The famous test pilot Valery Pavlovich Chkalov met his wife in Leningrad. She studied at the Herzen Pedagogical Institute in the department of language and literature of the social studies and economics faculty. This Pedagogical Institute patronized the Leningrad Fighter Squadron. Its teachers and students educated the pilots in terms of culture and organized various interest clubs.

A lively and strong-voiced graduate Olga Orekhova belonged to a choir club and sang solo parts. On the last evening of 1924, she took part in a concert held in the hall of the military unit.

Later, Olga Erazmovna recalled that New Year’s Eve,

So, the young people began to date and got married on February 27, 1927.

On January 1, 1928, the Chkalov family welcomed their first child — a son named Igor. On May 10, 1935, the pilot had a daughter, Valeriya. Chkalov was incredibly happy about it because he always wanted a large family of 5–6 people. But their third child, a girl named Olya, was born only on July 21, 1939 — seven months after Valery Chkalov’s death.

Soon the war broke out, followed by the evacuation and the difficult years after it had ended. Olga Erazmovna herself lived a long life. For many years she worked on the editorial board of the “Semya i shkola” (Family and School) magazine. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. She died in 1997 at the age of 96.

Igor Valeryevich Chkalov, the famous pilot’s son, graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and devoted his entire life to aviation. He died in 2006 at the age of 78.

Chkalov’s eldest daughter Valeriya Valeryevna decided to become an engineering physicist and, after graduating from Moscow State University, she worked as a laboratory chief for many years and then became chief of department in one of the Moscow research institutes. She was a Candidate of Technical Sciences, a recipient of the State Prize of the USSR, and an Honored Inventor of the RSFSR. Valeriya died in 2013.

Chkalov’s youngest daughter Olga Valeryevna graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and became an electronics engineer. She is a Candidate of Technical Sciences. She used to develop field-effect transistors and worked as an electronics engineer. Currently, Olga enjoys a well-deserved retirement and resides in Moscow.