Petro Balabuyev
Petro Vasylovych Balabuyev was a Ukrainian aircraft designer, engineer, Doctor of Engineering, professor, chief designer of the Antonov Design Bureau, 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 Valuisk farm in Luhansk Oblast. He graduated from the Kharkov Aviation Institute 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
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, Antonov An-225 Mriya . 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
Petro Balabuyev died on May 17, 2007, in Kyiv.
Awards and honours
Soviet and Russian
Ukrainian
- Shevchenko National Prize
- Honoured master of sciences and engineering
- Order of Merit, II grade and 1 grade
- Honorary citizen of Kyiv
- Hero of Ukraine
- Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
- Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V grade