caption death_date death_place status birth_place image_size birth_date rank image article_title first_flight_aircraft name type
major-general vladimir sergeyevich ilyushin , '' vvs '' 01 march 2010 russia deceased moscow , soviet union 200px 31 march 1927 major-general major-general vladimir ilyushin.jpg vladimir ilyushin
 su-11 , Т-4 , su-25 , su-27 , Т-5 , su-15 , su-17 , su-24 vladimir ilyushin Владимир Сергеевич Ильюшин soviet union test pilot
vladimir ilyushin

major general vladimir sergeyevich ilyushin -lrb- -rrb- -lrb- march 31 , 1927 , moscow -- march 1 , 2010 -rrb- was a soviet general and noted test pilot , and the son of aerospace engineer sergei ilyushin .
he spent most of his career as a test pilot for the sukhoi okb .
in 1961 , ilyushin was the subject of spurious rumors that he , rather than yuri gagarin , was the first cosmonaut in space ; according to the conspiracy theory , his mission had gone badly , and the soviet union had covered it up .
ilyushin was also notable as a rugby union administrator who was inducted into the irb hall of fame in 2013 .
