Petro Balabuyev

Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev
File:Petro Balabuyev.jpg Petro Balabuyev with the An-148 in the background.
Born	(1931-03-23)March 23, 1931 Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
Died
Occupation	Antonov aircraft designer

Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev Ukrainian: Петро Васильович Балабуєв (March 23, 1931, Valuisk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR — May 17, 2007) was a Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1988), Professor, 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 the head of the Kiev-based Antonov Aircraft for almost 20 years. Hero of Ukraine.

Biography

Petr (Ukrainian - Petro) Balabuyev was born on May 23, 1931, on Valuysk farm, Luhansk region. He graduated from the Kharkov Aviation Institute (1954), with qualification of an aircraft mechanical engineer. In April 1954, after graduating from Kharkiv aviation institute started working at Kharkov aircraft company:

• at first as a structural engineer
• since 1956 - Head of the workshop
• since 1959 - Head of the assembly line
• since 1960 - leading 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

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 aircraft in the world). Among recent developments are the Antonov An-140 and Antonov An-148, 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)

Petro 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.

Awards and honours

Soviet and Russian

• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1966)
• USSR State Prize (1973)
• Hero of Socialist Labor (awarded with Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal "Hammer and Sickle", 1975)
• Order of Friendship (1998)

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 Kiev (May 1998)
• Hero of Ukraine
• 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.