Honored test pilots and heroes of the Soviet Union. Opened up the sky. Semyon Vorozheikin and other twice heroes of the USSR
The astronaut who was the first to visit open space, presented his autobiography “The Time of the First. My destiny is myself ... ". With the permission of the AST publishing house, we publish the most interesting passages.
Recognized by birthmark
There are still many insinuations around the death of Yuri. What was the reason?
For the investigation, the State Commission was created, which Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov headed (at that time Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU), and Marshal Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, was the deputy. Of the seven people who were part of it, only two remained today: me and Stepan Mikoyan - a test pilot, lieutenant general of aviation, the son of People's Commissar Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan. (Alas, while the book was being written, Mikoyan died. - Ed.)
We were involved in the investigation as specialists were involved. As a result of the work, a very strange statement was made: the supposedly training MiG-15, piloted by Gagarin, made a sharp maneuver associated with a lapel from foreign objects - a flock of geese, for example, a balloon-probe - and fell into a tailspin. As a result, it collided with the ground and the crew died ... But as an expert, I categorically disagreed with this. And he gave arguments. At the time of the disaster, I was practicing skydiving with my “lunar” group nearby, in Kirzhach. We heard an explosion and a supersonic sound - they rang out almost simultaneously - and determined the direction from where it came from. Later, the wreckage of the plane was found there.
They arrived at the place of death by nightfall. And the remains of the guys were seen (together with Yura, test pilot Vladimir Seregin died). Little is left of them. No, well, how to determine what they were, it was possible. According to clothes - Seregin's blue demi-season jacket was found, according to a body fragment with a mole - I saw it on Yura's neck the day before, when we were at the hairdresser, I saw it. It's such a terrible memory...
"The pilot of the Su-15 descended too low"
I spoke with three peasants who indicated that they had seen a low-flying aircraft. During the investigative experiment, they independently identified the Su-15 among ten full-size models. According to them, smoke first went out of his tail, then fire, and he soared into the clouds. It is clear that this is not Gagarin's plane.
We know that on that day, March 27, 1968, Gagarin and Seregin were supposed to fly at an altitude of up to 10,000 meters, and above - the tests of the Su-15, which took off from the experimental airfield of the LII (Flight Research Institute) in Zhukovsky, took place. In short, the pilot of this fighter-interceptor violated the regime: he went down under the clouds, looked at the landscapes - they often do this, then he turned on the afterburner and in the clouds next to Gagarin's plane, without seeing him, passed at supersonic speed.
Disturbed by the flow, this Su-15 training MiG-15 turned over, drove it into a deep spiral. Yuri's last report at an altitude of 4200 meters was made: "I, the 625th, have completed the task in RIP1 *, I'm going to the line **."
I believed that the official version could not withstand any criticism, but then I was told: there are serious examinations here, do not arise, colonel. Anyway, I did not agree with the conclusion of the State Commission and, as it turned out later, I was right: the rest of them were all lying.
"Rewrote my testimony"
In 1991, when the 30th anniversary of the first manned flight into space was celebrated, Gagarin's death was discussed by all and sundry, and the most absurd versions were put forward: that the pilots were allegedly drunk, that they were hunting ... It was impossible to endure, and we The leadership of the country was asked to open the documents collected by the commission and re-investigate. We were allowed. After that, using modern computer technology, a wind tunnel, Academician Sergei Mikhailovich Belotserkovsky checked everything.
Calculations confirmed that an aircraft flying at a speed of 750 could descend in 55 seconds from a height of 4200 meters to zero, only by entering a deep spiral. Only one route is possible (one!), others simply do not fit into this data.
By the way, among the documents on the investigation of the disaster, I found my act - it was completely rewritten by someone, and the interval between supersonic and explosion from 1.5 - 2 seconds to 15 - 20 was increased: this should have meant that the distance between the planes was 50 there were kilometers and the Su-15 is not to blame.
