Exactly 70 years ago, Valery Chkalov's legendary non-stop flight across the North Pole to America was successfully completed. The crew also included pilots Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov.
The ANT-25 aircraft took off from Moscow on June 18, 1937 and on June 20 landed in the American city of Vancouver. The aviators covered a distance of over eight and a half thousand kilometers. The flight took place in the most difficult weather conditions.
"I started the plane along the concrete path. The most difficult, most difficult flight began. The roaring engine carried the plane at full speed. Now, just not to turn. The plane picks up speed with every second. The last hello with my hand in the direction of the people seeing off, and I lift the plane off the ground. Jumping once or twice, the car remains in the air. Baidukov retracts the chassis. Hangars, factory chimneys flash. We fly. At the bottom of the forest, fields, rivers. Morning. The country wakes up ", - so Chkalov himself began a book about the legendary flight.
The single-engine ANT-25 aircraft for long-haul flights, designed by Andrey Tupolev, was built by the fall of 1934. The car had such technical innovations as a retractable landing gear in flight with an oil shock absorber and an electric lift. On September 10-12, 1934, the crew under the command of Mikhail Gromov set a world range record on the ANT-25, covering a distance of 12411 km in 75 hours of continuous flight along a closed route. The Soviet government sought to open an air bridge with the United States and Canada across the North Pole. On August 3, 1935, pilots Sigismund Levanevsky, Georgy Baidukov and navigator Viktor Levchenko lifted an arctic version of the aircraft overloaded with oil and fuel into the air, heading for the Pole and then for America. Due to a technical malfunction, the flight did not take place.
Then Valery Chkalov was offered to implement the idea of a non-stop flight and command a new crew. On July 20, 1936, a "test" flight was made along the route: Moscow - Victoria Island - Franz Josef Land - Severnaya Zemlya - Tiksi Bay - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It covered 9374 km in 56 hours and 20 minutes in difficult weather conditions. The single-engine ANT-25 passed the test, and the world record for the range along the broken line became Soviet. Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov were awarded the Orders of Lenin, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and were given large cash prizes. However, in order to make a record flight and overcome the airspace between the USSR and America, it took another year.
On the morning of June 18, 1937, ANT-25 took off from the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow and headed for the North Pole. Particular attention was paid to the issue of aircraft loading. At Chkalov's insistence, the total weight of food was reduced from 350 kg to 115. Only a tenth of the food was intended for a three-day flight, the rest was taken in case of a forced landing in an uninhabited place. The oxygen supply was also reduced for the same reasons. For more than 15 hours, the ANT-25 flew in extreme conditions: an ice crust formed on the wings, stabilizer, antennas. There was a moment when the water in the engine cooling system ran out, and the water in the reserve tank froze. The engine could jam at any moment.
Due to strong headwinds, more fuel was consumed than expected. The main task of the flight, to go through the entire Arctic through the pole and land in the USA or Canada, was completed. Chkalov decided to land in Portland. In the middle of the day on June 20, ANT-25 began to descend. 63 hours 16 minutes after take-off, having overcome 8504 km, the crew landed the plane at the Barax military airfield in the Portland suburb of Vancouver. There is practically no fuel left in the tanks. The press and radio in the United States have been talking in rave words about the unique flight for many days. The pilots in the Oval Office of the White House were received by President Franklin Roosevelt.
For the fortieth anniversary of the flight, the Leningrad Mint issued a commemorative bronze medal. On the obverse of the medal were depicted the heroes of this flight, and on the back - a monument in honor of the flight, installed in Vancouver on June 20, 1975. And at the Moscow Mint, a medal and two commemorative badges were made for the 50th anniversary of the flight.
"Then there was just such a childish admiration, they were heroes. Of course, on one engine to fly sixty hours, even more - sixty-three hours, this is real heroism," recalls Ivan Vedernikov, Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR.
On June 18, 1937, exactly 75 years ago, the crew of the ANT-25 aircraft (Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov, Alexander Belyakov) began a non-stop flight on the Moscow - North Pole - USA route, successfully completing it on June 20 by landing at the Vancouver airfield.
STALIN'S ROUTE: THE WAY OF HEROES
Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov flew over the North Pole to America and set a record for the flight range. This fact was inscribed in the mythology of the achievements of socialism in golden letters. In fact, everything was not quite so - more complicated and more dramatic ...
ANT-25 flew over the snowy expanses to America. The epoch-making flight was announced to the whole world; the US ambassador came to see the plane off to the airfield. Of course, there was a telegram of welcome to the pilots, signed by the leaders of the party and government. However, the flight did not go as smoothly as expected. A trickle of oil appeared in the air from under the hood. The co-pilot Georgy Baidukov believed that there would be enough oil, despite the leak, and there was no cause for concern. However, the crew commander decided that it was necessary to turn back. To Baidukov's objections, he responded with a truly Bolshevik argument - he unbuttoned the holster hanging on board the aircraft and began to take the Mauser out of it. As a result, the ANT-25 did not make it to America ...
This is how the story of the flights of the red-winged giant Tupolev across the North Pole began dramatically. They tried to forget about this unsuccessful attempt, in which the crew commander was Sigismund Levanevsky, as soon as possible. Levanevsky's failure was overshadowed by the success of Valery Chkalov, who safely reached the United States two years later. The paradox is that the flight of the Chkalov crew was, according to the Hamburg account, a failure ...
Record - at any cost!
The then world record for non-stop flight in a straight line was 9104 kilometers and was set by French pilots Paul Kodos and Maurice Rossi in 1933. The Bleriot 110, built to set this record, was a run-of-the-mill monoplane with a fixed landing gear. But even this was unusual at that time. Previous achievements were usually based on modifications of production cars, the whole "record" of which often consisted in additional fuel tanks.
Records were set by American, French and English enthusiasts. Aircraft firms developed what they could sell — transport or military aircraft. To create a fundamentally new record car from scratch, attracting the best design forces and colossal material resources, could only in a country where the words "payback" and "profit" were deleted from the current vocabulary. And where, besides the USSR, could a special runway of extraordinary length be built for such a flight? And a few years of preparation? And what about a special commission that solved all related issues without fail, headed by one of the leaders, Voroshilov? Finally, it is unlikely that a French or American president would have thought of composing a crew himself or inventing a route for the pilots to fly. Only the "father of nations" was capable of this! It is not surprising that Chkalov's plane bore the inscription "Stalin's Route".
Another thing is surprising. Chkalov's two long-distance flights (to the Far East and the United States) made him a world famous and were glorified as the great successes of Soviet aviation. But they never reached their main goal - the world record for the range remained with the French. And this despite the fact that it was quite possible to break such a record on the ANT-25 aircraft. After all, the first name of this unique airplane (RD) was deciphered as "Range record"! Of course, it was not the brilliant pilot Chkalov and not the members of his crew, Baidukov and Belyakov, who were responsible for their relative failure ...
Airplane for the record
The task of conquering the world record for the flight range for the Soviet country was set in August 1931, and already in December a decision was made: the flight will take place in the summer of 1932! Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, who presented the draft design of the record aircraft, of course, understood that the Napoleonic plans of senior officials from the relevant commission were unrealizable in such a time frame. In the summer of 1932, they just began to build an unusual single-engine aircraft, which had no analogues in the then aviation. In appearance, it looked like a glider with a motor - its wingspan was two and a half times the length of the fuselage!
