Yevgeny Nikolayevich Andreyev (russian: Евгений Андреев; 4 September 1926 – 9 February 2000) was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the

Soviet Air Force 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 set an official record for the longest-distance

free-fall In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on it ...

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

jump on 1 November 1962, which the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' put at . The previous record holder for highest free-fall jump was

Joseph Kittinger Joseph William Kittinger II (July 27, 1928 – December 9, 2022) served as a United States Air Force (USAF) officer from 1950 to 1978. He was a fighter pilot who earned Command Pilot status and retired as a colonel. He held the world record for ...

. However, Andreyev did not break the record for highest parachute jump, also held by Kittinger, but that jump was stabilized by a

drogue parachute A drogue parachute is a parachute designed for deployment from a rapidly-moving object. It can be used for various purposes, such as to decrease speed, to provide control and stability, or as a pilot parachute to deploy a larger parachute. ...

and therefore not free-fall. Andreyev was awarded the

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 ...

for his feat. Andreyev's record stood until 2012, when

Felix Baumgartner Felix Baumgartner (; born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as par ...

broke it with a jump from .

Early life

Andreyev was born on 4 September 1926 in the city of Novosibirsk, Russia. From 1937 to 1942 he was brought up in an orphanage in Serov, Sverdlovsk Region. He worked in a factory in the city of Nizhny Tagil. He was in the Soviet Army in 1943. He studied at the School of Armavir pilots. In 1955 he graduated from the Ryazan Airborne School. After graduation he participated in a test of parachute systems on 1 November 1962 as part of a secret experiment conducted by the head of the Soviet space program

Sergey Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв, Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf, Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg; ukr, Сергій Павлович Корольов, ...

. From 1972 to 1991, he was a member of the

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

Career and death

On 1 November 1962, Andreyev and

Pyotr Dolgov Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov (russian: Пётр Иванович Долгов; 21 February 1920 – 1 November 1962) (Hero of the Soviet Union) was a colonel in the Soviet Airborne forces. Dolgov died while carrying out a high-altitude parachute jump f ...

ascended from

Volsk Volsk (russian: Вольск) is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, opposite the mouth of the Bolshoy Irgiz (a tributary of the Volga), northeast from Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

, near

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

. Andreyev jumped from the capsule at and free-fell before successfully deploying his parachute. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 12 December 1962 for courage and heroism shown during the trial of the parachute equipment, Evgeny Andreyev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the

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 b ...

and Gold Star medal (№ 11092). Andreyev was a Master of Sports in the former USSR and holder of FAI Sporting Licence #3812. In 1985, Andreyev, one of the first in the country, was awarded the honorary title of Honored skydiver test the USSR, badge number 3. In total, he made eight jumps from the stratosphere. He lived in the village Chkalovsky, Moscow region. He died on 9 February 2000 and is buried in the cemetery of the village Leoniha of Schyolkovo district, Moscow region.

External links

Andreyev's biography
at Stratopedia, the balloon encyclopedia

at Stratopedia, the balloon encyclopedia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreyev, Evgeniy Nikolayevich 1926 births 2000 deaths Heroes of the Soviet Union Military personnel from Novosibirsk Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School alumni Soviet Air Force officers Soviet balloonists Space diving

Early life

Career and death

See also

External links

References