Утерянное авиастроение Украины: звезда Петра Балабуева. Анатолий Вовнянко, Юрий Романенко

There are names familiar to everyone in global aviation: Antonov, Korolev, Sikorsky. The name of Pyotr Balabuev, the general designer who oversaw the creation of the Ruslan and Mriya, is virtually unknown to the general public. Aircraft designer Anatoly Vovnyanko, one of Balabuev's closest collaborators, considers this an injustice that must be corrected while the witnesses are still alive. The occasion for a conversation with Yuri Romanenko was the designer's 95th birthday, May 23rd. Vovnyanko paints a portrait of a man of exceptional productivity and asceticism: he didn't leave work until 9 p.m., was indifferent to food and clothing, and devoted only the last bit of time to his family. "He'd make a dead man work," was how colleagues described him. Yet, he was so modest in his daily life that he even gave up his place in line at the bathhouse to a young engineer. His management style was one of maximalism and personal responsibility: he took on tasks that others were hesitant to handle, including the episode with the An-124's acceptance by the military amid engine surges. The technical background of the conversation spans half a century of Soviet and Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing. Vovnyanko explains why Soviet aircraft had a service life of 15,000-30,000 flight hours versus Western aircraft's 80,000-100,000; how studying a dismembered Boeing 707 changed the approach to An-124 design; why competition with the American C-5 Galaxy became a driver of progress; and how the Ruslan remains superior to the C-17 to this day. Separately, he discusses the history of the An-70: a unique aircraft with a D-27 engine, which found neither European partners nor Ukrainian funding, but which Balabuyev flew twice, including after the accident in Omsk. The central thesis of the episode: Ukraine's aviation industry survived in the 1990s not thanks to the state, but despite its absence—entirely thanks to the will of one man, who managed to transform experimental aircraft into a commercial airline and channel its profits into new developments. The conversation will continue in the next episode. You can buy merch here: https://medoyid.com Monobank donation to the studio: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/5C86fTjsiU Become a channel sponsor:    / @yuriyromanenko_ukraine   You can support the channel: To my Patreon:   / romanenkoyuriy   to my Privat card: 4731 1856 1467 7968 to my Monobank card: 5375 4114 2205 9084 PayPal: [email protected] Follow my channels on social media: My Telegram channel: https://t.me/romanenko_dns My Viber channel https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQA8fdi5... My Facebook page:   / yuriy.romanenko1977   My business Facebook page:   / yuriy.romanenko   My Instagram page:   / ​​   My Twitter page:   / shan_yan   My TikTok page:   / yuriyrom77   "Khvylya" Facebook page:   / hvylya   TIMECODES 00:02:14 — Broadcast announcement. 00:06:00 — The reason for the broadcast: 95th anniversary of Pyotr Balabuev's birth 00:09:24 — Balabuev as a global figure. Why he has been forgotten 00:14:23 — Balabuev has been at the Antonov plant since 1954. His path to becoming the general designer 00:16:25 — Vovnyanko's first meeting with Balabuev: a line at the bathhouse 00:21:05 — The creation of the An-124: military requirements and competition with the C-5 Galaxy 00:23:06 — Long wing panels: a nine-month assignment in Belaya Kalitva 00:32:54 — The beginning of work on the An-225. Vovnyanko's Appointment as Lead Designer 00:40:13 — The An-70: A Unique Aircraft, the Omsk Accident, and European Rejection 00:47:25 — How Balabuev Named the Mriya 00:49:41 — 250-Ton Load Capacity: A Maximalist's Decision 00:52:45 — The Collapse of the USSR. Russian Aviation Collapsed, Ukraine Survived 00:53:09 — The Mriya Show to Gorbachev in Boryspil. The Birth of Ruslan Airlines 01:06:02 — The 1990s: A List of Projects Saved by Balabuev in Independent Ukraine 01:21:51 — Summary: Balabuev Saved the Industry. Announcement of the Second Broadcast #ukraine #aviation #romanenko