Gas tanks were located in the giant wings, and they were the supporting part of the structure, taking on some of the loads. The creators of the car paid great attention to aerodynamics, in particular, they equipped the taxiway with a retractable chassis. However, the wheel struts only "pulled up" to the wing and remained semi-submerged in flight. But the cleaning and release of the chassis was carried out not with the help of a manual winch, but (for the first time in the USSR!) With an electric motor. The plane was stuffed with the latest devices of domestic design, in particular, it was equipped with a gyromagnetic compass and a transceiver radio station with a transmission range of up to 5000 km. The pilots were also taken care of - heating the cockpit with exhaust gases and oxygen cylinders were supposed to save them from the cold and lack of air at a height. In general, the taxiway turned out to be an interesting design from all sides with one small but significant drawback. It was impossible to set any record on it ... The first flight took place in the summer of 1933. Having calculated the indecently high consumption of gasoline, the creators of the plane did not lose heart.
Now everything will work out
By the fall of 1933, the second copy ("understudy") was ready. Unlike the first ANT-25, it was equipped with an M-34R engine with a gearbox that slowed down the propeller rotation speed. Propeller efficiency increased, fuel consumption fell. The estimated flight range increased from 7200 km for the first version of the aircraft to 10 800 km for the backup. It was then that the news of the flight of Kodos and Rossi from New York to Syria came. It was their record that now had to be broken on the RD. Alas, the estimated range, which characterizes flight in ideal conditions, in reality always turns out to be less - therefore, the capabilities of an aircraft with a geared engine were not enough.
Then the understudy underwent a kind of "tuning". The corrugated metal skin of the aircraft created too much aerodynamic drag. To combat it, they decided to cover the wing and plumage with a cloth over the corrugation and varnish it. The fabric was sewn to the metal by hand through many drilled holes. In some places, between the "waves" of corrugation, profiled bars were laid, carved from the lightest wood - balsa. The propeller blades were polished to a mirror-like shine ... The gigantic labor costs for such fine-tuning paid off handsomely - at the beginning of 1934, after tests, it was concluded that the plane was able to fly over 13,000 km without landing. In September of the same year, an attempt was made to verify these calculations experimentally.
ANT-25 with a full supply of fuel for a record flight could not have taken off from any of the unpaved airfields that existed at that time. Therefore, a special concrete runway was built at the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow. In order to increase the takeoff speed, a 12-meter launch slide was built at the beginning of the runway, onto which the aircraft was dragged before takeoff. The crew of Mikhail Gromov, the very pilot who first took this aircraft into the air, was entrusted with testing the extreme capabilities of the ANT-25. Two attempts to establish a record for a flight in a closed circle ended in forced landings - the engine let down. For the third time, ANT was in the air for more than three days - it flew from Moscow to Kharkov and flew over Ukraine until it ran out of fuel. After landing in Kharkov, it turned out that the plane had flown 12,411 km! An excellent result - much more than the world record of flight on a closed route (10 601 km), which belonged to Kodos and Rossi. Now what? Are the pilots waiting for honors and preparation for the storming of the most honorable record, a linear non-stop flight? The head of the Red Army Air Force Yakov Alksnis, who arrived in Kharkov, said that a solemn meeting of the champion heroes was being prepared in Moscow.
Secret achievement
However, the crew did not wait for the celebrations. It was at this time that Kliment Voroshilov was heading south to take a break from the work of building socialism. When his train stopped in Kharkov (at midnight), the pilots who had not had time to sleep were brought in to report to the “first red officer”. Voroshilov, who was sitting in the carriage at the set table, was not at all happy about Gromov's message. “So what should we do? - he asked. Now the Americans will start chasing the record and we will have to invent something again ...
And if we do not publish this achievement, then we will have it in stock! " Who needs a record "in stock", Voroshilov did not explain. But instead of a solemn welcome for the pilots, an absolutely empty airfield was waiting in Moscow. There they learned that the information about their flight had been decided to be classified!
In fairness, it must be said that there was a reason in Voroshilov's reasoning. Gromov's flight would not have been registered as a world record anyway. Firstly, the USSR at that time had not yet joined the International Aviation Federation (FAI), this happened a year later. Secondly, according to international rules, it was necessary to land at the same point from where the crew took off. And finally, the foreign commissars did not observe the flight, and the international federation probably did not have much confidence in "these Bolsheviks" then ...
But imagine what it was like for the pilots! It is unlikely that Mikhail Gromov was comforted by the awarding of the recently established title of Hero of the Soviet Union (two other members of his crew received the Order of Lenin). The first Heroes have just become pilots who rescued the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer crushed by ice in the Arctic. The whole country knew about their feat, children in every courtyard played at "Chelyuskinites on the ice" ... And Gromov did not even have the right to tell what he received his award for.
We are not looking for easy ways!
Of course, the pilot immediately began to prepare an international record flight. The routes Khabarovsk-Moscow-France-North Africa, Moscow-Europe-New York (across the Atlantic), Moscow-Brazil, Moscow-Australia were being worked out ... However, unexpectedly, the plane was taken away from Gromov's crew. They were informed that the famous polar pilot Sigismund Levanevsky would fly on it from Moscow to America via the North Pole!
From the point of view of logic, the choice of the route was absurd. It is clear that the record should be set in favorable conditions, and not in the Arctic, where most of the navigation devices do not work and the plane is iced up. But in a country “where fatigue is considered the measure of work,” a different logic prevailed. To invent difficulties for oneself and then overcome them is a completely honorable task for a Soviet person!
It is clear why Levanevsky wanted to fly to the USA. He became famous and popular in this country, having delivered there the American pilot James Mattern, who had an accident in Chukotka. It is also understandable why the desire of Levanevsky was rushed to satisfy. Sigismund enjoyed the patronage of Stalin himself ...
Obviously, the “leader of the peoples” was interested in Levanevsky as a propaganda example. In those years, having relatives abroad was highly suspicious. But the history of the Levanevsky family fits perfectly into the concept of "two worlds - two destinies." Sigismund, a Pole by nationality, had a brother Jozef, who after the revolution left for bourgeois Poland. Józef became a famous record pilot and crashed on one of his training flights. After that, at first glance, a strange (but in fact natural) fanning of the glory of Sigismund began, which until then was unknown to anyone. After all, now he was a living argument proving the advantages of socialism! Suffice it to say that Levanevsky became a Hero of the Soviet Union as a pilot who rescued the Chelyuskinites, although he never removed a single person from the ice, damaging the plane during landing ...
Therefore, Mikhail Gromov, who knew ANT like the back of his hand, took the plane away and gave it to Levanevsky, who had never dealt with this aircraft. Is it any wonder that his record-breaking flight ended in fiasco? When analyzing the circumstances of the incident, it turned out that, having ordered to turn back, Levanevsky was simply reinsured. There would be enough oil to America, it began to spill out because the oil tank was filled "from the heart", above the norm. Soon the crew and the designer were summoned to Stalin - the leader wanted to understand the reasons for the failure. Levanevsky, in response to Stalin's questions, uttered an emotional monologue that the ANT-25 is worthless and that such aircraft can only be built by a disguised pest. After that I had to call a doctor. Tupolev felt bad - he was well aware of what such accusations threatened the creator of the plane with. The second pilot Georgy Baidukov stood up for the designer and his brainchild.
As a result, Levanevsky was sent to America to look for a car suitable for his purposes, and Baidukov thought about how to finish the epic with a polar flight.
Chkalov instead of Levanevsky
Baidukov coped with the task - to replace one favorite of the leader, he found another. Frankly speaking, his friend Valery Chkalov was just as poorly suited for the record flight as Levanevsky. An ingenious (albeit not very disciplined) fighter pilot, then a test ... Chkalov flew in light machines, figuring out their maximum capabilities. For this, he did not need to move away from airfields, and even more so to study air navigation and master the skills of blind flight. Baidukov promised that in difficult conditions he would pilot the car himself: "Your business is to take off!" Most importantly, Stalin knew Chkalov well and could allow him to fly. And so it happened, but the leader decided not to risk it and to postpone with America. To begin with, he suggested that Chkalov's crew fly to the Far East. It is possible that this option was offered by the pilots themselves, however, be that as it may, the inscription "Stalin's route" appeared on board their plane.
