Gordienko Mikhail Kharitonovich. A little girl cries for the USSR: everything was real in the Soviet Union. Family section: what is actually shown in the painting

On the twenty-eighth of April 1939, on the runway of the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow, the twin-engine aircraft of Design Bureau S.V. froze in readiness to jump across the ocean. Ilyushin TsKB-30 (DB-3). Two people were preparing for the flight - the crew commander, test pilot Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki, and the navigator Mikhail Kharitonovich Gordienko.

Airplane TsKB-30 "Moscow"

Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki has been a permanent test pilot at the Ilyushin Design Bureau since 1935. It was he who gave a start to life to such world-famous aircraft as the Il-2, Il-10, Il-18, Il-62 and many, many others. He put more than seventy types of experimental aircraft on the wing.

Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki

He was the first to “ventilate” TsKB-30 and conducted all flight tests. The fate of this aircraft is somewhat similar to the fate of the ANT-25. Just like the famous Tupolev car, which, before triumphant flights across North Pole to America was tested on a Far Eastern flight; by April 28, 1939, TsKB-30 had a record flight from Moscow to Vladivostok. It was during this flight over a distance of seven thousand five hundred and eighty kilometers, which took place in the summer of 1938, that V.K. Kokkinaki and A.M. Bryandinsky received the title of Hero Soviet Union.

Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki (left) and Alexander Matveevich Bryandinsky

After the flight to Far East The pilots began preparing for the flight to America, but their plans were disrupted by the death of Bryandinsky. Paying tribute to his memory, I will introduce you to some facts, even if, at first glance, they are not related to the flight overseas.
At the end of September 1938, a female crew consisting of V. Grizodubova, P. Osipenko and M. Raskova flew from Moscow to the Far East on the Rodina aircraft.

Polina Osipenko, Valentina Grizodubova and Marina Raskova (from left to right) at the Rodina plane

This flight (especially its last part) took place in bad weather conditions, with virtually no radio communication and ended with the fact that, to call a spade a spade, the crew got lost and, having run out of fuel, landed in a swamp near the village of Kerby.

Flight map ANT-37bis (DB-2B) "Rodina"

Search planes crisscrossed the skies over the taiga for many days. Nine days passed before pilot M.E. Sakharov discovered Rodina. Ground search groups flocked to the plane, an airborne assault was landed (it was impossible to land next to Rodina in the swamp), and the pilots were dropped from the planes with everything they needed to live in the taiga.
On October 4, Sakharov, who flew for the second time to the place of the emergency landing of the female crew, witnessed the disaster. Here's what he said: From above I saw a Douglas DS-3 flying over Rodina at low altitude, and in the southeast a TB-3 circling over a small valley. Apparently he did not go exactly to the landing site and was looking for it. "Douglas" was approaching TB-3 from behind, closer and closer, and suddenly, cutting off its tail with its wing, went to the ground in a deep spiral and, falling, exploded. TB-3 headed up, made half a loop, lowered its nose at its top point and, in an inverted position - on its back, diving steeply, crashed into the ground. At the moment when it turned upside down, four lumps fell out of it, over which the parachutes opened. No one jumped out of the Douglas.
The sad result of this difficult incident: four were saved, sixteen people died.
And the country rejoiced. The houses were generously draped with scarlet red, the brass of numerous orchestras thundered, and faces shone with happiness. And rallies, rallies, rallies - in honor of the wise leader and his brave daughters. And none of the rejoicing even realized that in the taiga, among the wreckage of two planes, the bodies of sixteen dead were scattered.
Having received the appropriate order, pilot P. Genaev boarded the MBR-2 flying boat on the Amgun River and took the hero’s body from the scene of the disaster Civil War brigade commander Y. Sorokin and Hero of the Soviet Union A. Bryandinsky. They were taken to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and buried there. The remains of the other fourteen people were simply abandoned in the taiga. Only in 1969, thirty years after the disaster, thanks to a letter from schoolchildren from the village of Duki, who reported that hunters had found crashed planes in the taiga and human remains, the latter were buried, and based on materials from the regional party archive, the names of the victims were established.
It was under such sad circumstances that the Soviet Air Force lost its flag navigator, and Kokkinaki - a partner for flying overseas. Appointed to replace the deceased M.Kh. Gordienko began preparing for the flight, which had been postponed until next spring.
A couple more words about the TsKB-30 aircraft, called "Moscow".

