Chkalov's co-pilot across the North Pole who became the procurement chief that built Soviet air defence weaponry
On 20 June 1937, high over the Arctic, Chkalov began bleeding from the nose from hypoxia. Baydukov took the controls and flew the ANT-25 the last 13 hours alone, landing it at Vancouver's Pearson Field.
Soviet test pilot, military commander, and the most decorated holder of Soviet orders (21). As Valery Chkalov's co-pilot aboard the ANT-25, he participated in the nonstop flights from Moscow to Udd Island (1936) and Moscow over the North Pole to Vancouver, USA (1937), earning the title Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War he commanded air divisions and an assault aviation corps, and after the war served as head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (1947–1949). From 1957 to 1972, as head of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, he directed all weapons procurement for the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO), becoming a central architect of Soviet air defence capability. A member of the Union of Writers, he authored a biography of Chkalov and multiple aviation memoirs, and served as scientific consultant to the PVO commander-in-chief until 1988.
Career Timeline
- 1926–1928Graduated Leningrad Air Force Theoretical School and Kacha Military Pilots School; fighter pilot
- 1931–1934Test pilot, NII VVS; helped develop instrument flight methods
- 1935–1937Co-pilot, ANT-25 — Moscow–Udd Island (1936) and Moscow–North Pole–Vancouver (1937) nonstop flights; Hero of the Soviet Union
- 1941–1945Commander, 4th Guards Assault Aviation Division, then 4th Assault Aviation Corps — Moscow, Rzhev, and Berlin operations
- 1947–1949Head, Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (GVF)
- 1957–1972Head, 4th Main Directorate, Ministry of Defence — PVO weapons procurement
- 1972–1988Scientific consultant to the PVO commander-in-chief