In July 1936, Chkalov, Baidukov and navigator Belyakov flew the “Stalinist route” from Moscow to Kamchatka and Sakhalin. The flight was undoubtedly heroic, and Chkalov also demonstrated extraordinary skill by landing the plane on the tiny island of Udd on a completely unsuitable platform. But ... some of the required range requirements for fixing the world record were not met, and it still remained with the French.
But now it was possible to fly over the North Pole. This time, the formalities were treated more attentively - a record set in such difficult conditions would have had an even stronger propaganda resonance. Two crews were supposed to fly - Chkalov and Gromova, with a difference of half an hour. It was known that the Gromov crew was better prepared, so the mission of "scouts" was assigned to Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov, and the record was to be set by Gromov, Danilin and Yumashev. However, shortly before the flight of Gromov, having come to the hangar, he found that the engine had been removed from his plane ...! The engine was transferred to Chkalov's car, and the second crew had to wait for the new engine to be “run in” at the stand ... Is it a technical necessity or something else? If the two planes flew together, the main focus would be on who will set the record ...
The situation becomes clearer if we remember that two members of Gromov's crew were of noble origin, and the third was of merchant origin. The Chkalovites, on the other hand, were distinguished by an impeccable "proletarian" biography and were very suitable for the role of the protagonists of a propaganda show that demonstrated the advantages of the Soviet school of aircraft construction. Chkalov flew first and reaped the entire harvest of glory. Few people at that moment thought that from Moscow to Vancouver, where Chkalov's crew landed on June 20, 1937, was 8582 km in a straight line. ANT-25, bypassing zones with poor weather conditions, flew a much greater distance - but for fixing a record it is important how many kilometers are between the end points of the route! The distance record was still held by Kodos and Rossi. Chkalov's route turned out to be truly "Stalinist" - wanderings, heroic overcoming of difficulties and failure to fulfill the main task ...
However, less than a month after Chkalov's flight, Gromov's long-suffering crew still got the opportunity to go on their flight. Having flown over the pole in the United States and landed in San Jacinto, the second ANT-25 covered 10 148 km in a straight line. Record - this time without any reservations! And in the aircraft tanks there was still gasoline left for at least one and a half thousand kilometers. But then there was the Mexican border. And they did not agree with Mexico on the flight of our crew - no one thought that Gromov would fly so far ...
Valery Chkalov is the favorite of the whole world, Yuri Gagarin of his time. The state has set the maximum task - to fly higher than everyone, faster than everyone, the farthest. Chkalov flew farthest - through the North Pole he reached America itself, without a change or refueling. The faithful crew helped him in this - Alexander Belyakov and Georgy Baidukov. This flight caused a real shock in the world, which can only be compared with the reaction to the first manned flight into space a quarter of a century later ... The seventy-fifth anniversary of the legendary flight is dedicated to the next issue of the program "Made in the USSR".
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov made a significant contribution to the development of domestic aviation. He had his own views on the role of a fighter in air combat, his own ideas about the qualities of a fighter pilot. He established his own norms of behavior in the air, opened up new possibilities of flight thanks to his analytical mind and talent. For the first time in the world, he researched and put into practice many aerobatics, which later began to be used in air battles.
Chkalov is the author of such figures as an ascending corkscrew, a slowed-down barrel, an exit from a dive with a climb in an inverted flight. He creatively developed the use of various forms of combining fire and maneuver. Valery Pavlovich was the first of the pilots to shoot accurately at air targets in any position of the aircraft and, in particular, in inverted flight. He owns the idea of ramming the enemy with an airplane propeller. He did a lot in the development of vertical combat tactics.
Chkalov made a significant contribution to the development of domestic aviation and as a test pilot. Of the 14 years of his aviation activity, 8 were devoted to test work, which he was engaged in first at the Moscow Scientific Testing Institute, and then at the Aviation Plant. Menzhinsky. Over the years, 70 different aircraft designs have passed through his hands. Valery Pavlovich, being the chief pilot of the remarkable aircraft designer N.N. Polikarpov, tested by that time the world's best fighters I-15, I-16.
Chkalov became world famous for his long-distance non-stop flights on the routes Moscow - the Far East and Moscow - the North Pole - the United States of America, made on the ANT-25 aircraft.
They went down in the history of not only domestic, but also world aviation.
Valery Pavlovich loved his homeland, his people with all his heart. First of all, he thought about the safety of his fatherland, carrying out his daring experiments. He thought about his homeland during the hours of long-distance flights.
Today, the memory of the outstanding pilot, of his daring exploits is kept in the V.P. Chkalov Memorial Museum. The basis of the exposition is photographs, documents, personal belongings of V.P. Chkalov, everything that is connected with the life and work of Chkalov - a man and Chkalov - a famous pilot.
Permanent exhibitions
Legendary aircraft ANT-25
The path to the dream
Private plane U (Po) - 2
V.P. Chkalov Memorial Museum- memorial complex dedicated to the memory of the outstanding pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Pavlovich Chkalov, opened to visitors on July 7, 1940. Includes memorial house where Valery Chkalov was born and raised, and pavilion - hangar , which displays a collection of aircraft related to his flying activities.
Each of the seven sections of the exposition of the house - museum tells about a certain period of the life and work of V.P. Chkalov. The exposition of each section contains photographs, original documents, unique exhibits and visual materials.
In the pavilion - hangar, there are unique aircraft that V.P. Chkalov flew on, which he tested. The central place in the hangar is given to the famous ANT-25 (designer A.N. Tupolev) - a participant in the heroic flights of 1936, unparalleled in their range and complexity. (Moscow - Udd Island) and 1937 (Moscow - North Pole - USA), which went down in the history of aviation around the world. Fighters I-16 and I-17 (TsKB-15) will remind visitors of the difficult, risky work of V.P. Chkalov as a test pilot. The I-17 experimental fighter was not mass-produced, but it was exhibited in 1936 at the World Exhibition in Paris. The MIG-15 (bis) jet fighter is presented as the embodiment of V.P. Chkalov on aircraft with high speeds. Here, in the hangar, there is V.P. Chkalov PO-2 (U-2), a gift from the Soviet government for the first non-stop flight. Another gift to V.P. Chkalov - a Packard car.
Interest in the name and deeds of V.P. Chkalov has not diminished over the years. People from all over Russia and not only come to the museum - from Moscow, Pskov and Perm, St. Petersburg and Nizhnekamsk, Germany and the USA.
In the guest book, we read the entries made by visitors to the museum: “Museum of V.P. Chkalova is the pride of Russia. It is a symbol of courage, heroism, devotion, love for the Motherland. V.P. Chkalov is an example of dedication, hard work and courage. The museum is necessary to educate the patriotism of our youth, love for their homeland ... ”- teacher of NSTU named after R.E. Alekseeva E. G. Polyakova. Another entry: “We, guys, who have come to you several thousand kilometers away, are insanely (!) Grateful to you for the fact that such excursions enrich the knowledge of today's youth. The story is interesting, the exhibits allow you to plunge into the past with your head, including us ”- guys from sunny Pyatigorsk.
Various thematic excursions, interactive programs, quest - games allow the museum to be interesting and attractive for visitors of all ages.
A lot of interesting things are kept here, in this place, sacred for Russia and the whole world. A place associated with the name of the beautiful, strong and great son of his Fatherland - Valery Chkalov.
