Lyapidevsky Anatoly Vasilievich - biography. Major General of Aviation Pilot

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A.V. Lyapidevsky - pilot, major general of aviation (1946), first Hero of the Soviet Union (1934).

Born 10/ March 23 1908 in the village of Belaya Glina, Stavropol province (now Krasnodar region) in the family of a priest. A family from a dynasty of clergy in the Tula province. He spent his childhood in Yeisk. He worked as a helper in a forge, as a mechanic's apprentice, as a mower mechanic, and as an assistant driver at an oil factory.

In the Red Army since 1926. In 1927 he graduated from the Leningrad Military Theoretical School of the Air Force, in 1928 - from the Sevastopol School of Naval Pilots. He served in the combat unit of the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, then as an instructor pilot at the Yeisk School of Naval Pilots. Since 1933 - in reserve. He worked as a pilot in the Far Eastern Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet.

In 1934 he took part in the rescue of the Chelyuskinites. He made 29 search flights on the ANT-4 in blizzards and bad weather before, on March 5, 1934, having discovered their camp, he landed on an ice floe and took out 12 people - 10 women and two children.

Notes in the margins: Years later, Lyapidevsky recalled: “We prepared to throw the Chelyuskinites onto the ice floe 29 times. We took off, set a course and returned each time - the elements were raging, the frost reached forty degrees, and then we flew without glass covers over the cockpit and even without goggles, we just wrapped our faces in reindeer skin and left small slits for our eyes. But nothing saved me from the cold. There was no radio communication on the planes, meaning you had to rely entirely on your experience. But finally, on the 30th flight, I discovered this camp. I decided to sit down. I came in to land once, twice, but for a large heavy vehicle the area was very small, only 400 by 150 meters. If I miss, I’ll hit the ice, if I slip through, I’ll fall into the water. I made two circles and landed on the ice floe at minimum speed. When I got out, everyone around was screaming, hugging, and trying to kiss. And I have one thought in my head: damn, how am I going to fly out of here?!”

The Soviet propaganda machine turned the bungling of officials who left the ship without icebreaker escort into an epic feat to save the Chelyuskinites. Moreover, the rescue campaign itself was in no way inferior in its drama to the tragedy of the miraculously surviving polar explorers.

For the courage and heroism shown in saving the Chelyuskinites, Lyapidevsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin on April 20, 1934. On November 4, 1939, when presenting the Gold Star medals, he was awarded medal No. 1. Why was he the first? And idk!.. That’s what the “father of nations” decided.

Since 1935, again in the ranks of the army. In 1939 he graduated from the engineering faculty of the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. Since 1939 - Deputy Head of the Main Inspectorate of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, Director of Aviation Plant No. 156 (Moscow, since October 1941 - Omsk).

Member of the Great Patriotic War: from May to September 1942 - head of the 4th department of the Air Force Research Institute, in September 1942 - September 1943 - deputy commander of the 19th Army Air Force, head of field repairs of the 7th Air Army (Karelian Front).

Since 1943 - again director of the aircraft plant. After the end of the war, he worked as chief controller of the State Control of the USSR, deputy minister of aviation industry, and director of a plant of the Ministry of Medium Engineering. Since 1961, Aviation Major General A.V. Lyapidevsky has been in reserve.

By the way, few people know that Lyapidevsky’s son-in-law was National artist Russia Anatoly Kuznetsov - Comrade Sukhov from " White sun desert."

He died on April 29, 1983, having caught a cold at the funeral of V. Molokov, who, by the way, together with S. Lyapidevsky, was one of his first instructors. For Anatoly Vasilyevich, a leukemia patient, this cold became fatal. Buried in Moscow, on Novodevichy Cemetery.

Awarded three orders of Lenin, orders October revolution, Red Banner, Patriotic War 1st and 2nd degree, Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Red Star, Order of the Badge of Honor, medals. Streets in Moscow and many cities are named after him former Union. There is a memorial plaque installed on the house where he lived (Nikitsky Boulevard, 9).

Anatoly Vasilievich Lyapidevsky born March 23, 1908 in the village. Belaya Glina (Krasnodar region), in a family of clergy. The future hero spent his childhood in Yeisk. When the boy turned 12 years old, he went to work in the village. Staroshcherbinskaya (Kuban), where he worked as a farm laborer for almost 4 years. Then he became a blacksmith's assistant and a mechanic's apprentice, and after that he became an assistant driver of an oil mill.

In 1926, Lyapidevsky joined the Red Army, and when the party’s slogans, calling on young people to join the ranks of the aviation, swept across the country, the young guy fulfilled his old dream - to next year successfully completed military theoretical school for pilots. Experienced instructors Sigismund Levanevsky and Vasily Molokov became his mentors.

In 1928, Anatoly Lyapidevsky became a graduate of the Sevastopol Higher School of Red Sea Pilots. Seniority The guy in this field passed through the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, as well as through the Yeisk Naval Flying School, where he worked as an instructor pilot. In 1933 he went into reserve.

But even after this, Lyapidevsky did not abandon his love for the sky and asked to work on one of the most difficult flight lines - Sakhalin, where he was a pilot on the board of the Civil Air Fleet Far East. Then, already in the Far North, he worked in a control unit polar aviation Main Northern Sea Route.