"This pilot is over 90"
In 2013, I turned to Putin: “Vladimir Vladimirovich! Forty-five years have passed since Yuri Gagarin died, open the documents.” Opened. Everything, as I said: an unauthorized aircraft next to the “spark” (the so-called two-seat version of a single-seat fighter or sports aircraft) passed, turned it over, and then they asked me not to name the name of this test pilot ...
By the way, he's alive. He is already over ninety. In 1988, the Hero of the Soviet Union became ...
It turned out that the head of cosmonaut training, Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin, knew about this, the aircraft designer Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev knew, but when a letter from comrades who confirmed my version, the first deputy chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikolai Sergeevich Stroev got to (in 1954 - 1966 he was the head of the LII), he ordered: “Do not raise this issue - kill the pilot. He did it unintentionally."
Now there is no mystery in this, but there is sloppiness and violation of the flight regime, but something else upsets me: that the people who worked on the commission knew the truth, but pretended that this was not so. I would like everyone to know the truth about Gagarin's death.
I have been fighting alone since 1968, proving something. I, as a specialist invited to work in the commission, wrote my vision of what happened, I was present at the study, and I heard everything, I was thirteen kilometers from the site of Gagarin's fall.
Now I was given the opportunity to announce the true cause, provided that I did not name the pilot who violated discipline and created an emergency. I gave my word that I would not. But he is to blame. He was supposed to fly at the same height, but went down. I talked with the peasants at the investigative experiment, who each individually said that they saw a plane that looked like a balalaika ... And this is the Su-15, it has such a triangular wing ...
Bullets for Brezhnev
On January 22, 1969, I was in a car fired upon by officer Viktor Ilyin during the assassination attempt on Brezhnev.
It just so happened that bullets meant for Leonid Ilyich hit the car with the astronauts ... He then approached me at the reception and asked me to show the trace of the bullet on my overcoat. What am I? Since the general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU asks, we went to the locker room, and I showed him the trace of a bullet that flew along a tangent. Brezhnev was then very confused. He examined everything carefully and said:
Don't worry, it's not you, but I was shot.
Ballistics later conducted an examination and found that I was miraculously not hooked. So they said:
God save you, Leonov.
I replied:
So I will pray...
This Ilyin managed to shoot 16 times in a few seconds. The first bullet hit the driver in the head, and I turned sharply in his direction. If I had continued to sit in my previous position, the next bullet would have landed right in my temple. Another passed near the stomach, the third touched the overcoat on the left side of the chest, the fourth hit the upholstery of the chair behind her back. It was as if someone from above was really taking the bullets away from me ... A man from a distance of nine meters fired point-blank with two pistols ...
In the 9th Directorate of the KGB, they probably knew about the impending assassination attempt, they were already looking for Ilyin, after all, he left his military unit near Leningrad, taking two pistols and four magazines with them. Therefore, at the entrance to the Kremlin, the car with Brezhnev (A. N. Kosygin was still sitting there with him) separated from the cortege and headed for the Spassky Gates, and another car was allowed through the Trinity Gates, where the astronauts were sitting: in front - the driver and Chekist Kostya, on the central seats - Beregov and I (he is on the right, I am on the left), in the back - Tereshkova and Nikolaev. We had exactly the same car as Brezhnev's - ZIL-111.
At the Trinity Gate, Ilyin, dressed in a blue police uniform, stood in a cordon. He missed the first ZIL-111 and opened fire on the second, being sure that he was shooting at Brezhnev. In all honesty, security officers in body armor should have been sitting there, but I ended up in their place ...
"Ilyin was not mentally ill"
To my house (fifteen years have passed) they brought this shooter Ilyin. He asked for forgiveness. Like, I didn’t aim at you, I wanted to rid the country of the usurper. Well, I say, what a usurper he is ... And he kept asking: “What should I do now?” I told him:
You killed a man, and he left two children. Find the widow of the driver you shot, the fatherless children. Fall at their feet, beg for forgiveness... Help somehow, if you can...
Such was the conversation. This Ilyin was not mentally ill, as they later wrote. Absolutely normal, adequate. He served his time. Already in the 90s, he was released from a psychiatric hospital, and he was very sorry that he had deprived an innocent driver of life ...