On June 18, 1937, pilots Valery Chkalov and Georgy Baidukov, as well as navigator Alexander Belyakovs, on the ANT-25 aircraft designed by Tupolev, headed through the North Pole to Vancouver (USA). 8504 km were covered in 63 hours. The flight did not break the flight range record set by the crew under the direction of Gromov. But the importance of this event, which forever entered the history of the Soviet aviation school, is the chosen route. The plane under Chkalov's control reached the United States for the first time in history, showing the Americans all the power of Soviet aircraft and the courage of pilots.
Chkalov Valery Pavlovich - from stokers to legends of Soviet aviation
The future Hero of the USSR was born in 1904 in the small village of Vasilevo, Nizhny Novgorod province. Subsequently, this small town acquired the status of a city and began to be called Chkalovsky - in honor of its outstanding native. Chkalov's parents are from the common people: his father worked in a stoker at a shipyard, and his mother was a housewife. Valera lost his mother when he was only 6 years old.
Chkalov in his youth
As a child, Valera was not particularly interested in school lessons, except for mathematics - he shone in it. The boy had a phenomenal memory for remembering even a glimpse of information he heard. After graduating from a 7-year school, he enters a technical school, but does not finish it - the educational institution is closed due to lack of funding. The boy returns to his father's shipyard and starts working as a fireman.
Chkalov's whole life turned upside down in one moment. It was enough for him to see the plane with his own eyes 1 time to understand that this is the meaning of his life. He went to his dream without stopping and thinking. First, Valery became a Red Army soldier. This allowed him to become an assistant locksmith at an aircraft plant. Then there were long years of study in various institutions of the Air Force: in the Borisoglebsk VASh, the Moscow VASh of aerobatics, the Serpukhovskaya VASh of shooting, combat and bombing. As a result, the qualification of a test pilot.
Chkalov's career began in 1924 in Leningrad. Such a high rank as a fighter pilot is associated with courage and courage. This is exactly what Valery Pavlovich was. But in addition to these heroic qualities, he was inherent in audacity. Perhaps it was she who helped the Soviet pilot to perform the most real and unprecedented actions. But Chkalov's leadership was not always loyal to his risky flights. According to rumors, the pilot flew under the Troitsky Bridge more than once. Probably, for this he was sentenced to two months of real prison term.
But these are all digressions. Chkalov was simply unstoppable in the service. He tested all the novelties of the Soviet aircraft industry. For example, he was the first test aircraft carrier, on the fuselage and wings of which 5 fighters were carried.
At 23, the legendary pilot married a school teacher Olga Orekhova. Soon their son Igor was born. In the future, he will become a colonel of the Soviet aviation. Later, a daughter, Valeria, was born, and after a while - Olga. Little Olya never saw her father: she was born 3 months after the tragic death of Chkalov.
In the fall of 1938, Valery Mikhailovich was on vacation. But he was urgently summoned to test a new fighter, which, according to its creators, was completely unprepared for test flights. They even demanded to cancel the launch, but this did not happen, even taking into account the cold weather, not suitable for testing. The launch went well, but there were problems on landing. Thanks to his skill, the pilot was still able to take the plane away from residential buildings and even land the car, but caught on the electrical wires. The car did not catch fire. The arriving doctors got Chkalov alive and took him to the Botkin hospital. Where did the Hero of the Soviet Union die, saying in the last phrase: "I ask you not to blame anyone for my death." But the heads still flew - several heads of the aircraft plant, indirectly involved in the tragedy, were fired. The official cause of the event was engine failure due to hypothermia. The family of the deceased pilot reasonably considers a vacation call, a hastily organized flight, an unfinished car too suspicious. Perhaps Chkalov crossed the path to someone? Perhaps all the attention and love of millions of Soviet citizens was given to him, and not to Stalin or Beria? Perhaps it was just that someone was sickened by Chkalov's influence on Stalin?
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov
During his lifetime, the great tester wrote several books: "Our transpolar flight: Moscow - North Pole - North America", "High above the ground. Pilot's Stories ”and others. Chkalov's wife and son also wrote several biographical books about their outstanding husband and father. Many monuments have been created in honor of the Hero of the USSR, streets and airfields are named in his honor. Many films have been shot about Chkalov. Almost all of them enjoy the interest of the audience, but they do not always find approval from the hero's family. Only the youngest daughter Olga is still alive. But all the other family members lived for quite a long time - 80–90 years old (Olga Chkalova died at the age of 96). And only the legendary Valery Mikhailovich Chkalov himself died when he was only 34 years old.
Legendary plane - AN-25
It is these days that planes make long non-stop flights every day. Videoconferencing systems are capable of “hovering” in the air all day long, refueling on the move. But in the 30s of the last century, "marches" were akin to feats. Soviet aviation had just got on the wing when they immediately followed one record after another. The "Leader of All Russia" closely followed each long-distance flight. The idea of flying to the USA was constantly in the air - it was important for everyone to prove the power and dominance of the Russians in this airspace over the Americans.
Legendary AN-25
Even when the composition of the crew was unclear, it was known which aircraft the flight would be on. The legendary designer Andrey Nikolayevich Tupolev developed an airplane, which got its name from the initials of its creator - ANT-25. The aircraft had a design that was unique for those times - a completely metal frame, a wingspan of 33 meters and a possible lengthening of 11 meters. For the first time in history, aircraft wings were used not only for aerodynamics, but also for storing fuel reserves. The wings of this aircraft modification could hold up to 7 tons of refueling.
The first modification of the aircraft was not intended for long-distance flights. The wings of the car were covered with corrugated duralumin plates. This material created great resistance during flight, which significantly reduced its range. It was decided to replace the duralumin with percale. All the wings were covered with it, polished and painted. This helped to reduce resistance, but increased the fire hazard - the percale was saturated with gasoline and could easily ignite from sparks from the exhaust pipes.
Flight to AN-25 across the North Pole
Tupolev also created a combat variation - ANT-36 DB-1. He had significant drawbacks: a small bomb load - only 300 kg and a low speed - 235 km / h. However, later it was the ANT-36 that became the basis for the manufacture of more modified versions of bombers.
The Arctic modification of the ANT-25 was created especially for the implementation of the legendary flight over the North Pole. The car was modernized and prepared for flights at low temperatures. To achieve the goal: the radiator of the cooling system was reduced, its tube was transferred to the heating tank in order to prevent freezing, a three-blade propeller was installed on the engine, allowing you to choose the optimal flight mode, and the problem of icing of the blades was solved.
Trial attempts
In the fall of 1934, the crew of M. Gromov, A. Filin and I. Spirin flew 12,411 km in the ANT-25 in a closed area in 75 hours of flight. They set a world record for range. For this, each member of the crew was awarded the Order of Lenin, the captain was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.
Gromov, Owl and Spirin
In August 1935, the first attempt was made to fly to San Francisco on the ANT-25 under the control of Sigismund Lavanevsky. However, already over the Barents Sea, the engine began to forcefully "drive" the oil. Stalin's personal command came from Moscow to return the car. The "leader" could not tolerate shame before the Americans. But the return of the plane was not unreasonable. During the landing near Moscow, the car caught fire. The crew was miraculously saved.
Tupolev understood that Lavanevsky would no longer be allowed to make such a flight. But he was confident in the ANT-25's ability to make long flights. Tupolev's friend Baidukov persuaded Chkalov to make the flight with the following words: “I and Belyakov offer you to become the commander of our crew on the flight across the North Pole to the USA. You are required to obtain consent to take off and take off on an overloaded plane. These two conditions account for 50% of the success of the entire event. Belyakov and I will take over the remaining 50%. "
The next attempt was treated with more caution. Only the authority of Chkalov and his respect by Joseph Vissarionovich allowed him to turn to the country's leadership for permission to repeat the attempt to fly to the United States. He supported the idea. Always listening to the skilled pilot, Stalin gave the go-ahead, but corrected the route - instead of the United States, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky became the destination. The crew under the leadership of Chkalov flew 9375 km in 56 hours without a change. The sandy spit of the island, which was not equipped for landing, became the landing site for the aircraft. The route from Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky through the Franz Josef Lands and Severnaya subsequently became known as Stalin's.
