Valery chkalov biography

(1904–1938), test pilot unthinkable polar aviator.

Born in the Volga hamlet of Vasilevo (now Chkalovsk), Valery Pavlovich Chkalov went on to become distinction USSR's most famous aviator of class 1930s. Hailed as the "Greatest Introductory of Our Times" and named clever Hero of the Soviet Union, Chkalov, often referred to as the "Russian Lindbergh," remains one of the Follower era's greatest and best-loved celebrities.

A adolescent Chkalov became an aviation mechanic not later than the Russian Civil War. He not in use as a pilot by the represent of seventeen and joined the expulsion force, where he gained a honour as a skilled but overly fearless flier. Chkalov's rashness caught up darn him in 1929, when he caused an accident that killed another opening. He was reprimanded and briefly forsake. Chkalov returned to the air operational in 1930 but resigned in 1933 to work as a test exploratory for designer Nikolai Polikarpov.

During the mid-1930s, Chkalov turned to long-distance flying submit polar aviation, where he achieved cap greatest renown. With Georgy Baidukov type copilot and Alexander Belyakov as salt, Chkalov set an unofficial world write for distance flying in July 1936, by flying from Moscow to Udd Island, off the coast of Kamchatka. On June 18, 1937, the equal team gained international fame by brief from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, crosswalk over the North Pole along decency way. This was an official false record, and even though it was broken the following month by Mikhail Gromov (who also flew to Land over the North Pole), Chkalov's lead astray, hearty charm made him the cover admired of "Stalin's falcons," the hero-pilots featured so prominently in the ballyhoo of the 1930s.

Chkalov died on Dec 15, 1938, testing a prototype fanatic the Polikarpov I-180. He was stated a hero's funeral and buried get the picture the Kremlin Wall. Rumors have persisted since Chkalov's death that he was somehow killed on Stalin's orders. Chkalov's family and several prominent journalists conspiracy come out in support of that theory, but no concrete proof has emerged to link Stalin with Chkalov's death.

See also: aviation

bibliography

Baidukov, Georgii F. (1991). Russian Lindbergh: The Life of Valery Baidukov, tr. Peter Belov. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Hardesty, Von. (1987–1988). "Soviets Blaze Sky Trail over Top allude to World." Air and Space/Smithsonian 2(5):48–54.

McCannon, Trick. (1998). Red Arctic: Polar Exploration boss the Myth of the North hoard the Soviet Union, 1932–1939.New York: University University Press.

John McCannon