Who from the Chkalov family is alive. What was the famous Valery Chkalov afraid of before his death?

Approaching the house in Bolshoy Kazenny Lane, I am preparing to take on a flurry of indignation. The youngest daughter of the legendary Soviet pilot Olga Valerievna Chkalova lives here. She is not enthusiastic about the new multi-part film “Chkalov. Wings”, which was recently shown by Channel One, and is waiting for me to talk about it.

And a five-minute drive from here, down the Garden Ring, is former apartment tester, where he moved two years before his death. Now he lives there eldest daughter Valeria Valerievna. She was also “horrified” by the TV version, she wanted to invite us to talk to her, and at the same time show her father’s preserved office, but she fell ill, and therefore we leaf through their family photos together with Olga. My interlocutor - an intelligent and ironic lady who has never watched TV shows - is trying to understand why one of them is called “Chkalov. Wings ”- unexpectedly came out allegedly with her approval.

Here is the father with his friend Alexander Anisimov, - Olga Valerievna turns over the next page and catches my eye. - By the way, there was no Margot, Anisimov's wife (in the series, the wife of the pilot Anisimov is a dancer who was in love with Chkalov - approx.ed.). And there was Bronislava. A very sweet woman. We called her Aunt Bronya.

I look at her neat makeup, at the portrait of Chkalov's wife on the wall, listen to how her granddaughter Dasha sings scales behind the wall and think that the filmmakers would never have consulted with her. After all, the series was made for general public. And the public, as you know, loves it hot.

Valery Chkalov and pilot Alexander Anisimov. Photo from the family archive

Olga Valerievna, from October 1 to October 8, Channel One showed 8 episodes of the new film Chkalov. Wings". As director Igor Zaitsev said in an interview, he tried to give the image of a pilot not in a documentary, but in a poetic reading, and portray a national hero. Happened?

Not! Father there looks so stupid, boorish, forever drinking man. And pretty much the rest of the company. And it is not clear when these people worked at all and achieved something. Solid raspberry. And most importantly, there are things that could not be at all. If you remember, there was such a scene: my grandfather, Pavel Grigorievich, comes to visit his father in Leningrad. And on the very first evening, the father, carried away by this Margot, leaves to dance the tango. This could not be in nature! It was in order for my grandfather to recognize his marriage, risking his career, that my father went to church, he and my mother were married! Do you understand what it means to go to get married in 1937? This was done out of respect for my grandfather, he was a very religious person. If they wanted to show the father from a human point of view, they showed a disgusting person. He's also a traitor! A drunkard, a womanizer and a traitor.

As for family matters: my mother never left him and did not take the children. She, too, is shown to be somewhat distant, rural. In 1935, my father had not yet been admitted to the Kremlin, he had just received his first order, he was not invited to any receptions. It all started after the first flight. Therefore, the scene when the mother after childbirth, exhausted, with aspiration and drooping jaw, cannot refuse to dance to Stalin - this is impossible!

In the series, Chkalov has a very informal relationship with Stalin. He speaks to him on "you", calls "Joseph" and pats on the shoulder. Is this also the "cost of artistry"?

My sister Valeria Valerievna looked at many archives on different periods in my father's life. All visits to Stalin were recorded. Of course, my father attended receptions and attended meetings. But he's not crazy! He did not have any familiar relations with Stalin. There is known fact that somehow, in a fit of feelings, he tried to drink with him on brotherhood. Father drank, and Stalin, according to the evidence, only sipped, and the guards became very worried. But to pat on the shoulder and drive under the table in the billiard room is impossible! The same with Ordzhonikidze: to put the people's commissar on a plane and with the help of all sorts of aerobatics to shake the soul out of him is also incredible! The father could prove his case, arguing with some technical capabilities of the aircraft, but like this ... The artistry of the film should not make a person a fool, and in this film the father is presented as some kind of half-wit.

- And what about Chkalov's entourage in the series?

I have the impression that these are caricatured people. The director did not give a portrait resemblance to anyone except his father. For example, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gromov (Soviet pilot who set a flight distance record when flying to the USA - approx.ed.). He is tall, with a straight back, a man with an aristocratic face. Handsome! In the same place he is an old undersized morel. Also wordless. With Polikarpov (Nikolai Polikarpov, Soviet aircraft designer - ed.)ed.) no resemblance either. Tupolev (Andrey Tupolev, Soviet aircraft designer - approx.ed.) in that ridiculous, pulled-down hat! They are all scared. If he wanted to show that this is a terrible time, yes, it is terrible. But this is not how it should be shown, not with the help of caricatures of people who, in spite of everything, continued to create! No one remembers under which George Newton's law was discovered. We're talking about what these people did!

Olga and Valery Chkalov with their son Igor. Photo from the family archive

- Do you have a portrait resemblance to your mother?

(Olga Valerievna points me to the portrait of Olga Chkalova) Not! Neither portrait nor interior! And those stupid pigtails! She is also some kind of idiotic, rustic simpleton. But in general, my mother is a St. Petersburg high school student and a philologist by education.

In the image of the father there, at least in the actor himself, there is some charm. My father was a very charming person. He could talk about everything and always got to the point. I bought a book of memoirs by Rina Zelena here. I didn't expect to read something about my father there. After the concert in which she participated, he came backstage to sign autographs. And he wrote to Rina Zelena like this: “Red? No, black! Why white? Because it's green! Black currant mystery. This was a man with a lively mind! When he and his mother got married, his father graduated from the four classes of the flight school, and his mother graduated from the institute. Of course, she was more educated. But then she said that her father caught up with her. Because he was like a sponge, he absorbed everything! For example, my father brought records of classical music from the USA. There Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Sibelius, Brahms. Amazingly, Richard Strauss. We didn't have it at all back then!

- One of the most striking episodes is when Chkalov confesses his love while flying on an airplane under a bridge.

With this "I love you" (in the series, Chkalov writes a confession on the wings of an airplane - approx.ed.)- this, of course, fiction. But it is permissible in a feature film. So be it. In general, in that apartment we have a cut wooden propeller - in its center, my father put my mother's photograph and gave it to her.

