Polikarpov was born in the village of Georgievskoye (now Kalinino) Oryol Governorate, in 1892. Several generations of his family included clergymen, which influenced his academic choices: he studied at the Livny Theological School, and then the Oryol Theological Seminary.
In 1911, Nikolay Polikarpov decided to dramatically change his life: without attending the classes, he sat exams for the gymnasium course at the Oryol Provincial Gymnasium and entered the Mechanical Department of the Shipbuilding Faculty of the Imperial St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. During his studies, Polikarpov became interested in aviation, enrolled in aviation courses at his faculty and entered the second faculty — the Aviation Faculty.
In 1916, Polikarpov received a referral to the Aviation Department of the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory, which was evacuated from Riga to Moscow and Petrograd. There he worked under the guidance of Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, who was chief designer of the plant from 1912.
Nikolay Polikarpov took part in the development of design drawings of new Sikorsky S-18 and S-19 aircraft, and worked on modernizing the Sikorsky S-16s and Ilya Muromets aircraft series. Revolutionary events in the Russian Empire forced the plant to stop production of aircraft, and Igor Sikorsky emigrated to the United States.
In March 1918, Nikolay Polikarpov was accepted into the Main Directorate of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Air Force. Several months later, he was transferred to the Duks Plant as the head of the technical department.
In October 1929, he was arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary activities and industrial sabotage. He was facing the ultimate punishment. Polikarpov waited for his execution for more than two months. In December, without revoking or changing the sentence, he was sent to the “Special Design Bureau” organized at Butyrka prison. Together with the designer Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich, he developed the I-5 attack aircraft.
In 1931, the Collegium of the Joint State Political Directorate first decided to change the sentence to ten years of labor camps, and then replaced it with a suspended sentence. On July 7, 1931, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR decided to grant amnesty to a number of prisoners, including Nikolay Nikolaevich Polikarpov.
From 1933 to 1938, most Soviet fighter aircraft were developed by this design bureau, headed by Polikarpov. His planes were used in battles in Spain and China, and on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
A copy of his photograph is presented in the Oryol Military History Museum.
