Valery Chkalov Валерий Чкалов | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1904 |
| Died | 15 December 1938(1938-12-15) (aged 34) |
| Buried | Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Branch | Soviet Air Force |
| Years of service | 1921-1938 |
| Rank | Combrig (Brigadier) |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin (2) Order of the Red Banner |
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (Russian:Вале́рий Па́влович Чка́лов;IPA:[vɐˈlʲerʲɪjˈpavləvʲɪtɕˈtɕkaləf]; 2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1904 – 15 December 1938) was a Russian/Soviettest pilot awarded the titleHero of the Soviet Union (1936).
Chkalov was born to a Russian family in 1904 in the upperVolga region, the town ofVasilyevo (the town is now namedChkalovsk in his honour), which lies nearNizhny Novgorod.
He was the son of a ship boiler-maker at the Vasselyevo Ship Yard on theRiver Volga. His mother died when he was six years old. Chkalov studied in the technical school inCherepovets but later returned to his home town to work as an apprentice in the shipyard alongside his father. He then got a job as a stoker on a riverdredger: theBayan (later renamed theMikhail Kalinin).[1]
He saw his first plane in 1919 and decided to join the Red Army's air force, joining first at age 16 as a mechanic. He trained as a pilot at the Yegoryevsk Training School and graduated in 1924 joining a fighter squadron.
Chkalov married Olga Orekhova, a schoolteacher fromLeningrad, in 1927. In the early 1930s he became a test pilot. His feats included doing 250loop-the-loops in 45 minutes.[1] His youngest daughter was aposthumous child.
From 1935 he led the stunt section of the Soviet air force, used in public displays. This included the1 May celebrations overRed Square at which point he metStalin for the first time.
Chkalov achieved several milestones inaviation. In 1936 and 1937, he participated in several ultra long flights, includinga 63-hour flight [ru] fromMoscow,Soviet Union toVancouver, Washington,United Statesvia theNorth Pole in aTupolev ANT-25 airplane (18–20 June 1937), a non-stop distance of 8,811 kilometres (5,475 mi).[2][3] The flight pioneered the polar air route from Europe to the American Pacific Coast.
He was planning the world's first non-stop flight around the planet when he died.
Chkalov died on 15 December 1938 while piloting a prototype of thePolikarpov I-180 fighter, which crashed during its maiden test flight. The series of events leading up to the crash is not entirely clear. Neither of the aircraft's two chief designers,Nikolai Polikarpov andDmitry Tomashevich, approved the flight, and no one had signed a form releasing the prototype from the factory.
In any case, Chkalov took off and made a low altitude circuit around the airfield. For the second circuit, Chkalov flew farther away, climbing to over 2,000 m (6,560 ft) even though the flight plan specifically forbade exceeding 600 m (1,970 ft). Chkalov apparently miscalculated his landing approach and came in short of the airfield; when he attempted to correct his approach, the engine cut out. Chkalov was able to avoid several buildings, but struck an overhead powerline. He was thrown from the cockpit, sustaining severe injuries, and died two hours later. His ashes are interred in theKremlin Wall.
The official government investigation concluded that the engine cut out because itbecame too cold in the absence of thecowl flaps. Others hypothesised that Chkalov had advanced the throttle too fast and thus flooded the engine. As a result of the crash, Tomashevich and several other officials who had urged the first flight were immediately arrested.
Years later, fellow test pilotMikhail Gromov blamed the designers for flawed engine cooling and Chkalov himself for deviating from the flight plan. Chkalov's son claimed that a plan to assassinate his father had been in the works in the months preceding his death, but the circumstances of the crash make foul play unlikely. Despite the opinion of some, after Chkalov's death Polikarpov's reputation with Stalin was left intact, and Polikarpov continued to design aircraft.
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The village of Vasilyevo where Chkalov was born is now the town ofChkalovsk (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast). The city ofOrenburg bore the name Chkalov from 1938 to 1957. There was a Chkalov Street inMoscow (part of Moscow'sGarden Ring), now renamedZemlyanoy Val; its namesakes inNizhny Novgorod and several other Russian cities still exist. Nizhny Novgorod also has a staircase down to the Volga named after him with a statue of him at the top of it. In 1975, amonument to Chkalov's 1937 polar flight was dedicated atPearson Airpark inVancouver, Washington and a street in east Vancouver was named Chkalov Drive.[4]
AChapayev-class cruiser was namedChkalov but was renamedKomsomolets in 1958.
The metro rail systems ofMoscow,Saint Petersburg, andNizhny Novgorod each have aChkalovskaya station.Yekaterinburg Metro also opened one in 2012.
A RussianTupolev Tu-160 bomber was named after Valery Chkalov.
A musical duet,Отряд имени Валерия Чкалова ("Detachment named after Valery Chkalov"), recorded their first album in 1983.
A monument to Chkalov inDnipro,Ukraine was dismantled in December 2022.[5] The monument had been erected in 1981.[6] Chkalov was not connected with Dnipro in any way.[6] In February 2023 a monument to Chkalov inKyiv, Ukraine was dismantled.[7] It was dismantled as soon as theMinistry of Culture and Information Policy had revoked the monument cultural heritage site status.[7] On 13 July 2023 Valery Chkalov Park in Kyiv was renamed Literature Park.[8]
Moldova is also home to streets named after the pilot. One of them located in the city ofChișinău, is most well known for its comically short length of 41 meters making it the shortest street in the country.[9] However at least 3 more streets all over the country bear the pilot's name, fromGăgăuzia toLipcani[10] andIargara.[11]
