14 Facts About Valery Chkalov

Valery Chkalov was the son of a ship boiler-maker at the Vasselyevo Ship Yard on the River Volga.

Valery Chkalov's mother died when he was six years old.

Valery 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.

Valery Chkalov then got a job as a stoker on a river dredger: the Bayan.

Valery Chkalov saw his first plane in 1919 and decided to join the Red Army's air force, joining first at age 16 as a mechanic.

Valery Chkalov trained as a pilot at the Yegoryevsk Training School and graduated in 1924 joining a fighter squadron.

Valery Chkalov married Olga Orekhova, a schoolteacher from Leningrad, in 1927.

Valery Chkalov's feats included doing 250 loop-the-loops in 45 minutes.

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

Valery Chkalov died on 15 December 1938 while piloting a prototype of the Polikarpov I-180 fighter, which crashed during its maiden test flight.

Valery 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.

Valery Chkalov was able to avoid several buildings, but struck an overhead powerline.

Valery Chkalov was thrown from the cockpit, sustaining severe injuries, and died two hours later.

Valery 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.