Alexander Anisimov pilot personal life. Chkalov - pilot and man of great soul
When Chkalov began his first test flights on the I-15 aircraft, his best friend Anisimov, a pilot at the Red Army Air Force Research Institute, had already been flying at the same Central Airfield for several days.
Alexander Frolovich Anisimov, on an I-5 plane, demonstrated aerobatics used in air combat in close proximity to the ground. These flights were filmed - a training film was being prepared for combat fighter pilots.
Valery Pavlovich knew that Anisimov must finish work with the cameramen today, October 11, 1933, and hastened to grab a friend near his plane to agree on how to spend the afternoon together.
The October morning was calm and sunny. Valery, approaching the military aircraft parking area, noticed an I-5 already ready to fly. Alexander Frolovich stood not far from the plane with a cameraman. Film equipment was installed on the airfield.
Valery greeted his comrade:
- A! Hello to People's Flying Artist, movie star Frolych!
- Respect to the trainer of the new fighters! - Anisimov answered, smiling.
The cameraman left for the start. The pilots moved even further away from the I-5 into the airfield field. Chkalov took out luxurious Herzegovina Flor cigarettes and, treating his comrade, said:
- Well, Shurka, today we’re going to the hippodrome! - and went to the plant hangars.
He had already switched to thoughts about the upcoming flight on the I-15 when he heard the roaring engine. Valery turned around and saw that Anisimov’s plane, after testing the engine, began to taxi to the start. And a few minutes later, the I-5 flew over Chkalov, performing a prohibited double flip on takeoff, first to the left, then to the right.
Chkalov approached the parking lot of the factory aircraft when he noticed that Anisimov was making a dive for the third time directly at the movie camera, and then he took off the plane from a height of about fifty meters, ending the figure with Immelmann.
Chkalov wanted to enter the doors of the factory hangar, but again he heard the roaring propeller and engine of the plane in a dive, turned his head back, froze for a second and suddenly frantically, with despair, shouted:
- What is he doing?! - and with all his strength he ran into the field, to the center of the airfield.
Valery Pavlovich saw perfectly well how Anisimov completely unerringly brought the plane out of a dive and went into a half-loop in order to turn the plane at the top point from an upside-down position to a normal one, thereby completing the Immelmann figure. But Anisimov, having reached the top point, froze in a head-down position and, without changing it, began to sharply sink down.
Chkalov ran, seeing nothing but the I-5 falling upside down.
- Take me out! Bring it out! Leg sharply! Sharp! Leg! - Valery shouted, out of breath, beside himself.
But the plane didn’t even fall on the wing. He crashed onto the landing sign in an upside-down position.
The emergency commission concluded: the disaster occurred because the steering wheel foot control pedal broke, without which it was impossible to turn the I-5 over to its normal position at low altitude.
After this misfortune, Chkalov began to treat Polikarpov more coldly, believing that he and the designer Grigorovich who worked with him had made a mistake somewhere in the design.
He remembered the pilot Artseulov, lying with a broken arm and leg under the wreckage of Polikarpov’s first I-400 (“I-1”) fighter. He saw how the long, huge Gromov jumped out with a parachute from the I-1 that had gone into a tailspin.
Valery was an eyewitness to the destruction on the ninth flight of the Polikarpov two-seat fighter "2I-N1" during a speed test, when test pilot Filippov and his timekeeper died.
And now this pedal and Shurka Anisimov.
I-15, I-15bis, 1936. THE USSR.
Polikarpov I-15bis - DIT
I-15 bis (I-152, TsKB-3 bis) is a Soviet single-engine semi-wing fighter of the 1930s, created at the Polikarpov Design Bureau as a further development of the I-15.
Modification at the request of the Air Force I-15, affecting the center section and other parts. A more powerful M-25V engine was installed, the shape of the hood was changed, an oil cooler of a different shape and wheels of 1200x120 mm were installed. The upper wing was made straight without a “gull”. The wing area was increased by 0.6 m², the wing had a new Clark-YH profile. The empty weight of the aircraft increased by 350 kg. Armament: 4 PV-1 or BS and 150 kg of bombs.
In 1935, at an aviation exhibition in Milan, the I-15 bis was officially recognized as the best fighter in the world.
There were 2 modifications of the serial I-152 and one two-seat version - DIT. It was not used in Spain, but was in China and slightly at Khalkhin Gol. In the Great Patriotic War - until the beginning of 1942.
Experienced fighter TsKB-3.
“In the fall of 1937, the I-15bis group was subjected to endurance and operational tests in order to determine strength, flight qualities and identify shortcomings. Aircraft No. 3358, 3366, 3365, 3361, 3362 took part in the testing. The most experienced test pilots and pilots who had visited in Spain: Turzhansky, Gubenko, Salov, Kokkinaki, Stepanchonok, Pumpur, Shevchenko, Smushkevich, Chkalov, Opasov, Agafonov, Zakharov, Yakushin, Blagoveshchensky, Shishkin The overall assessment of this squadron team was very similar to the previous ones. The plane was stable and responded well to the pressure. gas supply, had high strength. At the same time, it was inferior to the I-15 in turn time, behaved sluggishly in aerobatic maneuvers, and did not have an energetic transition. The pilot’s cabin of the I-15bis was more spacious than that of the I. -15, but the visor was narrow, distorted visibility, and the propeller fairing quickly broke."
The experimental VT-11 was the prototype of the serial fighter I-5, which in turn became the predecessor of the I-15. On the steering wheel, inside a five-pointed star, there are the letters “VT” - “Internal Prison”. Spring 1930
December 15, 2008 marks the 70th anniversary of the death of Valery Pavlovich Chkalov - a man who is widely known today and who for many years has been looking with the bronze, but still living eyes of an eagle into the sky above his native land of Nizhny Novgorod, above his native Volga.
