On 31 March, 2015 Andrej Narsky, a representative of VIAM has taken part in the twenty-first International annual scientific conference held at S.I. Vavilov Institute of history of science and engineering (IHSE) RAS. In the course of the event Andrej Narsky has made a report “The first researches of wood for the Soviet aviation industry in the period of 1922-1924”.
The report was devoted to the activities of the Commission on aviation wood logging, created by the main administration of military industry (MAMI) under the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy (SSNE) RSFSR. The work of the Commission played a big role in overcoming the crisis, which was after the October Revolution caused by termination of deliveries of high-quality wood (spruce, long-life pine) from USA to domestic aviation factories.
“The Commission on aviation wood logging existed only a year and a half, nevertheless it got the first results of scientific researches in the field of wood in this country.” – the speaker pointed out. According to him, this work allowed to prove, that high technical qualities of abroad wood were explained not by its nature, but by the more effective methods of drying, saw cutting, careful tests of timber for compliance with standards.
It should be noted, that the presented data on the history of researches and application of wood in aircraft industry of the 1920s have aroused great professional interest of the Federal State-Funded Institution (Russian forest museum) and they will be used in scientific-research and scientific-educational work of this institute.