In 1934, he had the opportunity to participate in the rescue of a team of Chelyuskinites who were captured by polar ice. He was the very first to arrive in the disaster zone and made as many as twenty-nine search flights in a terrible snowstorm on his twin-engine ANT-4 aircraft, which at first did not lead to success. Finally, on March 5, 1934, Anatoly Lyapidevsky managed to discover Schmidt’s camp, board a drifting ice floe and take out ten women and two infants.

The feat of a twenty-five year old young guy made him famous far beyond the borders of the USSR. Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky began to be considered the best polar pilot in the whole world, but... too secret. Because of the Iron Curtain, foreign journalists had to be content with only crumbs of information about his biography.

For his accomplished polar feat, Anatoly Lyapidevsky, the very first in the USSR, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin on April 20, 1934. And on November 4, 1939, he was awarded the Gold Star medal number 1.

In 1935, Anatoly Lyapidevsky returned to the army, at the same time entering the military air academy them. Zhukovsky. After graduating from the university, in 1939 he was appointed to the position of deputy head of the inspection of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry, and from October 1941, Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky headed aircraft plant No. 156 in the capital.

When did the Great Patriotic War begin? A.V. Lyapidevsky headed the fourth department of the Air Force Research Institute, and in September 1943 he was appointed deputy commander of the Nineteenth Army Air Force. After this, the experienced manager and pilot was sent to the Karelian Front as the head of field repairs of the Seventh Air Army.

From 1943 until the end of the war, Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky headed the aircraft plant. After the end of the Second World War, he was the chief controller of the State Control of the USSR, the first deputy minister of aviation industry, and led a plant controlled by the Ministry of Mechanical Engineering. In 1961, Aviation Major General Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky retired to the reserve.

He died on April 29, 1983 from a cold. The hero was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Biographies and exploits of Heroes of the Soviet Union and holders of Soviet orders:

Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky March 10 (23), 1908 (19080323) April 29, 1983 Place of birth ... Wikipedia

Encyclopedia "Aviation"

Lyapidevsky Anatoly Vasilievich- A.V. Lyapidevsky Lyapidevsky Anatoly Vasilyevich (19081983) Soviet pilot, Major General of Aviation (1946), Hero of the Soviet Union (1934, certificate No. 1). Graduated from the Sevastopol Naval Pilot School (1928), Air Force... ... Encyclopedia "Aviation"

- (1908 83) pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1934), major general of aviation (1946). In 1934 he took part in the rescue of the crew of the steamer Chelyuskin. During the Great Patriotic War, the director of an aircraft plant... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- [born 10 (23). March 1908, the village of Beloglinskaya, now the village of Belaya Glina, Krasnodar Territory], Soviet pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (20.4.1934), Major General of Aviation (1946). Member of the CPSU since 1934. In the Red Army since 1926, graduated from Sevastopol school... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia

- (1908 1983) Soviet pilot, Major General of Aviation (1946), Hero of the Soviet Union (1934, certificate No. 1). He graduated from the Sevastopol Naval Pilot School (1928), the Air Force Academy of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army named after Professor N. E... Encyclopedia of technology

- (1908 1983), pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1934), major general of aviation (1946). In 1934 he took part in the rescue of the crew of the steamship Chelyuskin. During the Great Patriotic War, director of an aircraft plant. * * * LYAPIDEVSKY Anatoly Vasilievich... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (03/23/1908 04/29/1983) first Hero of the Soviet Union (1934), Major General of Aviation (1946). In aviation since 1928. He served in the aviation of the Baltic Fleet, then was an instructor at the Yeisk Aviation School. Since 1933 he worked as a pilot in the Far Eastern Directorate... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

(March 10 (23), 1908 - April 29, 1983) - Soviet pilot, first Hero of the Soviet Union (1934), Major General of Aviation (1946).

Anatoly was born on March 23, 1908 in Cossack village White Clay (Krasnodar region). His father was a village priest. Tolya spent his childhood in the town of Yeisk on the shores of the Azov Sea.

WITH youth have worked. When the time came and Anatoly was drafted into the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, he decided to enter the naval school. However, his “non-proletarian origin” did not allow him to become a military sailor. Someone, feeling sorry for the guy, advised him to go to pilot school. Well, being a pilot is also a man’s profession, Anatoly decided. In 1927 he graduated from the Leningrad Military Theoretical School of Pilots.

In 1928 he completed his studies at the Sevastopol Higher School of Red Naval Pilots. He served in the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, and then as an instructor pilot at the School of Naval Pilots and Flying Officers named after. Stalin in Yeisk.

Colonel General of Aviation N.P. Kamanin recalled: “Anatoly Lyapidevsky is a Kuban Cossack, a man of broad nature, a curly haired, tightly built, strong man. He began his journey in aviation at my native Leningrad school of theoretical training - “Groat”. But if I came to the “grater” straight from school, then Anatoly before him worked in a forge, in a metal shop, in an oil factory, and as an assistant driver on a bus. When the cry swept across the country: “Youth into aviation!” - Anatoly Lyapidevsky accomplished his cherished dream: became a pilot. Experienced instructors Vasily Molokov and Sigismund Levanevsky gave him a ticket to heaven.”

