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Andrei Tupolev

Andrei Tupolev was born at Pustomazovo, November 10, 1888. In 1908 he entered the Moscow Higher Technical School and studied under Nikolai Zhukovsky, the founder of Russian aviation.

Beginning in 1916, Tupolev held a number of prestigious academic posts culminating in 1922 with his appointment as Chief of the Aircraft Design Bureau of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. There he produced a series of original designs for his country's first all-metal aircraft.

Foremost among his designs was the ANT-4 of 1925, which became the first all-metal, low-wing, twin-engined bomber in the world to enter quantity production. In 1934, his eight-engined ANT-20, the Maxim Gorky, was the largest aircraft flying anywhere in the world.

A world's record for distance was set by his ANT-25 long-range monoplane when it flew across the Arctic to America in 1937.

In World War II, Tupolev and his team produced a number of excellent medium and heavy bombers that were instrumental in the final victory of the Allied Forces. After the way, Tupolev made the transition to the jet age with airliners beginning with the famous TU-104 and including the world's first supersonic transport, the TU-144.

Andrei Tupolev's remarkable career spanned sixty-four years and resulted in more than one hundred designs. His academic brilliance and aerodynamic innovation led the Soviet and world aviation industry in the development of long-range, high-speed flight.

Andrei Tupolev died in 1972.

Invested 1988 in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame

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Updated: March 12, 2004