Arseny Mironov

Arseny Dmitrievich Mironov (; 25 December 1917 – 3 July 2019) was a Russian scientist, aerospace engineer, and aviator. He was one of the oldest researchers in aircraft aerodynamics and flight testing, a Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI) director from 1981 to 1985, a recipient of the Stalin Prize in 1948 and the USSR State Prize in 1976, and an honorary citizen of Zhukovsky.

Mironov contributed to aviation engineering and research through the GFRI, serving as a flight test engineer, researcher, and director. He turned 100 in December 2017.

Early life Mironov was born in Vladimir. His father was Dmitry Ivanovich Mironov (; 1884–1956), an engineer-electrician who worked for Klasson hydroelectric power station in Moscow Oblast and later for electric company Mosenergo in Moscow. His mother Maria Mikhailovna Ilyicheva (; 1889–1982) was a housewife. In May 1941, he started working for the Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI) within the Minaviaprom of the USSR. During the war, he participated in the serial production of fighter planes, which included flight and ground testing (to eliminate quality defects in the aircraft's flying and fighting capabilities) conducted by the GFRI and aircraft manufacturers.

Post-war, Mironov developed methods for aerodynamic research using free-flying models, making a breakthrough in collecting in-flight data concerning wing profile pressure distribution at transonic speeds.

Mironov participated in the development and implementation of the Aircraft Testing Handbooks, a series of official guides for the flight and ground testing of military aircraft. He played a major role in the USSR's communication with the International Civil Aviation Organization in the development of aircraft type certification and noise regulation, especially for supersonic transport aeroplanes.

As a member of investigation commissions, Mironov was closely involved in the investigation of aviation accidents, including the March 1968 MiG-15 training flight accident involving Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Seryogin, the 1972 Il-62 airliner crash near Nerskoye Lake, and others. Regarding the MiG-15 training flight accident, Mironov developed and publicly supported a scientifically-grounded position against numerous different explanations and conspiracies.

Mironov became the head of the GFRI's research division. He then worked as a deputy to , who was the institute's chief from 1969 to 1974. Later, Mironov became his first deputy after veteran Max Taitz. When Utkin died in 1981, Mironov became the institute's chief (1982), serving until was appointed in 1985. He later completed gliding flight training and made several parachute jumps. Mironov's flight instructor was Margarita Ratsenskaya, the aero-club's gliding squad commander and Anokhin's wife. Their daughter, Olga Maksakova (Mironova) (; born 1946) is a psychotherapy practitioner and a Doctor of Medicine working for the Burdenko Neurosurgery National Research Center.

There are also two grandsons and one granddaughter.

Awards Stalin Prize (1948) for development and implementation of a new method for aerodynamics research. Order of Lenin (1971).

On his 100th birthday ceremony on 25 December 2017, Mironov was awarded a Chest Badge "Medal of Small Arms Maker M.T. Kalashnikov" by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Memorials

Mironov is buried together with his wife Olga at the Bykovskoe Cemetery in Zhukovsky.