To protect the crew of the ANT-25 aircraft that was to make a transpolar flight against cold winds and severe frost in the event of an emergency landing, a special item of clothing was made.
It is known as “kukhlyanka” (or “kuklyanka”). These are the clothes of the peoples of the northeast of Russia and the northwest of America: the Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens, Eskimos, and Aleuts. This wide and long shirt was made of the fur of deer and marine animals, with bird skins sometimes used, as well.
In essence, the design of kukhlyanka is universal for many different peoples of the Far North. In winter, it is worn in two layers: the outer layer is put on with the fur outside, while the inner one is put on with the fur to the body. In warmer weather, one layer would generally be enough.
The kukhlyankas were so efficient in protecting from the cold that hunters often left them on to sleep in the open air in tundra, using the jacket as a sleeping bag. The peoples of the Far North wear the kukhlyanka next to the skin.
The deer fur kukhlyanka entered the museum’s collection two years after the 1939 historic flight from an exhibition of defense equipment in the city of Leningrad, among the equipment of the crew of Chkalov’s aircraft. In Alexander Belyakov’s navigation documents, it was recorded that their team’s equipment consisted of three squirrel-fur jackets, three squirrel-fur trousers, the same number of wool sweaters, pairs of socks, gloves, and fur stockings. Each of the pilots also had a set of rubberized suits, fur and leather boots, and, among other things, a set of silk underwear.
Most of the above were prepared for the flight of Sigizmund Levanevsky in 1935 but were used for the transpolar flight of Chkalov, Baidukov, and Belyakov instead.
Levanevsky was a famous Soviet pilot who made a number of extra-long flights in the 1930s, he was also a member of the expedition to rescue the Chelyuskin steamer and the second Hero of the Soviet Union. On August 3, 1935, the ANT-25 aircraft under his control took off from the Moscow Shchyolkovsky Airfield to San Francisco. He had to take the shortest route — via the North Pole. However, due to oil problems that emerged after a while, Levanevsky decided to return, having made only 2,000 kilometers.
The next attempt to fly through the North Pole was made on August 12, 1937, on board an N-209 aircraft with a crew of six, but on the following day all communication with the crew was lost, and the place of the pilots’ death was never established.
It is known as “kukhlyanka” (or “kuklyanka”). These are the clothes of the peoples of the northeast of Russia and the northwest of America: the Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens, Eskimos, and Aleuts. This wide and long shirt was made of the fur of deer and marine animals, with bird skins sometimes used, as well.
In essence, the design of kukhlyanka is universal for many different peoples of the Far North. In winter, it is worn in two layers: the outer layer is put on with the fur outside, while the inner one is put on with the fur to the body. In warmer weather, one layer would generally be enough.
The kukhlyankas were so efficient in protecting from the cold that hunters often left them on to sleep in the open air in tundra, using the jacket as a sleeping bag. The peoples of the Far North wear the kukhlyanka next to the skin.
The deer fur kukhlyanka entered the museum’s collection two years after the 1939 historic flight from an exhibition of defense equipment in the city of Leningrad, among the equipment of the crew of Chkalov’s aircraft. In Alexander Belyakov’s navigation documents, it was recorded that their team’s equipment consisted of three squirrel-fur jackets, three squirrel-fur trousers, the same number of wool sweaters, pairs of socks, gloves, and fur stockings. Each of the pilots also had a set of rubberized suits, fur and leather boots, and, among other things, a set of silk underwear.
Most of the above were prepared for the flight of Sigizmund Levanevsky in 1935 but were used for the transpolar flight of Chkalov, Baidukov, and Belyakov instead.
Levanevsky was a famous Soviet pilot who made a number of extra-long flights in the 1930s, he was also a member of the expedition to rescue the Chelyuskin steamer and the second Hero of the Soviet Union. On August 3, 1935, the ANT-25 aircraft under his control took off from the Moscow Shchyolkovsky Airfield to San Francisco. He had to take the shortest route — via the North Pole. However, due to oil problems that emerged after a while, Levanevsky decided to return, having made only 2,000 kilometers.
The next attempt to fly through the North Pole was made on August 12, 1937, on board an N-209 aircraft with a crew of six, but on the following day all communication with the crew was lost, and the place of the pilots’ death was never established.
