Why the virtuoso pilot General Gromov remained in the shadow of the legendary Chkalov

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

Colonel-General Mikhail Gromov dedicated his life to aviation, making record-breaking non-stop flights. Being a natural explorer, the virtuoso and competent pilot did not see himself in the military industry, preferring risky test flights. He considered it necessary to go to the front only at the direction of the commander-in-chief. And few people then knew that behind the shoulders of Stalin's own confidant was the school of painting, the championship in weightlifting and serious achievements in the field of equestrian sports.

Champion weightlifter and Chkalov in students

Mikhail Gromov was brought up in the family of a military doctor. Parents raised their son morally and physically strong, versatile. At preschool age, the boy mastered swimming and small-caliber weapons, in the company of his father he practiced gymnastic apparatus. Nature laid down musical and artistic talents in Gromov, so drawing and singing were an integral part of his life. Another deep affection from childhood were horses, which he was seriously fond of until old age.

In a real school, Misha took up aircraft modeling, making gliders and aircraft models. A 15-year-old teenager collided with a real combat aircraft in World War I, having come to see his father at the front-line hospital. At the Higher Technical School, Gromov went deep into weightlifting, setting Moscow records and earning the nickname "elephant". With the army conscription, the recruit got into theoretical aviation courses, where he established himself with future reference points. Having successfully completed his studies, Gromov went to the capital's aviation school, where he later became an instructor.

At the height of the Civil War, a combat use group was formed at the school, led by Mikhail. During this period, he mastered the best combat aircraft of that time. Weightlifting remained a serious hobby, and in 1923 Gromov became the first in the country. One of the students of Mikhail Mikhailovich was the legendary Chkalov in the future. Speaking about the former ward, Gromov said that he flew roughly, but insanely brave. And he added that he always knew that such recklessness would sooner or later end in disaster.

Record flights and "Pilot number one"

Despite the authority and fame, Gromov all his life remained in the shadow of the most famous Soviet pilots. The reason for this is innate intelligence and work for the result, and not for ovation. In 1925, the 26-year-old Gromov, as part of a group of 6 aircraft, made the first long-range flight in the history of the Soviet Union to Beijing. Despite many adventures and forced landings, 5 cars after 52 hours and 6500 km landed in the capital of China. Then Gromov received the title "Honored Pilot of the USSR" and the Order of the Red Banner. After the next record flight to Tokyo, Asia applauded Mikhail Gromov. A new three-day foray into the skies through European capitals has generated an information boom abroad. Foreign pilots highly appreciated the brilliant Soviet flight, and Gromov got a second nickname - "Pilot No. 1".

On June 23, 1927, Mikhail Mikhailovich for the first time in the USSR left the plane with a parachute. During the tests of the fighter for a spin, the engine stalled, and Gromov had to be forced to flee under the dome. In the summer of 1929, Gromov, flying the ANT-9 "Wings of the Soviets", covered 9 thousand kilometers, circling Europe in 53 hours. This event was another triumph of Soviet aviation. And in 1934, at the helm of ANT-25, Gromov's crew had already conquered a distance of 12,411 km, setting a new world record for flight range. Then Colonel Mikhail Mikhailovich received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The disaster of "Maxim Gorky" and the miraculous salvation

In the spring of 1934, the first ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" arrived at the test airfield. Gromov, with bleeding ulcers, was hospitalized by a lucky chance. So the illness may have saved his life. On May 18, 1935, while approaching one of the loops, pilot Blagin, accompanying the ANT-20, fell off at the top point and crashed into Maxim Gorky. The car began to break apart in the air. Then fifty people were killed: the entire crew and 38 passengers, among whom were employees of the experimental plant and members of their families, including children. And Mikhail Gromov was supposed to fly the plane that day.

Chkalov's shadow and personal contact with Stalin

Once, in a conversation with Chkalov, Mikhail Mikhailovich proposed to conquer the North Pole with two planes at once. We talked and put it off for later. But in the spring of 1937, Gromov, who had returned from the hospital, learned that Chkalov had submitted an application to Stalin with a request to allow him to fly to America via the North Pole. But Chkalov did not mention his partners. On the same day, Gromov submitted a similar application, having received the approval of the higher management. Both pilots began to prepare for the flight. The tests of the engine of the Gromov machine were coming to an end, and one fine day its engine was not in place. Without the knowledge of Gromov, the heart of the plane was moved to the Chkalov apparatus.

Then Chkalov flew away on his own, and it was pointless to raise a wave of indignation. But Mikhail Mikhailovich was not going to give up, and decided to fly. The crew undertook a lot of cunning measures by the ship's commander, gaining a potential advantage over Chkalov. As a result, Gromov broke past achievements, setting two new world records at once.

There is an assumption among historians that Chkalov then received an advantage in relegation not because of a thirst for primacy, but banally for political reasons. Chkalov's crew came from workers-peasants who were full members of the Communist Party. But Gromov's associates differed unfavorably against this background. Gromov and Yumashev were of noble origin, Danilin's mother was from a wealthy merchant family. And the entire crew in full force was non-partisan.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Gromov was appointed commander of the air force for the Kalinin Front. Mikhail Mikhailovich freed Rzhev, where he spent his childhood. Despite the success of the operations under the guidance of a seasoned test pilot, he did not want to engage in military affairs. Gromov often repeated that the war for him is a human pathology, with which it is high time to end, which regularly caused condemnation in the eyes of his front-line colleagues.

There were also unprecedented incidents in aviation. For example, when the Soviet MiG flew to Europe without a pilot, and how it all ended.