Vladimir Ilyushin

Vladimir Ilyushin Владимир Сергеевич Ильюшин
Major-General Vladimir Sergeyevich Ilyushin, VVS
Soviet Union test pilot
Status	Deceased
Born	March 31, 1927(1927-03-31) Soviet Union
Died	March 1, 2010(2010-03-01) (aged 78) Russia
Other occupation	Test pilot
Rank	Major-General
Time in space	Not known
Selection	Non-confirmed
Awards	Order of Merit for the Fatherland Hero of the Soviet Union

Major General Vladimir Sergeyevich Ilyushin (Russian: Владимир Сергеевич Ильюшин) (March 31, 1927 – March 1, 2010) was a Soviet general and noted test pilot, and the son of aerospace engineer Sergei Ilyushin. He spent most of his career as a test pilot for the Sukhoi OKB. In 1961, Ilyushin was the subject of spurious rumors that he, rather than Yuri Gagarin, was the first cosmonaut in space; according to the conspiracy theory, his mission had gone badly, and the Soviet Union had covered it up.

Spaceflight rumor

Two days before Gagarin's launch on April 12, 1961, Dennis Ogden wrote in the Western Communist newspaper the Daily Worker that the Soviet Union's announcement that Ilyushin had been involved in a serious car crash was really a cover story for an April 7, 1961 orbital spaceflight gone wrong. A similarly spurious story was told by French broadcaster Eduard Bobrovsky, but his version had the launch occurring in March, resulting in Ilyushin slipping into a coma. NORAD tracking stations, however, had no record of any such launch. Later that year, U.S. News & World Report transmitted the rumor by claiming that Gagarin had never flown and was merely a stand-in for the sickened Ilyushin.^{[citation needed]} The 1999 film The Cosmonaut Cover-Up takes the position that Ilyushin was the first man in space and discusses the alleged cover-up in detail. The 2009 film "Fallen Idol: The Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy" also takes the same position and further goes to talk about the US efforts to continue the lie, even citing national security to not release information under the Freedom of Information Act. The data sought was the Tern Island CIA tracking station that covered and recorded Iluyshin's failed mission.

According to Mark Wade, editor of the space history Web site Encyclopedia Astronautica, "The entire early history of the Soviet manned space program has been declassified and we have piles of memoirs of cosmonauts, engineers, etc., who participated. We know who was in the original cosmonaut team, who never flew, was dismissed, or was killed in ground tests. Ilyushin is not one of them."

Career as test pilot

Ilyushin had a prominent career as a test pilot and lieutenant general in the Soviet Air Force. He piloted the maiden flights of the Sukhoi's Su-11 (1958), Т-5 (1958), Su-15 (1962), Su-17 (1966), Su-24 (1967), Т-4 (1972), Su-25 (1975) and the famous Su-27 (1977).

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Hero of the Soviet Union (1960)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (29 July 1999) - for services to the state, a large contribution to the development, creation of modern aviation technology and years of diligent work
• Order of Lenin
• Order of the Red Banner
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice
• Order of the Red Star
• Order of the Badge of Honour
• Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin", twice
• Medal for Combat Service (1955)
• Medal for the Defence of Moscow (1945)
• Medal of de Lavaux (FAI, 1963)
• Lenin Prize (1976)
• State Prize of the Russian Federation (1996)
• Honored Test Pilot of the USSR (1966)
• Honored Master of Sports (1961)
• Medal For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945
• 20 years of victory
• 30 years of victory
• Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 Medal
• Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "50 Years of the USSR Armed Forces"
• Medal "60 Years of the USSR Armed Forces"
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"
• Meritorious Service 1st and 2nd classes

See also

• Soviet space program conspiracy accusations