As a result of a successful flight, all three crew members were awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. Chkalov won the love of the entire Soviet people, he was presented with a personal plane of the U-2 brand.
But at the heart of all the heroic deeds of Valery Chkalov was not at all a thirst for titles, awards, and handshakes. He defied difficulties. He loved the sky, the plane, the Motherland. He wanted to show the power of the entire Soviet aircraft industry and the courage not personally, but all the people.
For this purpose, he went again to Stalin for permission to fly to the USA via the Pole ...
"Moscow - North Pole - North America": how it was
Chkalov managed to obtain permission from the "owner" of the USSR. During the preparation of the flight, radio stations along the Northern Sea Route were put into operation. In case of danger, icebreakers and steamers of the Northern Fleet were to provide assistance to the crew members. The USA and Canada prepared radio stations for receiving messages from a Soviet aircraft.
On June 18, 1937, at 4:15 am, ANT-25 took off from an airfield in the Moscow region, which is now called Chkalovsky. In addition to the main pilot, on board the aircraft were: co-pilot G. Baidukov and navigator A. Belyakov. The route ran as follows: to the North, Franz Josef Land, the North Pole, and further south along the 123 meridian. On the way, the team faced many difficulties.
After 5 hours of flight, the team discovered a fuel leak, but the captain did not return the car back. After a while, the leak stopped.
The second problem was poor visibility. The navigational equipment was minimal: a sextant, a chronometer, and a sun pointer. Thanks to the experience and skill of the crew, the plane did not go astray even in the absence of visibility.
Flight route
The third problem was the freezing temperature on board the car. The pilots could warm up especially due to warm clothes.
The fourth is the lack of provisions. To take more fuel, the crew reduced the amount of provisions to a minimum: instead of the required 350 kg - only 100 kg of food supplies.
Along the entire route there was a risk of icing of the blades and elements of the aircraft. Already over the European part, having met a cyclone, it was necessary to use a propeller anti-icer. They fought against the threat of icing by adjusting the flight altitude - they rose above the clouds, then descended below them. The cooling system failed very quickly. This could provoke an engine failure at any moment.
V.P. Chkalov
Despite all the difficulties, the team reached the North Pole in a day. The forecasts that the height of cloud cover in the central part of the polar basin will be at the level of 3–5 thousand km did not come true. On Canadian territory, it was necessary to lift the car up to 5750 km and fly in the complete absence of visibility. The icy car was constantly shaking. I had to reduce the engine speed to minimum values.
On June 19 at 13.50 the plane approached the Canadian coast. Here another danger spurred on - the Rocky Mountains. I had to climb to a level of more than 6 thousand km and drive the car almost blindly. Oxygen gradually ran out. Overboard it was -20 degrees.
On June 20 at 4:20 pm, the plane landed in the Vancouver suburb of Portland, instead of the intended California. There is no fuel left. Due to strong winds, a strong excessive consumption of fuel was allowed.
The aircraft's reliability, experience, knowledge, heroism and perhaps a little luck allowed the aircraft to reach its goal. The total flight time is 63 hours. The length of the path is 8504 km. It was not possible to break the distance record set by the crew under the leadership of Gromov.
But the Americans greeted the crew like real heroes. President Roosevelt had a two-hour conversation with the brave Soviet pilots instead of the planned 15-minute one. In New York, a solemn ceremony was held in honor of the outstanding pilots.
Meeting with Stalin
The crew returned to the USSR in August 1937. They were met personally by I.V. Stalin and the crowd of enthusiastic compatriots who showered the heroes with flowers and applause.
Crew meeting in Moscow
The importance of the 1937 flight
The experience of long-distance flights in Soviet times is invaluable. In addition to increasing the country's prestige, the pilots gained experience in combat missions. On the very first day of the Second World War, Soviet bombers carried out successful strikes on oil depots in Romania and Berlin. In the early years of the war, skilled pilots from the USSR ferried combat aircraft from the United States under Lend-Lease from Alaska to the front line. In terms of the complexity of the fulfillment of these tasks, it was akin to military exploits. It was the Soviet school of aerobatics that was later used to train young pilots.
One cannot fail to note the importance of Chkalov's flight from a political point of view. After the crew landed, enthusiastic responses from the Americans were everywhere. They admired the courage and professionalism of Soviet pilots, the highest level achieved by Soviet aviation. This contributed to the establishment of international relations, there was some kind of mutual understanding between the peoples. Perhaps it was this fact that became a prerequisite for fruitful cooperation between the USSR and the United States during the war.
On the way to Moscow, 1937
The legendary flight elevated the USSR in industrial terms and contributed to the economic development of the country.
Documentary: "Chkalov's feat."
81 years ago, on June 18–20, 1937, the crew of the ANT-25 aircraft, consisting of Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov, made the first non-stop flight in world history from Moscow via the North Pole to America. Less than a month later, on July 12-14, 1937, Soviet pilots Mikhail Gromov, Andrei Yumashev, Sergei Danilin managed to surpass this achievement and set an absolute world record for the distance of a non-stop flight from the USSR to the United States through the North Pole in a straight line. It was not only a victory over bad weather, technique and fatigue. Transpolar flights were a brilliant triumph for Soviet aviation and the aviation industry. It was also a brilliant triumph of domestic design engineers: Pavel Sukhoi, the aircraft designer, and Alexei Mikulin, the aircraft engine designer. Now it is already difficult for us to imagine what kind of drama was associated with these achievements and what large-scale problems had to be solved on the way to the goal and the crews, and the domestic aviation industry, and the entire young Soviet country.
At the magic frontier
In the first half of the twentieth century, aviation records in the minds of people were comparable to the achievements of astronautics in the post-war period. They were amazing, and the pilots were something like the inhabitants of heaven. The reports of new flights became a worldwide sensation. But in the early 1930s, when the record for the straight flight range approached the milestone of 10,000 km, it was no longer possible, as before, to set records on converted production aircraft. It was necessary to create a special structure, which was a complex engineering task, feasible only for a highly developed state. The victory in the race for the distance record allowed the Soviet Union to confirm its status.
Valery Chkalov's conversation with an American millionaire is known on board the Normandy turbo electric ship, the fastest passenger ship in the world at that time, on which Soviet pilots crossed the Atlantic on their way back from the United States. The millionaire asked how rich Chkalov was. The pilot replied that he had 170 million. "Rubles or dollars?" - clarified the pragmatic American. The answer came: "170 million people who work for me, just as I work for them!"
This propaganda passage of the Soviet pilot was true. A huge number of people worked on the implementation of the plans for the record flight, decisions on it were made personally by I.V. Stalin, and control over the project was carried out by a state commission under the leadership of K.E. Voroshilov. It was she who, on December 7, 1931, decided that the record should be set on a specially built Soviet aircraft, the creation of which was entrusted to the TsAGI design bureau, headed by A.N. Tupolev. The team of P.O. Sukhoi, but the fundamental decisions were made by Tupolev. He was also responsible for the result before high authorities.
ANT-25 or RD (Range Record) had an unusual design. The main feature is the wing of high aspect ratio: the ratio of its length to width (chord) was 13.1, which turned the aircraft into a huge glider with a motor. The glider itself is capable of soaring in the sky without an engine, and with the engine it was possible to create a miracle at all - to perform a long flight, albeit at a low cruising speed of 165 km / h.
