Chkalov, Valery Pavlovich
From OnAirpower.org
|
|
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Chkalov completed the Egorevsk Air Force Military Theory School (in 1923), the Borisoglebsk Military Pilots School (also in 1923), the Moscow Advanced Pilots School (in 1924), and the Serpukhovsk Advanced School for Air Combat, Gunnery, and Bombing (also in 1924)[1].
From 1930 to 1933 Chkalov served as a test-pilot at the Air Force Scientific Institute, and from 1933 on he served as a test-pilot at Air Factory #39 and the Polikarpov Design Bureau at the Central Air Field. While there, he test flew the I-14, I-15, and I-16 fighters[1].
On July 20-22, 1936, Chkalov (along with co-pilot G. F. Baidukov and navigator A. V. Belyakov) piloted an ANT-25 from Moscow across the Northern Ice Ocean and Petropavlosk-Kamchatskii city (on the Kamchatka peninsula) to Udd island (now known as Chkalov Island, in his honor), a distance of 9374 kilometers. On July 24, 1936, he received a Hero of the Soviet Union award for making the flight.
On June 18-20, 1937, Chkalov (again with co-pilot Baidukov and navigator Belyakov) flew an ANT-25 non-stop from Moscow, across the North Pole, to Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, a distance of 8504 kilometers.
On December 15, 1938, Chkalov was killed in a crash during the first test flight of the Polikarpov I-180 fighter, at the Central Airfield, Moscow.
[edit] Timeline
- February 2, 1904 Soviet test-pilot Valery Chkalov is born[1].
- June 20, 1937 Soviet test-pilot Valery Chkalov completes a 63-hour non-stop flight from Moscow, across the North Pole, to Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington[1].
[edit] Sources
- Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Pavlovich Chkalov at National Heroes (Герои Страны)
- The Unknown Chkalov looks at heretofore unknown documents and remembrances to paint a picture of the real person behind the Chkalov legend (in Russian)
