View source for Valery Chkalov

{{Short description|Russian-Soviet test pilot and air officer}}
{{About|the test pilot|the mercenary logistician|Valery Chekalov}}
{{Redirect|Chkalov}}
{{family name hatnote|Pavlovich|Chkalov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Valery Chkalov<br/>{{nobold|{{lang|ru|Валерий Чкалов}}}}
| birth_date    = {{OldStyleDate|2 February|1904|20 January}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1938|12|15|1904|02|02|df=y}}
| birth_place   = Vasilyevo, [[Balakhninsky Uyezd]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]<br>(now [[Chkalovsk, Russia|Chkalovsk]], [[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]], [[Russia]])
| death_place   = [[Moscow]], [[Soviet Union]]
| placeofburial = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow
| image         = Валерий Павлович Чкалов.jpg
| allegiance    = {{USSR}}
| branch        = [[Soviet Air Force]]
| serviceyears  = 1921-1938
| rank          = [[Combrig]] (Brigadier)
| commands      = 
| battles       = 
| awards        = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]<br>[[Order of Lenin]] (2)<br>[[Order of the Red Banner]]
| laterwork     = 
}}

[[File:Chkalovsk Palace of Culture & Sport 2011.jpg|thumb|Statue of Chkalov in Chkalovsk]]

'''Valery Pavlovich Chkalov''' ({{langx|ru|Вале́рий Па́влович Чка́лов}}; {{IPA|ru|vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ˈtɕkaləf|IPA}}; {{OldStyleDate|2 February|1904|20 January}} – 15 December 1938) was a [[test pilot]] awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] (1936).

==Early life==
Chkalov was born to a Russian family in 1904 in the upper [[Volga region]], the town of [[Chkalovsk, Russia|Vasilyevo]] (the town is now named '''Chkalovsk''' in his honour), which lies near [[Nizhny Novgorod]].

He was the son of a ship boiler-maker at the Vasselyevo Ship Yard on the [[River Volga]]. His mother died when he was six years old. Chkalov studied in the technical school in [[Cherepovets]] but later returned to his home town to work as an apprentice in the shipyard alongside his father. He then got a job as a stoker on a river [[dredger]]: the ''Bayan'' (later renamed the ''Mikhail Kalinin'').<ref name="ReferenceA">Soviet Calendar 1917-1947 (CCCP production)</ref>

He saw his first plane in 1919 and decided to join the Red Army's air force, joining first at age 16 as a mechanic. He trained as a pilot at the Yegoryevsk Training School and graduated in 1924 joining a fighter squadron.

Chkalov married Olga Orekhova, a schoolteacher from [[Leningrad]], in 1927. In the early 1930s he became a test pilot. His feats included doing 250 [[loop-the-loop]]s in 45 minutes.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His youngest daughter was a [[posthumous child]].

==Achievements==
From 1935 he led the stunt section of the Soviet air force, used in public displays. This included the [[International Workers' Day|1 May celebrations]] over [[Red Square]] at which point he met [[Stalin]] for the first time.

Chkalov achieved several milestones in [[aviation]]. In 1936 and 1937, he participated in several ultra long flights, including {{ill|Transpolar flight of Chkalov, Baydukov and Belyakov|lt=a 63-hour flight|ru|Беспосадочный перелёт Москва — Северный полюс — Ванкувер}} from [[Moscow]], [[Soviet Union]] to [[Vancouver, Washington]], [[United States]] ''via'' the [[North Pole]] in a [[Tupolev ANT-25]] airplane (18–20 June 1937), a non-stop distance of {{convert|8811|km|mi}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bergman |first1=Jay |title=Valerii Chkalov: Soviet Pilot as New Soviet Man |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |date=1998 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=135–152 |doi=10.1177/003200949803300108 |jstor=261001 |s2cid=157937639 }}</ref><ref>John McCannon, ''Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932–1939'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). pp. 68-73</ref> The flight pioneered the polar air route from Europe to the American Pacific Coast.

He was planning the world's first non-stop flight around the planet when he died.