1911-1915 - rural school in Vasilevo.
1915-1918 - technical school in Cherepovets.
1918-1919 - a hammer operator at the ship repair plant in Vasilevsky Zaton, a fireman on the Volga dredger No. 21, a fireman on the Bayan steamship.
In 1919, 15-year-old Valery voluntarily joined the Red Army as a mechanic repairing and assembling aircraft and engines in the 4th Aviation Park in Nizhny Novgorod. Here he received not just a good, but also a “primary” aviation education that was very useful to him later. Chkalov knew his planes well, because already in his early youth he practically studied their “anatomy” with his hands.
A born flyer, Chkalov could not live in ground service aviation. And the ascent continued...
1921-1922 - Yegoryevsk Military Theoretical School of Pilots...
1922-1923 - Borisoglebsk school of military pilots...
1923-1924 - Moscow Military School of Aerobatics and Serpukhov Higher Aviation School of Shooting, Bombing and Air Combat.
There Chkalov studied with Gromov. As we see, Chkalov cannot be called a genius at all - he went through good flight “universities” before he entered service.
From 1924 to 1927, Valery was a fighter pilot of the 1st Leningrad Red Banner Aviation Fighter Squadron (commanded by Antoshin until March 1925 and then by Shelukhin).
Chkalov's "Leningrad" period is very contradictory. On the one hand, by the age of twenty-two he is an excellent pilot, on the other hand, he is unrestrained, not always disciplined and, what is most regrettable, often drinks. But this was still not a vulgar revelry - Chkalov even then thought a lot about what a fighter should be like, how to conduct an air battle and how to test new equipment. But not everyone understood him. Hence the breakdowns.
At that time there were no expensive stands for static tests, and Chkalov believed that energetic aerobatics with overloads could reveal hidden defects and weaknesses of aircraft. His squadron was armed with Fokker D-11 fighters. The plane was not bad, but it had a weak sub-engine frame. Chkalov was tasked with inspecting all the aircraft, and his figurative flights clearly proved the design defect.
In 1924, only Chkalov was able to find the battleship Marat at sea and drop the pennant onto the deck. This is widely known, but this is an outstanding fact of his biography, because he, having never fought, showed here how he would have fought if he had been allowed to fight.
Squadron commanders Antoshin (“Batya”) and Shelukhin understood that Chkalov was an extraordinary phenomenon. They also understood that alcohol interfered with Chkalov. However, they drank a lot in aviation back then. But for Chkalov it was, I repeat once again, rather a release from the inability to do things the way he understood them. And he understood it correctly!
It ended with the fact that on September 7, 1925, Chkalov appeared at the start of a group training flight completely drunk, demanded that he be allowed to fly, rowded, and on November 16, the tribunal of the Leningrad Military District sentenced him to imprisonment for a year in strict isolation without loss of rights.
Valery served four and a half months, then was unemployed, and in 1926 he was returned to the Red Army, to his own squadron. He flew great. In the summer of 1927 in Lipetsk, where the Germans were studying at that time, Chkalov took first place in demonstration flights. But he was not an aerial acrobat like his best friend Alexander Anisimov. Chkalov was always an exceptionally original aviation thinker on the ground and an innovator in the air. He needed scale, and in 1927 he became just a combat flight commander in a fighter squadron of the Bryansk air brigade.
And Chkalov even then, although he was only 24 years old, had developed as a thinking and active innovator with an excellent command of piloting techniques. On the other hand, in Bryansk he again lost his temper, was daring, and drank.
And it ended in prison again...
In the fall of 1928, Chkalov led a group ferrying planes from Gomel to Bryansk. On the way to the airfield, he switched to low level flight, did not notice the telegraph wires, crashed into them and crashed the car.
For anyone else, it would have cost them a demotion or a month in the guardhouse. And Chkalov was put on trial, and at the end of October 1928 he received a year in prison.
Everyone knows that Chkalov was put in a cell. But few people know that he came to prison on January 3, 1929, alone, without an escort, and served exactly sixteen days in prison, and then was released by telegram from Moscow.
At the same time, during the half-month of imprisonment, Chkalov read a dozen books in his cell, including “Commissars” by Libedinsky, “The Island of Lost Ships” by Belyaev, “Contemporaries” by Olga Forsh and a book about the inventor of the microscope, Levenguk, “Microbe Hunters.” And he kept a daily diary of “Valery Pavlovich Chkalov, the senior pilot of the Air Force of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, who was imprisoned for one year.”
This sincere and slightly naive diary (the author was 25 years old) contains an accurate self-assessment: “If I don’t fit my views, then I just need to be removed, that’s all, and not redo something that is already deeply rooted in my very blood. I will not change my beliefs and views."
But there are also lines that he wrote after finishing reading a book about Leeuwenhoek: “Humanity will never understand the thoughts of one person if this person does not have support from people... I am a weak person, but I will make myself strong and fit for the fight. Self-hypnosis is a good thing. So, strengthen your body for the fight for life..."
Chkalov had in mind, of course, not the struggle for existence, but the struggle for a greater life, in which he could prove that he was right in his views on aviation. And Chkalov already had them then.
He wrote to his wife in Leningrad - even before prison: “You write that it’s my own fault that I don’t get a promotion. You’re right, but this depends not on the fact that I can’t work, but on the fact that I don’t I can do it in such a way that this matter cannot be applied anywhere later. The whole issue is a different understanding of the essence of the matter. Partly, my flying qualities hinder my promotion. If I were like everyone else, I would not fly the way I fly.”
On October 31, 1928, immediately after the verdict was announced, Chkalov wrote a cassation appeal to the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR. But it was not so much a complaint as a memo on the problems of combat training for fighter aircraft. Moreover, Chkalov, unlike the then leadership of the Air Force, thought correctly, looking more than ten years ahead! It was not for nothing that Chkalov’s thoughts about air combat were written down in Pokryshkin’s notebook.