- How do you feel about the fact that the filmmakers decided to sidestep the issue of Chkalov's death?

In the end, I was left with the impression that the main attention was paid to parties and dances with gypsies. There is such rampant frenzy, then they show the plane, and then some group of people sitting in an empty space on chairs. It turns out that this is the marshal, his family and some other people. Then he is informed that "the Russians are flying." And then there is a scene at the station and their crazy hugs with their mother in the vestibule ... Well, I don’t know, maybe there wasn’t enough money?

The last photo of Valery Chkalov. Photo from the family archive

- You say you don't watch series. How did you find out about the premiere of "Chkalov"?

In 2007, this Poyarkov ( Alexey Poyarkov, screenwriter of the series "Chkalov" - approx. ed.) brought my sister a 12-episode script. Valeria read, if I'm not mistaken, seven episodes, made comments and gave it back. And after that there was silence. And then I read in the newspaper that this movie was being made. I managed to find out who the director is (director "Chkalov. Wings" Igor Zaitsev - approx.ed.), and I called him. This was about six months ago.

He was very kind to me, said that he needed to consult with the producer, and promised to call back tomorrow. Maybe they decided that we want to participate and have something from it. We didn't even think about it! Of course he didn't call back. Then I called back. He said, “Yes, yes, yes! We are open for communication!” That is, I was not scammed. But, so to speak, gracefully sent. And then we saw the film already on the screen. It was preceded by the fact that we, as relatives, took a lively part in this disgrace. I will certainly consult with lawyers. How the authors see all this is their creative fantasies but why bring us into it? We were involved in how they poured slop on our father, and made an idiot out of my mother!

- Have you tried to contact the "Channel One"?

I asked one of my friends for Ernst's phone number. But she explained to me that if he sees that they are calling from an unknown number, he will not answer at all. And I didn't dig in that direction. But in general, this is a trend, because I know that there was another crazy film about Yesenin (the series "Yesenin" was also filmed by director Igor Zaitsev - approx.ed.). It seems to me that only people who do not have great talents can slander those who are much higher than them in their talent.

How did your family members react to the film?

A close friend of mine called and said: “Olya, your mother, we remember her! This is horror!” And some general called my sister and said that there one plane could not fly upside down. The granddaughter of Belyakov Anechka called ( Alexander Belyakov, a Soviet pilot who participated with Chkalov in a flight to the United States through North Pole- approx. ed.). But my granddaughter’s girlfriend said: “I liked the movie! He brings up patriotism!” But I personally did not understand why and for whom it was made. If for guys 15-16 years old who walk around with cans of beer, then they may think: “Oh! This one was giving in all the time, but look where he got himself! And so will we!”

Well, people who drink from morning till night cannot test planes! They physically can't do it! In general, if you look closely, the most positive characters in the film are the NKVD officers, who all the time resolve some situations. Maybe this is their tribute to the main profession of our president, I don't know.

Frame from the film “Chkalov. Wings" on Channel One.

Many streets, educational institutions and other organizations bear the name of Chkalov. Who was this person? How did he deserve such a memory of himself?

For people who are at least a little familiar with the history of their country, Valery Chkalov is, first of all, the commander of the crew who managed to make the first flight over the North Pole on an airplane without landing. The event happened back in 1937. The course was laid from Moscow (USSR) to Vancouver (USA).

Childhood

Valery Chkalov was born on January 20, 1904 in one of the villages. Today, the village where the pilot was born is the city of Chkalovsky. His father worked as a boilermaker in government workshops. Very little is known about his mother; she died when the boy was six years old.

At the age of seven, Valery began to study at elementary school, after graduation he moved to a technical school, which now bears his name. His father sent him to study in 1916. After two years of study, he had to return home, since the educational institution was closed.

Since that time, Valery became his father's assistant. He worked as a hammerer in a forge, and later as a stoker on a dredge. At the same time, navigation was actively developing, which attracted the young man with its capabilities.

Service start

Valery Chkalov made the decision to change jobs after he saw an airplane for the first time in 1919. And he went to serve in the Red Army as an aircraft fitter. Its aviation fleet was located in Nizhny Novgorod.

The young man wanted to develop further, so in 1921 he achieved a referral and entered the Air Force School of the military-theoretical direction (Egorovskaya). After graduation, in 1922 he went to the military pilot school (Borisoglebskaya). He also completed practice at an aerobatics school (Moscow), a shooting and air combat school (Serpukhovsk).

By 1924, pilot Valery Chkalov was accepted into the Nesterov squadron. He was so fond of flying that he very often showed excessive audacity and courage. For excessive risks, he was often suspended from flying.

In addition, there were young man problems with discipline and on the ground. In 1925, he was imprisoned for one year by a military tribunal for a drunken brawl. Subsequently, the period was reduced to six months. Unfortunately, this experience did not give positive results, and three years later, in 1928, the military tribunal again condemned the pilot. This time, for air recklessness and repeated violations of discipline, he was sentenced to one year in prison. He was also fired from the Red Army.

Thanks to his talent, Alksnis and Voroshilov immediately began to intercede for him, who managed to replace the sentence with a suspended sentence a month later. The pilot became an instructor and head of the glider school

test pilot

By November 1930, Valery Chkalov was reinstated in rank, he was sent to the National Research Institute of the Air Force in Moscow. After working for two years, he managed to make more than eight hundred test flights, master the technique of piloting thirty types of aircraft.

Since 1933, Valery Chkalov's life has changed again - he was transferred to test pilots at an aircraft factory in Moscow. Here he tested various fighters and bombers. He did not leave and air recklessness, having mastered the figure of an ascending corkscrew, as well as a slow barrel.

In 1935, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, along with designer Nikolai Polikarpov, for creating the best fighters. It was the highest government award.

