Biography
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Ishenbay Abdraimovich Abdraimov (18 March 1914 – 2001) — the first Kyrgyz pilot, initiator and organiser of civil aviation in Kyrgyzstan.

Early life

Ishenbay Abdraimov was born into a peasant family in the village of Bozböltök near the city of Bishkek.

Education

1934 — specialty: pilot; first graduating class of the Central Asian Regional National Pilots School of Aeroflot, Tashkent.

1972 — specialty: engineer-pilot; Academy of Civil Aviation, Leningrad.

Career

  • 1934
    pilot in the medical aviation service of the Civil Air Fleet.
  • 1935
    commander of the Kyrgyz separate detachment of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR.
  • 1938
    commander of the Kyrgyz separate aviation group of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR.
  • 1942–1945
    participant of the Great Patriotic War. From June 1943 to May 1945 he served as a pilot in the 62nd Guards Separate Aviation Regiment of the 16th Air Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. He completed 155 combat sorties on TB-3, PR-5, UT-1, UT-2, P-5, and Yak-12 aircraft.
  • 1945–1947
    flight crew pilot of the 62nd GOAP; transported Marshal G.K. Zhukov and the USSR Chief Prosecutor R.A. Rudenko to the Nuremberg Trials.
  • 1948
    commander of the Kyrgyz aviation detachment under the Central Asian territorial administration of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR.
  • 1951–1975
    head of the Kyrgyz civil aviation authority. He held this position for 25 years. From a team of three pilots he created a substantial Kyrgyz civil aviation administration. During his tenure, 50 airfields were built in Kyrgyzstan. He oversaw construction of the first airport in Kyrgyzstan meeting Class I standards.
  • 1955–1975
    elected and served as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR and as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan.
  • —
    he pioneered air routes across the mountains of Kyrgyzstan using U-2 and Li-2 aircraft and organised flights in mountainous regions by helicopters and the turboprop liner Il-18.
  • —
    personally mastered 16 aircraft types: U-2, SP, S-2, AIR-6, PR-5, TB-3, UT-1, UT-2, P-5, Yak-12, An-2, Li-2, SI-47, Ju-52, Il-14, Il-18. Logged over 17,000 flight hours.
  • —
    for 25 years he served as chief pilot for the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan I.R. Razzakov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR T.K. Kulatov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers and First Secretary T.U. Usubaliyev, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers A.S. Suyumbaev.
  • 1973
    secured the opening in Frunze of the first aviation-technical civil aviation school in Central Asia.

Awards

  • 13.11.1944 – Medal "For Battle Merit".
  • 21.12.1944 – Order of the Red Star.
  • 39.5.1945 – Medal "For the Victory over Germany".
  • 49.6.1945 – Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw".
  • 531.7.1951 – Order of the Badge of Honour.
  • 631.7.1953 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
  • 715.2.1957 – Order of the Badge of Honour.
  • 86.6.1963 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
  • 916.8.1966 – for special merits in mastering aviation technology, applying the most advanced piloting methods, high results in training flight personnel, many years of accident‑free flight work and outstanding achievements in the use of aviation in the national economy, Abdraimov I. became the first holder of the honorary title "Honoured Pilot of the USSR" with badge No. 000001.
  • 1015.6.1971 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
  • 114.2.1983 – Order of Friendship of Peoples.
  • 1211.3.1985 – Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class.
  • 137.12.1994 – Gold Medal of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
  • 1417 (26).5.1997 – Soldier's Order of Commander Zhukov G.K.
  • 152000 – Order of Manas, 3rd degree.
  • 16Honoured Worker of Transport of the Kyrgyz SSR.
  • 17Awarded 10 Certificates of Honour and 7 Certificates of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR.
  • 18Twice "Aeroflot Excellence".

Books

I. Abdraimov authored books on the history of aviation in Kyrgyzstan:

  • "Half a Century in the Sky of Kyrgyzstan". 1982. 220 pp.
  • "Flights Continue".
  • "Steel Birds over Ala‑Too". Frunze, 1980. 92 pp.

Legacy

On 18 March 1994 the Kyrgyz Aviation College was named after I. Abdraimov; today the Kyrgyz Aviation Institute bears his name.

A monument to Ishenbay Abdraimov stands by the institute administrative building.

The main academic building of the institute houses the Ishenbay Abdraimov museum.

A memorial plaque was installed on the house on Manas Avenue in Bishkek where I. Abdraimov lived.

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