Vladimir Sergeyevich Ilyushin (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Ильюшин; 31 March 1927 – 1 March 2010) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

and

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, and the son of aerospace engineer Sergey Ilyushin. He spent most of his career as a test pilot for the

Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (russian: ПАО «Компания „Сухой“», ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer (formerly Soviet), headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and mili ...

OKB (a rival of

Ilyushin The public joint stock company Ilyushin Aviation Complex, operating as Ilyushin (russian: Илью́шин) or as Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a former Soviet and now a Russian aircraft manufacturer and design bureau, founded in 1933 by Sergey ...

OKB). Ilyushin was also a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

administrator who was inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

(then known as the IRB Hall of Fame) in 2013. In 1961, Ilyushin was the subject of a

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

that he, rather than

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

, was the first cosmonaut in space. There is no evidence and no support to the theory.

Career as test pilot

Ilyushin was a test pilot and lieutenant general in the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

. He piloted the maiden flights of the Sukhoi's Su-11 (1958), Т-5 (1958), Su-15 (1962), Su-17 (1966),

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It was ...

(1967), Т-4 (1972),

Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач ('' rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet ...

(1975) and the

Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation j ...

(1977). Ilyushin demonstrated his outstanding piloting skills as a test pilot of the

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It was ...

. He flew a course so precisely that he caused a

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consist ...

crash in the aircraft instrumentation. That is, the software initially used in the nav/attack system of the Su-24 lacked a

null function In computer science, a null function (or null operator) is a subroutine that leaves the program state unchanged. When it is part of the instruction set of a processor, it is called a NOP or NOOP (No OPeration). Mathematically, a (computer) f ...

, and failed to proceed after it hit the so-called "machine zero", i.e. Ilyushin's actual geographical position became identical to the mission target input into the software. There had been no expectation that this objective would be achieved and there was no provision for it, in the software used during his test flight.

Rugby union

Ilyushin was first exposed to rugby while studying at the Moscow Aviation Institute in the 1940s; according to

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(formerly the International Rugby Board, or IRB), "His love of the sport was immediate and stayed with him for the rest of his life." He went on to a career as a rugby administrator that made him, according to then-IRB president Bernard Lapasset, "a true pioneer of Rugby in Russia". On 31 March 1967 (his 40th birthday), he founded the Soviet Rugby Federation, and was named its first president. By 1975, he had fully integrated the Soviet Union into the European international structure, and the following year played a significant role in the creation of a Soviet club championship. Ilyushin's career as an administrator continued into the post-communist era. He died two days after

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

secured its place in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

, the country's first appearance ever in that competition. In February 2013, Ilyushin was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame, now known as the World Rugby Hall of Fame, during the pool allocation draw for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.

Alleged first person in space

Two days before Gagarin's launch on 12 April 1961, Dennis Ogden wrote in the Western Communist newspaper the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...

'' that the Soviet Union's announcement that Ilyushin had been involved in a serious car crash was really a cover story for a 7 April 1961

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

al spaceflight gone wrong. A similar story was told by French broadcaster Eduard Bobrovsky, but his version had the launch occurring in March, resulting in Ilyushin slipping into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

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. 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. They claim, "According to recently declassified documents, Ilyushin was placed in a capsule named Rossiya, and the secret flight took place in the early hours of the morning, on Friday April 7th 1961". After a guidance malfunction, the cosmonaut is reported to have made an unguided crash landing in China, too critically injured to announce the mission a complete success. The 2009 film ''Fallen Idol: The Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy'' also takes the same position and further discusses US efforts to continue the allegation, even citing national security not to release information under the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

. The data sought was from the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

tracking station at Tern Island that supposedly covered and recorded Iluyshin's failed mission. According to Mark Wade, editor of the space history web site ''

Encyclopedia Astronautica The ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'' is a reference web site on space travel. A comprehensive catalog of vehicles, technology, astronauts, and flights, it includes information from most countries that have had an active rocket research program, f ...

'', "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."

Honours and awards

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

(1960)Совершенно секретно: Гагарин
Коммерсант.ru. Умер Владимир Ильюшин
* Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class (29 July 1999)Presidential Decree dated July 29, 1999 № 912. *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

Medal "For Battle Merit" The Medal "For Battle Merit" (russian: Медаль «За боевые заслуги») was a Soviet military medal awarded for "combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military ...

(1955) *

Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" The Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" (russian: Медаль «За оборону Москвы») was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union awarded to military and civilians who had participated in the Battle of Moscow. History T ...

(1945) * Medal of de Lavaux (FAI, 1963) * Lenin Prize (1976) *

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(1996) * Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR (1966) * Honored Master of Sports (1961) *

Medal "For Impeccable Service" The Medal "For Impeccable Service" (russian: Медаль «За безупречную службу») was a Soviet military award for long service awarded to deserving members of the military personnel of the armed forces of the USSR, of the Int ...

1st and 2nd class *

(2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilyushin, Vladimir 1927 births 2010 deaths Military personnel from Moscow Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Fedotov TPS alumni Heroes of the Soviet Union Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Flight altitude record holders Rugby union executives World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Russian aviation record holders Russian aviators Russian major generals Russian rugby union players Russian test pilots Soviet Air Force generals Soviet aviation record holders Soviet aviators Soviet major generals Soviet rugby union players Soviet test pilots

Career as test pilot

Rugby union

Alleged first person in space

Honours and awards

See also

References