In 1933, Anatoly Lyapidevsky was sent to the reserve. He left the army for the Civil Air Fleet and asked to work on one of the most difficult lines - Sakhalin to the Chukotka detachment of the Polar Aviation Directorate of the Main Northern Sea Route. Flew from Khabarovsk across the Tatar Strait to Aleksandrovsk. This route is very difficult, but, having mastered it, Lyapidevsky transferred to the Far North. Meanwhile, the steamship that immortalized Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky had already set sail.

On August 2, 1933, taking 112 people on board, the Chelyuskin steamship left Murmansk for Vladivostok.

He worked out a scheme for delivering cargo along the Northern Sea Route during one summer navigation. On the Northern Sea Route, which allows cargo to be transported by sea to the Far East and Southeast Asia, The USSR had high hopes. The expedition was led by Otto Yulievich Schmidt. On difficult sections of the route, the participation of the icebreaker Krasin was planned in guiding the Chelyuskin through the ice fields. At the same time, the Krasin was responsible for transporting three cargo ships from Arkhangelsk to the mouth of the Lena. In 1933, the ice condition off the Taimyr Peninsula was extremely unfavorable, so there was concern that without the help of the Krasin, cargo ships would not be able to get back to Arkhangelsk. Since the Chelyuskin was moving forward successfully by that time, it was decided to leave the Krasin to help the Lena steamships. It was wrong decision. "Chelyuskin" got caught in the ice and drifted with it for several months.

On February 13, 1934, as a result of strong compression, it was crushed by ice and sank within two hours.

Even in advance, fearing such an outcome, the crew of the steamship prepared everything necessary for unloading onto the surrounding ice, including bricks and boards from which the barracks were built. As a result of the disaster, 104 people ended up on the ice in polar winter conditions.

Two days after the shipwreck in Moscow, a special commission was formed, headed by Valerian Kuibyshev. In search of the expedition to Chukotka, 3 planes flew from Khabarovsk, 5 from Cape Olyutorsky, 2 from Alaska.

The steamships Smolensk, Stalingrad and Sovet left Vladivostok with rescue parties, airplanes and airships. From the west, heading towards the Chukchi Sea, the icebreaker Krasin was sailing.

To evacuate people from the ice floe, several groups of pilots who had experience flying in difficult weather conditions were sent along different routes.

The crew of pilot Anatoly Lyapidevsky turned out to be the closest. It was there, in the Far North, that the pilot received an order to fly to the aid of the “Chelyuskinites,” and Lyapidevsky, without even thinking about such an order, told his crew: “...we are flying to save the “Chelyuskinites!” The crew of ANT-4, which, in addition to the aircraft commander Anatoly Lyapidevsky, included: second pilot E.M. Konkin, navigator L.V. Petrov and flight mechanic M.A. Rukovskaya had to not only find a drifting ice floe, but also land a heavy plane on an improvised airfield (!), which no one in the world had ever managed (!).

Among other things, the pilots struggled with bad weather - severe frosts and winds. Lyapidevsky's crew was the first to arrive in Uelen at Cape Dezhnev, where a base was set up to rescue the Chelyuskinites. This was his first flight to the North. From there they were supposed to fly out to search and rescue those in distress. Time to thoroughly prepare for search expedition it wasn’t - people’s lives were at stake. After all, many pilots rushed to the aid of the Chelyuskinites, but they did not even manage to fly to Uelen, some crashed the plane, some were unable to fly further for technical reasons. A. Lyapidevsky’s crew had a rough idea of ​​where they needed to look for the “Chelyuskinites” camp, but these were all guesses, and they still had to search “blindly.” But they could not fly out in search: “... it is difficult to describe our experiences. A blizzard is raging, the wind with a devilish whistle mocks our powerlessness. You can't even ride dogs, let alone fly! They’re ready to gnaw their elbows out of frustration!!,” recalled A. Lyapidevsky. Moreover, in order to start the engines, it was necessary to heat the oil in them, and they heated it with an open fire and then poured it into the engine crankcases. And the water and oil took a very long time to heat up. Moreover, the engines did not start at the same time, it often happened like this: one had already started, but the other could not start for a long time, as a result, there was not enough banal daylight for a search flight. And so every day, with every engine. And the conditions in which Lyapidevsky flew were such that a once-forgotten fur mask and a lost glove while flying in an open cockpit in 35-degree frost cost him a frostbitten, blackened, bleeding and cracked face. It was necessary to hospitalize him, but Lyapidevsky was so possessed by the fanaticism of completing the mission and saving people that, not noticing the injuries he received and the terrible pain (the cracks that formed on his face and hand were smeared with iodine, then the whole thing was covered with fat), he stubbornly continued to fly! During one of the landings, the plane was damaged, and the crew transferred to a second plane.

Everyone understood perfectly well that the Chelyuskinites had only one hope - their crew; the rest of the pilots were still very far away. But no one then thought about the fact that if Lyapidevsky’s plane broke down as a result of the search, they would definitely not receive help - they simply would not be found, they would not have time to save them! They'll just freeze! Domestic aircraft were not yet equipped with radio communications.

A.V. Lyapidevsky recalled: “Twenty-nine times we tried to break through the snowstorm and fog in the most difficult conditions of the Arctic, and all to no avail... We took off, set a course, and each time returned - the elements were raging, the frost reached minus 40 degrees, and then we flew without glass covers over the cabin and even without protective glasses, they simply wrapped the face with reindeer skin and left small slits for the eyes. But nothing saved me from the cold. Finally, on the 30th flight, I discovered this camp.