Flight from Moscow to the Far East

The flight was supposed to show the possibilities of developing aviation. Chkalov Valery Pavlovich at the head of his crew started on 07/20/1936. The flight lasted fifty-six hours without landing until it ended up on the island of Udd (Sea of ​​Okhotsk). During this time, more than nine thousand kilometers were overcome. In the same place, on the island, the inscription "Stalin's route" was put on board the plane. It will last until the next flight, which Chkalov's crew dreamed of most of all, namely from the USSR to the USA via the North Pole.

For a successful flight, the crew was awarded the title of Heroes and Chkalov Valery Pavlovich received a personal plane as a gift, which has survived to this day and is stored in the Chkalovsk Museum.

The importance of this flight was emphasized by the fact that Stalin personally met the crew at the Shchelkovsky airfield in August 1936. After that, Valery Pavlovich received nationwide fame throughout the Union.

Flight from the USSR to the USA

The crew initially wanted to fly from the USSR to the USA via the North Pole, but it was not immediately possible to obtain permission for this. Stalin did not want a repeat of the failure that befell Levanevsky in the summer of 1935. But after a successful flight to Far East permission has been received.

The aircraft took off on 06/18/1937 and two days later landed in Vancouver (USA). The conditions for the flight turned out to be much more difficult than expected. This was due to poor visibility, or rather, its absence, and icing. The crew covered eight and a half thousand kilometers and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Valery Chkalov, whose photo is presented in the article, was able to carry out his plans. Despite the fact that he was elected a deputy, and Stalin offered him the post of People's Commissar of the NKVD, he did not stop doing flight tests, considering this his main job.

Doom

In winter, Valery Chkalov, whose biography is considered in the review, was urgently recalled from vacation in connection with the testing of a new fighter. Two weeks later, the pilot died (12/15/1938) during the first flight.

By existing information, the flight was prepared in a hurry, because they wanted to have time to do everything before the end of the year. Almost two hundred defects were found in the assembled aircraft. Polikarpov was against unnecessary haste. For this, he was suspended from work. The tests were first carried out on the ground, after without retracting the chassis. As a result, the go-ahead was given to fly, but only up to a height of seven thousand meters with the landing gear retracted. After that, the test machine had to go to another pilot.

On the day of the test, the air temperature was minus twenty-five degrees Celsius, but Chkalov decided to take off. The engine stopped while landing. The pilot tried to land, but the plane caught on wires on a pole. The cause of death was trauma due to hitting his head on metal fittings. After that, the pilot lived no more than two hours. He died on the way to the hospital. At this time, his wife carried their third child under her heart. She was only informed of the incident late in the evening.

Chkalov was buried in Moscow, the urn with the ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall. Some plant managers who were involved in the hasty test were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Family and Children

Valery Chkalov, whose biography is the subject of our review, met his wife in his youth. They married in 1927 and soon had their first child. Olga Erazmovna was nee Orekhova, she worked as a teacher.

Valery Chkalov's wife survived him by fifty-nine years. She wrote a number of works and memoirs about her husband. Olga Erazmovna lived for ninety-six years, never married again.

In marriage, they had three children:

• Igor (1928-2006).
• Valeria (1935-2013).
• Olga (1939).

Pilot's son

Igor Valeryevich did not become a tester, like his father. But his life was connected with aircraft - he was an Air Force engineer. He also replenished the fund of the museum dedicated to his father in Chkalovsk. Many in the interview were interested in how Valery Chkalov died. To this, the son replied that his father was eliminated due to the fact that he had a significant influence on Stalin. The son of a famous pilot was buried on Novodevichy cemetery.

Daughters about the death of their father

The son of Valery Pavlovich was almost ten years old when the tragedy happened. He remembered his father from personal memories, even flew with him on an airplane. The daughters had no such memories. Valeria was only three years old, and Olga was born only after the death of her father.

At the same time, all the children of Valery Chkalov retained the memory of him. Regarding the death of her father, in their interviews, daughter Olga adhered to the version that everything happened because of the rush and the launch of a “raw” plane. Valeria, on the other hand, adhered to the version that her father was removed, deliberately arranging tests of a defective aircraft.

In 1938, there was a peak of repression, including in aviation, so the sisters do not see anything surprising in the fact that their father could be pushed into a deliberately dangerous flight.

memory of a hero

Valery Chkalov (years of life - 1904-1938) was one of famous people Soviet Union. Organization stations and military squadrons were named in his honor. One of the islands in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk was named after him, where the crew landed during the flight from Moscow to the Far East, as well as heavenly body our system (number 2692).

The city in which he was born is named after him. At that time it was the village of Vasilevo. Many bear his name settlements in Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan. In different cities there are busts and as well as neighborhoods, avenues, streets, educational establishments bearing his name. At one time, stamps and coins dedicated to Chkalov were issued.

Were released in different years biographical films about the life of a pilot. The most modern are the series "Chkalov" (2012) and "People who made the Earth round" (2014).

Valery Pavlovich lived only thirty-four years. During this time, he graduated from several flying schools, made two most difficult flights over the North Pole, was sentenced to imprisonment twice, was expelled from the Red Army several times with subsequent restoration. He and his wife had three children who retained the memory of their father. The wife, who lived as a widow for more than fifty years, never remarried, preserving the memory of her husband.

For many, he was and remains a hero of his time. This speaks of the originality of a person, of all his talents and unwillingness to live in peace, like everyone else. His life was short but eventful, and his death was tragic.

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov. Born on January 20 (February 2), 1904 in Vasilevo, Balakhna district, Nizhny Novgorod province - died on December 15, 1938 in Moscow. Soviet test pilot, brigade commander (1938), Hero of the Soviet Union.

Valery Chkalov was born on January 20 (February 2), 1904 in the village of Vasilevo, Balakhna district, Nizhny Novgorod province (now the city of Chkalovsk).

By nationality - Russian.

Father - Pavel Grigorievich Chkalov, boilermaker of the Vasilevsky state-owned workshops.

Mother - Irina Ivanovna Chkalova, a housewife, died in 1910, when Valery was 6 years old.

At the age of seven, Valery went to study at Vasilevsky primary school. He studied averagely, but stood out for his excellent memory and good mathematical abilities, he had a calm, balanced character.

