Yevgeni Nikolayevich Andreyev

Yevgeni (Eugene) Nikolayevich Andreyev (Евгений Андреев; September 4, 1926 – February 9, 2000) was a colonel in the Soviet Air Force. Andreyev set an official record for the longest distance free-fall parachute jump on 1 November 1962, which the Guinness Book of Records put at 24,500 meters (80,380 feet). The record was previously held by Joseph Kittinger, whose jump was for a longer distance, but was stabilized by a drogue parachute. Andreyev was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for his feat. The free fall distance record stood for nearly 50 years until broken by Felix Baumgartner in 2012.

Early life and career
Andreyev was born in Novosibirsk. He became an airborne troops lieutenant in 1955 and started parachute testing since then. He carried out eight high altitude parachute jumps in total. Andreyev was severely injured in 1959 and had to be decommissioned from the military. He managed to continue his service, despite the damaged leg being shorter than the other one.

Volga Balloon
On 1 November 1962, Andreyev and Pyotr Dolgov ascended from Volsk, near Saratov. Andreyev jumped from the capsule at 25,460 m (83,523 ft) and free fell 24,500 m (80,380 ft) before successfully deploying his parachute.

Dolgov remained in the capsule and ascended to 28,640 m (93,970 ft). Dolgov was primarily testing an experimental pressure suit, and would have deployed a drogue chute like Kittinger's earlier jump. As he exited the gondola, he struck his helmet and cracked the visor, leading to depressurization and his death.

Andreyev was a Master of Sports in the former USSR, and holder of FAI Sporting Licence #3812.