THE PROGRESS OF SOVIET AVIATION MEDICINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 218
• Publication Date: December 1, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
CLASSIFICATION S--EETy--C-R_-E-T SECRET
CENYRAL IN?EEIIB~uGENCAF?OH REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
Scientific -.Medicine, aviation
Monthly periodical
Moscow
Feb 1950
Russian
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
uPS ooclllOt C4nAnr Il/MUnol OntYINC lot 00n00110/nul
Or nC 0r' IO Rlnr tlnle of 0tl0100 Or ^rno000 ?Cr 15
0. 0. C.. rI ?00 ll. u 4115000. In UAOuluI00 00 nr ,0,,&4'00
01 In 000TS In n 0B 1"1050 n 10 Ogenorlnr qu00 Ir m-
01111u el L06 ugODAt11O0 Or TIPS roll Ir rroIIIIne.
Russian scientists shoved great interest in the effects of flight on the
human organism as early as the past century. Thus, in 1804, the Russian Acade-
mician Ya. D. Zakharov, the first man to carry out a balloon flight for scien-
tific purposes, included in his program of research a number of physiological
questions relating to investigation of vision, observation of the pulse, breath-
ing, and physical well-being. One of his investigations was entitled "Experi-
ment on the Intensity of Sound Produced by the Ringing of a Bell."
Scientific literature of the second half of the 19th century contains quite
a few interesting statements laying the ground for the further development of
aviation medicine.
The talented Russian scientist M. A. Rykachev, who carried out a number of
flights for scientific purposes, gave an excellent description of the nature of
the activitiea of the aviator a:- of the personal qualities required of him.
Simultaneously, the ;rest Russiar scientist D. I. Mendeleyev dealt with tiie
problems of flight and the effects of flight on the human organism. In 1875,
he definitely showed the necessity of sealed cabins for flights in the higher
strata of the atmosphere. He worked out the first design of an aerostat with a
sealed cabin (stratostat), which was built 50 years later.
Mendeleyev also pointed out the necessity of comfort in the machine of the
future. Under the influence of MendeleyevI idea, the airplane Ilya Muromets
was the first one to be equipped with elementary sanitary facilities, totally
lacking in the foreign airplanes of that time.
In 1891, the physician V. I. Grebenshchikov published "Medical Advice to
Aviators," a compilation of the experience available up to that time in first-
aid instructions for aviation accidents that might occur in unsuccessful crash
landings.
S-E-C-R-E-T "FADET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
SECRET
S. P. Murt, a medical officer, carried out the first physiological investi-?
gs(tions during a series of flights, in 1897 - 1898, in a balloon especially
equipped for these investigations. The balloon reached altitudes up to 6,000-
?7,000 meters. Munt investigated before, during, and after the flight, the ca-
pacity of the lungs, the strength of breathing and exhaling, the strength,
rhythm, and quality of the heart beat, muscle strength, tactile and pain sensi-
tivity, and carried out a number of other observations. One of his contempo-
raries wrote: "It is a special pleasure to note again that all these investiga-
tions of such wide scope and fundamental importance were first carried out here
In Russia, while nothing like it has yet been done abroad."
In 1862, A. Katolinskiy carried out a number of experiments in the effect
of compressed air on the human organism in a pneumatic chamber. Later, many
Russian physicians worked on this problem (Smirnov, 1869, and Bochecbkarov,
1879; Zhirimundskiy and Sukhorskiy in 1885; etc). All this work resulted in
great contribut'cns to aviation medicine and must be borne in mind in connection
with the problem of oxygen s':pply under pressure.
The death of French balloonists during a high-altitude flight in 1875 at-
iracted the attention of I. M. Sechenov, who was working on an investigation of
the gases of the blood. "In 1879," he wrote in his Avtobiorraficheskiye Ocherki
(Autobiographical Sketches), "I was speculating about the reasons why the crew
of the Zenith suffocated, in other words, I estimated to what extent the intake
of oxygen had been insufficient for breathing." On 21 December 1879, Sechenov
reported of the topic "Data on the Question of Penetration of C02 and 02 Into
the Blood Under Normal Breathing Conditions .nd During Downward Fluctuations of
Air Pressure." This was the first scientific work on the nature of the physio-
logical processes in the human body at lowered air pressure at certain altitudes.
A little later, Sechenov published an article, "Breathing of Rarefied Air."
Sechenov's investigations provided a scientific basis for the physiological
mechanism of altitude sickness and laid the groundwork for all subsequent work
on c';ygen starvation. Thus, there is all justification for calling Sechenov the
father of Russian aviation physiology.
