Leonid Dushkin

Who was Leonid Dushkin?

Leonid Stepanovich Dushkin, born August 15, 1910 in the Spirove settlement of the Tver region. He died on April 4, 1990. Dushkin was a major pioneer of Soviet rocket engine technology. He graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in mathematics and mechanics. In October 1932, he joined Fridrikh Tsander's brigade of GIRD, the Moscow rocket research group. He assisted in the creation of their first rocket engine OR-2, and after Tsander's death, he oversaw the creation of engine "10" which powered the first Soviet liquid-fuel rocket, GIRD-X.

Dushkin's engines were among the first to be regeneratively cooled, and he also experimented with uncooled engines of high-temperature ceramic. The 12K engines were of both types, and powered the Aviavnito rocket.

After the arrest of Valentin Glushko, Dushkin took over the development of rocket engines for the rocket-enhanced fighter plane RP-318. He became the leader of the department of liquid propellent rocket engines in NII-3 beginning in January 1938.