Yuri Sukhov

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Yuri Vladimirovich Sukhov (22 April 1923 – 1994) was a Soviet test pilot best known for commanding the maiden flight of the Tupolev Tu-154. Born in Moscow to a working-class family, he joined the military in 1940 and trained as a pilot. During World War II he served as a bomber pilot with the 452nd Bomber Aviation Regiment, flying 59 sorties on the Pe-2 and rising to deputy squadron commander. He joined the Communist Party in 1944. After the war he worked as a test pilot at the Civil Aviation Research Institute of the Air Force, testing aircraft such as the Tu-16 and Tu-22. In 1963 he retired from active duty and joined the Tupolev Design Bureau, where he tested several aircraft including the Tu-22, Tu-95, Tu-114, Tu-124 and Tu-134, and piloted the Tu-154 prototype’s first flight on 3 October 1968. He later worked as an engineer at Tupolev. Sukhov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and Honored Test Pilot of the USSR. He lived in the Chkalovsky area and died in 1994, buried at Leonikha cemetery.