After an incredibly difficult, dangerous, and stressful non-stop flight to the Far East, which took place between July 20 and 22, 1936, Valery Pavlovich Chkalov, Georgy Filippovich Baydukov, and Alexander Vasilyevich Belyakov became national heroes. The crew jokingly said that the way back was harder for them. The pilots had to land in Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, and other cities, where they were given a most heartfelt welcome and had rallies held in their honor. The triumphant return took the pilots more than two weeks.
On August 10, 1936, the Chkalov crew received an order to land their ANT-25 aircraft at the Shchyolkovsky airfield at exactly 17:00. The team of heroes arrived before the appointed time, and, wishing to observe the landing time, Chkalov had to make an additional circuit over Moscow. Then the ANT-25 was met by a squadron of light aircraft, and Chkalov’s plane followed them to landing.
Near the building of the control post, located on the border of the airfield, were many people and several cars, ready to greet the pilots. When the cars approached the aircraft, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin got out of them.
According to eyewitnesses, the triumphant rally was started by the people’s commissar of heavy industry — Ordzhonikidze. And when Valery Chkalov tried to report to Stalin about the task he fulfilled, the latter did not listen to the official report, instead, he smiled in a friendly way, spread his arms wide, hugged the hero tightly, and kissed him on both cheeks.
This was not the first meeting between the test pilot and the head of the Soviet state. A year before the historic flight to Udd Island, during an air parade held at the airfield of the central aerodrome, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin paused near the fighter of Valery Petrovich Chkalov, having heard a lot about him. It was then that the famous dialogue between the pilot and the general secretary took place, which Stalin ended with the words,
On August 10, 1936, the Chkalov crew received an order to land their ANT-25 aircraft at the Shchyolkovsky airfield at exactly 17:00. The team of heroes arrived before the appointed time, and, wishing to observe the landing time, Chkalov had to make an additional circuit over Moscow. Then the ANT-25 was met by a squadron of light aircraft, and Chkalov’s plane followed them to landing.
Near the building of the control post, located on the border of the airfield, were many people and several cars, ready to greet the pilots. When the cars approached the aircraft, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin got out of them.
According to eyewitnesses, the triumphant rally was started by the people’s commissar of heavy industry — Ordzhonikidze. And when Valery Chkalov tried to report to Stalin about the task he fulfilled, the latter did not listen to the official report, instead, he smiled in a friendly way, spread his arms wide, hugged the hero tightly, and kissed him on both cheeks.
This was not the first meeting between the test pilot and the head of the Soviet state. A year before the historic flight to Udd Island, during an air parade held at the airfield of the central aerodrome, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin paused near the fighter of Valery Petrovich Chkalov, having heard a lot about him. It was then that the famous dialogue between the pilot and the general secretary took place, which Stalin ended with the words,