V. V. Pashutin, Sechenov's pupil, continued his work on the pro'ilem of the
respiratory function of blood and, besides, carried out a number of experiments
on the effect of centrifugal force an. of the hydrostatic factor on blood circu-
lation. In 1897 - 1898, he showed the role of the purely physiological regula-
tion under the influence of the hydrostatic factor. Pashutin based this work on
I. P. Pavlov's experiments on the physiology of blood circulation, in particular
on his reports "On the Centripetal Accelerators of the Heart" and "On the Adjust-
ment Mechanism of the Blood Vessels," published by Pavlov as early as 1874 -1877.
I. M. Al'bitskiy, continuing the work of Sechenov and Pushutin, in 1844 de-
fended a dissertation on the topic of the effect of oxygen starvation on nitrogen
exchange. He first gave a criticism of the methods of Claude Bernard and Paul
Bar , aer?7 and proposed his solution of ventilating a closed space with a gas
mixture containing the required percentage of oxygen. Al'bitskiy was the first
to undertake a study of the effect of,prolonged oxygen deficiency.
During the middle of the past century, Russian designers, overcoming the
conservatism of Tsarist officials, worked on the idea of flight in a heavier-
t:..,-air machine. This idea was realized for the first time in the world by the
famous Russian invento- and scientist A. F. Mozhayskiy.
On 1 August (20 July) 1882, I. N. Golubev, a Russian, made a flight in an
airplane of Mozhayskiy's design.
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
SECRET
The progress of aviation technology attracted more and more attention. In
1908, physicians began to participate in the work of the All-Russian Aero Club,
founded in 1908, and insisted on introducing mandatory physical checkups of
aviators. The Council of the Aero Club decreed that "It is considered indispen-
sable that active members of the Aero Club be permitted to carry out flights
only under the condition that they undergo a medical examination.".. From that
time on, the Army Medical Academy began to carry out aviation-medical examina-
tions. No such measures were in effect at the time in any foreign country.
At this time, V. V. Abramov carried out experimental psychological investi-
gationc on aviators at the clinic of the great Rua31an psychiatrist V. M. Bekh-
terev.' These were the first investigations of this kind in Russia, and took
place quite some time ahead v. such undertakings abroad.. Bekhterev himself was
.interested in the questions of aeromedical.examinations. Together with Prof
V. V. Belousov, he carried out flights to study the activity during flight.
In the middle of 1912, the forming of military aviation units began in
Russia. A little earlier, in October 1911, a commission of physicians had been
formed at the St Petersburg Military Hospital, under the chairmanship of the
chief of the hospital, Dr V. S. Sergeyev, "for the examination of the state of
health of officers to establish their fitness for aviation service."
Docent V. I. Voyachek of the Army Medical Academy worked out instructions
for medical examinations of aviators. In 1912, these instructions were made
public as a special circular of the Main Army Medical Administration. V. I.
Voyachek also lectured at the Army Medical Academy on "The Examination of Avia-
tors."
In that year, a similar medical compilation was prepared for those entering
the Aero Club school. This included a long series of tests, a number of special
questions, and a page for illness statistics.
In 1913, with the cooperation of physicians, the first flying clothes were
designed and introduced.
Thus, aeromedical examinations were introduced in Russia much earlier than
in any foreign countries. In Germany, medical examination of flying personnel..;
did not start until 1915, in the US, Fr'ance$' and Italy, not until 1916 and 1917.
The work of Kamyn ZC_amua?7 and Neper on the experimental psychological examina-
tion of aviators, published in France in 1916, took place much later than the
work in this field by the Russian scientist Abramov.
In 1918, when the requirements for selection of aviators were included in
the International Convention on Air Transportation, Russia already had been
putting them into practice for more than 8 years.
Russian physicians, under the difficult conditions of Tsarist autocracy,
which fettered the development of science, laid the exact and methodically cor-
rect foundations for the further development of aviation med'_=ine.
The real blossoming of aviation medicine took place only under the Soviet
rule. The October Revolution liberated the powers of the nation and opened
vast possibilities for the creative power of the Soviet people.
The Soviet government and the Bolshevik Party paid great attention to the
development of aviation medicine from the first days of existence of the Soviet
state.
Even during the Civil War, in the days of the defense of Tsaritayn, the po-
sition of aviation medical officer in aviation units was created on orders of
Stalin. With this order, a special diet for flyers was also established. Thus,
the start was made for systematic medical stud,f of flying personnel.
-3-
S-E-C-R-E-T
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
SECREJ
As soon as the country had begun peacetime construction, a commission for
dealing with sanitary-medical questions of the aviation service was founded
within the Main Administration for Sanitation, by order of the Rev- 'tionary
Military Council. The commission was made up of representatives of the Main
Administration for Military Sanitation, the Main Administration of the Air
Force, the Institute of Physiology, the Institute of Physical Culture, the Pry-
choneurological Institute, the Institute of Labor, and the Labor Protection
Center of the All-Union Central Council of Labor Unions.