Sun, silence, but terrible frost - 40-45 degrees... We peered until our eyes hurt. And finally, we ran straight into Schmidt’s camp. Lev Vasilyevich Petrov, our navigator, was the first to see the camp and pointed his finger at me: “Tolya, look!” I noticed: indeed, a small tent and three people near the tent. Then it turned out that it was Pogosov, Gurevich and flight mechanic Babushkina Valavin, the airfield team, who, living in a tent, observed the condition of the take-off field that they had organized on the ice floe.

I decided to sit down. I came in to land once, twice - but for a large heavy vehicle the area was very small, only 400 by 150 meters (the length of the ANT-4 is 18 meters). If I miss, I’ll hit the ice, if I miss, I’ll fall into the water. I made two circles and landed on the ice floe at minimum speed. When I got out, everyone around was screaming, hugging, and trying to kiss. And I have one thought in my head: damn, how am I going to fly out of here?!

I taxied towards these three brave men. We brought them batteries to power the radio station, two deer carcasses, and cheered them up. They were convinced that the plane was a real salvation. We consulted with Otto Yulievich Schmidt and decided to immediately take ten women and two girls with us... The plane was large, heavy... they shoved, figuratively speaking, women and children into large, heavy malits, and they had to lie somewhere, someone... then sit, huddled tightly.”

Senior radio operator of the expedition E.T. Krenkel, who was on the ice floe, later recalled: “March 5 was cold. The thermometer showed about forty when... a flag appeared on the signal tower, meaning: a plane was flying towards us.

A procession of women and children moved towards the airfield. An airplane appeared in the air - a large, heavy ANT-4 aircraft. A joyful cry. The plane began to land. Everyone hurried forward to the airfield and... a huge ice hole, several kilometers long and 20-25 meters wide, blocked the road... An unexpected water obstacle was overcome - an ice boat was delivered at a trot...

That day, a young Komsomol pilot, Anatoly Lyapidevsky, finally made his way to us. It was a difficult flight. In the chaos of ice blocks and ropaks, finding the camp from the air was no easier than finding a needle in a haystack. The cold fogged up the flight goggles, and Lyapidevsky flew in wearing a fawn mask, which protected his face but impaired visibility. According to him, he had never seen such a small area, 400x150 meters, in his flying life. Lyapidevsky’s car was heavy, and it probably would not have been possible to land it on our ice airfield if not for the hard training of the pilot. Taking off from his airfield, he returned to it and landed on an incredibly tiny spot, specially marked with signal flags.”

After the first flight onto the ice floe, Lyapidevsky repeatedly flew from Uelen to the Chelyuskin camp, but due to the weather he could not get through to it. On March 15, 1934, he was supposed to deliver a supply of fuel to Vankarem. However, during the flight, the crankshaft broke in one of the engines of his car. Lyapidevsky had to make an emergency landing. In this case, the plane damaged the landing gear and was disabled. Lyapidevsky did not return to the airfield and, in the absence of communication, went missing.

His half-dead father was found near the plane by some local Chukchi, who brought him to his yaranga, warmed him up and fed him, Robert Lyapidevsky, the son of the pilot, later said. - This same Chukchi gave Anatoly Vasilyevich his dog sled so that he could go to the village of Vankarem and make a new frame in the local workshops to repair the broken chassis ski. He also took off on his own... The repairs took forty-two days.

The next flight to the ice floe was made only on April 7. Within a week, pilots Vasily Molokov, Nikolai Kamanin, Mikhail Vodopyanov, Mavriky Slepnev, Ivan Doronin took the rest of the Chelyuskinites to the mainland.

The last flight was made on April 13. In total, the pilots made 24 flights, transporting people to the Chukotka settlement of Vankarem, located 140-160 km from the ice stop. On April 2, pilot Mikhail Babushkin and flight mechanic Georgy Valavin independently flew from the ice floe to Vankarem on the Sh-2 plane, which served the Chelyuskin for ice reconnaissance.

All 104 people who spent two months on an ice floe in polar winter conditions were rescued.

It was a victory for the young Soviet aviation. This was a victory for the USSR.

On April 20, a government decree was published in all Soviet newspapers conferring the title of Hero on pilots Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Sigismund Levanevsky, Vasily Molokov, Nikolai Kamanin, Mavrikiy Slepnev, Mikhail Vodopyanov and Ivan Doronin. They were popularly called the “magnificent seven.”

In fact, the title itself was established “for them” - by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of April 16, 1934. There was no separate resolution for Lyapidevsky, but since he was listed first on the list, he was considered Hero No. 1. When the Gold Star was established in August 1939, medal No. 1 went to him. A cult has begun in the country the magnificent seven"polar pilots, and with them - research of the North.

In the photo: the first Heroes of the Soviet Union (from left to right): Sigismund Levanevsky, Vasily Molokov, Mavriky Slepnev, Nikolai Kamanin, Mikhail Vodopyanov, Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Ivan Doronin - polar pilots who saved the crew members of the Chelyuskin steamship. Photocopy.

In 1934, in Moscow, the expedition members had a ceremonial meeting with the leaders of the Soviet state and residents of the capital.

