1997 Hall of Fame Recipient

Oleg Konstantinovitch Antonov (1906 - 1984)
Founder and designer of heavy lift aircraft 

Oleg Antonov was born on February 7, 1906 near Moscow, Russia. He designed his first glider by the time he was 18 and during World War II worked on military aircraft. However he dreamed of a time when he could build airplanes for peaceful purposes. Antonov established his own design bureau and in 1947 produced the rugged An-2 agricultural biplane that turned out to be one of the most versatile and enduring general-purpose aircraft in the world. In 1952, he moved his bureau to Kiev in the Ukraine and began work on a series of multi-engine turboprop transports. His four-engine An-12 earned him and his design team the coveted Lenin Prize. Antonov excelled at producing durable transports for the harsh weather and primitive operating conditions in the far-flung Soviet Union. His huge An-22 was the largest aircraft in the world when it was introduced at the 1965 Paris Air Show, and earned him another Lenin Prize. The highly successful An-124, the world's largest production aircraft, first flew in 1982 and was a fitting crown to Oleg Antonov's brilliant career. He died on March 4, 1984