Petro Balabuyev

Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev
Petro Balabuyev with the An-148 in the background.
Born (1931-03-23)March 23, 1931
Soviet Union Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
Died May 17, 2007(2007-05-17) (aged 76)
Occupation Antonov aircraft designer

Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev Ukrainian: Петро Васильович Балабуєв (March 23, 1931 in Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR – May 17, 2007) was a Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1988), Professor, and chief designer of Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (1984 – May 2005). He was the lead designer of many Antonov airplanes, including the An-225 airplane, currently the world's largest aircraft and the An-124. He was also head of Kiev-based Antonov Aircraft for almost 20 years. A hero of Ukraine.

Biography

Petro Balabuyev was born on May 23, 1931, on a Valuysk farm, in the Luhansk region. He graduated from the Kharkov Aviation Institute[1] (1954), with qualifications of an aircraft mechanical engineer. In April 1954, after graduating from Kharkiv Aviation Institute, he started working at the Kharkov aircraft company:

  • at first as a structural engineer
  • since 1956 - Head of the workshop
  • since 1959 - Head of the assembly line
  • since 1960 - lead designer, acting head of production dept.
  • since 1961 - deputy chief engineer, main representative of Antonov Design Bureau at Tashkent Aviation Production Association
  • since 1965 - Head of the Research Bureau of Antonov Bureau
  • since 1968 - deputy chief designer
  • since 1971 - chief designer, First Deputy General Designer
  • since 1984 - chief designer of Antonov Bureau[2]

Aircraft

Under his guidance the following aircraft were developed: Antonov An-22, Antonov An-72, An-74, Antonov An-32, Antonov An-28, Antonov An-124 (the world's second largest serially manufactured cargo aircraft), Antonov An-225 Mriya (eng. - Dream) (the largest operational aircraft in the world). Among recent developments are the Antonov An-140 and Antonov An-148,[3] Antonov An-38 and Antonov An-70.

Other positions taken by Petro Balabuyev:

  • Chairman of the board of the International Consortium "Medium Transport Aircraft"
  • Program manager for the implementation of the contract with the Islamic Republic of Iran
  • Member of Exporter council at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (since February 1999)

Balabuyev was the author of over 100 scientific papers. He developed scientific bases of design and practical implementation of supercritical wing profiles into the design of heavy transport aircraft.

Petro Balabuyev died on 17 May 2007 in Kiev.[4]

Awards and honours

Soviet and Russian

Ukrainian

In 2001, he was awarded the Edward Warner Award.

References

  1. ↑ "National Aerospace N.E.Zhukovskiy University "Kharkov Aviation Institute"". education-in-ukraine.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Higham, Robin D. S.; Greenwood, John T.; Hardesty, Von, eds. (1998). Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century. London, UK: Frank Cass. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-7146-4784-5. Retrieved 1 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Antonov designer general Petr Balabuyev sounds confident on AN-148 regional passenger jet's future". Ukrainian Government. 9 April 2005. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Умер легендарный авиаконструктор семейства самолетов Ан Петр Балабуев". Ria.ru (in Russian). 17 May 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "On the national appointment of "Hero of Ukraine" by the President". Verkhovna Rada (in Ukrainian). 30 December 1999. Retrieved 17 May 2006.
  • "Petro Balabuyev's "Mriya"". Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 17 May 2006.
  • "Balabuyev Petro Vasylovych" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2006.
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