The 7th of February 2020 is the 114th anniversary of Oleg Antonov’s birthday.

February 7, 2020 (antonov.com) Oleg Antonov (7 February 1906 – 4 April 1984) was a prominent Soviet aircraft designer, and the first chief of Antonov - a world-famous aircraft company in Ukraine, later named in his honour.

A series of significant transports followed under Oleg Antonov's direction. Antonov aircraft (design office prefix An-) range from a rugged An-2 (which itself is comparatively large for a biplane) through the An-28 reconnaissance aircraft to the massive An-124 Ruslan strategic airlifter. The quad-turboprop An-12 and its derivatives became the primary Soviet military transport from 1959 onward. While less well known, the An-24, An-26, An-30 and An-32 family of twin-turboprop, high winged, passenger/cargo/troops aircraft predominate in domestic/short-haul air services in the former Soviet Union and parts of the world formerly under Soviet influence. Antonov also oversaw the development of the mid-range (An-72/An-74 jet airplanes family. The world's largest production aircraft, the An-124 Ruslan, flew for the first time in 1982, and its specialised shuttle-carrying/extra-heavy cargo derivative, the An-225 Mriya entered development, still under Antonov's guidance, but did not make its maiden flight until 1989 after the death of Antonov. In November 2004, FAI placed the An-225 in the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records.

To your attention – video of the ceremony of insertion of his portrait into the honourable gallery of International Hall of Fame, San Diego Air, and Space Museum – SDASM, held on April 17, 1999. This Hall was open in 1965 in honour of the most outstanding persons in the history of global aviation and space innovations. At present, this exposition of the pictorial portraits is placed in the Ford Building, which is one of the most outstanding buildings of San Diego. Laureates of the Hall of Fame are defined by a special committee of the Museum and International voters’ council each year. During 55 years 223 outstanding persons of the aerospace field were included in the honourable gallery. General Designer Oleg Antonov was among them. Oleg Antonov’s portrait for San Diego Museum was painted by American pilot and artist Kirk Craig. There are two master copies. One of them is presented in SDASM and the other one in ANTONOV COMPANY’s Museum in Kyiv.