There were no airplanes with such wing lengthening in the world. A classic glider is a light machine, but as much fuel as possible had to be taken on board the record-breaking aircraft, and the wing had to withstand this load. However, with such a length, flight in a turbulent atmosphere inevitably causes structural vibrations. In conventional aircraft, the problem was solved simply: they made the wings rigid, "unshakable." But with an ANT-25 wingspan of 34 meters, the rigid metal structure turned out to be unrealistically heavy. It was necessary to make complex calculations of its oscillations, and this was done by the aerodynamicist of TsAGI V.P. Vetchinkin.
Globally, the ANT-25 then had two main competitors who could also overcome the magic border of 10,000 km. These were aircraft built with money from the military departments: the British Fairey Monoplane II, which flew 8,595 km in a straight line between Britain and Namibia in February 1933, and the French Bleriot 110, which in the same year set a new record of 9,104.7 km on the US route - Syria.
The wingspan of the Fairey Monoplane II was 24.99 m with an aspect ratio of 7.5 and a take-off weight of 7938 kg. On the Bleriot 110, the wings extended 26.5 m at a similar aspect ratio and a maximum weight of 8,970 kg. The takeoff weight of the ANT-25 reached 11,500 kg.
Even outwardly, the ANT-25, whose wings were 2.5 times longer than the fuselage, was so different from traditional aerial technology that it was perceived by contemporaries as something fantastic. It used solutions that were advanced for that time. For example, the main fuel tanks in the wing were located between the spars and served as part of the power structure. The navigation equipment made it possible to fly around the clock and in any weather. The release of the chassis was carried out using an electric drive. At the same time, the plane turned out to be exceptionally tenacious: it was ruffled by storms, once it burned, made an emergency landing several times, shortly before the record flight, an I-5 fighter “landed” on its wing, but after a week the car was ready for a historic flight.
With its own weight of the ANT-25 at 3784 kg, about 6 tons of fuel were poured into it. Such a "fuel tanker" could not take off from the ground: its wings filled with liquid, even on compacted soil, swayed so that they caught the ground. For the takeoff run, the overloaded car needed about one and a half kilometers, therefore, specifically for the ANT-25 at the Shchelkovo airfield, the first concrete strip in the USSR with a length of 1800 m was built.At the beginning, a launch slide was erected with a height of 6 m and a length of 150 m, onto which the plane was dragged by a tractor. And all the same, after taking off from the strip, the car gained height very strained: 500 meters in the first 50 km. It was necessary to tear down a hill with the forces of 2,000 workers, which fell on the take-off trajectory. Just in case, they even knocked down the fence that protected the airfield. A useful precaution: the record flight of the Bleriot 110 from France to San Francisco in 1934 fell through due to the fact that the plane damaged the propeller on the tops of trees during takeoff. But the Soviet launch complex in Shchelkovo was more expensive than the plane itself.
For the transarctic flight, ground meteorological and radio stations were mobilized, one of which was equipped right at the pole. Only after the deployment of the North Pole-1 drifting station under the command of Ivan Papanin, which could maintain radio communications with the board and transmit weather reports to it, in May 1937 Chkalov's flight was given the green light.
Over the top of the world
Choosing a route across the North Pole to set a flight record seemed reckless at first glance. Usually, for the flight, they tried to find a route with favorable weather conditions, running over the terrain, where there is hope for help in the event of an emergency landing. Here it was necessary to fly several thousand kilometers over water, ice and uninhabited territories of the Far North. The "main polar explorer" of the Soviet Union, Otto Schmidt, even wrote to Stalin that the chances of providing assistance in the event of a plane crash are zero, despite the fact that the plane could theoretically land on the water and stay afloat. A rubber boat, a tent, skis, rifles and 115 kg of a month's supply of food supplied to Chkalov's crew served as little consolation in the hope of holding out until the rescuers arrived.
Despite all the difficulties, the flight across the North Pole was the cherished dream of the aviators of those years. First, it was the shortest route between the two continents. When flying from Moscow to San Francisco across the Pacific Ocean, it was necessary to cover 18,000 km, across the Atlantic - 14,000, and across the pole - "only" 9600. Second, he combined the romance of the sky with the heroism of polar explorations that crowned the era of the Great Geographical discoveries, which was a mission of special honor. It was important to reach the United States: building relations with the richest country in the world was one of the highest priorities of Soviet foreign policy in light of the already looming World War II.
By the way, in the USA the resonance from the flight was colossal. The commander of the provincial military base Vancouver Barracks, General George Marshall, having found himself in the company of Soviet pilots at an appointment with President Roosevelt, later became the US Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as well as the author of the famous plan that determined the structure of post-war Western Europe. “You made me popular, and that in America is more expensive than money,” Marshall said to Chkalova when the pilot thanked the general for the warm welcome and overnight stay in his house.
It was not only Soviet pilots who dreamed of flying over the Pole. American pilot Willie Post, who was the first to fly around the world with landings in 1931, intended to fly across the Pole from Alaska to Arkhangelsk in 1935 in a seaplane with discharged floats, but crashed during a training flight.
Thus, there was no doubt about the importance and necessity of a cross-polar flight. The "record" car was manufactured at the plant number 18 in Voronezh in just two copies. Both were lifted into the air by the great Soviet pilot Mikhail Gromov, TsAGI chief pilot, Tupolev aircraft tester. Further, a difficult fine-tuning of the unique technique began. Initially, the ANT-25 showed an estimated range of only 7200 km. A gearbox was used, thanks to which the propeller rotated more slowly, which made it possible to increase its diameter to 4.1 m. This increased the range to 10,800 km. I also had to work on aerodynamics: the corrugated metal lining of the wings was covered with cloth and dope. On September 10-12, 1934, Gromov managed to fly 12,411 km in 75 hours in the Moscow-Tula-Ryazan-Dnepropetrovsk-Kharkov polygon. He practically reached the limit of the technical range of the ANT-25, since after landing in the tanks there were only 30 liters of fuel left.
It was a phenomenal achievement, far surpassing the French world record for long range flight (10,601 km). Gromov became the eighth Hero of the Soviet Union, but his achievement was written in small print on the last pages of newspapers: no nationwide celebrations, no triumphant travels through the capital. The fact is that until 1935 the USSR was not a member of the International Aviation Federation, so the record would not have been officially registered. But its loud celebration could alert the French and British, who were already strenuously preparing to take the 10,000 km barrier - at the beginning of 1935, the 11,500-kilometer non-stop flight France-Chile on the Bleriot 110 started, but an engine failure prevented it from successfully completing.
First try
The record was in the air, it was impossible to hesitate. Mikhail Gromov seemed to be the most suitable candidate for the historic flight. However, on May 1, 1935, after an air parade over Red Square, which he headed while sitting at the controls of the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, the largest aircraft in the world at that time, Gromov was hospitalized with internal bleeding from peptic ulcer disease. For a whole year, the country's best pilot was out of action. The famous polar pilot Sigismund Levanevsky turned out to be another candidate for the flight. In 1933, he became one of the first seven Heroes of the Soviet Union among the pilots who rescued people from the Chelyuskin steamer crushed by ice. Levanevsky was also a suitable candidate because of his popularity in America: in 1933 he brought American pilot James Mattern from Chukotka to Alaska.
The first attempt to set the Soviet record for a non-stop flight took place in 1935. On August 3, a crew consisting of Sigismund Levanevsky, Georgy Baidukov and navigator Viktor Levchenko started on the route Moscow - North Pole - San Francisco. The planned flight received wide publicity. Even the US ambassador arrived at the airfield to escort the crew. After takeoff, Levanevsky discovered a trickle of oil leaking from under the engine hood. Soon, smudges appeared on the cab floor. There is a burning smell. Apparently, oil got on the hot parts of the engine. Levanevsky was not a test pilot, he did not know the plane, and after 2000 km and 10 hours of flight, already over the Barents Sea, he decided to return. Later it turned out that the oil was leaking out through the standard drain due to the fact that it was poured under the neck, and in flight it foamed. The co-pilot, Baidukov, a test pilot of the Air Force Research Institute, figured out the nature of the malfunction, but could not convince the commander that the flight could be continued: Levanevsky turned the plane around, threatening Baidukov with a Mauser.
