Viktor Tolmachev

Viktor Tolmachev

Tolmachev was chief designer of the Antonov An-124 plane

Viktor Tolmachev (11 August 1934 – 7 June 2018) was a Russian engineer. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and chief designer of the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya transport aircraft.^[1]

Biography[]

Tolmachev was born in 1934 in Kursk. After graduating from the Kharkiv Aviation Institute in 1959 he joined the Antonov Design Bureau in Kiev, Ukraine. During his time there, he participated in the design, engineering and updating of almost every Antonov airplane, including the An-2, An-8, An-10, An-12, An-14, An-22, An-24, An-26, An-32, An-28, An-124 and the giant An-225 Mriya.^[1][2]

Tolmachev was later the Technical Director at Volga-Dnepr Airlines, one of the main An-124 operators. There he managed the airworthiness of Volga-Dnepr's heavy-lift fleet, and was involved in the planning for the successor to the An-124.^[1][3]

References[]