Aircraft TsKB-30 (DB-3)

The TsKB-30 (DB-3) aircraft is a purely land machine. And if during the flight to the Far East the entire route ran over land, now most of the path lay over the ocean. The designers of the Ilyushin Design Bureau specially designed and installed devices on the aircraft that would allow the aircraft to float in the event of a forced landing on water. These were an inflatable balloon made of rubberized fabric, installed in the nose of the aircraft, and sealed tanks in the wings. It should be noted that, naturally, this was not the first time that the problem of ensuring the buoyancy of a land aircraft had to be solved. For example, the American pilot Howard Hughes acted wittily when preparing his plane for a flight around the world. He filled all the free space in the wings and fuselage with canvas bags containing twenty-five thousand... ping pong balls. At the cost of increasing the weight of the aircraft by fifty kilograms, the pilot gained confidence in the unsinkability of his aircraft.
So, at four hours and nineteen minutes on the morning of the twenty-eighth of April 1938, TsKB-30 disappeared into the blue morning sky. The flight headquarters started working.
This is not to say that the first half of the journey was very difficult. Weather and unforeseen circumstances did not bother the crew. The final stage of the flight turned out to be diametrically opposite in nature, and the troubles grew like a snowball. After flying over Scandinavia, the plane encountered a strong headwind. The blue sky began to gradually become cloudy. There was a chatter. In the Labrador area, the plane found itself in the grip of heavy clouds. The commander gives full throttle to the engines. The lightweight aircraft quickly gains altitude. It is possible to get out of the “milk” only when the altimeter needle fluctuates at around nine thousand meters. Outside and, naturally, in the cabin - forty-eight degrees below zero. Oxygen is running out. Kokkinaki’s strong health allows him to continue to confidently pilot the car, but Gordienko has already “passed out” several times - he lost consciousness due to oxygen starvation. Night is coming. Below the plane is a dark, dense mass of clouds nine kilometers thick. At this moment, New York issues a landing ban: above the city and the airfield, the cloud base is less than two hundred meters. And the height of some skyscrapers reaches three hundred and fifty meters. The crew decides to return to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and land the plane there.
"Moscow" comes in to land. Here is Kokkinaki’s own story about this final stage of the flight:
When the height was no more than two meters and the plane was already in a horizontal position, I saw on the left side the contours of the coast with a fairly flat surface. Having a small reserve of speed, he immediately made a turn to the left, and almost instantly, the plane touched the ground. I barely had time to shout to Gordienko:
- Get down!
Sliding along the ground about a hundred meters(Kokkinaki landed the plane with the landing gear retracted) , the plane caught on some tree stump with its right engine, turned to the right and stopped.

TsKB-30 "Moscow" after a difficult landing

I had an emergency boat stored behind my head. There was a metal cylinder in the boat. All together it was a tight package. At that moment, when the plane suddenly stopped in place, the package flew out by inertia and hit me on the back of the head. At the same time, the control wheel moved towards me, and I received a blow to the chest.
In general, it turned out to be a combined blow.
I shout:
- Gordienko! Whole?
“It’s intact,” Gordienko answers.
- Well, then we’ve arrived. Get out!

Kokkinaki and Gordienko stepped onto the wing of their car

On May 1, the Soviet government received a telegram from New York: Taking off on April 28 at 4:19 a.m. from Moscow, we flew over the USSR - North America along the route Moscow - Scandinavia - Iceland - Greenland - Labrador - Gulf of St. Lawrence. Had the opportunity to continue the flight further, we decided to stop the flight due to difficult meteorological conditions and land at night on Miskow Island (New Brunswick province). The material part worked flawlessly, there was one and a half thousand kilometers of fuel left...
In response, a telegram was sent to New York with the following content: We warmly congratulate you on the successful completion of an outstanding flight from Moscow to North America. Your flight, which covered 8,000 kilometers in 22 hours and 56 minutes, showed that courageous, brave Soviet pilots can successfully solve the most difficult tasks of world aviation. We hug you, wish you health and firmly shake your hands. On behalf of the USSR government, V. Molotov. I. Stalin.
Thus, this first flight in the history of aviation on one of the most popular routes connecting our country with America ended with a landing on the Canadian island of Miskow. In twenty-two hours and fifty-six minutes, the plane of Kokkinaki and Gordienko covered almost eight thousand kilometers (six thousand five hundred fifteen kilometers in a straight line).
Kokkinaki and Gordienko arrived in New York on May 1, the opening day of the 1939 World's Fair.
Back in Moscow, just before the launch, an adviser to the US Embassy approached the pilot and handed him a letter to hand over to the president of the exhibition.
-Where is the letter? In America? — Kokkinaki asked, smiling.
- Yes, to America.
- There is such a thing! The letter to America will be delivered today!
This was the first case in world practice when on postal envelopes sent from Moscow to America, the departure stamp and the arrival stamp of the correspondence had the same date: 04/28/1939.
In the chain of events associated with the flight, one more thing attracts attention. interesting fact. In 1939, they had not yet thought of awarding honorary titles multiple times; there were no four- or five-time Heroes at that time, so the question of awarding the Hero of the Soviet Union V.K. Kokkinaki for a new outstanding achievement was decided as follows: the pilot was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Medal "For Courage" at the same time, in one decree. The case is unprecedented in domestic practice. By decision of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the pioneer was awarded a diamond “Wind Rose” necklace.

