Editing Alexander Yakovlev (engineer) (section)

==Biography==
Yakovlev was born in [[Moscow]], where his father was an employee of the [[Nobel Brothers]] oil company. From 1919 to 1921, he worked as a part-time courier while still in school, and in 1922 he built his first model aeroplane as part of a school project. In 1924, he built a glider, the AVF-10, which made its first flight on 24 September 1924. The design won an award and secured him a position as a worker at the [[Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky|Zhukovsky Air Force Military Engineering Academy]]. However, his repeated attempts to gain admission to the Academy were denied due to his “lack of [[proletariat]] origins”. In 1927, Yakovlev designed the AIR-1 ultralight aircraft. This was the first of ten aircraft he designed between 1927 and 1933.

In 1927, Yakovlev finally gained admittance to the Academy and graduated in 1931. He was then assigned to the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 39, where his first design bureau of lightweight aviation was established in 1932. He became the main designer in 1935, then the chief designer (1956–1984) of aircraft for the [[Yakovlev]] Design Bureau.

The Yakovlev Design Bureau developed many fighter aircraft used by the [[Soviet Air Force]] during [[World War II]].  Particularly well known are the [[Yakovlev Yak-1|Yak-1]], [[Yakovlev Yak-3|Yak-3]], [[Yakovlev Yak-7|Yak-7]] and [[Yakovlev Yak-9|Yak-9]] as well as the [[Yakovlev Yak-6|Yak-6]] transport. In 1945 Yakovlev designed one of the first Soviet aircraft with a jet engine, the [[Yakovlev Yak-15|Yak-15]]. He also designed the first{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} Soviet all-weather interceptor, the [[Yak-25P]], and the first{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} Soviet supersonic bomber, the [[Yakovlev Yak-28|Yak-28]]. In the post-war period, Yakovlev was best known for the civilian airliner, the [[Yakovlev Yak-42|Yak-42]], a three-engine medium-range aircraft, and numerous aerobatic models.

Yakovlev served under [[Joseph Stalin]] as a Vice-Minister of Aviation Industry between 1940 and 1946. Before the start of World War II, he made a number of trips abroad, including Italy, England and Germany, to study aircraft development in those countries. After the start of the war, he helped supervise the evacuation of aircraft factories to the east, and the production organisation, while continuing as head designer of his Bureau. He was also a correspondent member of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences#The USSR Academy of Sciences|USSR Academy of Science]] in 1943. In 1946 he was awarded the title "[[Colonel General|General-Colonel]] of Aviation".

In 1976 Yakovlev became academician of the USSR Academy of Science. He was a deputy of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] (1946–1989). Yakovlev retired 21 August 1984. He was buried in the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]] in Moscow.