[[File:Chkalov, Stalin and Belyakov. August 10, 1936.jpg|left|thumb|Chkalov meets with [[Joseph Stalin]].]]
[[File:USSR 1954 1661 1557 0.jpg|thumb|Chkalov on a 1954 stamp]]

==Death==
Chkalov died on 15 December 1938 while piloting a prototype of the [[Polikarpov I-180]] fighter, which crashed during its maiden test flight. The series of events leading up to the crash is not entirely clear. Neither of the aircraft's two chief designers, [[Nikolai Polikarpov]] and [[Dmitri Lyudvigovich Tomashevich|Dmitry Tomashevich]], approved the flight, and no one had signed a form releasing the prototype from the factory. In any case, Chkalov took off and made a low altitude circuit around the airfield. For the second circuit, Chkalov flew farther away, climbing to over 2,000&nbsp;m (6,560&nbsp;ft) even though the flight plan specifically forbade exceeding 600&nbsp;m (1,970&nbsp;ft). Chkalov apparently miscalculated his landing approach and came in short of the airfield, but when he attempted to correct his approach the engine cut out. Chkalov was able to avoid several buildings, but struck an overhead powerline. He was thrown from the cockpit, sustaining severe injuries, and died two hours later. His ashes are interred in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis|Kremlin Wall]].

The official government investigation concluded that the engine cut out because it [[Thermal shock|became too cold]] in the absence of the [[cowl flaps]]. Others hypothesised that Chkalov had advanced the throttle too fast and thus flooded the engine. As a result of the crash, Tomashevich and several other officials, who urged the first flight, were immediately arrested. Years later, fellow test pilot [[Mikhail Gromov (aviator)|Mikhail Gromov]] blamed the designers for flawed engine cooling and Chkalov himself for deviating from the flight plan. Chkalov's son claimed that a plan to assassinate his father had been in the works in the months preceding his death, but the circumstances of the crash make foul play unlikely. Despite the opinion of some, after Chkalov's death Polikarpov's reputation with Stalin was left intact, and Polikarpov continued to design aircraft.
[[File:Чкалов Валерий Павлович (конверт).jpg|thumb|175px|Chkalov on a stamped USSR postal envelope from 1984]]

==Commemoration==
The village of Vasilyevo where Chkalov was born is now the town of [[Chkalovsk, Russia|Chkalovsk]] ([[Nizhny Novgorod Oblast]]). The city of [[Orenburg]] bore the name Chkalov from 1938 to 1957. There was a Chkalov Street in [[Moscow]] (part of Moscow's [[Garden Ring]]), now renamed [[Zemlyanoy Val]]; its namesakes in [[Nizhny Novgorod]] and several other Russian cities still exist. Nizhny Novgorod also has a staircase down to the Volga named after him with a statue of him at the top of it. In 1975, a [[Chkalov Transpolar Flight Monument|monument to Chkalov's 1937 polar flight]] was dedicated at [[Pearson Field|Pearson Airpark]] in [[Vancouver, Washington]] and a street in east Vancouver was named Chkalov Drive.<ref>{{cite news |last=Malcolm |first=Andrew H. |date=June 21, 1975 |title=Coast City Hails 1937 Soviet Polar Flight |page=A1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/21/archives/coast-city-hails-1937-soviet-polar-flight-vancouver-wash-hails-1937.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 29, 2021}}</ref>

A {{sclass|Chapayev|cruiser|1}} was named ''Chkalov'' but was renamed ''Komsomolets'' in 1958.

The metro rail systems of [[Moscow Metro|Moscow]], [[Saint Petersburg Metro|Saint Petersburg]], and [[Nizhny Novgorod Metro|Nizhny Novgorod]] each have a ''[[Chkalovskaya metro station (disambiguation)|Chkalovskaya]]'' station. [[Chkalovskaya (Yekaterinburg Metro)|Yekaterinburg Metro]] also opened one in 2012.

One of 16 Russia's Tu-160 bombers was named after Valery Chkalov.