ALMOST A JOKE
"Alcohol in orbit"
On my first day in orbit, I did a great prank on the Americans with vodka. (We are talking about the famous docking of our Soyuz and the American Apollo, which happened on July 15, 1975, it is also called the “cosmic handshake.” - Ed.) The MCC did not know about this, no one knew. It was purely my idea. Even before the flight I took out the labels: "Stolichnaya", "Russian", "Starka" and "Moskovskaya". I put them in the logbook and I had scotch tape. And after we went into orbit, I stuck vodka labels on tubes of borscht. He also wrote a slogan from Shakespeare: “Oh wondrous new world that has such people." And he made friendly caricatures for everyone.
When, after docking, we sat down at the table, Kubasov and I took out tubes of vodka. We explain to the Americans: “Guys, we must honor the Russian custom in space as well. And according to tradition, before dinner, we have to drink. Tom Stafford began to deny:
Impossible... I can't... (Impossible... I can't...)
Type - it is impossible, violation. And shows on TV cameras. And I tell him:
I'll turn it off so no one can see. And turned it off. And from the Earth they shout:
Turn it on!
I gave everyone a tube, everyone looked at the labels and said:
Listen, we'll get hurt for this.
Nothing...
Open: chin-chin! And there ... borscht ...
Never, they shout, we will never forgive you for this: we took such a risk, and you fooled us!
Then I saw - a close-up of Donald Slayton's face was shot when he says: “Listen, why did you cheat? It would be better if there was vodka! But no one believes that we did not drink vodka. Nobody.
"The theory of the use of cognac in space"
And we really didn’t have a gram of alcohol. Although academician Oleg Georgievich Gazenko, the founder of space medicine, was convinced that a little cognac in orbit would not hurt.
There was such a moment. When Lebedev and Berezovoi flew, they both turned forty years old in flight. On a cargo ship, I decided to secretly send them brandy: I cut out the middle in a loaf of bread and hid a flask there.
So then Valya Lebedev wrote "The Theory of Drinking Cognac in Space": you need to take a bottle in your mouth, make a sharp nod of your head - it will be exactly thirty grams. And he published it in a scientific journal!
There is a collegium of the ministry. Minister Afanasyev is blacker than a cloud. Show log:
Who did it?
I got up and said:
Sergei Alexandrovich, I did it. They have been flying for so long, they are forty years old, a bottle of cognac for half a year ...
And from the hall they shout:
Few! Few!
The general, Yuri Pavlovich Semyonov, gets up and says:
Alex discussed this with me. I agreed and we sent this bottle of cognac.
*RIP - test flight area.
** Line - line of decline.
Since June 1941 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Until September 1942, he fought as part of the 4th IAP (flying the I-153, Hurricane and Yak-7), then until the end of the war as part of the 9th Guards IAP (on the Yak-1, Aerocobra and La -7).
By August 1943, the squadron commander of the 9th Odessa Red Banner Guards Aviation Regiment (6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, 8th Air Army, Southern Front) Captain Amet-Khan Sultan made 359 sorties (110 of them in the sky of Stalingrad) , conducted 79 air battles, in which he shot down 11 enemy aircraft personally and 19 - as part of a group.
On August 24, 1943, for courage and courage shown in battles with enemies, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By the end of the war, he made 603 sorties, in 150 air battles he personally shot down 30 and in a group of 19 enemy aircraft.
On June 29, 1945, the assistant commander of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (1st Air Army), Major Amet-Khan Sultan, was awarded the second medal " Golden Star».
After the war, he entered the Air Force Academy, but soon left and began working as a test pilot (he mastered about 100 aircraft in total). In 1946 - Lieutenant Colonel of the Guards. In 1947 he received the title of "Test Pilot 1st Class". In 1952 he was awarded the Stalin Prize.
In 1961 he was awarded the title of Honored Test Pilot of the USSR. He died in a test flight on February 1, 1971.