Frustrated by the failure, Levanevsky, at Stalin's debriefing, said that he would no longer fly on Tupolev planes, adding that only a pest could do the ANT-25. The pilot's anger was caused by a fundamental circumstance: the plane was equipped with only one engine, which was a structural feature of the ANT-25.
"Symphony of Alexander Mikulin"
The M-34 engine installed on the ANT-25 was the first domestic high-power serial aircraft engine and surpassed the best foreign models. It was created in 1932 by the designer Alexander Mikulin at the Central Institute of Aviation Motors (now - the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after PI Baranov).
There were a number of innovations in the design of the M-34. One of them was the power circuit of the unit, the so-called "compressed jacket and free sleeve" circuit. It provided an extremely high rigidity of the system and the possibility of further forcing. Initially, the engine developed a capacity of 750 hp. with., and for a record flight was forced up to 874 liters. with. It should be noted that 10-12 years after the creation of the M-34 engine, the leading foreign developers - the British Rolls-Royce and the American Packard - adopted the power scheme of a reciprocating engine of the M-34 type to boost their motors.
It is also worth noting the strategic sagacity of Alexander Mikulin in terms of calculating the cylinder diameter. The M-34 was distinguished by a relatively large cylinder diameter and piston stroke. In the early 30s of the last century, it was believed that the optimal engine cylinder diameter is 140-150 mm. However, already during the Second World War, many foreign firms were forced to rebuild production at b O Larger cylinder diameters. For example, Rolls Royce increased the diameter from 137.16 mm (Merlin XX engine) to 152.4 mm (Griffon engine) to increase the power of the motors, and Daimler-Benz - from 150 to 162 mm. At the same time, the transition to a different cylinder diameter inevitably caused the need to restructure the entire production cycle and certain delays in the release of new foreign motors.
The M-34 engine was highly appreciated by the leadership of the USSR. In particular, the Deputy People's Commissar of Heavy Industry P. I. Baranov (who showed maximum assistance in its creation) wrote at the beginning of April 1933 to the Secretary of the Labor and Defense Council under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR: its data is among the foreign low-rise motors ... When provided with a gearbox, a supercharger, a variable pitch propeller, a motor manufactured at CIAM becomes a first-class motor. "
Already in the next year, 1934, the director of the Soviet pavilion at the 2nd International Aviation Exhibition, which was held in Copenhagen, wrote in a report that the visitors of the exhibition showed the greatest interest in the M-34 engine (it was exhibited in the M-34RN modification). Foreign experts carefully examined the motor and its individual parts and assemblies mounted on a special stand. In the Danish and British press, the creation of the M-34RN was noted as a tremendous achievement of the Soviet aviation industry. The M-34RN had a similar success in 1935 at the international aviation exhibition in Milan.
The main difficulty in preparing for the transpolar flight was that the duration of the record flight of 60-70 hours was comparable to the engine resource. At the same time, in takeoff mode, the engine had to work not for the first 10 minutes, but for the first 10 hours of flight, until the development of fuel made the car easier, allowing it to reduce the speed. Dvigatelists worked hard to increase its resource, and finally, on tests in 1934, the M-34 worked an unprecedented 500 hours for a domestic engine!
However, the quality of production of those years left much to be desired. At plant number 24, where the M-34 was mass-produced, in 1932–33. casting defects reached 60%, machining defects - up to 80%! By 1935, the marriage rate was 15-17%. Therefore, a special version of the engine, M-34RD, was created for the ANT-25 (the letter P meant "geared", D - "distant"). For its production, with special care, according to special drawings, 20 sets of parts were made, 15 of them were assembled, and only 10 of them were selected for installation on an aircraft. They differed from the standard ones in tighter tolerances for parts, as well as design changes: new suction pipes, oil and water pumps, camshafts, a modified design of the crankshaft shank, and the presence of a second gas pump. The rest of the systems were also improved: valves, carburetor, magneto, candles. All engines were boosted up to 830 hp. Each engine was tested, adjusted and regulated in CIAM.
But even with this approach, Gromov's record in 1934 took place only on the third attempt: in the first two, due to engine malfunctions, he had to go to an emergency landing. Miraculously managed to save the plane.
In the Arctic, a single engine breakdown meant certain death. Therefore, the failure of Levanevsky lodged in the heads of the country's leaders with serious doubts about the suitability of the ANT-25 for a transpolar flight. To avoid a new international embarrassment in 1936, a dress rehearsal was undertaken in the form of a flight on the Moscow-Far East route. Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov set a distance record "for internal use", breaking on July 20-22, 1936, 9375 km in 56 hours. The commander and his crew became Heroes of the Soviet Union. But doubts about the ANT-25 remained, and the key question was about its only engine.
After landing in the United States in June 1937, Chkalov had to open the engine hood in front of journalists. The American press wrote that such a flight is possible only on a Western-made engine. Photos of M-34RD with inscriptions in Cyrillic were published in newspapers next to portraits of heroes-pilots. "Symphony of Alexander Mikulin" - this is how Valery Chkalov described the impeccable operation of the engine.
At a meeting with Stalin on May 25, 1937, the issue of a new attempt to fly to the United States on the ANT-25 with a single engine was decided. “So you, comrade Chkalov, are sure that the choice of the aircraft is correct? Still, one motor ... ", - asked Stalin. “The engine is excellent,” the pilot replied. "Besides, one motor is one hundred percent risk, and four is four hundred."
This famous joke decided the outcome of the case.
A few days after that, the recovered Mikhail Gromov also turned to Stalin with a request for a non-stop flight across the North Pole, justifying his desire by the fact that he could break the flight range record, and also received consent.
Both crews simultaneously began preparations for the flight.
Brave heroes always fly forward
Speaking about the famous flight of Chkalov, they often forget about the role of the co-pilot - Georgy Baidukov. At Stalin's debriefing after the first failure in 1935, Baidukov did not support Levanevsky and refused to go with him to the United States on the orders of the leader to purchase the equipment necessary to prepare for the flight. In fact, he called Stalin's order meaningless, and in his presence. This required great courage, especially since at this time the pilot's father was serving time for sabotage. But Baidukov was sure that the aircraft could not be found in the USA with a "longer range" than the ANT-25, and therefore remained in the USSR and began to fine-tune the machine. It was Baidukov who persuaded Chkalov, Stalin's favorite, to take part in the Arctic project. Even Chkalov himself was surprised by this proposal, saying that he was a typical fighter, he was not familiar with polar aviation, he did not know navigation, and he was not trained in blind flight with instruments. But Baidukov directly told Chkalov that his business was to obtain permission to fly and take off.
A unique incident occurred: the co-pilot chose his commander. At the notorious meeting on May 25, 1937, both Chkalov and Levanevsky were named a member of their crew. After the meeting, having talked with Chkalov, Baidukov suggested that Levanevsky fly in the ANT-25 as commander, because everyone considered him the author of the idea of a transpolar flight to America. But he refused. So Chkalov became the best pilot of those years. It is difficult to describe his glory in the USSR after the legendary flight. It's as if Gagarin, after the first orbit around the Earth, would still fly to Mars. Meanwhile, in their circle, the pilots sometimes urged Baidukov: "Tell me, why did you take Chkalov to America?"