He swam well - he swam across the Volga, dived under rafts and steamers.

In 1916, after graduating from school, his father sent him to study at the Cherepovets Technical School (now the Cherepovets Forestry Mechanical College named after V.P. Chkalov). However, due to financial difficulties and a shortage of teachers, the school was closed in 1918. Valery returned home and began working with his father as an assistant to the hammerer, and with the beginning of navigation, as a stoker on the Volzhskaya-1 dredger and the Bayan steamer.

In 1919, Valery Chkalov saw an airplane for the first time and, ignited by the dream of aviation, left for Nizhny Novgorod, where he met fellow villager Vladimir Frolishchev, who worked as an aircraft assembly foreman in the 4th Kanavinsky Aviation Park. On his advice, Valery, at the age of 15, volunteered for the Red Army and began working as an apprentice aircraft fitter.

In 1921, Chkalov obtained a referral to study at the Egorievsk Military Theoretical School of the Air Force. After graduating in 1922, he was sent for further studies to the Borisoglebsk military aviation school of pilots, where he made his first solo flight on an Avro 504 aircraft.

After graduating from college, in 1923-1924, in accordance with the then-established practice of training military pilots, he was also trained at the Moscow Military Aviation Aerobatics School, where he mastered combat aircraft (Martinsyde and Junkers fighters). Then he studied at the Serpukhov Higher Aviation School of shooting, bombing and air combat.

Instructor A.I. Zhukov gave the following description of Chkalov: “I graduated with a “very good” certification. As a pilot and as a person, he is very calm. There were no breaches of discipline.".

In June 1924, military fighter pilot Chkalov was sent to serve in the Leningrad Red Banner Fighter Squadron named after P. N. Nesterov (Komendantsky airfield). During his service in the squadron, he proved himself to be a daring and courageous pilot.

He made risky flights, for which he received penalties and was repeatedly suspended from flying. The case when Chkalov flew under the Equality (Troitsky) bridge in Leningrad is widely known. For the film "Valery Chkalov" this flight was made by the pilot Evgeny Borisenko.

At the same time, he had serious problems with discipline, which ended in big trouble - On November 16, 1925, he was sentenced by a military tribunal to one year in prison for a drunken fight.. Then the period was reduced to 6 months.

In 1926, the 1st Red Banner Fighter Aviation Squadron was relocated from the Commandant airfield to the Trotsk airfield (today Gatchina), where Chkalov served from 1926 to 1928.

In March 1928, he was transferred to serve in the 15th Bryansk Aviation Squadron. In Bryansk, Chkalov made an accident, was accused of aerial recklessness and numerous violations of discipline.

By the verdict of the military tribunal of the Belarusian Military District of October 30, 1928, Chkalov was convicted under article 17, paragraph "a" of the Regulations on military crimes and under article 193-17 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR for one year in prison, and was also dismissed from the Red Army. He served his sentence for a short time, at the request of Ya. I. Alksnis, and less than a month later, the sentence was changed to a suspended sentence, and Chkalov was released from the Bryansk prison.

Being in the reserve, at the beginning of 1929 Chkalov returned to Leningrad and until November 1930 he worked in the Leningrad Osoaviakhim, where he led the school of glider pilots and was an instructor pilot.

In November 1930, Chkalov was reinstated in military rank and sent to work at the Moscow Research Institute of the Air Force of the Red Army.

For two years of work at the research institute, he made more than 800 test flights, having mastered the technique of piloting 30 types of aircraft. On December 3, 1931, Chkalov participated in the testing of an aircraft carrier (aircraft carrier), which was a heavy bomber that carried up to five fighter aircraft on its wings and fuselage.

In 1932, the Air Force Research Institute was transferred from the Khodynka field in Moscow to an airfield near the city of Shchelkovo, Moscow Region. The relocation from an ordinary event turned into the first air parade in the USSR with a flight over Red Square: 45 aircraft flew in a column of three cars in a row, and at the head was a TB-3 bomber with tail number 311, controlled by the crew of Valery Chkalov.

Since January 1933, Valery Chkalov was again in the reserve and transferred to work as a test pilot at the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 39 named after Menzhinsky. Together with his senior comrade Alexander Anisimov, he tested the latest fighter aircraft of the 1930s I-15 (biplane) and I-16 (monoplane) designed by Polikarpov. He took part in the tests of tank destroyers "VIT-1", "VIT-2", as well as heavy bombers"TB-1", "TB-3", a large number of experimental and experimental machines of the Polikarpov Design Bureau. Author of new aerobatics - ascending spin and slow roll.

On May 5, 1935, aircraft designer Nikolai Polikarpov and test pilot Valery Chkalov were awarded the highest government award, the Order of Lenin, for creating the best fighter aircraft.

Records of Valery Chkalov

In the fall of 1935, the pilot Baidukov offered Chkalov to organize a record flight from the USSR to the USA via the North Pole and lead the crew of the aircraft.

In the spring of 1936, Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov turned to the government with a proposal to conduct such a flight, but indicated a different route plan: Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, fearing a repetition failed attempt Levanevsky (in August 1935, the flight of S. Levanevsky, G. Baidukov and V. Levchenko on the route Moscow - North Pole - San Francisco was interrupted due to a malfunction).

Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov

The flight of Chkalov's crew from Moscow to the Far East started on July 20, 1936 and lasted 56 hours before landing on the sandy spit of Udd Island in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The total length of the record route was 9375 kilometers.

Already on the island of Udd, the inscription "Stalin's route" was applied on board the aircraft, which was also preserved during the next flight - over the North Pole to America. Both Chkalovsky flights officially bore this name until the beginning of the so-called. fight against Stalin's personality cult.

For the flight to the Far East, the entire crew was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin: the Gold Star medal, introduced in 1939 after Chkalov's death, was awarded only in 2004 to his children. In addition, Chkalov was presented with a personal U-2 aircraft (now located in a museum in Chkalovsk).

The great propaganda importance of this flight for its time is evidenced by the fact that I. V. Stalin personally arrived on August 10, 1936 at the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow to meet the returning aircraft. From that moment on, Chkalov gained national fame in the USSR.