Chkalov flew the way ace pilots later flew during the war - boldly, with good aerobatics at low and medium altitudes. But aviation chiefs such as the head of the Red Army Air Force Directorate Alksnis “thought” differently. Thus, at a meeting of the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR in December 1935, Alksnis said: “I am convinced that actions in the air will be much similar to the actions on water of the naval fleet and on land of earthly troops, only with the difference that the air forces have a third dimension in which you can also maneuver, and this complicates things somewhat..."
Alksnis’s deputy Khripin said at the same time: “It turned out that fighters should not attack from above, but attack in the horizontal plane or being below it...”.
The author of the famous wartime formula “Altitude-speed-maneuver-fire!” three times Hero of the Soviet Union Pokryshkin, if he heard this, would only shrug his shoulders, listening to Khripin broadcast further: “... I believe that recently... the importance of air combat has been falling somewhat, and it will fall even more, since meeting with an air enemy will be even more difficult...".
These were all Tukhachevsky’s cadres, and they did not need such innovators as Chkalov. In Bryansk, he, a brilliant aerobatic pilot even then, was called an “aviation monster.”
But it must be said that Chkalov of the late twenties is not yet the real Chkalov. He was often undisciplined in the most ordinary sense of the word, lost his temper in conversations, and continued to abuse alcohol.
So, in my opinion, although Chkalov’s punishment formally did not come close to the gravity of his guilt, half a month in prison and subsequent demobilization from the army did him good. He himself said: “You need to strengthen your body to fight for life.”
And hardening is not a very pleasant process, but it is necessary. Yes, if Chkalov had stayed in prison, things could have been bad. Then he could have broken down - with his ardent and sincere nature. But he did not drink his fill of grief, but in moderation. Just enough to toughen up and learn to work on yourself.
1929-1930 - pilot-instructor of the Leningrad Aviation Club of the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ODVF).
From 1930 to 1933 - test pilot at the Air Force Research Institute.
The Air Force Research Institute is the elite of military test pilots. There Chkalov met Alexander Frolovich Anisimov and Georgy Filippovich Baidukov. In total, Chkalov tested more than 70 types of aircraft at the Air Force Research Institute and Polikarpov Design Bureau, among which was such a landmark fighter as the I-16.
Chkalov also developed a number of aerobatics, including an incoming corkscrew and a slow roll.
But on April 23, 1933, Chkalov was fired from the army for the third time, allegedly for indiscipline. He was still losing his temper then, that was true, but Chkalov was even more inconvenient. Even at the Air Force Research Institute.
And then the director of aircraft plant No. 39 named after Menzhinsky invited Chkalov to be a factory tester - to test the new aircraft of Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov.
I think this is where the old Chkalov ended - he got a job to his liking and scale. Chkalov conducted a number of outstanding tests at Polikarpov’s and that is why he was introduced to Stalin by Voroshilov and Ordzhonikidze after the air parade on May 1, 1935.
Then Stalin uttered his famous words: “Your life is more valuable to us than any machine.”
And here, as I understand it, in a matter of days Chkalov’s complete emergence as a figure of national significance took place. He came to the attention of Stalin. And for a talented and dedicated person, this meant everything! Stalin's state was created and maintained precisely by original and daring talents.
On May 5, 1935, Polikarpov and Chkalov were awarded the Order of Lenin, and the whole country learned about Chkalov: Pravda published a photo of Stalin and Chkalov standing next to each other.
Chkalov finally finally took the high road.
Since 1935, he has been included in government commissions. On June 7-8, 1936, he took part in a meeting with Stalin on Air Force issues, where Gromov, Vladimir Kokkinaki and Chkalov were invited from the pilots.
He performed there brilliantly and deeply. They were talking about accidents, and Chkalov said: “Accidents in the air fleet, I believe, occur only due to the management.” And he supported the statement with an exact opposite example: in Sokolov’s Voronezh brigade there has not been a single accident in four years, because brigade commander Sokolov has carried out 1,800 inspections over the years, 800 of them at night, and he checked each of his subordinates 10 times.
This was said in the presence of the head of state not by a former troublemaker, but by a mature statesman! The Air Force command, of course, could not like such speeches, but...
Firstly, Chkalov was no longer a military man.
And most importantly, he said this in the presence of Stalin, and Stalin only encouraged the truth if it was the truth.
From July 20 to 22, 1936, Chkalov made a non-stop flight from Moscow to Udd Island, with co-pilot Baidukov and navigator Belyakov.
June 18-20, 1937: epochal flight Moscow-North Pole-Vancouver (USA). Not just worldwide, but deafeningly worldwide fame comes to Chkalov, especially since he fully corresponds to it.
He is a Hero of the Soviet Union, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He is given the military rank of brigade commander.
What kind of proposal was this? Today it is known that Stalin offered Chkalov the post of People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. However, on this fact they begin to build an irresponsible lie: they say that Chkalov was removed by Beria, who feared a competitor.
The height of historical deafness, however, was the version that Chkalov was allegedly “removed” on Stalin’s personal orders... They say that the “tyrant” realized that Chkalov would not do what he was “ordered.” Fearing the opposition of the popular pilot, Stalin ordered him to be sent on a flight on an extremely “crude” experimental aircraft designed by Polikarpov... And with this he allegedly programmed the death of Chkalov...
However, all this unworthy fuss around his name does not concern the blessed memory of Valery Pavlovich. He was a man far from intrigue, dirt, and moral substandardness. Yes, he, even having soared high, did not shy away from a glass, but he was a man of chemically pure nobility... Such people do not become arrogant, do not deteriorate and do not degenerate. They are too solid...