Baidukov himself was initially invited to this flight by Levanevsky as one of the best masters of blind flight in the country. He could fly an aircraft in the clouds for hours on instruments, maintain a course, endure bumpiness, without losing spatial orientation. Not all pilots knew how to do this. For example, Chkalov did not possess such skills, and every time the plane approached the wall of another cyclone, he called the co-pilot. And since the weather was bad throughout almost the entire flight, Baidukov basically had to fly the plane in these difficult conditions. No wonder after landing in America, which he carried out after a 13-hour sleepless watch, the crew commander called him a three-core.
Of course, Chkalov himself was a talented pilot. It is he who is the author of aerobatics such as the "upward spin" and "slow roll". Before the record-breaking flight, he studied the ANT-25 well, believed in this car, and trained a lot on it. Unlike the arrogant Levanevsky, who did not condescend to communicate with mechanics, Chkalov liked to talk to them, watched the preparation of the plane and did not sleep at night when the engineers were adjusting the engine. A master of aerobatics, Chkalov saved planes more than once. That there is only one landing in adverse weather conditions on a narrow, rocky spit of the island of Udd (now - the island of Chkalov) during a flight to the Far East in 1936. Even the genius of the steering wheel Baidukov was afraid then to drive the car on low level flight over the stormy sea. Another time, the steel cable of the landing gear retraction system broke during a training flight at Chkalov's plane. One of the struts was manually pulled into the landing position. But the second jammed tightly. And Chkalov managed to land a colossus with 34-meter wings on one left support. Later it turned out that the mechanic had forgotten the drill in the winch.
Taking off on an aircraft such as the ANT-25 was a daunting task. Since it had only one propeller, its rotation was not compensated by anything, and the car on the runway was constantly being pulled to the side. Even on a fighter jet, controlling such a withdrawal is not easy, and on a heavy machine this required instant reaction, physical effort and great skill. The slightest deviation from a straight-line run led to disaster. In the early morning of June 18, 1937, Chkalov not only lifted a car overloaded by a ton, but also managed to wave through the window to those who were seeing off.
The role of navigator Alexander Belyakov should also be noted. In the carriage he was called a professor, because he was not only the head of the navigational department of the Air Force Academy. NOT. Zhukovsky, but also a pedant at work. The role of the navigator in the transpolar flight is enormous: the flight took place over ice, in unpredictable weather, without any reference points. In conditions when the magnetic compass did not work, the navigator was guided by the solar compass, which required constant observation and great concentration.
On the way Chkalov's crew met four cyclones, which had to be punched, bypassed or flown at an altitude of up to 6 km with suboptimal fuel consumption. Over Canada, I had to completely deviate from the straight-line route, jump over the Rocky Mountains and then move south over the ocean along the coast. Chkalov's nose and ears started bleeding and his leg hurt, so he could not fly the plane. Baidukov sat at the helm. The oxygen for breathing was running out, its remains were given to Baidukov, and Chkalov and Belyakov, saving their breath, lay motionless on the floor. But ANT-25 with a heroic crew on board stubbornly pursued the goal.
The aircraft was iced several times. The so-called porcelain icing, which lasted about 16 hours, turned out to be especially dangerous. It was not possible to get away from it above the clouds, and Baidukov went down. And then came the most terrible moment of the flight.
Baidukov practically dived, removing the engine speed to the limit. The engine has cooled down due to which the drain pipe of the expansion tank of the cooling system has frozen. The vapor pressure in it increased, breaking through the ice plug, but a lot of water was splashed out along with the steam. Its level dropped, the cylinder heads were left without cooling. This meant that in a few minutes the engine would overheat and jam over the icy expanses of the Arctic.
They rushed to look for water, but its reserves were frozen. Chkalov displayed composure and resourcefulness. He ordered to pour tea and coffee from thermos into the system. On this mixture and flew. Baidukov recalled that it was after this incident that he first noticed gray hair in the commander's hair.
Then there was a landing at a military airfield in Vancouver, Washington, a triumphant tour of the United States, world fame and a reception with President Roosevelt. In 63 hours 16 minutes, the crew covered 9130 km, but in a straight line the distance between take-off and landing points was only 8504 kilometers. Headwinds and bad weather conditions lengthened the plane's real path, and it was not possible to set a world record. After landing, only 77 liters of fuel remained in the tanks after landing from the original 5700.
Less than a month after the start of the Chkalov car, on July 12, 1937, the second ANT-25 took off from Shchelkovo. The crew consisted of Mikhail Gromov, Andrey Yumashev and Sergey Danilin. Initially, it was decided that both crews had to start with a difference of half an hour. The Gromov crew, led by an experienced test pilot, was better prepared, so Chkalov, Belyakov and Baidukov were assigned a reconnaissance mission, and the record was to be set by Gromov, Yumashev and Danilin. However, shortly before the flight, upon arriving at the hangar, Gromov discovered that the engine had been removed from his plane and moved to Chkalov's car. He never found out the reasons.
The crew of Mikhail Gromov before the flight. From left to right: Sergey Danilin, Mikhail Gromov, Andrey Yumashev Gromov's crew had to wait while another engine was “run in” at the stand. But during the preparation of the second "record" aircraft, it was revealed that an increase in the amount of gasoline by 1 liter increased the flight range by 1 kilometer. Reducing the weight of the structure by 1 kilogram made it possible to increase the range by 3 kilometers. Everything that could be removed from the plane, almost 250 kg: an inflatable rubber boat, salt, warm clothes, a supply of food, spare oil. The second ANT-25 was lightened as much as possible and was able to take half a ton more fuel than the first.
Gromov was Chkalov's instructor and was generally considered pilot number 1, Yumashev worked as a professional tester of heavy aircraft, and Danilin had a reputation as a navigator who never got lost in the sky in his life. Together, they simply cut through all the cyclones in their path. The second ANT-25 passed over the North Pole 13 minutes ahead of schedule. Gromov and Yumashev flew the plane alternately. When approaching the Cordilleras, the plane entered a continuous cloud, began to "turbulence". Gromov sat at the helm and drove the plane for 13 hours before landing.
The crew planned to fly to the US-Mexican border and land in the American border town of San Diego. They would have had enough fuel to get to Panama, but they were not allowed to cross the Mexican border: they had to sit in the United States in order to visually demonstrate to the Americans the latest achievements of Soviet aircraft. The San Diego airport was obscured by fog. Near the border town of San Jacinto, they saw a pasture suitable for planting. They landed on it. It was 5 a.m. local time on July 14, 1937. In almost the same time - 62 hours 17 minutes - the second ANT-25 flew 10 148 km in a straight line. The world record still became Soviet. At the same time, there was still fuel in the tanks for another one and a half thousand kilometers.
Both flight crews were admired all over the world. At the same time, US newspapers noted that the distance flight record is of secondary importance compared to the accuracy with which the flight was repeated. It testifies to the amazing skill of the pilots, to the wonderful organization of the whole business and to the magnificent design of Soviet aircraft. “The Arctic is no longer a huge mysterious spot on the globe,” foreign researchers unanimously declared.
Although the International Aviation Federation awarded Gromov's crew with the Henri de Laveau medals for the best achievement in 1937, the Chkalov crew's record forever went down in history as the first transpolar flight between Europe and America.
Thanks to such accomplishments in American society, the foundation was laid for the United States to respect the USSR as an ally with which to win the war against Germany. Then this question was not a foregone conclusion, as it seems now. The famous Charles Lindbergh, who bore the unofficial title of American number 1, received awards from Goering and agitated the US people against confrontation with the Germans. In this information war, we were able to oppose his authority with our heroes, whose feat was sincerely admired by the whole world.
The article was provided by the press service of the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P.I. Baranova (original)