At a reception in the St. George's Hall, Stalin himself approached Lyapidevsky with a bottle of wine in his hands. Seeing that the pilots were drinking Narzan, he gave his father his glass and said: “Since it’s a celebration, we should drink wine, not Narzan.” And he himself took a sip straight from the neck of the bottle, and then continued: “Remember, Anatoly, your father is a priest, I myself am almost a priest, so you can always contact me for any reason.”

Anatoly then asked Stalin to give him the opportunity to continue his studies.

Within a few days, People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Kliment Voroshilov put A.V. on his report. Lyapidevsky about admission to the Air Force Engineering Academy named after. NOT. Zhukovsky’s famous resolution: “Check the knowledge of comrade. Lyapidevsky: if prepared, accept; if not prepared, prepare and accept.” Now all doors were open for the young hero pilot. Since 1935, he was again in the cadres of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In the same year, Anatoly met his future wife- Irina. She came from a family of doctors and danced in a folk dance ensemble.

In 1937, the Lyapidevskys had a son, whom his father named after the famous polar explorer Robert Peary. A little later, Alexandra's daughter appeared.

Anatoly Vasilyevich, after a series of continuous parades and honors that fell upon him like an avalanche in 1934, did not like to attract unnecessary attention to himself. He was a very reserved, very modest and intelligent man.

At the request of the management of A.V. Lyapidevsky became... a writer, preparing the book “The Fifth of March,” in which he outlined the story of the salvation of the Chelyuskinites. It was published in 1935.

During these same years, famous Arctic pilots received hundreds of job offers. But the People's Commissar of Defense forbade them to get a job, demanding that they successfully complete the academy. In general, K.E. Voroshilov took patronage over the young heroes of the Arctic. In 1938, for the 20th anniversary of the Red Army, they wanted to give the guys the rank of major (they were captains). Voroshilov personally wrote on the presentations for the rank: “COLONELS!”

Lieutenant Colonel E.T. recalled the “Chelyuskinets”. Krenkel: “We subsequently developed excellent relations with Lyapidevsky... A sincere and extremely friendly person... I remember well how, five years after our rescue, in 1939, Lyapidevsky and I received the Gold Stars of Heroes of the Soviet Union. Fate brought us together on the same day in the Kremlin. On the back of each Gold Star there is another number. When we left the gates of the Spasskaya Tower onto Red Square, I said:

- Tolya, just think, thousands more people will receive Stars. All of them, looking at the number on the back, will remember you, because your Star is number one.

Lyapidevsky smiled and remained silent. My sublime tirade clearly confused him.

When we returned from the Arctic, Tolya was nicknamed “the ladies’ pilot.” They called him that because he took ten adult women and two little girls out of the camp, and the nickname stuck tightly also because Lyapidevsky was single, and any eloquence is powerless to describe the attention that the beautiful half of the human race bestowed on Hero Number One. According to unverified rumors, letters and tender notes were carried to our Tolya almost like laundry baskets.”

In 1939, Colonel Lyapidevsky graduated from the Red Army Air Force Academy named after. Zhukovsky and was appointed deputy head of the Main Inspectorate of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry. Then he moved to TsAGI - Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, where he worked as head of the 8th department (department of operation, flight testing and development).

I had to study and social activities. Anatoly Vasilyevich was elected a member of the USSR Central Executive Committee of the 7th convocation and a deputy Supreme Council USSR 1st convocation.

In 1940, thirty-two-year-old A.V. Lyapidevsky was appointed director of aircraft plant No. 156 (Moscow).

A.V. Lyapidevsky in Omsk

A month after the start of the Great Patriotic War, by mid-July 1941, fascist German troops captured Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, a significant part of Estonia, Ukraine and Moldova, and advanced 300-600 kilometers deep into Soviet territory.

Millions of peaceful people, thousands industrial enterprises, including defense. The Red Army suffered huge losses in manpower and equipment. The enemy destroyed, some right at the airfields, 3,500 Soviet aircraft versus 950 for the Germans.

All this allowed the Nazis to seize strategic initiative and air supremacy, and brought the Soviet Union to the brink of military disaster. Urgent measures were required to rebuild the entire life of the country on a war footing. And, above all, the immediate evacuation of the defense industry to the East, the deployment in the strategic rear of a new powerful base for the production of equipment, weapons and ammunition. During the second half of 1941, about 2,600 industrial enterprises, including 1,523 large ones, were moved to the Urals and Siberia.

On July 4, the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry issued an order to organize an aircraft plant in the city of Omsk on the basis of the Moscow Experimental Design Plant No. 156 and the Tushinsky Serial Plant No. 81. At this time, at the plant No. 156, a Project 103 dive bomber designed by A was being assembled. N. Tupolev (future Tu-2). The vehicle, which had unique tactical and technical characteristics and was produced en masse in a short time, could significantly strengthen the Soviet Air Force.

In July, the evacuation of enterprises from Moscow began.