Awarded with Orders: Lenin (three times), Red Banner (five), Alexander Nevsky, Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star, Badge of Honor, medals. Honorary citizen of the city of Yaroslavl. Forever enrolled in the lists of the military unit. A bronze bust of the Hero was installed in his homeland, a memorial plaque - in the city of Kaspiysk Dagestan ASSR. Schools No. 27 in Makhachkala and No. 8 in Kaspiysk bear his name. The Hero's relatives live in Moscow.
Aces pilots. They performed feats both in peacetime and in wartime. They spent hundreds of hours in the sky, and it became their real home. In our material, quotes from legendary pilots who performed glorious history Russian Air Force.
If so, then be the first.
Valery Chkalov, Soviet
test pilot
,
The hero of the USSR
It seems that I have always longed for the sensations that now constitute my belonging, the belonging of a lucky man who has penetrated the air. I often happened to fly in a dream, and the dream was intoxicating.
Sergei Utochkin, one of the first Russian aviators
and
test pilots
Where I am a pilot, I am a pedant. But I'm also a romantic. I am fond of logic, psychology, literature,
painting.
Mikhail Gromov, Soviet
test pilot
,
The hero of the USSR
Courage without hardening is a blank shot.
ace pilot , three times Hero of the Soviet Union
Our squadron was called "singing" due to our affection for the song, and my call sign is Maestro. From our squadron, 11 pilots received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, this honor fell to me twice. And every rank, every military award was paid for at the cost of risk, skill, military superiority and real victories.
Vitaly Popkov, pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union
Height is the key to victory. The one who is higher can dive on an enemy aircraft at any moment and, having developed a high speed, reach it.
, honored
test pilot
USSR,
twice Hero of the Soviet Union
Once upon a time read the words as a child V.P. Chkalova : "If to be, then to be the first." That's what I'm trying to be and will be until the end.
cosmonaut , The hero of the USSR
Nesterov went to research the capabilities of the aircraft, making a loop. Artseulov proved that it is possible to take the plane out of a spin. And the air rams with which they achieved victory over German aces Soviet pilots? You don't discount this. For the Russian soul, incomprehensible to anyone, there are no barriers!
Viktor Pugachev, Honored
test pilot
USSR,
The hero of the USSR
Honored test pilot died at the age of 92
Honored test pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Georgy Mosolov passed away in Moscow. He was 91 years old.
“A legend of jet aviation, an honored test pilot who made a huge contribution to the development of domestic aviation, has left us. We mourn this loss,” said Ilya Tarasenko, Director General of the MiG Corporation. He is quoted by TASS.
Georgy Mosolov was born on May 3, 1926 in Ufa. In 1943 he graduated from the Central Aeroclub named after V.P. Chkalov in Kazan, and the next year he joined the Red Army. In 1945 he graduated from the school of initial pilot training, in 1948 - Chuguev Military Aviation School. Until 1951 he worked there as an instructor pilot. In 1953, Mosolov graduated from the Test Pilot School, in 1959 - Moscow aviation institute. In 1953 - 1962, Mosolov worked on flight test work in the Design Bureau of A. I. Mikoyan.
Mosolov was one of the pioneers in mastering high altitudes and speeds and one of the first Soviet pilots to set world aviation records. He set six world records, three of which are absolute, as well as three all-Union absolute records. Among them - records on the first prototypes of the unique supersonic front-line fighter MiG-21. His photo in a helmet went around many foreign newspapers and magazines of the world, for many years becoming a kind of calling card Soviet jet aircraft.
In addition, Mosolov conducted flight tests of many of the first copies. jet engines, various experimental systems of radio navigation, interception and weapons.
On September 11, 1962, Georgy Mosolov had an accident while testing the E-8/1 aircraft, a prototype version of the MiG-21 with a more powerful engine. In the cockpit, he suffered a head injury and a broken arm. The pilot had to eject at an altitude of eight thousand meters. After ejection by high-speed air pressure, Mosolov broke his leg. And after the parachute opened, his body was overwhelmed by a strap, and the pilot hung upside down. In a matter of seconds before touching the ground, he managed to throw off the strap for. When landing on the forest, the pilot broke his other leg.