As for the alleged “attempts” of Stalin and at the same time Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, in reality everything was like this...
Chkalov was supposed to take his first flight on Polikarpov's new fighter on December 12, 1938. The prototype I-180-1 aircraft with the new powerful M-88 engine had by that day a lot of small and large defects in both the airframe and the engine. However, Polikarpov’s “company” was not particularly concerned about this. Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov remained a deservedly large and significant figure in the history of Soviet aircraft construction. However, according to a number of evidence - very, however, dull - the presence of pre-known defects in a new aircraft was the norm for him: he was quite calm about such things, believing that everything could be eliminated during the testing process - as design and technological miscalculations manifested themselves.
Polikarpov treated the risk of a test pilot accordingly - that’s why he’s a test pilot, they say, to test not only experimental aircraft, but also fate. In fairness, it must be admitted that at that time many people looked at the matter this way, including the pilots themselves. Suffice it to recall the self-epitaph of American test pilot Jimmy Collins, who later died in a difficult test flight. The preface to his book, published in the USSR, was written by Chkalov, noting: “In our country he could live and live...”.
However, there are many ambiguities in the history of Polikarpov’s high-speed fighter... In the 20s, Polikarpov’s design bureau made the DI-1, a very good aircraft for those years. However, an unfortunate disaster occurred during testing due to insufficient wing strength. After this, Polikarpov began to treat the strength of the airframe even too carefully, initially “overweighting” it and gradually lightening it based on the results of static ground and flight tests. And now Nikolai Nikolaevich was sure that, roughly speaking, the tail of his creation would not break off in flight.
Nevertheless, after Polikarpov’s design bureau began making a promising high-speed fighter with an air-cooled engine, accidents of Polikarpov’s prototype aircraft became frequent, and sometimes there were disasters. Thomas Susi crashed on the I-180-2 in 1939... Stepanchonok crashed on the I-185 fighter in 1942... The last tragedy, as they write, was accidental... But too many similar “accidents” happened precisely with Polikarpov's machines.
Of course, while worrying about the airframe, less attention was paid to the shortcomings of the engine in its design bureau, but this was hardly the only issue... By the end of the thirties, Polikarpov had accumulated quite a few outright envious people, caring not so much about the successes of Soviet aviation, but about the how to take an advantageous place in it, or even worse - how to harm it.
Stalin valued Polikarpov and knew about the intrigues. However, he was not always all-powerful here - there was enough clannishness in the aviation industry.
Is it because Suzi and Stepanchonok crashed because their death also led to the death of the high-speed fighter project in the “Polikarpov” version, that is, with an air-cooled engine? The Germans realized this idea only in 1943 - on the newest Focke-Wulf-190 fighter. And it was the FV-190 that became the tactical novelty of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Kursk.
Polikarpov could have made a high-speed fighter with an air-cooled engine much earlier - after all, he pursued this line in his design bureau quite consistently, creating a masterpiece of its kind - the I-16.
During the war, such an aircraft was created at the Lavochkin Design Bureau - the famous La-5. However, he was only ready for the Battle of Kursk...
Well, better late than never.
And Chkalov was the first to crash - he really wanted to help Polikarpov quickly “stake out” a new promising fighter in the government and deliberately took a big risk. And Polikarpov, although he also took a lot of risks in his own way, turned a blind eye to many things...
Beria, on the contrary, kept his eyes just open. On the eve of the first flight on December 12, 1938, he received a “signal” that they wanted to release Chkalov on a flight that threatened his death. And Beria immediately - in real time - achieved a government decision to ban the flight. In that situation, the word “government” was synonymous with the name “Stalin”...
That is why on December 12, 1938, Chkalov only taxied along the runway, lifting his tail off it. Then the throttle control rod broke, and the plane was sent to the workshop for modification.
And on the 15th Polikarpov insisted on departure - deadlines were running out, he could miss the basic serial plant, etc.
Beria and Stalin had nothing to do with it... Could they have imagined that after the first formal ban in the design bureau and at the pilot plant they would dare to risk the pilot without eliminating all the already known shortcomings?
By deliberately placing the pilot in an aircraft that was not brought to minimum flight condition, and even with an engine sensitive to overheating, Polikarpov was primarily responsible for the death of Chkalov. However, let’s not forget about those hidden intriguers who created a particularly nervous background around the work of the Polikarpov Design Bureau... Let’s also not forget about the very possible particularly subtle direct sabotage...
Perhaps, understanding this, neither Beria nor Stalin desired the “blood” of Polikarpov, as some people wanted.
There is no need to talk about Chkalov’s own guilt - the pilot is already judged harshly by the air. But it is possible, and indeed necessary, to talk about Chkalov’s readiness almost to self-sacrifice. He really wanted to help the design bureau and its chief designer. Maybe we should have wanted this less strongly, but that was the character of our hero, who did not like to retreat even in the face of a threat, let alone the threat of a threat.
In general, several coincidences came together: after all, Chkalov lacked five seconds and ten meters...
Not only in aviation, a second sometimes separates life from death, although in aviation - even piston aviation - a second has a special price, the lack of a few seconds is not only a miscalculation, but also fate...
She was merciful to Chkalov’s other colleagues who were flying that day.
To Valery Pavlovich - no.
What happened that day?
On December 15, 1938, Chkalov first took off from the Central Airfield the newest experimental fighter, Polikarpov I-180-1.
The Kumachova red plane was a little similar to the I-16, already outdated after the Spanish battles, but the estimated speed was far from “donkey speed” - more than 550 kilometers per hour. That was a lot back then, and the I-180 was intended for the more than a hundred thousand new pilots that the Komsomol was supposed to give to the country in the coming years.