At factories No. 156 and 81, loading into trains took place in 3 shifts, around the clock. People were evacuated by families. The head of the family had the right to transport, at state expense, 100 kg of luggage and up to 40 kg for each family member. In practice, these figures were reduced to provide more space on the trains for the transport of machinery and equipment. According to veterans’ recollections of the evacuation: “I was given a business trip for 3 months, but it lasted for the rest of my life... The train to the East dragged for 11 days, missing all the military trains going to the West... They left for a short time, even without winter clothes... We didn’t even travel in heated vehicles, and under open air, on boards and machines... We did not immediately find out what city we arrived in, such was the secrecy... Omsk, after the capital, seemed very unprepossessing. Almost everywhere there is impassable dirt, the houses are small, gray, and there is amazing poverty in them...

We arrived in Omsk, and on the site of the factory territory and in the surrounding area there was a complete swamp. The machines were located in the buildings of an unfinished car assembly plant. After many hours of “sitting on knots,” the families of factory workers were transported to schools and clubs in Omsk, which was not rich in housing. Adults and children had to do without basic amenities, sleep on the floor, on mattresses taken from Moscow, and later freeze without heating or winter clothing.

Those who arrived were given a specific task: by the end of 1941, to master the serial production of the Project 103 (Tu-2) dive bomber.

A.V. was appointed the first director of the aircraft plant in Omsk on July 18, 1941. Lyapidevsky. On July 24, 1941, he announced the order of the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry to merge the 81st, 156th and 166th plants into one, assigning it the number 166 (the future ONPO Polyot).

People and equipment continued to remain.

How many carriages arrived in Omsk? - 1901.

How many workers arrived? - 4964

How many engineering and technical workers arrived? - 1788.

Did all the people (workers and their families) arrive? 19877.

The process of draining the swamps and erecting the buildings of a new aircraft plant on this territory took place under extremely difficult and dramatic conditions. The scale of construction required the involvement of a number of workers and equipment that simply did not exist in Omsk. The only resource that the country had in abundance was Gulag prisoners. For this reason, the construction of Omsk Aviation Plant No. 166 was transferred to the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD). In a memo dated September 11, 1941, sent to A.V. Lyapidevsky and the head of the Central Design Bureau No. 29 G.Ya. Kutepov, head of the NKVD L.P. Beria, provides a calculation of the size of production space and labor force required for large-scale production of “103” aircraft. Soon the NKVD “Omlag” was moved to Omsk from near Irkutsk. Not far from the plant, several camps were built where construction prisoners were kept. In 1941-42 All planned buildings were built, as well as the runway (now Cosmic Avenue). From mid-October 1941, the aircraft plant returned to normal production mode; in the assembly shop, the first Tu-2 front-line bomber began to be assembled from parts and assemblies manufactured in Moscow.

In January 1942, he made his first takeoff into the Omsk sky.

On April 4, 1942, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR was issued on the formation of the Molotovsky District in Omsk, and on July 27, 1957, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR was issued on the renaming of the Molotovsky District to Oktyabrsky. So, on the basis of evacuated enterprises, barracks for their workers and Omlag prisoners, a new administrative unit arose, which also received a different name - the village named after Chkalov, as recognition of the merits of aircraft manufacturers. During the Great Patriotic War, Plant No. 166 produced 80 Tu-2 bombers and more than 3,500 Yak-9 fighters.

In May 1942 A.V. Lyapidevsky was transferred from Omsk to the Moscow region to the position of head of the testing department of the Air Force Scientific Testing Institute. But Lyapidevsky wanted to fight, and in September 1942 he was appointed deputy commander of the 19th Army Air Force for logistics. In December 1942 - September 1943 he served as assistant chief and head of the field repair department of the 7th Air Army (Karelian Front). Participated in the defense of the Arctic. On his shoulders lay the concern for hundreds of vehicles returning from battle, and only those who served there themselves can understand what it is like to repair equipment in the conditions of field airfields in the Arctic.

After the war

In 1946 A.V. Lyapidevsky was awarded the rank of major general and appointed chief controller of the USSR Ministry of State Control.

His career stopped in April 1949 as Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR. And the reason for this was the following strange circumstances.

The April issue of the all-Union magazine Ogonyok, dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the first Heroes of the Soviet Union, featured a color portrait of Lyapidevsky - in a ceremonial uniform, with a scattering of orders and medals. The envious people from the Ministry of Aviation Industry gave this number to Stalin, they say, look who this “hero” thinks he is.

Son A.V. Lyapidevsky Robert recalled that on the eve of the May Day meeting, Minister Khrunichev called his father and said: “I can’t understand anything, Anatoly Vasilyevich, but by order of higher authorities you have been removed from your position.” The disgrace lasted two months - the father was acutely worried about what happened. I didn’t leave my office for two months, didn’t want to see anyone, didn’t answer phone calls...

But Stalin did not offend hero No. 1. Perhaps, imitating his anger, he was simply testing Lyapidevsky’s loyalty, preparing a new and much more responsible task for the famous aviator. Also in 1949, A.V. Lyapidevsky took one of the leading positions in the top-secret KB-25 (now the All-Russian Research Institute of Automation), where, in close collaboration with a group of nuclear physicists, I.E. Tamm and A.D. Sakharov, automation units for hydrogen bombs were developed.

In 1954-1961. A.V. Lyapidevsky worked as director of the KB-25 pilot plant.

He didn’t tell us anything about his work,” recalls son Robert Anatolyevich. - I was just leaving for work, and sometimes I called, saying, I’m going on a business trip for three days, everything is fine, don’t worry. But then (in 1954) he was twice awarded the Order of Lenin, but for what exactly the awards were given, his father never told anyone. He simply came home and, out of soldierly habit, put the medals in a glass of vodka. You understand that in that industry orders were given without fanfare.

