Nizhniy Novgorod Sokol State Aircraft Plant Nizhegorodskiy gosudarstvennyy aviastroitelnyy zavod "Sokol" Nizhegorodskiy GAZ "Sokol" NAZ "Sokol" JSC "Sokol" Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Building Plant Company Sergo Ordzhonikidze Aircraft Production Association Chaadajeva stree, 1 603035 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Vladimir Pomolov, General Director Valery Drobyshevsky, General Designer Tel: (8312) 46-71-03 Fax: (8312) 24-79-66// 46-70-59 Telex: 151101 ANGAR; Teletype: 151146 SILAThe joint-stock company Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Building Plant "Sokol" is a large enterprise of aircraft-building industry. Established prior to World War II, historically the Sokol plant has been Russia's primary MiG aircraft factory, having produced fighter aircraft since the Spanish Civil War. Most recently production centered on the MiG-31 Foxhound fighter-interceptor and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter (two-seat trainer version). With a decline in state orders for fighters, Sokol is introducing production of civil aircraft. The joint-stock company Nizhny Novgorod Aircraft Building Plant "Sokol" (NAZ "Sokol" JSC) is registered on September 22, 1994, registration no.554. The number of full- and part-time workers, engineers and management personnel is about 11000 people.
NAZ "Sokol" JSC is the successor of the aircraft building plant founded in 1932. Its construction started in 1929 and was accomplished amazingly fast - just in 21 months. On February 1, 1932 the plant was set in operation and in August of the same year its first aircraft, the fighter I-5, took off for the free sky. In 1934 the plant starts the production of I-16 fighter. From 1940 to 1942 the LaGG-3 aircraft is produced. Since 1942 La-5 fighter is set on the assembly line. La-5 and its following modifications La-5FN and La-7 are considered to be among the best fighters of World War II. During the war the plant produced 17691 aircraft which figure represented every fourth airplane assembled at the country’s plants in that period. In 1947 the plant designed and constructed two modification of a prototype jetplane.
In 1949 a new epoch in the history of the enterprise began. Since then there was established a close cooperation between the plant and Mikoyan design bureau, which began with the MiG-15. In 1950-52 outstanding combat characteristics of this aircraft were convincingly illustrated in the sky of Northern Korea during dogfights. In 1951 the production of MiG-17 began, and from 1955 till 1985 MiG-19 was assembled at the plant. From 1957 up to 1985 MiG-21, one of the best fighters in the world, is produced. From 1966 to 1985 the conveyor is busy producing MiG-25 - an aircraft fully composed of steel and titan. It had no analogues in the world by then and the plant is proud to have been the only manufacturer of such a plane. MiG-25 was represented in 3 versions: attack aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and 2-seater fighter-trainer.
Civil products include air-cushion amphibious craft; consumer goods (furniture, aluminum kitchen utensils, children's folding beds, hotbeds and hothouses, ski poles and slalom skis); radio-television antennas; equipment for the tanning and food processing industries. Sokol and the Nizhniy Novgorod "AeroRIK" Scientific Production Enterprise are jointly developing the "Dingo" amphibious 7-seat commercial airplane, with the first flight scheduled for 1993. This airplane has an air cushion landing system, which allows it to operate from hard and soft ground surfaces, water, and marshes. Sokol is also planning to produce a Myasishchev-designed 7-seat business-class airplane, the "Gzhel." Nizhny Novgorod is the third largest (after the capital and S.Peterburg) city in Russia: a million and half people live in it. It is situated in Nizhny Novgorod at the juncture of the two largest rivers in Europe - the Volga and the Oka. The city is 403 km from Moscow and 880 km from St.Petersburg. Railways, Volgo-Baltiysky and Volgo-Donskoy river canals connect Nizhny Novgorod to the principal industrial centers and sea ports on the Baltic, White, Kaspiyskoye, Black and Azov seas. Nizhniy Novgorod is one of the main centers of the machine industry in Russia. The largest enterprises are located in Nizhniy Novgorod: the GAZ Automobile Plant ("Volga" cars), several plants connected with GAZ, the Krasnoye Sormovo Works (civil and military shipbuilding), aircraft factories ("MIG" fighter aircraft), and many other plants producing ship diesels, milling machine-tools, mill and grain-elevator equipment, machinery for use in peat mining, and television receivers