32 Facts About Andrei Tupolev

Andrei Tupolev was an early pioneer of aeronautics in Russia and served as a protege of Nikolay Zhukovsky.

Andrei Tupolev designed or oversaw the design of more than 100 types of civilian and military aircraft in the Soviet Union over 50 years, some of which set 78 world records.

Andrei Tupolev produced many notable designs such as the Tu-2, Tu-16, Tu-95, and Tu-104, and the reverse engineered Tu-4.

Andrei Tupolev was highly honoured in the Soviet Union and awarded various titles and honours including the Hero of Socialist Labor three times, Order of Lenin eight times, Order of the Red Banner of Labour two times, made an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1953, and a Colonel-General of the Soviet Air Force in 1968.

Andrei Tupolev was honoured outside the Soviet Union as an honorary member of the British Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in recognition of his work.

Andrei Tupolev's father, Nikolai Ivanovich Andrei Tupolev, was a native of Surgut, who worked as a notary for the governorate.

Andrei Tupolev's mother, Anna Vasilievna was born in Torzhok in the family of a judicial investigator, and graduated from the Mariinsky Gymnasium in Tver.

Andrei Tupolev then applied for courses at two Russian universities: Imperial Moscow Technical School and the Emperor Nicholas II Moscow State University of Railway Engineering.

Andrei Tupolev was accepted at both, but ultimately chose to attend at IMTU.

In 1909, Andrei Tupolev began studying aerodynamics under the Russian aviation pioneer Nikolay Zhukovsky, and volunteered for the Aeronautical workshop headed by Zhukovsky.

In 1910, together with his workshop friends, Andrei Tupolev built and test piloted his first glider.

In 1911, Andrei Tupolev was accused of taking part in revolutionary activities, including demonstrations and distribution of subversive literature, and was arrested.

Andrei Tupolev was later released on condition that he return to his family home in Pustomazovo.

Andrei Tupolev was only allowed to return to IMTU in 1914, studying during World War I and the Russian Revolution.

Andrei Tupolev completed his studies in 1918 and was awarded the degree of Engineer-Mechanic when he presented his thesis on the development of seaplanes.

Andrei Tupolev was a leading figure of the Moscow-based Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute from 1929 until his death in 1972.

In 1925, Andrei Tupolev designed a twin-engine bomber, the TB-1, which was considered one of the most advanced designs of the time.

However, on 21 October 1937, Andrei Tupolev was arrested together with Vladimir Petlyakov and the entire directorate of the TsAGI and EDO during the Great Purge on trumped up charges of sabotage, espionage and of aiding the Russian Fascist Party.

Many of his colleagues were executed but Andrei Tupolev himself was imprisoned.

In 1939, Andrei Tupolev was moved from a prison to an NKVD sharashka for aircraft designers in Bolshevo near Moscow, where many surviving ex-TsAGI people had already been sent to work.

In 1940, Andrei Tupolev was tried and convicted with a ten-year sentence, and during this time he developed the Andrei Tupolev Tu-2 which would become one of the most important aircraft of World War II.

Andrei Tupolev was released in July 1941 around the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union to "conduct important defence work" but was not fully rehabilitated by the Soviet state until 1955, two years after Joseph Stalin's death.

Andrei Tupolev headed the B-4 project, as it was initially designated, to reverse engineer the American Boeing B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber, which had been the first aircraft to deliver a nuclear weapon.

Andrei Tupolev succeeded in the complex task of re-engineering the design with Soviet engines, weapons, equipment and airfoil sections, while using available metric sheetmetal which required a nearly complete redesign as the original had been built to imperial measurements, while new alloys had to be brought into production.

Andrei Tupolev had several examples of the resulting Tu-4 flying in time for the 1947 May Day parade.

At about the same time, Andrei Tupolev introduced into service the Tu-104, the world's second operational production jet airliner.

Andrei Tupolev died on 23 December 1972 and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

In 1979, a bust of Andrei Tupolev was erected at a public square in Kimry, near his birthplace Pustomazovo which no longer exists.

Andrei Tupolev appeared next to the building of the design bureau on the embankment of Academician Tupolev in the square of the same name.

Andrei Tupolev's daughter Yuliya was a doctor who was awarded the title of Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation.

Andrei Tupolev's son Alexei was a successful pioneering aircraft designer who designed the Andrei Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic passenger jet, and helped design the Buran space shuttle and the Tu-2000 long-range heavy bomber.

Andrei Tupolev was never a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union despite his status and being elected to several deputy positions.