Soon after Non-stop flight to the Far East- pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki and navigator Bryandinsky began preparing the flight to America, but their plans were disrupted by the tragic death of Bryandinsky. Navigator M. Kh. Gordienko was appointed in his place.

On April 28-29, 1939, on a TsKB-30 “Moscow” aircraft, the crew consisting of test pilot commander Vladimir Kokkinaki and navigator M.Kh. Gordienko made a non-stop flight from Moscow to North America.

The flight of Vladimir Kokkinaki’s crew lasted 22 hours 56 minutes. The Moscow plane covered a distance of 8 thousand km (6516 km in a straight line) along the route Moscow - Helsinki - Trondheim - Reykjavik - Cape Farwell (Greenland) - Miskow Island (Canada). 4 thousand km went over the seas and oceans. After crossing the border of the USSR, a leak was discovered in the tank, and the autopilot failed. In the final phase of the flight, over Labrador, a powerful cyclone forced Kokkinaki to gain a height of 9 thousand meters. A long flight at such an altitude without an autopilot was an ordeal. The temperature in the unpressurized cabin dropped to –50°C. A malfunction of the radio compass in conditions of heavy clouds and deepening twilight led to loss of orientation. Due to severe weather conditions, east coast airports were not accepting. The only solution before dark was an immediate landing. The pilot made an emergency landing in the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick, on the marshy soil of Miskow Island, almost blindly, with the landing gear retracted. So he saved the navigator, who was in the glass bow cockpit.

The crew took off from the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow on April 28 at 4 hours 19 minutes and in 22 hours 56 minutes the Moskva plane covered almost eight thousand kilometers. The selected launch time ensured that the entire flight along the route followed the sun, in daytime conditions. This made it easier for the crew to navigate and determine the location of the aircraft.

1. Discussion of the route of a non-stop flight to North America with my wife Valentina. Moscow. April 1939

2. In front of the map of the route “Moscow - New York”. Moscow. April 1939
3. Vladimir Kokkinaki in his office with a model of the MOSCOW aircraft. Moscow, 1939
4. V. Kokkinaki is preparing for departure. Moscow region. Shchelkovo airfield. 4 a.m. April 28, 1939
5. Kokkinaki checks his watch before departure
6. Engineer Kirill Petrov (left) and aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin (right) see off the crew

1. Discussion of the route of a non-stop flight to North America with his wife Valentina. Moscow. April 1939 The press photo demonstrates the resolution of an issue of national importance within the family circle. In languid anticipation of government permission for departure, which is constantly postponed due to bad weather, the route is discussed with his wife Valentina. A faithful companion shares the difficulties of aviation everyday life and inspires you to make discoveries.
2. In front of the Moscow route map–NY". Moscow. April 1939 Kokkinaki shows which route between Moscow and New York the crew will have to travel for the first time without landing, using an “orthodrome”, i.e. the shortest line between two points on the surface of rotation (the pilot calls it an “arc great circle"). One of the main dangers of the flight was overcoming the attack of headwinds from the Atlantic. The winds “stole” the speed and could significantly deviate the plane from the intended trajectory.

3. Vladimir Kokkinaki in his office with a model of the MOSCOW aircraft. Moscow, 1939 Photo: A. Mezhuev.

The pilot's attention is focused on the bomber model. This is a gift from the team of the plant named after. V.R. Menzhinsky, where the aircraft was created. V. Kokkinaki has already demonstrated the capabilities of Soviet aviation on it, having made a non-stop flight from Moscow to Spassk-Dalniy (Vladivostok region). He will use the same car to travel across the North Atlantic. The map on the wall of the office is a characteristic sign of the times. The brigade commander is well acquainted not only with the geography of Russia, but also with political map peace. USSR on the eve of war. The bomber will play an important role in the victory over Germany.