Mosolov waited five hours for the rescuers to arrive. In the hospital he had clinical death but the doctors were able to bring him back to life. The pilot was able to walk only a year later, but his injuries did not allow him to return to flight work after recovery.
In 1960, Mosolov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, he was a holder of the orders of Lenin and the Red Star. In 1965 he became an Honored Test Pilot of the USSR.
Mosolov was one of the close friends of the first Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
February 2, 1904 was born Valery Pavlovich Chkalov - Soviet test pilot, Hero of the USSR. He was the commander of the aircraft that made the first non-stop flight over the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver. We will tell about seven outstanding pilotsOh- testerI Soviet time.
Valery Chkalov
Chkalov began his dizzying career as a pilot as an aircraft fitter in the 4th Kanavinsky Aviation Park in Nizhny Novgorod.
From December 3, 1931, he participated in tests - he tested the latest fighter aircraft of the 1930s I-15 and I-16 designed by Polikarpov. He took part in the testing of tank destroyers VIT-1, VIT-2, heavy bombers TB-1, TB-3, a large number of experimental and experimental vehicles of the Polikarpov Design Bureau.
Chkalov was famous for his "recklessness". After the accident that occurred in Bryansk, Chkalov was accused of numerous violations of discipline. By the verdict of the military tribunal of the Belarusian military district of October 30, 1928, Chkalov was sentenced to a year in prison, and was also dismissed from the Red Army. He served his sentence for a short time, at the request of Kliment Voroshilov, less than a month later, the sentence was replaced with a suspended sentence.
Chkalov became the author of new aerobatics - an ascending spin and a slow roll. On May 5, 1935, aircraft designer Nikolai Polikarpov and test pilot Valery Chkalov were awarded the highest government award, the Order of Lenin, for creating the best fighter aircraft.
On July 20, 1936, the flight of Chkalov's crew from Moscow to Far East. It lasted 56 hours before landing on the sandy spit of Udd Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. The total length of the record route was 9375 kilometers.
On June 18, 1937, Chkalov's flight began on an ANT-25 plane across the North Pole from Moscow to Vancouver (Washington, USA). The flight took place in difficult weather conditions. On June 20, the plane made a safe landing in Vancouver, Washington, USA. The length of the flight was 8504 kilometers.
Stalin personally offered Chkalov to take the post of People's Commissar of the NKVD, but he refused and continued to do flight test work. Chkalov died on December 15, 1938 during the first test flight on the new I-180 fighter at the Central Airfield.
Stepan Mikoyan
Stepan Mikoyan was born on July 12, 1922. He is the son of a famous politician Anastas Mikoyan. Stepan Mikoyan - Hero of the Soviet Union, lieutenant general of aviation. In 1940, he entered the Kachin Military Aviation Pilot School in the Crimea. In 1941, he retrained for the Yak-1 fighter and in December was sent to a fighter aviation regiment defending Moscow.
From the first days of 1942, Stepan began to participate on the Yak-1 in flights to cover our troops in the Volokolamsk region. In the winter of 1941-1942, Stepan Mikoyan made 10 successful sorties as part of this regiment. The 11th sortie to cover Istra on January 16, 1942 almost became fatal for Mikoyan - his Yak was mistakenly shot down by junior lieutenant Mikhail Rodionov from the 562nd regiment.
Mikoyan mastered 102 types of aircraft and flew about 3.5 thousand hours. By October 1942 he completed 14 sorties. After 3 air battles, he shot down 6 enemy aircraft as part of a group. Stepan Mikoyan ended the war with two orders.
Mikhail Gromov
Soviet pilot Mikhail Gromov was born on February 12, 1899. He became Colonel-General of Aviation, Hero of the Soviet Union. As an extremely gifted person, he early showed a variety of abilities, including music and drawing. After high school, he entered the medical faculty of Moscow University and then served as a military doctor.