The family found out who the father actually worked only in 1961, when, during tests of the world’s most powerful 50-megaton hydrogen bomb over Novaya Zemlya, all participants in the government commission received a severe dose of radiation. For this reason, in the same 1961, Lyapidevsky retired for health reasons. However, he could not sit idle for long. Artem Ivanovich Mikoyan invited him to his design bureau. And until the end of A.V.’s life. Lyapidevsky led the development of Mig fighters, including Mig-25 and Mig-27.

First he worked as a leading engineer (1962-1965), then as a leading designer (1965-1971), and deputy chief engineer for capital construction (since 1971).

Robert recalled: “My father was a real workaholic. I worked all the time. We didn’t even have our own dacha, because my father never had time to travel outside the city. What he really loved was swimming in the Black Sea, where we always went once a year. And crosswords."

Lyapidevsky and his family lived in Moscow. Until the end of his days he led an active social life.

But he still remained a modest person.

He died on April 29, 1983, having caught a cold at the funeral of V.S. Molokov, who was one of his first flight instructors, a comrade in rescuing the Chelyuskinites. For Anatoly Vasilyevich, a leukemia patient, this cold became fatal. He fought the disease for several months, but age took its toll. And the first hero of the USSR was the last to die - from that “magnificent seven”. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Hero of the Soviet Union,

3 Orders of Lenin (04/16/1934; 01/4/1954; 04/30/1954),

Order of the October Revolution (03/22/1978),

Order of the Red Banner (05/06/1946),

Order of the Patriotic War, 1st (09.16.1945) and 2nd (08.4.1943) degrees,

Order of the Red Banner of Labor (09/11/1956),

2 Orders of the Red Star (11/2/1944; 11/3/1944),

Order of the Badge of Honor (07/29/1960)

Awarded medals.

Monument to A.V. Lyapidevsky was installed in the village of Belaya Glina, busts were installed in the city of Yeisk and the village of Staroshcherbinovskaya.

Memorial plaques in Moscow on the house where he lived, and in Yeisk on the school building where he studied.

Name A.V. Lyapidevsky is worn by Omsk Flight Technical College civil aviation, schools in Yeisk and Staroshcherbinovskaya.

In the name of A.V. Lyapidevsky named streets in the cities of Moscow, Barnaul, Grozny, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Stavropol, Ulan-Ude, Yaroslavl, Artyom (Primorsky Territory), Vyksa and Shakhunya (Nizhny Novgorod Region), Magnitogorsk ( Chelyabinsk region), Orsk (Orenburg region), Rybinsk (Yaroslavl region), Tikhoretsk (Krasnodar region) and other settlements.

http://okt41school.narod.ru/1/okrug/move.htmBorn during difficult war years

Felix Chuev "Lyapidevsky"

And he greets you at the door, smiling like a child,
Although childhood has added a lot of gray hairs,
Anatoly Vasilievich, Lyapidevsky himself,
Which has asterisk number one.

And when glasses sounded about him,
“I confess, guys, it’s not me,” he sighed heavily,
“The very first Hero was Fedya Kukanov.
Had. And he didn’t. Just bad luck..."

“Valka Chkalov, Baiduk...” - what names!
And about the very first ones - what do we know about them?
And I thought about the wealth of Russia,
Who has enough spares for everything...

And fame, in general, is a shame:
Like a cart in the steppe, like a silent movie,
Where the plywood one flies with a crowd full of people,
So that today's boys find it funny.

Let them consider me backward and strange,
Let me know the thirties from books,
Biplanes are more valuable to me than any jet -
Of the heroes, the heroes shone on them!

They are transporting astronauts, there will be something else,
If they don’t remember others, they won’t write it on their foreheads.
And one of those - very, very - Heroes
The guard will push you behind the ropes, into the crowd...

1965

"The Chukchi have one old legend about the mysterious islands “on the other side of the ice,” which are countlessly rich in animals. Exceptionally brave hunters got there not on kayaks floating on cold water, but on kayaks that flew through the air! Boats with grown wings were taken to the islands by the best hunter, the first hero of heroes, named “Anatolyangin”! This brave hunter Chukchi fairy tale legend was Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Hero of the Soviet Union No. 1."

(Yu.K. BURLAKOV. Vice-President of the Russian Association of Polar Explorers, Full Member of the Russian Geographical Society)

At one time, the name of the legendary pilot Anatoly Lyapidevsky thundered throughout the country - and then they suddenly forgot about him

On April 16, 1936, the USSR Central Executive Committee introduced the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The first to be awarded the high rank was a 25-year-old pilot Anatoly Lyapidevsky. The decree on this was issued on April 20.

Before the war, the name of the heroic savior of the icebreaker " Chelyuskin“Both adults and children knew. However, after the war, in the late 40s, the name of Anatoly Lyapidevsky disappeared from the pages of newspapers, and he himself was removed from all his posts.