A musical duet, [[:ru:Отряд имени Валерия Чкалова|Отряд имени Валерия Чкалова]] ("Detachment named after Valery Chkalov"), recorded their first album in 1983.

A monument to Chkalov in [[Dnipro]], [[Ukraine]] was dismantled in December 2022.<ref name="Chkalov7381105">{{cite web |author=Maria Kabashi|title=A monument to Gorky was dismantled in Dnipro|url=https://life.pravda.com.ua/culture/2022/12/26/252026/|website=[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]|date=26 December 2022|access-date=26 December 2022|language=Ukrainian}}<br>{{cite web |title=A monument to Pushkin was dismantled in Dnipro|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2022/12/16/7381105/|website=[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]|date=16 December 2022|access-date=16 December 2022|language=Ukrainian}}</ref> The monument had been erected in 1981.<ref name="hto-takiy-valeriy-chkalov">{{cite web |author=Oleh Bildin|title=Who is Valery Chkalov, whose monument was demolished in Dnipro, and was he related to our city|url=https://dp.informator.ua/uk/hto-takiy-valeriy-chkalov-pam-yatnik-yakomu-znesli-u-dnipri-ta-chi-mav-vin-vidnoshennya-do-nashogo-mista|website=Informator|date=11 January 2023|access-date=11 January 2023|language=Ukrainian}}</ref> Chkalov was not connected with Dnipro in any way.<ref name="hto-takiy-valeriy-chkalov"/> In February 2023 a monument to Chkalov in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine was dismantled.<ref name="7388429Chkalov"/> It was dismantled as soon as the [[Ministry of Culture and Information Policy]] had revoked the monument cultural heritage site status.<ref name="7388429Chkalov">[https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2023/02/8/7388429/ Minkult allowed the dismantling of monuments to Chkalov and Vatutin in Kyiv: the first is already being demolished], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (8 February 2023)</ref> On 13 July 2023 Valery Chkalov [[Park]] in Kyiv was renamed Literature Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2023/07/13/7411194/|title=Without Pushkin, Krylov and Chkalov: 14 more objects were renamed in Kyiv|website=[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]|date=13 July 2023|access-date=13 July 2023|language=Ukrainian}}</ref>

[[Moldova]] is also home to streets named after the pilot. One of them located in the city of [[Chișinău]], is most well known for its comically short length of 41 meters making it the shortest street in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tv8.md/2019/10/14/infografic-cati-oameni-locuiesc-oficial-in-chisinau-care-e-cea-mai-scurta-strada-si-cu-cate-orase-este-infratita-capitala |access-date=2024-11-11|title=Câți oameni locuiesc oficial în Chișinău, care e cea mai scurtă stradă și cu câte orașe este înfrățită capitala |website=tv8.md|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111101412/https://tv8.md/2019/10/14/infografic-cati-oameni-locuiesc-oficial-in-chisinau-care-e-cea-mai-scurta-strada-si-cu-cate-orase-este-infratita-capitala|archive-date=November 11, 2024}}</ref> However at least 3 more streets all over the country bear the pilot's name, from [[Gagauzia|Găgăuzia]] to [[Lipcani]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=str. Valeri Cikalov |url=https://map.md/ru/street/440489403#9.6/48.2099/27.1679 |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Map.md}}</ref> and [[Iargara]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=str. Valeri Cikalov |url=https://map.md/ru/street/596692403#7.56/46.35/28 |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Map.md}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Anatoly Serov]]
*[[Chkalov Island]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Baĭdukov, G., ''Over the North Pole'' ([[New York City|New York]]: [[Harcourt, Brace and Company]], 1938).
* ''Id.'', ''Russian Lindbergh: The Life of Valery Chkalov'' ([[Washington, D.C.]]: [[Smithsonian Institution Press]], 1991).
* McCannon, John, ''Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932–1939'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/038125}}

{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chkalov, Valery}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chkalovsk, Russia]]
[[Category:People from Balakhninsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:First convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities]]
[[Category:Soviet Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Soviet test pilots]]
[[Category:Russian aviators]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian explorers]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1938]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Victims of flight test accidents]]
[[Category:Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]