4.Vladimir Kokkinaki is preparing for departure. Moscow region. Shchelkovo airfield. 4 a.m. April 28, 1939

Vladimir Kokkinaki is wearing a suede jumpsuit with squirrel fur, fur mittens and a helmet, white high boots, and a parachute. Ahead of us is almost a day of constant piloting of the aircraft at temperatures dropping to –50° C.

5. Vladimir Kokkinaki checks his watch before departure. Moscow region. Shchelkovo airfield. 4 a.m. April 28, 1939.Photo: B. Fishman, D. Chernov. TASS photo chronicle

The pilot does not yet know that the autopilot will fail shortly after takeoff and he will have to fly the heavy bomber “by hand,” that is, maintain pressure on the steering wheel throughout the entire journey. A pilot's job in the 1930s. was characterized by titanic loads. Vladimir Kokkinaki himself made fun of the calluses from the helm, recalling his work as a port loader in Novorossiysk.

6. Engineer Kirill Petrov (left) and aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin (right) see off the crew. Moscow region. Shchelkovo airfield. 4 am April 28, 1939 Photo: B. Fishman, D. Chernov. TASS photo chronicle

Forecasters brought latest reports weather. In several places along the route, powerful cyclones awaited the crew. But the pilot believed that it was no longer possible to delay. The time of departure was approaching, which increased the excitement of those seeing off.

4 hours 19 minutes in the morning April 28, 1939. Moscow region. Shchelkovo airfield. Photo: B. Fishman, D. Chernov. TASS photo chronicle

Members of the government arrived at the airfield. The eastern edge of the sky gradually brightened. The first rocket soared into the air. Everything is ready for the start.

Bring on the engines! - Kokkinaki commanded. The mourners had not yet left the runway.

4. Russian-speaking doctor Louis Specter examines V. Kokkinaki. Miscoe Island, Canada. April 29, 1939
6. Vladimir Kokkinaki poses for the press in the cockpit of the MOSCOW plane. Misku Island, Canada. April 29, 1939
7. Vladimir Kokkinaki on Miskou Island. April 30. At the top of the photo is the text of the USSR government’s welcoming radiogram. Photomontage
8. V. Kokkinaki and M. Gordienko go to visit local residents. Miscoe Island, Canada. April 30, 1939

1. Aerial photography of the MOSCOW aircraft

Miskow Island, New Brunswick, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. April 29, 1939 Photo: Charlie Hoff

All east coast airfields, including New York, were turned away due to bad weather. Severe weather conditions, a faulty radio compass and depleted oxygen supplies forced Kokkinaki to land off the coast of Canada, on the tiny Miskow Island.

The landing was masterfully accomplished by the pilot on swampy soil, with the landing gear retracted, near coastline bay. The red color of the aircraft's wings, associated with the flag of the Soviet Union, justified its intended purpose, making it easier to find the crew.

The photo was taken by one of the first American reporters to arrive at the scene.

Lieven Lanteigne, a resident of Miskow, then a 9-year-old boy, recalled: “We had only seen ducks before, and never a plane, even in the sky. It was great!”

The plane's propellers and engine frame are broken. Until the beginning of June, the car remained at the landing site under the supervision of security and was later transported to the USSR. On display at the Museum Air Force(city of Monino near Moscow) there is an identical copy of a long-range bomber.

3. Crew members with support group

The support group included the Russian representative from Washington, Pyotr Baranov, and Albert Lodwick, vice president of the Aviation Corporation. He provided invaluable assistance during the expedition. Local residents offered shelter and food to the crew members. The first had to be abandoned (it was impossible to leave the plane without permission from the flight headquarters), the second was accepted with enthusiasm. In the background is an inflatable boat that served as a temporary shelter for the crew commander.

4. Russian-speaking doctor Louis Specter examines V. Kokkinaki. Miscoe Island, Canada. April 29, 1939

During landing, V. Kokkinaki was hit in the back of the head and chest. The doctor examines chest pilot and states a rib contusion.