Long-awaited salvation

On July 16, 1933, the Chelyuskin steamship left Leningrad to Murmansk, and then to Vladivostok, to work out the route for delivering cargo along the Northern Sea Route. The expedition was led by Otto Yulievich Schmidt. At the end of September, Chelyuskin was blocked by ice in the Chukchi Sea. The steamer drifted for almost five months, and it seemed that freedom was close, but on February 13, 1934, the ship was crushed by ice, sinking within two hours. There were 104 people on the ice, who had prepared everything for evacuation in advance.

The steamship "Chelyuskin" before sailing from Leningrad, July 1933. Photo: wikipedia.org

The whole country was worried about the Chelyuskinites. Rescue could only come by air. But severe frost(almost 40 degrees) and the wind prevented the pilots from reaching the crashed victims. 29 sorties were made, but each time the planes returned with nothing. And only on March 5 Lyapidevsky managed to discover the Chelyuskin camp in the ice. When the exhausted people saw the plane, their joy knew no bounds. The pilot saved 10 women and two children, including a newborn.

Hero number one

According to Lyapidevsky’s recollections, it was almost impossible to get to the camp. Then the planes did not have glass cockpits, radio communications, and the pilots themselves did not even wear protective glasses. In order to somehow protect themselves from frost and wind, they wrapped their heads in deerskin, cutting thin holes for the eyes.

The highest skill was required to land the plane on a small ice floe - only 400 by 150 meters, and then take off from it. After Lyapidevsky’s feat, other pilots managed to reach the dying people. On April 13, 1934, the last flight to the ice floe was made and all expedition members were rescued.

7 pilots took part in the operation to evacuate the Chelyuskinites: Anatoly Lyapidevsky, Sigismund Levanevsky,Vasily Molokov,Nikolay Kamanin,Mauritius Slepnev,Mikhail Vodopyanov And Ivan Doronin. It was they who became the first Heroes of the Soviet Union, as was written about in all newspapers on April 20. And since Lyapidevsky’s name was first on the list for awards, Anatoly Vasilyevich received medal No. 1. The ceremony took place in early November 1939.

Wrong origin

Anatoly Lyapidevsky was born in a small village in Krasnodar region. His father was a priest, continuing the family dynasty.

In those years, a priest's origin left the imprint of “unreliability” on a person and closed the doors to many schools, institutes and professions. Therefore, the young man began his working life as a blacksmith’s assistant, then became an apprentice to a mechanic, and worked at an oil mill.

Tolya dreamed of becoming a sailor. But he was not accepted because of his father, a priest. At that time, the family lived in Yeisk, where the naval pilot school was transferred from Sevastopol. Anatoly entered it. Upon graduation, the priest’s son was sent further away, to the Far East, where he had to deliver mail by plane to the far corners of the region.

On the advice of his comrades, Lyapidevsky risked submitting a report on his enrollment in the newly opened Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route. It was created for the exploration of the Arctic and development shortest path from the European part of the country to the Far East. Lyapidevsky, to his joy, was accepted into this structure. If this had not happened, who knows what the fate of those evacuated to the ice floe would have been.

Holiday and hangover

There is a legend that during reception in the Kremlin, in honor of the pilots who saved the Chelyuskinites, he approached the aviators Joseph Stalin with a bottle of wine. The young heroes stood in a group, embarrassed by their high authorities, and drank mineral water. The leader told them that they should drink wine at the holiday, and handed the glass to Lyapidevsky, and he himself took a sip straight from the neck. He also suggested that Anatoly Vasilyevich not be ashamed of his origin, since he himself studied at religious school, and then at the seminary. And he promised to fulfill any of his requests.

Lyapidevsky immediately asked for permission to enter the Red Army Air Force Academy named after Zhukovsky, where he would never have been accepted because of his “tarnished” biography. And soon the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Kliment Voroshilov ordered to admit Anatoly Lyapidevsky to the academy if he passed the exams. Or prepare first and then accept.

After this, the pilot’s career took off: deputy head of the aviation industry inspection, director of an aircraft plant. During the war, Lyapidevsky, who dreamed of fighting in the sky, occupied exclusively command posts, and then was again appointed to manage the plant. But in April 1949 he was informed that he was relieved of all his positions. Then there were two months of uncertainty.

Anatoly Vasilyevich was going crazy because he knew that no titles or feats could protect him from arrest. Some historians suggest that in this way Stalin wanted to teach a lesson and put in his place the legendary hero about whom all the newspapers were trumpeting. Other experts believe that the leader was thus testing a person’s resistance to stress before a very serious appointment. In addition, this was the beginning of an operation to classify the hero. Be that as it may, from that moment the name of Lyapidevsky disappeared from everywhere and the hero was soon forgotten.

Secret operation

Even his relatives did not know what Lyapidevsky was doing. He was appointed one of the leaders of the research institute, which was engaged in the creation of a hydrogen bomb. It is not surprising that the hero’s name was classified and they tried to remove it from people’s memory.

What Lyapidevsky was doing was learned only after the test on October 30, 1961 of a 50-megaton bomb, nicknamed “Tsar Bomba” or “Kuzka’s Mother.” They say that all test participants received a very large dose of radiation. Anatoly Vasilyevich was later diagnosed with leukemia, but for another 21 years, until his last days, he worked as a leading designer and deputy chief engineer at the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The first Hero of the Soviet Union died from a cold, which he caught at the funeral of his friend, one of the seven Chelyuskin rescue pilots. Vasily Molokov, April 29, 1983.