Petro Balabuyev

{{short description|Ukrainian aircraft designer}}

{{More citations needed|date=October 2009}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Petro pene Balabuyev

| image = Petro Balabuyev.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Petro Balabuyev with the An-148 in the background.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|3|23}}

| birth_place = Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|5|17|1931|3|23}}

| death_place =

| education =

| occupation = Antonov aircraft designer

| spouse =

| parents =

| children =

| awards = Hero of Socialist Labor (1975)
USSR State Prize (1973)

| signature = Sign of Petr V. Balabuyev.png

| signature_size =

| signature_alt =

}}

Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev ({{langx|uk|Петро Васильович Балабуєв}}, 23 March 1931 in Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR – 17 May 2007) was a Ukrainian aircraft designer, engineer, Doctor of Engineering (1988), professor, chief designer of the Antonov Design Bureau (1984 – May 2005), Hero of Socialist Labour and a Hero of Ukraine, head of Kyiv-based Antonov Aircraft for 20 years.

Biography

Petro Balabuyev was born on 23 May 1931, on a Valuysk farm in the Luhansk region. He graduated from the Kharkov Aviation Institute{{cite web |url=http://education-in-ukraine.com/en/national-aerospace-n-e-zhukovskiy-university-kharkov-aviation-institute.html |title=National Aerospace N.E.Zhukovskiy University "Kharkov Aviation Institute" |website=education-in-ukraine.com |accessdate=1 August 2018}} in 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
  • since 1968 - deputy chief designer
  • since 1971 - chief designer, First Deputy General Designer
  • since 1984 - chief designer of Antonov{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpynoFM-Jf4C&q=Petr+Balabuyev&pg=PA183 |title=Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century |editor-first1=Robin D. S. |editor-last1=Higham |editor-first2=John T. |editor-last2=Greenwood |editor-first3=Von |editor-last3=Hardesty |date=1998 |location=London, UK |publisher=Frank Cass |page=183 |isbn=978-0-7146-4784-5|accessdate=1 August 2018 |via=Google Books}}

= 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 - destroyed after Russian attack). Among recent developments are the Antonov An-140 and Antonov An-148,{{cite web |url=http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=15146402&cat_id=244315200 |title=Antonov designer general Petr Balabuyev sounds confident on AN-148 regional passenger jet's future |date=9 April 2005 |website=Ukrainian Government |accessdate=1 August 2018}} 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 May 17, 2007, in Kyiv.{{cite web |url=http://ria.ru/society/20070517/65623429.html |title=Умер легендарный авиаконструктор семейства самолетов Ан Петр Балабуев |date=17 May 2007 |website=Ria.ru |language=ru |accessdate=1 August 2018}}

Awards and honours

= Soviet and Russian =

= Ukrainian =

  • Shevchenko National Prize (1979)
  • Honoured master of sciences and engineering (1991)
  • Order of Merit, II grade (1997) and 1 grade (1998)
  • Honorary citizen of Kyiv (May 1998)
  • Hero of Ukraine{{cite web |url=http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?nreg=1635%2F99 |title=On the national appointment of "Hero of Ukraine" by the President |date=30 December 1999 |website=Verkhovna Rada |accessdate=17 May 2006 |language=uk}}
  • Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (2001)
  • Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V grade (2001)

In 2001, he was awarded the Edward Warner Award.

References