An active role in the development of aviation medicine was played by the
aviation physician S. Ye. Mints. He carefully studied the conditions of flight
activity, became an active organizer of the scientific resesxch work in this
field, and enthusiastically popularized the idea of aviation medicine.. In 1920,
together with Granovskiy and the flyer Makeyev, he developed and distributed to
all aviation units the first "Statistical. Chart of Air Accidents." He later.
published an exploitation of these charts. Mints brought up the question of
founding a special laboratory for the study and improvement of aeromedical con-
ditions of the work of aviators and received the full support of the Revolution-
ary Military Council. This laboratory .:s founded in 1924, on the basis of
:`._nts' training laboratory already in operation; subsequently, by special order
of the Revolutionary Military Council, the laboratory was named after Dr S. Ye.
Mints.
Work on aviation medicine at the laboratory imeni Mints was conducted by
V. V. Andreyev, A. P. Apol'onov, Yu. L. Vasil'ev, N. A. Viehnevskiy, P. I. Ye-
gorov, G. G. Kulikovskiy, A. V. Lebedinskly, V. G. Mirolyubov, I. K. Sobennikov,
V. V. Strel'tsov, and others. This group laid the foundation for the subsequent
development of all systems of aviation medicine. This development was directed
at maintaining the health and increasing the work capacity of man during flight,
and it was also based on clinical study from every angle of the human organism
in the process of work activity.
N. M. Dobrotvorskiy, G. G. Kulikovskiy, and the majority of the young co-
wo-ke:s attached to the laboratory were transferred from the Army Medical Acad-
emy. They brought with them the better traditions of that famous center of
Soviet military medicine. From this time on, simultaneous work on the problem
of aviation medicine was carried out by scientific groups at Moscow and Lenin-
grad. The woris of Academician L. A. Orbeli, M. P. Brestkin, G. Ye. Vladimirov,
A. V. Lebedinskiy, I. R. Petrov, v ,l others created all prerequisites for sci-
entifically founded safety in alti._,.t flights.
Close connection between theory and practice is a characteristic trait of
all Soviet aviation medicine. The group of aviation physic'-ans of the Labora-
tory imeni S. Ye. Mints provided the medical safeguards for the famous flight
Moscow-Berlin=Paris-Rome-London-Warsaw-Moscow in 1928, carried out by M. M.
Gromov in the Soviet multiengine airplane Wings of the Soviets, and for Shesta-
kov's Moscow-New York flight in 1929, as well as for a number of other flights.
Thanks to the fulfillment of Stalin's first Five-Year Plan, a powerful avi-
ation industry was created, making possible many scientific and technical dis-
coveries in the field of aviation. In connection with this, the Laboratory
imeni Mints was reorganized into the aviation sector of the Scientific-Research
Experimental Institute of the Red Army, headed by V. V. Strel'tsov. In 1935,
this recto., in connection with the further growth of aviation, was reorganized
into th&. Institute of Aviation Medicine imeni Pavlov. At the time of the Great
F`-triotic War World War 117, the institute became an affiliate of the Labora-
tory of Aviation Medicine, attached to the Chair of Physiology of the Army Medi-
cal Academy, headed by Academician L. A. Orbeli. A clinical group with a con-
sulting department was developed at the Central Aviation Hospital.
~, 'cRE1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
SECRET
The Central Psychophysical Laboratory and t..; Institute of Aviation Medi-
cine at once became the centers organizing all scientific work in aviation medi-
cine and drawing into this work a great number of civilian scientific organize-
"ions and individual scientists. Thus, I. P. Razenkov's work on the physiology
of digestion at high altitudes was carried out in close contact lath the group
of coworkers of the Institute of Aviation Medicine. This work was awarded the
Stalin Prize in 1948.
In 1924, soon after the organization of the Central Laboratory, affiliated
with the aviation schools (and later with the districts), the peripheral psycho-
physiological laboratories were founded. They existed up to 1936 - 1937, and
worked in close cooperation with the laboratory imeni Mints and also with the
Institute of Aviation Medicine. Later, their functions were transferred to the
district military medical commissions, which carried out expert consulting and,
scientific work.
?The first Soviet physician who mastered flying and attained the rank of
pilot-observer was N. M. Dobrotvorskiy. Dc',rotvorskiy's work greatly influenced
Soviet aviation medicine. His book Letnyy Trud (Aviation Work), issued in 1;:".6,
is the first aviation-medicine manual. In this book, Doorotvorskiy thoroughly
and systematically treats various problems. The work has not become obsolete
even today.
The first textbook on medical examinations for aviation came out in 1926.
In 1939 and 1941, manuals on aviation medicine were issued. In these the
experience of the group of workers of the Institute of Aviation Medicine was sum-
marized. ..