Chkalov continued to seek permission to fly to the United States, and in May 1937 permission was received. The launch of the ANT-25 aircraft took place on June 18.

The flight took place in much more difficult conditions than the previous one (lack of visibility, icing, etc.), but on June 20 the plane made a safe landing in Vancouver, Washington, USA. The length of the flight was 8504 kilometers.

For this flight, the crew was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

December 12, 1937 Valery Chkalov was elected to the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Gorky region and the Chuvash ASSR. At the request of the residents of Vasilyov, their village was renamed Chkalovsk.

Joseph Stalin personally offered Chkalov to take the post of head of the NKVD, but he refused and continued to engage in flight test work.

On December 1, 1938, he was urgently called back from vacation to test the new I-180 fighter.

The death of Valery Chkalov

Chkalov died on December 15, 1938 during the first test flight of the new I-180 fighter at the Central Airfield.

The flight was being prepared in great haste in order to be in time before the end of the year. The release of the aircraft to the airfield was scheduled for November 7, November 15, then November 25 ... On December 2, 190 defects were detected on the assembled machine. N. N. Polikarpov protested against the unnecessary race in preparing the I-180 for the first flight, as a result of which he was removed from these works.

On December 13, Polikarpov presented the I-180 test program: the flight task ordered to make a test flight in a circle for 10-15 minutes without retracting the landing gear, then after a thorough inspection of the entire machine, carry out a familiarization flight and 1-2 flights of 30-68 minutes, finally, flight with landing gear retracted up to an altitude of 7000 meters.

Valery Chkalov was supposed to make only the first, most expensive flight, after which the car passed into the hands of another pilot - S.P. Suprun.

According to the memoirs of D. L. Tomashevich, on this day the air temperature was “about minus 25 ° C ... Polikarpov seemed to dissuade Chkalov from flying out, but he did not agree.” Already at the landing of the aircraft, the M-88 engine stopped. Chkalov, as noted in the act of the commission investigating the causes of the accident, “until the last moment he flew the plane and tried to land and landed outside the area occupied by residential buildings". But when landing, the plane caught on wires and a pole, and the pilot hit his head on the metal reinforcement that was at the crash site. Two hours later, he died in the Botkin hospital from his injuries.

Valery Chkalov was buried in Moscow, the urn with his ashes was installed in the Kremlin wall.

After the death of Chkalov, a number of leaders of the aviation plant involved in organizing this flight were arrested. They were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for releasing an aircraft with numerous malfunctions that led to the death of the pilot.

NPO Order N 070 dated June 4, 1939 stated: “The number of flight accidents in 1939, especially in April and May, reached extraordinary proportions. From January 1 to May 15, 34 accidents occurred, 70 people died in them personnel. During the same period, 126 accidents occurred, in which 91 aircraft were destroyed. Only at the end of 1938 and in the first months of 1939. we lost 5 outstanding pilots - Heroes of the Soviet Union, 5 best people in our country - tt. Bryandinskiy, Chkalov, Gubenko, Serov and Polina Osipenko.

These heavy losses, like the vast majority of other disasters and accidents, are a direct result of:

a) criminal violation of special orders, regulations, flight instructions and instructions;
... e) most importantly, the unacceptable weakening of military discipline in units Air Force and laxity, unfortunately, even among the best pilots, not excluding some Heroes of the Soviet Union ...

2. Hero of the Soviet Union, known throughout the world for his record flights, brigade commander V.P. Chkalov died only because the new fighter, which brigade commander Chkalov was testing, was put on a test flight in a completely unsatisfactory condition, which Chkalov was fully aware of. Moreover, having learned from the NKVD workers about the state of this aircraft, Comrade Stalin personally ordered Comrade Chkalov to be banned from flying until the aircraft’s shortcomings were completely eliminated, nevertheless, brigade commander Chkalov on this aircraft with defects that had not been completely eliminated after three days not only flew , but began to make its first flight on a new aircraft and a new engine outside the airfield, as a result of which, due to an emergency landing on unsuitable cluttered terrain, the aircraft crashed and brigade commander Chkalov died "...

A memorial stone was erected near the crash site of Chkalov's plane. Located near the house number 52, bldg. 2 on Khoroshevsky highway.

Also doubts were expressed about the truth of the official story of the death of Valery Chkalov.

It is apparently not clear why prototype combat aircraft took off from the Central Airfield at Khodynskoye Pole, that is, from the runway of a civil airport, and how it got there. The plant that produced the I-180 prototype still exists today. This is the Khrunichev plant in the Filevskaya floodplain.

The runway of the closed and guarded factory airfield was located where Filevsky Boulevard Street now passes (the location of the factory buildings and the boulevard is very characteristic and still has not lost traces of the layout of the former aircraft industrial facility).

These doubts are the fruit of ignorance of the history of aviation: in 1938, the airfield on the Khodynka field was the Central Airfield named after. Frunze. In addition to flights of passenger aircraft, it was also a factory airfield for three factories and several design bureaus. Including the Polikarpov Design Bureau. Now it is a plant named after P. O. Sukhoi.

According to the version presented by Chkalov's daughter, Valeria Valeryevna, in the film of the TV project "Searchers" "Hunting for Chkalov", the NKVD, as well as Joseph Stalin and Lavrenty Beria, were guilty of the death of the pilot, who deliberately led Chkalov to death during a test flight (for example, permission to take off a faulty aircraft, a cut of the blinds at the motor).

On May 20, 1974, in Vancouver (Washington, USA), the Chkalovsky Committee for Transpolar Flight was created - a public non-profit organization, which included representatives of the business community and the local elite. On June 20, 1975, in this city, “as a sign of respect for the great Russian people,” a monument was opened, called the Chkalovsky monument.

In 1986, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the flight Moscow - Udd Island, a monument to its participants was erected on the island.

The growth of Valery Chkalov: 164 centimeters.