5. Doctor Louis Specter examines the navigator's cabin

V. Kokkinaki masterfully mastered aerobatics techniques. Only this made it possible to avoid the death of the navigator. M. Gordienko's cabin was located in the protruding part of the fuselage and did not communicate with the pilot's cabin. When landing in a swamp, the plane could stand on its nose, the navigation cabin would be flattened, and the person in it would be killed. Kokkinaki managed to land the car on the belly of the fuselage without releasing the landing gear. The navigator remained unharmed.

6. Vladimir Kokkinaki poses for the press in the cockpit of the MOSCOW aircraft. Misko Island, Canada. April 29, 1939

Witness to the event, Ivan Robichaud (president of the Nicolas-Denis Historical Society) dedicated a separate issue of the magazine to the Moscow-Miskou flight. He recalled: “Everyone in the media was trying to get to Miskow. As soon as the sun rose, two aircraft left Moncton, the nearest airport to Miscoe, and flew to the scene.” While the crew was awaiting transportation, reporters were photographing them.

7. The crew of the MOSCOW plane awaiting transportation to New York. Miscoe Island, Canada. April 30, 1939

Judging by the mood of the pilot and navigator, it is clear that the radiogram is from Soviet government already received from Moscow. Tense anticipation gave way to excitement before the upcoming meeting with New York.

Cormier studio. Bathurst NB.

8. Vladimir Kokkinaki on Miskou Island

NY
vol. V. Kokkinaki, M. Gordienko

We warmly congratulate you on the successful completion of an outstanding flight from Moscow to North America.

Your flight, which covered 8,000 kilometers in 22 hours and 56 minutes, showed that courageous, brave Soviet pilots can successfully solve the most difficult problems of world aviation.

We hug you, wish you health and shake your hands tightly.

On behalf of the USSR government
V. MOLOTOV. I. STALIN.

9. V. Kokkinaki and M. Gordienko are going to visit local residents

Having received permission to leave the plane, the crew members took advantage of the courtesy of local residents. They were waiting for a plane that was supposed to take them to the town of Moncton (Canada), and then to Floyd Bennett Field Airport near New York. Later, Vladimir Kokkinaki recalled the enthusiasm with which the Canadians and Americans greeted the crew.
Navigator Mikhail Gordienko recalled: “While he was boarding the plane, Kokkinaki’s fur boots were stolen from his feet in Canada as a souvenir, even with the help of the police they could not be found. They ask for autographs, and if that fails, then at least touch us. My advantage was that I was smaller. Kokkinaki emerged from the crowd wet and tired.”

A Lockheed plane provided to meet the heroes of the flight. Floyd Bennett Field Airport. April 30, 1939

Millionaire Harold Vanderbilt provided the crew with a 14-seater Lockheed plane, which was supposed to meet the MOSCOW plane in the air and escort it to land. The word "HELLO" was written on the fuselage.

To make it easier to tune the on-board radio of the MOSCOW aircraft, American radio stations broadcast the music of N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Scheherazade” at certain intervals.

1. Presentation of Moscow correspondence to the Chairman of the New York World's Fair Committee, Grover Whalen

Vladimir Kokkinaki presents the President of the World Exhibition with correspondence from Moscow - a message from the US Embassy in the USSR and a letter from himself. There are two stamps on the envelopes: “Moscow, April 28, 4 a.m.” and “April 28, Miscoe Lighthouse, Canada.” K. Whalen noted that in one day the crew covered a distance that the fastest trains and ships take up to 10 days to cover, and congratulated “the pioneers of tomorrow, conquering space and time.” He expressed the hope that this flight would form the basis for regular air communications between the USSR and the USA. The wish came true in 1959, when the route proposed by V. Kokkinaki became a regular route.

2. At a reception at the USSR Embassy in New York. Second from left is Vladimir Kokkinaki, second from right - Mikhail Gordienko. May 1939

The heroes of the flight were honored at the Soviet embassy. The ceremonial meeting was also organized at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Official portrait of the heroes of the flight at the Soviet embassy. NY. May 1939

State Archive of the Russian Federation

Photos from album"Soviet Pavilion at the New York World's Fair 1939"

The picture reproduces the picturesque panel “Notable People of the Country” created by the team of artist Vasily Efanov. A panel measuring 11 x 17 meters decorated one of the halls of the USSR pavilion at the World Exhibition.

Among the characters are the legendary Soviet pilots - Valery Chkalov, Vladimir Kokkinaki, Mikhail Gromov.

The panel burned down during the Second World War.

