Love 50 years long, 7 children and the North Pole in the life of the legendary pilot Mikhail Vodopyanov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There were two loves in the life of the legendary pilot. One is the sky. Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Vodopyanov accomplished many feats in his life: the first ever landing at the North Pole, rescuing the Chelyuskinites, night bombing of Berlin, and much, much more. The second love of the Major General of Aviation bore the simple Russian name Maria. It was she who was waiting for him from all flights and raised seven children.

Love at first sight

Their acquaintance was pure coincidence. If Maria on that day in 1923 had not agreed to the request of her uncle to replace him in the stall, she might never have seen Mikhail. She worked as a typist, but that day she traded in a shop where Mikhail Vodopyanov, the driver from the airport, was a regular customer.

Seeing a pretty girl instead of a salesman, he simply asked who she was, and then, almost without a pause, suddenly announced that she would become his wife. Masha did not even take his words seriously, but in the evening Mikhail Vodopyanov came to her house and asked her parents for the girl's hand.

Not only Maria was surprised, but also her parents, who suggested that young people first get to know each other better. Less than a year later, Mikhail Vodopyanov became Maria's happy husband. And after that there was almost half a century of happiness, anxiety and undivided, all-consuming love.

Living life is not a field to cross

The newlyweds settled in a small extension between the smithy and the barrack, and at first they lived very modestly. The windows at their dwelling were so low that one day a backward horse squeezed all its rear into one of them. But the spouses were not sad and did not complain about their fate, because many at that time lived much worse than they did.

Already in 1925, the Vodopyanovs celebrated the birth of their first child, and a year later their eldest daughter was born. Mikhail Vodopyanov, who dreamed of the sky, first received the profession of a flight mechanic, then graduated from the Dobrolet flight school, and in 1929 a flight technical school.

In 1933, another son of the Vodopyanovs was born, and the head of the family two weeks after his birth had a terrible accident over Lake Baikal. Maria Dmitrievna left the children with her mother, and she flew away to her husband. Mikhail Vasilyevich was unconscious for two days, then spent another month in the Verkhneudinsk hospital, after which the couple returned to Moscow, where the pilot was treated for a long time at the Prosthetic Institute.

And when Mikhail Vodopyanov was offered to take part in the rescue operation after the crash of the Chelyuskin steamer, Maria Dmitrievna was seriously frightened. The flight was too dangerous, and my husband had not yet fully recovered from the accident. But Mikhail Vasilyevich could not refuse, especially after the news that there were children on board. For his participation in the rescue of passengers, Mikhail Vodopyanov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

From the very first days of the war, Mikhail Vodopyanov went to fight the enemy, although he had a reservation, and Maria Dmitrievna and her family were evacuated to Krasnoyarsk. Back in 1938, the family received a five-room apartment in the third entrance of the legendary house on the Embankment, where Maria Dmitrievna later returned from evacuation with her younger children.

Big family

The Vodopyanovs lived extremely well together. Children's laughter was always heard in their house, and its doors were open to numerous friends. When Mikhail Vasilyevich was returning from another flight, the household recognized him by two long calls. Everyone immediately threw their business and flew into the hallway to meet a dear person.

I must say that in Soviet times he was a legendary person, but he always taught children to be modest. And they never bragged that their father was a hero. Mikhail Vodopyanov from an early age instilled in them the idea that everything must be achieved by one's own labor. Therefore, when one of his sons served in the army, when asked who he was a famous pilot, he replied: "The namesake." I didn't want to be treated in a special way.

Everyone who was familiar with the pilot noted his extraordinary love of life. When Mikhail Vasilyevich entered the room, it seemed to become brighter, so joyful and even radiant was Vodopyanov. Maria Dmitrievna was his first and only love; throughout his life he treated her with the same ardor as in his youth.

The letters of his wife and children warmed him in the most difficult times, he constantly felt invisible support, they allowed him not to give up in the most difficult situations. He himself wrote letters to them about how important the successes of everyone are to him, and how much warmer he becomes from just the thought that he is always expected at home.

They lived together for almost half a century, maintaining love for the sky and for each other. According to the recollections of the grandchildren of the legendary pilot, grandfather and grandmother, even in adulthood, looked at each other with loving eyes. Their lives were often difficult, but invariably happy.

The history of the Chelyuskinites is known not only to those born in the USSR. In the 1930s, news of the rescue of 104 crew members of the Chelyuskin ship, which sank in the Arctic ice, spread all over the world. The team included 10 women and two children. People spent 2 long months on the ice, and it was possible to find them only thanks to the heroism of the Soviet pilots.