The frost on December 15 was 24 degrees at the ground, which means it was even more at altitude. And the youngest of the Kokkinaki brothers, Konstantin, who was flying to Chkalov, barely pulled the car with a stalled engine to his home airfield.
How's the air, Kostya? - asked Valery, already pulled into the flight furs.
That’s bad, Valery Palych,” Kokkinaki waved his hand wearily and sadly shook his head, adorned with wild red hair. - You shouldn’t fly, the engine stalls at altitude...
We have to fly, Kostya, otherwise we won’t be able to do anything before the New Year,” Chkalov responded, heading towards the car, near which people were already standing, and among them Polikarpov himself...
After takeoff, the plane went steeply upward - although it was the first flight, but Chkalov immediately decided to test its aerobatic qualities, and he liked the car. And the eldest Kokkinaki, Vladimir, with whom Valery was friends, went into the air at the Ilyushin "TsKB".
Valery found a blunt-nosed profile in the zone, approached, shook his wings and, when “Volka” Kokkinaki looked at him, showed the thumb of his left hand sticking out upward.
It was time to sit down, especially since the engine began to “fail,” having clearly become overcooled. While approaching the landing, Valery, willy-nilly, slowed down the speed, and then the engine “cut off” completely.
I convey Chkalov’s conversation with the younger Kokkinaki as I remember it from the story of Konstantin Konstantinovich himself, who came to us at the Kharkov Order of Lenin Aviation Institute. NOT. Zhukovsky. This is a most charming, broad-minded person who, it must be said, has not received much fame, perhaps slightly overshadowed by his more famous brother. But Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel K.K. After the death of Stepan Suprun, the commander of one of the two regiments formed from testers at the beginning of the war on his initiative, Kokkinaki commanded this special, exceptional regiment (the second was commanded by Stefanovsky), and later tested supersonic fighters already at formal retirement age.
So, having received personal impressions from only two testers - besides Konstantin Konstantinovich, I also had the pleasure of listening to the honored test pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Yuri Aleksandrovich Antipov - I understand why Stalin was thinking of entrusting the NKVD to one of his brightest "falcons" "...
This was a very outstanding tribe, capable of many things - pilots of the country of the Soviets, which confidently took off in the late thirties... And Chkalov was not just one of the best. He was the best because he lived by the principle: “If there is to be, then be the first!”
The very same Stalinist idea about the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Chkalov once again convinces of Stalin's great humanism. Only by striving for clean hands in the fight against the class enemy could one desire for oneself such a comrade-in-arms as Chkalov.
Chkalov died at the age of 34 - just that, but by the time of his death he had already become so firmly established in the life of Russia that to this day he is present in the souls of its true sons as a person well and sincerely familiar to him.
The Omsk pilot and businessman talked with BK55 about the problems of small aircraft, explained how to build an airfield, and told how you feel when flying over a Boeing.
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– Many of us dreamed of being pilots, but with age our dreams “landed.” Alexander, have you always dreamed of flying?
– The dream of becoming a pilot came back in childhood, when I was very young. When something flew over me, I froze and looked at the sky. And this still happens: I drive past the airport, see a plane landing, and stop to watch. And all my sky-infected friends do the same. This is what we call people who are sick with palate.
I didn’t become a professional pilot because I was afraid of health restrictions. Perhaps the parents also played a role here - they did not want to let the 17-year-old boy go somewhere far away. Probably in vain, it was worth a try! I wish I could drive a Boeing now.
I was one of the first to receive a pilot’s license in Omsk; in 2008, a group of similar aviation enthusiasts gathered. Then I retrained in another city to use heavier sides, but now they teach this in Omsk. The courses are, of course, not cheap. To obtain a certificate for ultralight aircraft now costs around half a million rubles. But if this is your life’s dream, then you will give any money.
– What do you do besides flying?
– I run a small company for maintenance of equipment; now I have 35 employees. We have many serious customers who require a professional approach. This is why I always focus on the professionalism of my employees rather than on large volumes of work.
– What are you flying now?
Cessna-182 is my third aircraft. Before this there was a two-seat SkyRanger, very easy to fly and ideal for starting piloting. Then I bought a more serious plane, flew it for 350 hours and exchanged it for a four-seater Cessna.
Airplanes all fly according to the same principle, and the rules are equal for everyone, the responsibility just varies. Radio traffic, weather, aerodynamics - all pilots know this. It’s true that controllers call us small-chip aviation.
In the Omsk region there are only about 40 aircraft and four private airfields: in Maryanovka, Kamyshino, Kalachevo and a new airfield in Popovka. I am building the last one, but work there is still beginning. Relations at all airfields are friendly, but you don’t want to always adapt to everyone else. Now I have already bought land and will be developing a new airfield.
– What is needed for this?
- A great desire. Well, and, accordingly, financial resources to buy land. You need to understand the difference between an airfield and a landing site. The latter can be organized anywhere, in an open field. Registration is now a notification procedure, but previously it was only with permission. The landing site does not even need to be registered if it is used less than 30 days a year.
– They say that a plane can be landed even with the engine turned off. This is true?
- Certainly. Every airplane is initially a glider. Then engines are added to it so that it can gain altitude and not descend. Each aircraft has “quality” - this is the ability of the aircraft to fly some distance from a kilometer altitude. Cessna has a “quality” of 8.5, that is, when fully loaded, from an altitude of a kilometer it can glide horizontally with a descent of 8.5 kilometers.
Even Airbus and Boeing can plan. I remember in 2003-2004, a Tu-204 plane of Siberia Airlines landed at our airport with both engines turned off. There were about 180 people on board, but everything went well.
And on a small plane with the engine turned off, you can land on any clearing or path. For a Cessna it only takes 200 meters to land. A couple of weeks ago I flew to Kirov and over the taiga, over the Urals, I was constantly peering and looking for where, if something happened, I could land the plane.
– Have you experienced any emergency situations?