Personal life of Valery Chkalov:

Wife - Olga Erazmovna Chkalova (nee Orekhova; 1901-1997), teacher, author of a number of books and memoirs about Chkalov, articles on pedagogical topics. They got married in 1927. In March 1928, he was transferred to serve in the 15th Bryansk Aviation Squadron, while his wife and son Igor remained in Leningrad.

Son - Igor Valeryevich Chkalov, born on January 1, 1928. Graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Colonel. Air force engineer. Honorary Citizen of the Chkalovsky District Nizhny Novgorod region. He made a great contribution to replenish the fund of the V.P. Chkalov Museum in Chkalovsk. Author of a number of articles and interviews dedicated to his father. He believed that the cause of his father's death was a deliberate murder (“Father was removed because he had big influence on Stalin). He died in 2006 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Daughter - Valeria (1935-2013).

Daughter - Olga (born 1939). Youngest daughter was born seven months after the death of her father.

“We built our family on common agreement and mutual understanding. After all, this is a necessary condition for the correct, reasonable education of children. The family is that environment, that initial team, where children are formed before school, where the future personality is formed, ”wrote Olga Erazmovna Chkalova in her book“ Valery Pavlovich Chkalov ”.

Bibliography of Valery Chkalov:

Our transpolar flight Moscow - North Pole - North America. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1938;
My life belongs to the Motherland. Articles and speeches. - M., 1954;
Our flight on ANT-25. - M .: Bib-ka "Spark" No. 59 (974), 1936;
High above the ground. Pilot's stories. - M.-L.: Detgiz, 1939

Valery Chkalov in the cinema:

♦ In 1941, the historical and biographical film "Valery Chkalov" was created at the M. Gorky Film Studio (a new edition was released in 1962). AT leading role: Vladimir Belokurov. Stage director: Mikhail Kalatozov.

♦ Released in 1987 documentary directed by V. F. Konovalov "Flight through memory" about the flights of the crews of V. Chkalov and M. Gromov through the North Pole to America in 1937, in the creation of which the 20th Century Fox film studio and actress Shirley Temple took part.
♦ The image of Chkalov in 2007 was used in the series “Stalin. Live" (as Dmitry Shcherbina).
♦ In 2012, Solo Film and Central Partnership produced an eight-episode biographical series Chkalov (Wings) about the life of a pilot from 1924 to 1937. Directed by Igor Zaitsev. Starring Evgeny Dyatlov. Valery Chkalov's daughter Olga reacted extremely negatively to this film adaptation.

♦ In 2014, RD Studio filmed a four-episode film "People Who Made the Earth Round" about the record-breaking flights of the 1930s, which tells about V.P. Chkalov's flight over the North Pole.

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov is the only real character in the musical Nord-Ost. The creators of the play portrayed the great pilot as a strong and sympathetic person who agreed to help the main character, Sanya Grigoriev, in the expedition to search for the ship "Saint Mary".

Relatives still do not believe that his death was accidental.

79 years ago, on December 15, 1938, when testing the new I-108 fighter, the Hero of the Soviet Union, the legendary pilot who made the first flight across the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver, died, Valery Chkalov. The death of the brigade commander was so mysterious that after death Stalin Khrushchev appointed a second commission to investigate the causes of the disaster. Many are sure that Valery Pavlovich was "helped" to die.

Stalin's falcon

About the pilot-innovator Soviet Union found out on July 20, 1936. Then the crew leader Valery Chkalov, second pilot Georgy Baidukov and navigator Alexander Belyakov made a 56-hour flight from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with a landing on Udd Island (now Chkalov Island) in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. On August 10, three heroes at an airfield near Moscow near the city of Shchelkovo (now it is the Chkalovsky military airfield), Joseph Stalin personally came to meet three heroes.

A year later, the same crew made a non-stop flight from Moscow via the North Pole to Vancouver. This time the flight duration was 63 hours 16 minutes. After that, Chkalov became known to the whole world.

There is such a legend that Russian pilots returned home from America on a ship, on which the film star was also present. Marlene Dietrich. Passengers disembarked at the French port, boarded a train and went to Paris. There, on the platform, a huge number of people with flowers crowded. Dietrich believed that it was the fans who were meeting her, but when the bouquet was handed to Chkalov, she was confused. After this incident, rumors spread about the romance of the Russian pilot with the German actress. However, Valery Pavlovich's relatives are sure that this was out of the question.

By 1937 Chkalov's popularity was unimaginable. Immediately from several regions, his candidacy was nominated for deputies. But by order of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the pilot withdrew his candidacy in all districts except Gorky. They say that, having become a deputy, he met with Stalin every week. They were with each other on "you", and the leader immensely trusted the brigade commander, which did not like the environment of the Secretary General.

Those involved in the investigation of Chkalov's death cite two more facts of his biography, which could "sign" his death sentence.

On brotherhood with the leader

In 1937, mass repressions began, which also affected close friends of Chkalov. An aircraft designer was arrested Andrey Nikolaevich Tupolev, one of the best friends of the pilot was shot, the first secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee Alexander Kosarev, arrested the head of the Gorky aircraft plant Evgenia Miroshnikova, journalist Yefim Babushkina. And for all Chkalov went to ask, proved their innocence. They say that after one of these conversations, the pilot left Stalin's office and slammed the door so hard that a folder with documents flew off his lap from a visitor sitting in the waiting room. The leader did not like such self-will.

Another story is connected with one of the Kremlin receptions, at which Chkalov approached Stalin and, after giving him a glass of vodka, offered him a drink for brotherhood. Iosif Vissarionovich only sipped the drink. He did not like such spiritual impulses, especially in the presence of subordinates.

There is another version according to which it was decided to "eliminate" Chkalov. She was put forward in his novel "Despair" Yulian Semenov. There were rumors that Stalin allegedly sympathized with the wife of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Nikolai Yezhov Evgeniya. But she preferred to communicate with Valery Chkalov. And when Stalin found out about this, the pilot crashed almost a week later.