In the system of aviation medicine, the unity of the physiological, clinical,
and examination methods has always been mairtaincl.
In 1929, Zolotarev, Teekhanovich, and Ratgauz, the physicians of the avia-
tion department, under the direction of G. G. Kulikovskiy, carried out a number
of experiments on the question of training the aural vestibule apparatus.' Soon
after, Prof N. A. Khilov, Leningrad, proposed a four-point suspension-swing
system for training. In 1933, G. G. Kulikovskiy published the results of the
work in this field and definitely included these types of training among a num-
ber of active training methods. In 1935, Vremennaya Instruktsiya po Trenirovke
Organov Revnovesiya (Temporary Instructions on Training the Equilibrium Organs
was published, compiled by a group led by G. G. Kulikovskiy and V. V. Strel'tsov.
Finally, in 1939, Kulikovskiy issued a separate monograph which illuminated the
entire problem of training the aural vestibule apparatus of flyers. A. P. Popov,
in a series of works, developed the questions of aural vestibule training as ap-
plied to the task of medical safeguarding of blind and high-speed flying.
Another group investigated the capacity of the or.-anism to withstand high
altitudes. P. I. Yegorov originally used an apparatus which involved breathing
in a closed system. He also was the first to propose the building of a pressure
chamber, in which V. V. Strel'teov made an ascent on 13 June 1932. Strel'tsov
spent the rest of his life in developing the training for high altitude flight.
A. P. Apollonov and V. G. Mirolyubov compiled the medical portion of the
first instructions for high-altitude flights. In this, earlier than in any for-
eign country, the basic principles of high-altitude training were laid down.
The experience of World War II showed the correctness of the outlook of
Soviet aviation physicians, and, in addition, demonstrated the great psycholog-
ical role of physical culture and sport as the means for emotional outlet and
active recreation for flying personnel.
0 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
- END -
-6-
S-E-C-R-E-T
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030218-5
SECRET
The Bolshevik Party and Stalin himself tirelessly saw to it that our air
force should be strong and should expand, that our aircraft should be better
than any in the world, and that our flyers should fly further, higher, eind
faster than any others. With the development of Soviet aviation technique, new
problems arose in the field of aviation medicine. These problems found their
practical expression in the medical safeguarding of the heroic flights of
Chkalov, Gromov, Grizodubovay, and in stratustat ascents.
The excellent safeguarding of long-distance, altitude, and high-speed
flights required intense research work by many Soviet aviation specialists.
The most important theoretical questions of general physiology in the field of
investigation of the effects of altitude, acceleration, and pressure drop, as
well as questions of the physiology of the sense organs, were successfully
solved by Soviet scientists.
The rapid development of aviation technique introduced the necessity for
regular inspection of the state of health of flying personnel.
The requirements regulating the selection of flying personnel were worked
out in 192 .. The examinations were carried out according to these regulations,
adapted to general army standards. Even at that time, data pertaining to avia-
tion characteristics were taken into account. It should be pointed out that, at
that time, the widespread form for registering the characteristics of the stu-
dents was the so-called Il'zin scheme, named for one of the most talented avia-
tion methodicians. The requirements for flying personnel changed more quickly
than the general army requirements. The retirements were completely revised in
1924.
The increase in speed and maneuverability of aircraft and the accumulation
of aeromedical experience in the study of the effect of acceleration on the or-
ganism led to the necessity of a more intense study of the effect of motion
/avnamic study7 on flying personnel. This found its expression in the orders
iseued in 193
The aeroaedic.al examination by Soviet physicians has always been considered
part of the military medical examination, despite the fact that it is specific.
The general principle of Soviet military medical examination, i.e.,.its prophy-
lactic direction, clearly shows in the aeromedical expert consultation and ex-
aminatinn.
The physicians of the units, established by order of Stalin at Tsaritsyn,
carried out systematic observations of flying personnel and studied the effect
of motion on them. The accumulated practical experience and a number of special
projects established a thorough system of medical study of flying personnel, as
well as a prophylactic system, carried out now by air force physicians under a
system which is not matched by any foreign air force.
At the meetings of Soviet parachutists .la at Moscow in 1930, at Yevpato-
riya in 1931, and at Detekoye Selu in 1932, aviation physicians began studying
the effect of parachute jumping on the organism.
The first modern instructions on the selection of parachutists, drawn up
under the a+.rection of I. K. Sobennikov, were published in 1931.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Air Force had a theory of avia-
tion medicine on a methodological basis, a well-thought-out system of medical
safeguarding of flights, and a well-trained cadre of aviation physicians. The
tremendous experience gained in the war has further increa.?'d that knowledge,
improved the organization, end strengthened the cadres.
The great and undoubted achievements of Soviet aviation medicine are far
ahead of the foreign accomplishments and open an unobstructed road to future
progress.