to open next chapter. - NASA's History Office

Rockets and People
Komsomol Convention and heard Lenin’s famous speech. 9 It is possible that his aspirations
for organizational work got the upper hand. He was at the factory day and
night. He developed plans for capital reconstruction and new construction.At that
time there were not many design institutes. Gorbunov, Malakhov, and a small
group of enthusiasts designed the giant aircraft factory on their own.
In 1929, Gorbunov became chief engineer, and in 1930, technical director. He
introduced what were then new ideas for aircraft construction—line production,
closed-cycle shops, and laboratory tests of new technologies. He created an abundantly
equipped laboratory for general factory use, along with shop test benches, and
he regularly held conferences on quality with representatives from military units.
In 1930, the factory was made subordinate to People’s Commissar for Heavy
Industry Sergo Ordzhonikidze. At his suggestion, the entire aircraft industry was
combined into a single entity called Aviatrest. In August 1931, Ordzhonikidze
appointed Malakhov chief of Aviatrest. At the same time, at age 29, Sergey
Gorbunov became director of the largest aircraft factory in Europe. Gorbunov was
fated to be the sovereign factory director for only two years. I will take the liberty
of saying that those were the best years in the pre-war history of the factory.
During those years Gorbunov also managed to meddle with my fate.
In August 1930, before the final staffing had been completed in the personnel
department at Factory No. 22, I was interviewed by the chief of the OBO department,
who was interested in my work history, general educational training, and
knowledge of the fundamentals of electrical engineering. Each applicant had similar
interviews with the directors of the production departments and shops. If a group of
technical school or FZU graduates was sent to the factory, or applicants transferred
from other enterprises, a chief engineer or technical director conducted the interview.
The director himself personally interviewed each young specialist who had
graduated from an institute of higher learning and wanted to work at the factory.
The day after my interview, I received a photo ID pass, a time card, a cafeteria
lunch card, and something especially valuable at that time—a pair of worker’s
coveralls that fit me perfectly, with many pockets. The chief of the electric shop
explained that I would be the duty electrician for the factory for at least three
months on a three-shift team.
A duty electrician’s work required that he learn the general layout of the factory
and the technological processes of each shop. I quickly gained an idea of how
airplanes were built.Working the second and night shifts enabled me to attentively
observe the production processes in each shop, get to know people, and hear their
complaints about equipment or their praise of new gadgets. More than anything,
the round-the-clock mechanical shops kept the duty electricians hopping.
Hundreds of new, imported metal-working stands were grouped according to
the sort of production operations they performed.An unmanned section of Pitler
64
9. This is a reference to Lenin’s speech,“The Tasks of the Komsomol,” given on 2 October 1920.