– Once, during a flight over the Urals towards Omsk, there was heavy cloudiness, and the clouds completely covered the mountains. It was necessary to go back or fly above the clouds. I decided to go higher, found the right layer and calmly got there.
Even between the clouds you can see the outlines of what is below, so you can focus on the horizon line. But if we find ourselves in an emergency situation, then the pilot cannot rely only on his feelings. In 90% of cases of entering a limited visibility zone without an attitude indicator, pilots make serious mistakes, even resulting in death.
Feelings are very deceptive. If you look away from the instruments for a few seconds, a roll appears. I once had it up to 30 degrees. Here even a glass of water on the panel may not help.
– Large planes fly at great heights. Are there any restrictions for small aircraft?
– You can fly at an altitude of up to 4 thousand meters, but above 1.5 kilometers you need a flight permit. The space below this altitude is free for flights.
In general, the territory is divided into two parts: the “Golf” and “Charlie” zones. In the first, we fly on a notification basis: we call the dispatcher and say that we are flying, for example, from the village of Ivanovka to Petrovka. In the Charlie zone we are already asking permission if it is possible to fly from one point to another.
– Does a pilot need to be recertified?
– This rule has been removed, and now the pilot’s license is unlimited. The only thing is that if you haven’t flown for more than a month, you need a flight with an instructor to remember. But flying an airplane is like riding a bicycle - once you learn it, you won’t forget it.
– Is it possible, in your opinion, to revive small commercial aviation in the Omsk region? It existed before. Can we at least start flying to Tara?
– If you want, you can do anything. For commercial transportation you need your own airline, planes, and services. Without government support, our aviation will practically not develop. Now all small aviation in our country is based on enthusiasm.
To organize several flights Omsk - Tara, you need several aircraft, which require pilots and maintenance personnel, fuel, basing, and maintenance. Each plane (not new) costs from 5 million rubles. As a result, the ticket price will be so high that it will be more profitable for people to travel by bus. All this can only be organized with the help of the state, from which we currently see no support at all. At the moment, there is only a tightening of laws in the field of aviation, rising fuel prices, and an increase in the cost of aircraft due to the high exchange rate. All this greatly affects small aviation, does not allow it to develop and kills it.
But there are also pleasant moments. When I was flying from Kirov, in the Perm zone the controller was able to leave me at an altitude of 1.5 thousand, passing a Boeing under me at an altitude of 1200 meters. This was a surprise, because often they try to fly “small-chip” aircraft under large aircraft, despite the fact that the rules are the same for all. It was cool to see Boeing underneath!
– Even a small plane is probably not a cheap pleasure. How much does it cost in Omsk?
– In the Omsk region there are very high taxes on small aircraft. Our aircraft certification costs from 55 thousand rubles. This needs to be done once a year, and I need to spend about 70 thousand rubles on my plane. This, of course, is very expensive, but the government is not going to do anything about it yet. For example, in neighboring Novosibirsk the transport tax is 25 rubles per horsepower, while here it is 100 rubles. 4 times more! What kind of development can we talk about?
I spend 100 thousand rubles on technical inspection and taxes per year on my plane alone, and maintenance and service costs another 100 thousand. If I lived in Novosibirsk, then I would spend 70% less there.
– Have you ever thought about moving?
- I thought about it, of course. Airplanes are my hobby, and everything else is here in Omsk. The business is growing, the family is here. While I don’t plan to leave, we’ll still fight! Everything depends on us, the enthusiasts.
We can say that Alexander Anisimov, a pilot with incredible talent, is unfairly forgotten today. Most often, mentions of him can be found in other people's memoirs. Printed publications almost always remember this legendary fighter pilot in passing and only as the best friend of another, more famous Soviet pilot, Valery Chkalov.
This state of affairs is completely unfair, since Alexander Anisimov is a test pilot whose biography is worth attention, and he himself deserves to be remembered.
Not many could repeat the performances performed by this truly talented person.
Alexander Anisimov - pilot. Biography, brief data that has survived to this day
Unfortunately, to this day, very little information has been preserved about the family, childhood and youth of the man who during his lifetime they did not hesitate to call a brilliant pilot. Some sources indicate his date of birth as November 16, 1897, while others indicate July 16, 1897. It is known for certain that he was born in a small village called Vzezdy, which now belongs to the Novgorod region.
Family history
Unfortunately, details from Anisimov’s youth have not survived to this day. Perhaps some interesting and significant facts are still stored in the archives, but there is no free access to them. It is known that his family was poor, since they were on the list of the Entry Labor Force. Alexander Anisimov (a pilot whose talent would be admired by thousands in the future), together with his brothers and sister Alexandra, were designated in this list as a family of poor people.
The revolution led the head of the family and father of the future test pilot, Frol Yakovlevich, to such a deplorable situation. Before that, he was a very large and successful merchant entrepreneur, whose main area of earnings was flax processing. But after the revolution, he was first arrested and then shot. The same fate befell one of Alexander’s brothers, Vasily, who was shot in 1937 and then posthumously rehabilitated.
Primary education received
The future pilot Alexander Anisimov (biography, whose photo is given in our article) at one time studied at the Medvedsky School, after graduating from three departments of which, he continued his studies at the Novgorod city four-year school. He completed his studies at this institution in 1912 and after graduation received the specialty of a driver-mechanic. This is exactly what he worked for over the next two years.
Conscription for the first war
In 1914, Alexander Anisimov (a pilot, known throughout the Soviet Union in the near future, and then just an ordinary young engine driver) was drafted into the ranks of the Russian army. Since the First World War broke out during this period, the guy unwittingly took part in it.
After Anisimov entered the army, he was able to use his specialty. In 1915, Alexander graduated from the motor class at the Polytechnic Institute in Petrograd. From February 1915 to October 1916, he was a mechanic in the IV Mechanical Detachment and eventually received the rank of senior non-commissioned officer.