But at that time (the disaster happened on December 15, 1938), Evgenia Yezhova was no longer alive. The woman committed suicide on November 21st. In addition, Chkalov was madly in love with his wife. Olga. Of all the business trips, he sent tender letters to his wife. In addition, they were not just married: Valery and Olga got married in 1927. Olga Erazmovna lived up to 97 years. She did not want to get married again and did not start novels. She told her children that she had never met a man worthy of their father.

Timely loss

December 15, 1938 People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Lavrenty Beria personally reported the death of Chkalov to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Joseph Stalin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vyacheslav Molotov, People's Commissar of Defense Clement Voroshilov and People's Commissar of Railways Lazar Kaganovich.

“Today at 12 hours 58 minutes, a high-speed fighter I-180 design Polikarpova, piloted by Chkalov, went on the first test flight, ”wrote Beria in his letter. - Approximately 10 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed. Comrade died. Chkalov. He was brought to the Botkin hospital already dead. The plane is broken. When he fell, he fell into the garbage of the wood warehouse of Moszhilgorstroy.

Before deep night the commission worked, interrogating everyone involved in this flight, starting with the chief designer Nikolai Polikarpov and the director of the aircraft factory 156 Usacheva and ending with cleaners and accountants. 60 people were arrested, most of whom never returned home. But two very important witnesses were not present at the interrogations: the lead test engineer Lazarev and flight mechanic Kurakin. It was these two who could explain to the commission: why the aircraft was allowed to test, which looked more like a mock-up.

However, in a strange way, Lazarev's heat and was allegedly taken to the hospital. And the next day it became known that the engineer was thrown out of the train. The man was crushed to death. The flight mechanic disappeared without a trace, and his fate remained unknown.

Why were these two key witnesses? The fact is that they could explain why non-flying wings were on the test fighter. Evidence of this was found in the archives by the daughter of the pilot Valeria Valerievna Chkalova. In her book, she cited a document: “... Wings made on order“ 318 ”can be allowed to fly with limited overloads ... To replace them, wings 318D must be manufactured as flight wings ... ".

Under the order "318" passed the fighter "I-180". Polikarpov demanded that during the first flight they did not remove the landing gear and did not exceed the speed limit. By retracting the landing gear, the fighter would have increased the drag of the aircraft and would have reached the airfield, and not crashed into a garbage mountain. But the chassis was fixed.

In addition, the departure of the aircraft was banned by a representative of the Zaporozhye aircraft engine plant, which assembled the engine for the I-180. aircraft engineer Evgeny Ginzburg discovered that the left gasoline pump was removed from their engine, although there were two of them according to the instructions! Ginzburg inquired about this from Lazarev, the same engineer who was thrown out of the electric train.

Secret fears

As Ginzburg said in his memoirs, Lazarev only said that it was a necessary measure. In general, the situation with the aircraft was very strange. A trial check of the fighter was conceived on December 12. But Beria informed the party leadership that the machine was not completed (about 48 flaws were found) and that the tests could lead to the death of the pilot. The flight was cancelled. But only on December 12th.

The behavior of the head of the aircraft plant, Usachov, is also inexplicable, who, despite all the recommendations of the NKVD and letters from Beria, allowed the fighter to be tested at his own peril and risk. And this was in 1938, when people were afraid to think freely even in their own kitchen.

Then the commission came to the conclusion that the disaster occurred due to "... engine failure as a result of its hypothermia ...". December 15 was frost about 25 degrees. The aircraft was not equipped with shutters that regulate the cooling of the engine. There is a version that the blinds were cut off. The flight mechanic Kurakin could have told about this, but he very conveniently disappeared without a trace.

Valery Chkalov with his wife Olga and son Igor on vacation, 1936.
Photo by Maozzhukhin / TASS newsreel

Children of Valery Chkalov - Igor, Valeria and Olga, who was born 7 months after the death of her father, believed that the disaster was a planned murder. And if it had not happened, Valery Pavlovich would have died anyway. For example, this could happen while hunting.

According to the pilot's relatives, in November 1938, Chkalov took a vacation to go to his homeland near Nizhny Novgorod (then Gorky) and hunt. And there he was presented with a pack of cartridges. But Chkalov was called back from vacation to test the I-180, and he did not have time to use the gift. And then the cartridges were given to one of the relatives. And later it turned out that they were with a self-exploding device.

Chkalov's sister's husband's brother went hunting and saw a fox. Shot - a misfire, the second - again a misfire. In bewilderment, the man lowered his gun, and suddenly shots rang out. He was saved from death by the fact that he did not break the gun. Otherwise, he would have been shot in the face.

Chkalov's wife Olga Erazmovna told the children that in recent months of his life, Valery Pavlovich slept with a pistol under his pillow. But what the pilot-hero was afraid of will remain a mystery.

In February 1927, Valery Pavlovich Chkalov connected his life with a wonderful woman, Olga Erazmovna Orekhova.

And the appearance in the Chkalov family of a son, the first-born Igor, brought both Olga and Valery a lot of joy, real family happiness. On May 10, the second child appeared in the Chkalov family - the daughter of Valery. Valery Pavlovich was incredibly happy about the addition of a family, because he always dreamed of big family, in 5 - 6 people. But the life of the pilot was cut short in 1938, when he was only 34 years old. And he was not destined to see his second daughter, named Olga Erazmovna, Olenka.

O. E. Chkalova in her book “Valery Pavlovich Chkalov” wrote: “We built our family on common agreement and mutual understanding. After all, this is a necessary condition for the correct, reasonable education of children. The family is that environment, that initial collective, where children are formed before school, where the future personality is formed.

Olga Erazmovna Chkalova, a teacher by vocation, devoted a lot of time and effort to social work in raising children. She tried with all her might to create warmth and comfort in the house, in the family, so that everyone would be “good and fun”.

(Photo from just now open monument. The small woman in the center is Chkalov's wife, Olga Erazmovna. On the left is a tall colonel - Chkalov's son, Igor. Right - G. Strekalov ( Strekalov Gennady Mikhailovich made 5 space flights - 1980 - "Soyuz-T3", 1983 - "Soyuz-T8", 1984 - Soyuz-T11", 1990 - "Soyuz-TM10" and 1995 - " Soyuz-TM21". There would have been a sixth flight, in 1983, but the launch of Soyuz-T-10-1 ended in an accident at the start.))

