10 Facts About Vladimir Kokkinaki

Vladimir Kokkinaki's younger brother, Konstantin Kokkinaki, was a distinguished test pilot.

Vladimir Kokkinaki entered the Red Army in 1925, and served in the infantry until July 1927.

Vladimir Kokkinaki then entered the Leningrad Military-Theoretical School of the Red Air Force, from where he graduated in 1928.

Vladimir Kokkinaki subsequently entered the Borisoglebsk pilot school, from where he graduated in 1930.

Vladimir Kokkinaki became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1938.

Vladimir Kokkinaki retired from the Air Force in January 1966, but continued working for OKB Ilyushin in a supervisory capacity with overall responsibility for flight testing, with his last project being the Ilyushin Il-62.

Vladimir Kokkinaki became the vice chairman of Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1961 and assumed the position of chairman in 1966, a position he held until 1967, after which he was appointed to the honorary chairmanship.

Vladimir Kokkinaki lived in Moscow, where he died on 7 January 1985.

Vladimir Kokkinaki is buried in the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow, along with his wife, Valentina.

On 21 November 1935, Vladimir Kokkinaki set an unofficial world record for ceiling in a Polikarpov I-15 fighter, reaching the altitude of 14,575 meters.