It is known that during the First World War, Russia rapidly lost a lot of its pilots during air battles. The tsarist government decided to train pilots from the most gifted and best soldiers. Having shown himself to be a talented motor mechanic and a reliable soldier, Alexander passed the selection process and was sent to study at the Petrograd flight school. It would seem that everything worked out in the best way for the young man, and prospects opened up for him to become a conqueror of the sky (something that many of his peers could only dream of). But in 1918 everything changed.
Voluntary departure for the Civil War
After the revolution begins in 1917, Anisimov decides to quit his studies. He decides to volunteer for the Civil War that struck Russia. Anisimov was of peasant origin and sincerely believed in the bright future promised by the Soviet power. It is natural that he went to war to fight for the Reds. In 1918 he became a member of the Red Army.
Service in the Red Army
Over the next year after joining the Civil War, Alexander Anisimov (a pilot in the near future) served on the Eastern Front and took part in battles with the Czechoslovak corps.
He held the post of senior aircraft mechanic and was assigned to the V Socialist Aviation Detachment. In the same position as an aircraft mechanic, starting in 1919, he was transferred to the 1st Petrograd Air Squadron, which fought on the Western Front with the Poles.
Continuing your studies
Since Anisimov did not have a higher education in the aviation field after the end of the Civil War, he went to study at a military theoretical aviation school, which was located in Yegoryevsk. Having successfully completed it in 1922, he continued his studies at the Kachin and Moscow Higher Aviation Schools, and in 1924 he completed bombing and aerial shooting training at the Serpukhov Aviation School.
Flying career
This young man, after completing his training, managed to become a professional pilot in a short time. For 5 years, starting in 1928, he stayed at the Air Force Research Institute, doing flight test work. In 1931, he was promoted and was appointed commander of his detachment.
This talented test pilot was directly involved in testing such aircraft as the I-4 and I-5. Piloting the first fighter, he took part in testing the legendary Zven-1.
Memories of a pilot
Anisimov's best friend throughout his life was V. Chkalov, who was his colleague. Unfortunately, due to great injustice, Alexander Frolovich is most often remembered as Chkalov’s friend. But those who remembered Anisimov himself confirmed that he was a truly brilliant pilot. His mastery of piloting techniques was unsurpassed; he always performed all the most complex aerobatics, requiring special skill, cleanly, and did it very naturally and easily.
They say that at one time, what Chkalov liked most about Anisimov was his desire to learn something new in technology and specifically test airplanes.
Some of those who were personally acquainted with Alexander Frolovich said that he could give the impression of an angry and aggressive person who suffered from excessive pride. This opinion was largely due to the fact that Anisimov never wanted to share the secrets of his tricks with anyone. He believed that every pilot should have his own unique style in aerobatics, and everyone should develop it independently. Of course, many were offended by this.
At the same time, Chkalov, being a fully accomplished person and pilot in his own right, managed to sincerely make friends with Anisimov. Many envied this couple, since the top management forgave them a lot (for example, comic fights between themselves that friends could arrange during the next tests), taking into account and respecting their rare professionalism.
Tragic death
Alexander Anisimov was a test pilot who died very early, at the age of 37. Death found him in the sky, but not while testing another aircraft, as many might have assumed. In 1934, one of the French film companies called “Chez-Noir” began filming the documentary “Aviator”. The French decided that only Anisimov was suitable for performing stunts and filming, since they considered him an aerial acrobat, a bird-man.
The Air Force leadership gave its consent to filming. The first day, October 16, 1934, was great. Anisimov performed all sorts of tricks at extremely low altitudes, the French were delighted. After filming was completed, Louis Chabert (representative of Chez-Noir) even gave the pilot a Swiss watch as a sign of admiration and gratitude. Despite the seeming idyll, the second day of filming ended in tragedy.
On October 17, Anisimov took to the air, but since the cameras had to film his tricks as clearly as possible, he could not rise to a great height. The rudder pedal could not withstand the low height. It broke, and Anisimov’s plane quickly fell and shattered into fragments.
Alexander Anisimov (pilot): personal life
Of course, many are interested in the details of the personal life of such an outstanding pilot. But there is no publicly available information about his wife and possible children. A few years ago, Channel One showed the feature film “Chkalov. Wings”, which was dedicated to the life story of V. Chkalov. Of course, the storyline could not do without the hero’s best friend, Anisimov. The film, positioned as a biographical film, shows that Alexander had a wife, Margot. She was a dancer and in fact loved not Anisimov, but Chkalov himself.
After the release of the film, Chkalov’s daughter, Olga, denied many of the facts presented in this film. Among other things, she said that in fact no woman under the name Margot had ever existed. According to Olga, pilot Anisimov Alexander (his wife, whose children aroused the interest of a wide audience) had a single beloved woman named Bronislava. And, of course, the main part of his life was occupied by work and his love for airplanes. Unfortunately, more detailed facts from the personal life of this pilot are unknown.
Approaching the house on Bolshoi Kazenny Lane, I am preparing to take on a barrage of indignation. The youngest daughter of the legendary Soviet pilot Olga Valeryevna Chkalova lives here. She is not delighted with the new serial 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 the tester’s former apartment, where he moved two years before his death. Now his eldest daughter Valeria Valerievna lives there. She was also “horrified” by the TV version; she wanted to invite us to a conversation with her, and at the same time show us her father’s preserved office, but she got sick, and so we are leafing through their family photographs together with Olga. My interlocutor - an intelligent and ironic lady who has never watched TV series - is trying to understand why one of them is called “Chkalov. Wings” - unexpectedly came out allegedly with her approval.