V. Kokkinaki and M. Gordienko at a meeting with visitors to the World Exhibition

The flight was timed to coincide with the opening of the World's Fair, held in 1939 in New York under the title “The World of Tomorrow.” From the second half of the 19th century centuries, World Exhibitions were a grandiose spectacle and demonstrated advanced achievements in all branches of knowledge.

Crowds of visitors surrounded the heroes of the non-stop flight. The sensational nature of the event was actively supported by the press.

State Archive of the Russian Federation.

Soviet pilots - pioneers of air routes May 29th, 2016

Airplane TsKB-30 before takeoff. Reproduction of a photograph from 1939.

How Soviet pilots paved the air route for civil aviation from Moscow to USA

Back in 1937, Soviet pilots Valery Chkalov and Mikhail Gromov were the first in the world to make a non-stop flight from Moscow to the United States. However, this record-breaking flight took place through the North Pole, that is, along a route inaccessible to civil aviation.

At that time, airplanes, especially passenger planes, flew relatively low. And during the flight across the pole, this made them dependent on weather conditions, especially rapidly changing in the Arctic latitudes. Creation of a network of reliably operating meteorological stations and alternate airfields on the ice of the Northern Arctic Ocean even today is a difficult and unsafe task.

Therefore, for regular non-stop civil aviation flights from Moscow to the USA and back, it was necessary to find another route that was easier for technology. Pilot Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki and navigator Mikhail Kharitonovich Gordienko decided to fly a more “southern” route along the so-called orthodromic arc (the shortest distance between two points on the surface of the ball), from Russia, over Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, over the North Atlantic and Canada to the USA. Equipping such an air route for regular passenger aircraft would be a simpler task compared to the route through the North Pole.

It was decided to take the first flight along the chosen route on a prepared TsKB-30 “Moscow” aircraft. It was a modification of the DB-3 bomber, created by the outstanding Soviet aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin. Four years ago, it was Vladimir Kokkinaki who first took this car into the sky.

Now this plane was prepared for flight across the North Atlantic. The long-range bomber's weapons were removed and instead, additional fuel tanks were installed in the bomb bay and gunner's cockpit. The cockpits of the pilot and navigator were equipped with the most advanced navigation equipment at that time. Since the planes of those years were still not pressurized, and they had to fly at high altitudes with thin air, the pilots were provided with the necessary supply of liquid oxygen with an appropriate set of breathing devices.

The experimental flight began in the early morning of April 28, 1939. Airplane with own name"Moscow", piloted by pilot Kokkinaki and navigator Gordienko, took off from the Shchelkovo airfield near Moscow at 4:19 am. This launch time was chosen so that the entire flight followed the sun, in daytime conditions. This made it easier for the crew to navigate and determine the location of the aircraft.

At an altitude of more than 5 km, the plane passed over Scandinavia. But the path to Greenland was blocked by a powerful cyclone, and the plane had to gain an altitude of over 7 km. For many hours, pilot Kokkinaki and navigator Gordienko were forced to keep their oxygen masks on while at high altitude and in continuous clouds.

At the final stage of the journey, the flight altitude was already about 9 km; only by force of will did the crew remain operational. Guided only by instruments, the pilot and navigator flew the plane towards the American continent.

Bad weather over the east coast of the United States did not allow the plane to land as planned in New York. The Moscow crew changed course, and at dusk on April 29, 1939, they managed to land the plane with the landing gear retracted on the small marshy island of Miskow in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In less than 24 hours, in 22 hours 56 minutes, Vladimir Kokkinaki and Mikhail Gordienko flew from Moscow to America, covering about 8 thousand kilometers (6515 km in a straight line) at an average speed of 348 km/h. Already on May 1, 1939, our pilots were greeted with triumph at international exhibition in New York, and a telegram was sent to them from Moscow, signed by the highest leaders of the USSR - Stalin and Molotov: “We warmly congratulate you on the successful completion of the outstanding flight Moscow - North America. Your flight showed that courageous and brave Soviet pilots can successfully solve the most difficult tasks of world aviation. We hug you, wish you health and shake your hands tightly.”

So for the first time in the world it was passed air route, which already in the second half of the 20th century became a route for regular passenger flights from Moscow to New York and back. Non-stop flights of civil air transport along the route laid on April 29, 1939 by the crew of Kokkinaki and Gordienko began in 1959 and continue today.

Gordienko Mikhail Kharitonovich. A little girl cries for the USSR: everything was real in the Soviet Union. Family section: what is actually shown in the painting

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