He is called “the last great aircraft designer of the 20th century.” He created 22 types of aircraft, including the largest and most lifting aircraft in the world, which became the “calling card” of our country. It was his car that holds the absolute record for the duration of active service - the legendary An-2 was mass-produced for more than half a century! And in total, the famous “Antonov” design bureau has about 500 aviation records, most of which have not yet been broken. Although Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov received worldwide recognition as a designer of civil and transport aircraft, his design bureau actively worked in the military field, which was not previously known it was customary to mention. Only experts know that among Antonov’s first independent projects were the development of a front-line jet fighter and a jet “flying wing”. And even the An-2 “maize plant” was supposed to have several combat modifications: a night reconnaissance aircraft and artillery fire spotter, a high-altitude balloon fighter, and even a turbojet “stratospheric biplane” with a “ceiling” of about 20 km! The new book by a leading aviation historian talks in detail about all of them aircraft of the great aircraft designer, both civil and military, serial and experimental, well-known and almost forgotten - from gliders of the 1930s to the transport giants "Ruslan" and "Mriya", which have no equal in the world.