Biography
Valery Chkalov is the legendary Soviet pillar testing, the hero of the Soviet Union, which made the first non-final flight through the North Pole.
He was born in 1904 in the village of Vasilevo, located in the Nizhny Novgorod province. Interestingly, now this place has received not only the status of the city, but also a new name in honor of the Great Harvest.
Valera's parents were simple. Pavel Pavel Grigorievich worked as a Kotelcher at the shipyard, and Mama Irina Ivanovna was engaged in household. Unfortunately, she died when her son was 6 years old. Soon the boy began to study at school.
The lessons of Chkalov did not show much interest, but literally from the first days there was a talent for mathematics, as well as magnificent memory, allowing to memorize a large amount of information heard actually the edge of the ear. After the obligatory seven, Valery went to the Cherepovets technical school, but it was not possible to finish a teenager. Due to the lack of finance, the school was liquidated.
The guy returns to his father and begins to work on a firegare on a steamer. No one knows how the fate of the future hero of the Soviet Union would have begun if in 1919 he did not see the plane with his own eyes.
In the head of Chkalov, as if something clicked, and he began to dream of tie his life with aircraft. At the age of 15, Valera, due to the fact that he voluntarily entered into the ranks of the Red Army, became a student of a locksmith at the military aviation factory.
Later, a young man studied a lot in the institutions of the Air Force. He passed the Egoryevsky Military-theoretical School, then the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of pilots, the Moscow Military Aviation School of the Supreme Pilotage and, in the end, graduated from the Serpukhov Higher Aviation School of Archery, Bombing and Air Fight. During the training of Chkalov flew on the technique of various types and received the qualification of the fighter pilot.
Pilot
His professional activity began in 1924. He was sent to the aviation squadron to Leningrad. It should be noted that Chkalov always differed not only with courage, but also by daring. He often performed very risky flights, for which he repeatedly received recovery from the bosses and was even convicted of air and sentenced to several months of imprisonment.
There is a legend, however, not requiring documented that Valery Chkalov flew to the dispute under the Trinity Bridge in Leningrad. But the main achievements of the pilot were the tests of the innovations of the aviation industry.
For example, the pilot was behind the steering wheel of the first domestic aircraft carrier and carried five fighter aircraft on the wings and fuselage. For his service, he was on a par with the aircraft designers to receive the highest state awards, including the Order of Vladimir Lenin and the Red Star.
Feat
In 1935, Valery Chkalov, together with his colleagues, George Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov, conceived a flight from the Soviet Union to the United States through the North Pole. But the head of state Joseph Stalin banned this project, replacing the route to Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
This record at that time the flight was carried out by the above team without any problems. The length of the so-called "Stalin's route" was more than 9 thousand kilometers.
For this feat, pilots were awarded the title of the heroes of the Soviet Union, and Chkalov, as the aircraft commander, became a favorite of citizens of the country. He from the government was even presented with a personal aircraft of the brand U-2.
On the wave of popularity, Valery Pavlovich risked again to turn to Stalin with the original proposal and this time got good.
And on June 18, 1937, Chkalov flew with comrades from Moscow, and despite the bad conditions of visibility, managed to reach the American city of Vancouver on time, Washington. Flight through the North Pole turned Chkalov in a folk hero, a living legend.
Personal life
At the age of 23, carrying a service in Leningrad, Valery Chkalov married Olga Orekhova, who by profession was a school teacher. In this family, the son of Igor was born, who went in the footsteps of his father, became a military pilot and reached the title of Colonel. By the way, and the spouse, and the Son wrote many articles and several books about their great relative.
Chkalov also had two daughters - Valeria and Olga. Moreover, the younger Olya Father never seen, as it was born a few months after his tragic death.
Valery Pavlovich was the author of several books in which he described his impressions of flights. The most valuable from the historical and cognitive point of view is "high above the earth. Petchik's stories "and" Our Transpolar flight Moscow - North Pole - North America. "
Death
At the end of the autumn of 1938, Valery Chkalov was in a well-deserved vacation, from which he was unexpectedly recalled. Unplanned and very urgent tests of fighter-novelty "I-180" were appointed. Test flight was preparing in a big hurry, with a violation of almost all security measures. Literally on the eve of the fateful testing in the plane, about 190 serious defects were revealed.
The developer of the unit wrote overhead with a protest rush launch of an aircraft. But the tests were appointed on December 15, 1938, and they were not canceled even despite the very low air temperature.
The departure was not bad, but when the aircraft is located at the landing, the engine unexpectedly stopped. The legendary speaker still managed to put the car on the place free from the houses. But at the last moment the plane cluckged for the electric wires, and the pilot hit his head about metal reinforcement.
Valery Chkalov from the injury received passed away in two hours in the Botkin hospital. After his death, several leaders of the Aviation Plant were arrested and convicted, who were accused of indirect involvement in the death of the pilot.
Nevertheless, many people, including spouse and older children, have repeatedly advanced alternative versions of the death of their loved one.
Sharp Challenge Valery Pavlovich from vacation, a hurry with departure, the pressure of the government - all this caused a suspicion of involvement in the death of people from the NKVD, and perhaps personally, Joseph Stalin and Lavrentia Beria.
The members of the government could be feared, and not without reason that for Soviet citizens, the Great pilot will become a more important figure than themselves.
In memory of Valeria Chkalov installed a lot of monuments and monuments, his name is called cities and streets. And, of course, the legend of domestic aviation filmed movies. Most of them are popular with the audience, but not everyone was approved by the family.
For example, the last television series "Chkalov", where actor Yevgeny Dyatlov played the main role, was rigidly criticized by the daughters of the Hero of the Soviet Union, who accused the creators of the picture in a significant substitution of biographical facts.