A bust of Vitaly Kopylov was opened in Kazan

(KZN.RU, August 30). Today, the opening ceremony of the bust of Vitaly Kopylov, a Hero of Socialist Labor of the USSR, the former director of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. Gorbunov, an Honored Machine Builder of the RT, took place in Kazan. The event was attended by Igor Komarov, the Plenipotentiary of the President of Russia in the Volga Federal District, Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash, a Hero of Russia, long-range aviation commander, , and other officials.

Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, noted that today's event is a sign of respect for outstanding personalities. He emphasized that Vitaly Kopylov has come a long way in life and has completed important projects. “We must not forget that this person did a lot not only for the aircraft building industry, but also for the city, housing was introduced for factory workers every year”, said Rustam Minnikhanov.

He said that the idea of installing a Kopylov bust arose a long time ago. They started to implement it after Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, took the initiative to perpetuate the memory of the great aircraft manufacturer during his visit to the plant this year.

Igor Komarov, the Plenipotentiary of the President of Russia in the Volga Federal District, also marked the importance of preserving the memory of Vitaly Kopylov and his deeds for the benefit of the factory workers and the whole city, reports the press service of the President of the RT.

“Vitaly Kopylov is a legendary, an outstanding person and a citizen of our country who has devoted his life to the development of aircraft manufacturing”, said Igor Komarov.

Sergey Kobylash, the commander of long-range aviation, noted that KAPO of Gorbunov under the leadership of Kopylov turned into a leading enterprise in the industry.

“Colleagues spoke about Vitaly Kopylov as an honest, decent, demanding person with rare natural intuition and the ability to captivate people with his word and deed. For many years, the plant has been the main enterprise for the production of Tu-22 heavy rocket-propelled aircraft of all modifications and pride of the Air Force the Tu-160 aircraft, which protect the national interests of the RF as part of Russian long-distance aviation”, said Sergey Kobylash. He added that dozens of pilots and navigators stood on the wing thanks to the work of Kopylov and the team.

Nikolay Savitsky, the deputy general director of PAO Tupolev and the director of the Kazan Aviation Plant of Gorbunov, noted that the memory of Vitaly Kopylov lives. For aircraft builders of all generations, he remains an example of fidelity to professional duty and valiant work in the name of the Motherland.

For reference

Vitaly Kopylov headed KAPO of S. Gorbunov from 1973 to 1994. Under his leadership, the Kazan Aviation Production Association named of S. Gorbunov mastered the serial production of long-range IL-62, IL-62M aircraft, two types of strategic bombers: Tu-22M3 and Tu-160. At the initiative of Vitaliy Kopylov, they built a house-building plant; preschool institutions; dispensary; polyclinic; camp; a complex of a vocational school with production workshops and a hostel; the stadium was reconstructed; annually put into operation up to 30 thousand square meters of housing for plant workers.