Igor graduated from the engineering faculty of the Air Force Academy. Zhukovsky.
Valeria chose the specialty of an engineer-physicist for herself, after graduating from Moscow State University, worked for many years as a head of a laboratory, and then a head of a department in one of the Moscow Research Institutes. She worked creatively, she is a candidate of technical sciences, a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, an honored inventor of the RSFSR. In parallel with the main work, she conducted a large social activities. He is the author of a number of articles and books about V.P. Chkalov.

The youngest daughter, Olga, after graduating from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, became an electronics engineer. She also holds a PhD in Engineering.

Olga Erazmovna herself lived long life, working fruitfully pedagogical work, social work on the upbringing of children. For many years she was on the editorial board of the Family and School magazine. On her 70th birthday, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Olga Erazmovna died at the age of 96 in 1997.

Valeria Chkalova: “There was a very strong masculine principle in my father”

The article is published with abbreviations.

75 years ago, in June 1937, the crew of the ANT-25 aircraft, consisting of Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov, made the first non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver via the North Pole.

Much has been written about this event. As well as about the flight from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, made a year earlier. About denunciations and attempts. That Chkalov was twice imprisoned and expelled from the army three times. And of course, about his non-random death in December 1938 on a faulty plane.

The author of the article met the daughter of the legendary pilot, named after her father, at a dacha in Serebryany Bor.

Chkalov:Yes, but there were only three. Moreover, the youngest, Olga, was born seven months after the death of her father. Our brother Igor, having graduated from the Zhukovsky Academy, worked as an engineer. Unfortunately, in 2006 he left… Olga and I are candidates of technical sciences. Her daughter is a doctor of biological sciences. I also have a daughter. And Igor has two sons. So, Chkalov has three children, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and even one great-great-granddaughter of eight years old.

Chkalov:In general, yes. When we were children, of course, my mother represented the family. But often she took us with her. Igor traveled a lot: unlike Olya and me, he remembered his father. I was only three and a half when my dad died. I tried to remember something. But my mother always said: “No, it was not so ...”

Chkalov:Before her 97th birthday, my mother did not live two months. She worked all her life. She graduated from the Herzen Leningrad Pedagogical Institute with a degree in Russian Language and Literature. Here I see how children are raised now. I remember how I raised my daughter myself ... There is no comparison with how our mother did it. She was an excellent teacher. And a very wise woman.

Chkalov:Mom was taken care of. But, according to her stories, no one dared to take on such a burden - three children. Then we found a photograph of my father, on the back of which my mother wrote: “My dear! How I miss you ... ”Although more than one decade has passed since his death. You know, I understand my mother well. It is impossible to fall out of love with a man like a father. He lived a very short - only 34 years, but very busy life. And always attracted everyone's attention.

On December 15, the day of her father's last flight, Olya's pregnant mother came to the clinic for an examination. And I could not understand why there was such increased attention to her, such a fuss. They already knew that Chkalov had crashed. But no one found the strength to tell her about it. The son of Vasily Chapaev, who lived in our house, could not do this either.

Later, Vasily Kamensky, a futurist poet and one of the first Russian pilots, dedicated a novel in verse “Power” to his father. They were friends for only two years. But when dad died, Vasily Vasilyevich wrote five letters to mom. The first, very touching, at the end of 1938. A few days after the death of his father. “You are the wife of a hero,” he wrote, “and you must survive this tragedy like a hero ...” In another letter, he said that he and his father were going to go to Chkalovsk together to go along the Volga on a raft, sing, play the button accordion ... Father people were interested. And they were interesting to him.

Chkalov:Not bad. But in feasts, he talked more. He sang rather in the country. And he has always been a leader. And besides, he had an original look at everything. He was not shy to express his opinion. Ivan Semenovich Kozlovsky recalled that when the Bolshoi Theater decided to stage the opera Natalka-Poltavka in Ukrainian, his father was invited to the rehearsal. After listening, he said: "Well, put it, I understand everything." Although Ukrainian, of course, did not know.

A great connoisseur of symphonic music, my father brought several boxes of records from America. Including Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky's First Concerto. I'm not talking about Beethoven, Strauss...

Chkalov:Yes. At the same time, I was not afraid to say “I don’t know.” I just grabbed a book and educated myself. I remember Olya, studying her father's letters, noticed: “Look at his style of presentation. How does he articulate his thoughts? This person is not from the plow ... "

Chkalov:Mom said: “Never walk behind me. Walk ahead. Otherwise, they will think that we quarreled ... ”He loved his mother very much. And since he was often on business trips, he trusted his feelings to paper. A large correspondence of parents has been preserved. Whatever the letter - then “sew a dress”, then “buy”, then “make yourself” something. He had good taste. And he never returned from a trip empty-handed. My father's house-museum in Chkalovsk keeps my tiny foreign dresses. From France, among other things, he brought his mother a fashionable perfume. There are no perfumes for a long time, but the smell is still audible ... At the same time, we grew up completely unspoiled. When numerous invitations were brought to New Year's parties, the father called his son: “Here tickets were sent to Igor Chkalov. Choose one - where you want to go. He handed the rest to the elevator operator: “Give it to the guys in the yard.” Years later, if my mother was told: “Oh, your children are excellent students, they study so well!”, she was sincerely surprised: “Why should they study poorly? They have all the possibilities - books, tables ... ”People lived in different ways.

Chkalov:Eloquence. To a greater extent, Olya and Igor. I used to be very shy. Directness. Courage, although not as crazy as his father's. openness. The ability to find mutual language with everyone. And to feel people, almost not mistaken in them. I think it's worth it.

Igor Valeryevich Chkalov died in 2006 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. The daughter of Valery Chkalov, Valeria Valeryevna, died on April 20, 2013 and was buried next to her brother and mother, Olga Erazmovna.