Here is my father with his friend Alexander Anisimov,” Olga Valerievna turns over the next page and catches my gaze. - By the way, there was no Margot, Anisimov’s wife (in the series, pilot Anisimov’s wife is a dancer who was in love with Chkalov - approx.ed.). And there was Bronislava. Very nice woman. We called her Aunt Bronya.
I look at her neat makeup, at the portrait of Chkalov’s wife on the wall, listen to her granddaughter Dasha singing scales behind the wall and think that the filmmakers would never have consulted her. After all, the series was made for the general public. And the public, as you know, likes 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 one of his interviews, he tried to give the image of the pilot not in a documentary, but in a poetic reading, and to portray a national hero. Happened?
No! The father there looks like such a stupid, boorish, always drinking man. And almost the rest of the company. And it’s not clear when these people actually worked and achieved anything. A complete raspberry. And most importantly, there are things there that could not exist 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, goes to dance tango. This couldn't happen in nature! It was in order for my grandfather to recognize his marriage, risking his career, my father went to church, he and my mother were married! Do you understand what it means to go get married in 1937? This was done out of respect for my grandfather, he was a very religious man. 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: his mother never left him or took the children. She is also shown as somewhat narrow-minded and rustic. In 1935, my father was not yet allowed into the Kremlin; he had just received his first order; he was not invited to any receptions. It all started after the first flight. Therefore, that scene when the mother, after giving birth, exhausted, breathless and slack-jawed, cannot refuse Stalin to dance - this is impossible!
In the series, Chkalov has a very informal relationship with Stalin. He speaks first name to him, calls him “Joseph” and pats him on the shoulder. Is this also a “cost of artistry”?
My sister Valeria Valerievna looked at a lot of archives from different periods in her 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 a well-known fact that once, in a fit of emotion, he tried to have a brotherhood drink with him. The father drank, but Stalin, according to evidence, only took a sip, and the guards became very worried. But patting him on the shoulder and pushing him under the table in the billiard room is impossible! It’s the same with Ordzhonikidze: putting a people’s commissar on a plane and using all sorts of aerobatics to shake the soul out of him is also incredible! The father could prove he was right, arguing with some technical capabilities of the plane, but like this... The artistry of the film should not make a person a fool, but in this film the father is presented as some kind of idiot.
- What about Chkalov’s entourage in the series?
I have the impression that these are caricatured people. The director did not give a portrait likeness to anyone except the father. For example, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gromov (Soviet pilot who set a flight distance record while flying to the USA - approx.ed.). He is tall, with a straight back, a man with an aristocratic face. Handsome! There he is an old, undersized morel. Also speechless. With Polikarpov (Nikolai Polikarpov, Soviet aircraft designer - approx.ed.) no resemblance either. Tupolev (Andrey Tupolev, Soviet aircraft designer - approx.ed.) in this ridiculous pulled-down hat! They are all intimidated. 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, despite everything, continued to create! Nobody 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) No! Neither portrait nor internal! And those stupid pigtails! She is also some kind of idiotic, village simpleton. Actually, my mother is a St. Petersburg high school student and a philologist by training.
In the image of the father there, at least in the actor himself, there is some charm. The father himself was a very charming man. He could talk about anything and always got to the point. I bought a book of memoirs by Rina Zelenaya. I didn’t expect at all 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 Zelenaya: “Red? No, black! Why white? Because it’s green!” Riddle about black currants. This was a man with a lively mind! When he and his mother got married, my father graduated from four classes of flight school, and my mother graduated from college. 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 classical music records from the USA. There is Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Sibelius, Brahms. What's amazing is Richard Strauss. We didn’t perform it at all back then!
- One of the most striking episodes is when Chkalov confesses his love while flying under a bridge on a plane.
With this "I love you" (in the series, Chkalov writes a confession on the wings of an airplane - approx.ed.)- this is, of course, fiction. But this is permissible in a feature film. So be it. In general, in that apartment we have a cut wooden propeller - my father inserted a photograph of my mother into its center and gave it to her.
- How do you feel about the fact that the filmmakers decided to avoid the issue of Chkalov’s death?
In the end I was left with the impression that the main focus was on partying and dancing with the gypsies. There is such rampant madness, then they show an airplane, 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 her and her mother’s crazy hugs 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 that you don’t watch TV 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 sent them back. And after that there was silence. And then I read in the newspaper that this film 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 wanted to participate and get something out of it. We had no idea about this! 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 deceived. But, so to speak, they sent it gracefully. And then we saw the film on the screen. It was prefaced by the fact that we, as relatives, took an active part in this disgrace. I will certainly consult with lawyers. How the authors see all this is their creative imagination, but why drag us into this? We were involved in how they poured slop on our father, and made an idiot out of our mother!
-Have you tried contacting 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 unfamiliar number, he will not answer at all. And I didn’t dig in this direction. But in general this is a trend, because I know that there was another crazy film about Yesenin (The series “Yesenin” was also directed by Igor Zaitsev - approx.ed.). It seems to me that only people who do not have great talents can slander those who are significantly superior to them in their talent.
How did your family friends react to the film?
One of my close friends called and said: “Olya, your mother, we remember her! This is terrible! And some general called my sister and said that one plane there could not fly upside down. Belyakov’s granddaughter Anechka called ( Alexander Belyakov, a Soviet pilot who participated with Chkalov in the flight to the United States via the North Pole - approx. ed.). But my granddaughter’s friend said: “I liked the movie! He fosters 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 might think: “Oh! This one gave in all the time, but look where he got into! And we will too!”
Well, people who drink from morning to night cannot test airplanes! They physically won't be able to do it! In general, if you look closely, the most positive characters in the film are the NKVD officers, who are always resolving some situations. Maybe this is their tribute to the main profession of our president, I don’t know.
Still from the film “Chkalov. Wings" on Channel One.