Memorial Museum of V.P. Chkalov (Chkalovsk)

December 15, 1938 during the test of the aircraft Valery Pavlovich Chkalov died. The USSR government decided to perpetuate the memory of Chkalov to create a museum in the house in which the pilot was born. The museum opened on July 7, 1940 .

In 1956, the house was moved from the coastline from the danger zone in connection with the formation of the Gorky reservoir .

The museum is located in the house in which Chkalov was born on February 2, 1904 . The house, built in 1896 by the father of the legendary pilot, Pavel Grigoryevich, is a typical residential building of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region.

The first room of the museum is the former kitchen of the Chkalov family. The exposition of this room is dedicated to the childhood and youth of Chkalov. A satchel bag, a brass mug made by Valery from a shell sleeve, a lotto that he liked to play, sledges. On the walls of the room - a photo of Valery’s parents, the first teachers, in the drawings - the school in which he studied.

The next section of the exposition tells about the years of Valery’s teachings at the Cherepovets technical school. The museum managed to collect some exhibits related to this period of Chkalov’s life: photos of the school’s masters, the school’s building, its territory, and the photo of the Bayan steamer. With "Bayan" is associated with a turn in the fate of Chkalov. It was from the deck of the ship that he first saw a seaplane flying over the Volga. So, as he himself later said, he had a dream to become a pilot .

A cork pilot helmet, which was on Chkalov during his first flight, is displayed in the window of the same room.

The exhibits of the next room talk about study and service, the formation of his aviation skills. At the museum stand - photos, documents, drawings. Here you can see a damaged engine cylinder, a flight map with routes drawn by Valery Pavlovich’s hand.

In the next room there are exhibits telling about two legendary non-stop flights made by Chkalov. Chkalov’s flight suit was displayed in the window, in which both flights were completed, a lighter, a smoking pipe , and a penknife are also presented. Particular attention is drawn to the “penny,” which the pilot discovered in the pocket of his trousers in America — one local businessman offered Chkalov $ 100 for it. The next room of the museum is a former living room. On the stands of this room are exhibits telling about the arrival of Chkalov to his homeland. There is a large oak table by the window, on it an ink device, a telephone, an unfinished pack of cigarettes, and a bookcase with books nearby. In the middle of the room there is a table with utensils, and against the wall there is a simple iron bed covered with a bike blanket, Valery Pavlovich was sleeping on it. In the window are gifts that Chkalov brought to his relatives, and in another part of the exhibition, gifts are presented to the pilot from the working people of the country. The model of the ANT-25 airplane made of 74 penknives by the masters of the city of Pavlov looks especially unusual.

The last room of the museum is the former bedroom of the Chkalovs. The exhibits in this room talk about the last day of V.P. Chkalov’s life. The window contains the clothes of his last flight and an undisclosed parachute . On the walls of the room there are photos capturing the minutes of farewell to an outstanding pilot.

Near the house there is a pavilion - a hangar built in 1957. Aircraft of the 1930s are on display here: ANT-25 , I-16 , I-17 , U-2 aircraft, as well as V.P. Chkalov’s personal car “ Packard . "

• Marinov V.M. Memorial Museum of V.P. Chkalov. - Gorky: Volga-Vyatka Prince. Publishing House, 1977.
• In the homeland of Chkalov. - Moscow, 1989.
• Mikhail Lisov. Chkalov Memorial Museum (Russian) // Aviation and Cosmonautics . - M. , 2016. - No. 10 . - S. 8-11 .

• Museum official site on museum.ru