Gromov tested many famous aircraft. Performed a number of long-haul flights across Europe, to China and Japan.
On September 10-12, 1934, on an ANT-25 aircraft, he made a record flight in terms of range and duration along a closed route - 12,411 km in 75 hours. In 1937, on the ANT-25-1, he made a non-stop flight Moscow - the North Pole - the USA, setting 2 world aviation records. For this flight, Gromov was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Vladimir Averyanov
Colonel, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR Vladimir Averyanov was born on October 11, 1934. In 1953, Averyanov graduated from the Stalingrad flying club. In 1955 he graduated from the Armavir Military Aviation Pilot School, then served as a pilot in the air defense aviation.
From May 1965 to December 1968 he was a test pilot at the Kazan Aviation Plant. In 1965-1966, he tested serial Tu-16 and Tu-22 jet bombers, in 1966-1968 - Il-62 passenger aircraft (co-pilot), as well as their modifications.
From January 1969 to September 1994 he was a test pilot at the Saratov Aviation Plant. He tested serial passenger aircraft Yak-40 (in 1969-1981) and Yak-42 (in 1978-1994). He has many medals and is an honored test pilot of the USSR.
Ivan Dzyuba
Colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR Ivan Dzyuba was born on May 1, 1918. Graduated from Odessa flight school(1938), participated in the Great Patriotic War as a fighter pilot.
From June 1941 to September 1943 he made 238 sorties, conducted 25 air battles. By February 1942, he personally shot down 6 and in a group 2 enemy aircraft.
On July 21, 1942, for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Major Ivan Dzyuba was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. From 1943 he served as a test pilot.
Nikolai Zamyatin
USSR test pilot, captain Nikolai Zamyatin was born on May 9, 1916 in Perm, graduated from Sverdlovsk in 1940 State University and Sverdlovsk flying club.
In January-November 1942 he served as a pilot of the 608th Bomber Aviation Regiment, in November 1942 - December 1944 - a pilot, senior pilot and flight commander of the 137th Bomber Aviation Regiment.
Zamyatin fought on the Karelian front. Participated in the defense of the Arctic. He made 30 sorties on a Pe-2 bomber. From 1947 to 1971 he was a test pilot at the Flight Research Institute. Carried out tests of the refueling system on Tu-2 aircraft, tests of turbojet engines: VK-7 on Tu-4LL, AL-7 on Tu-4LL, VK-3 on Tu-4LL, AM-3M on Tu-16LL, VD-7 on M-4LL. Awarded with the Order October Revolution, two orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree.
Mikhail Ivanov
The famous test pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Mikhail Ivanov was born on July 18, 1910. Since 1925 he worked as an apprentice turner in Poltava. Passed a course of theoretical training in the Poltava aviation circle of Osoaviakhim. AT Soviet army— since 1929. In 1932 he graduated from the Stalingrad Military Aviation Pilot School, then served in the Air Force combat units.
In 1939-1941, he was a test pilot for the military acceptance of aircraft factory No. 301, he tested serial UT-2 training aircraft and Yak-1 fighters. In 1941, he was a test pilot for the military acceptance of aircraft factory No. 31. Ivanov tested serial LaGG-3, La-5FN and Yak-3 fighters.
In November 1941, during the evacuation of the aircraft factory in Tbilisi, he took part in the hostilities on the Southwestern Front. In total, he made about 50 sorties.
On April 24, 1946, he tested one of the first Yak-15 fighters. Conducted tests of various modifications of the Yak-3, Yak-11 fighter. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for the strength and courage shown when testing new aircraft.
and also Bakhchivandzhi tested the first jet aircraft, died in 1942, Kokkinaki V.K., my fellow countryman after meeting him in the theater in Novorossiysk in 1966. I had only one dream - MVTU and into space! Yuri Garnaev, Sergey Anokhin, Akhmet-Khan-Sultan, Vladimir Ilyushin (he also sang the song of Nikolai Dorizo wonderfully.
