The Day of the Parachutist is an unofficial holiday of Soviet and Russian professionals and fans of skydiving celebrated annually on July 26 [1] .
The holiday is also celebrated in some post-Soviet states, including Ukraine [2] [3] .
Holiday History
In 1929, the commander of the Red Army Air Force Leonid G. Minov, as part of the Soviet trade organization Amtorg, visited the factory of the Irvin company, where he got acquainted with life-giving parachutes produced by the plant and made several jumps. After returning to the USSR, Minov was appointed instructor in parachute training of the Red Army Air Force and by the summer of 1930 he conducted theoretical training for 30 volunteers of the 11th Aviation Brigade of the Moscow Military District [4] .
On July 26, 1930, 5 Soviet pilots and mechanics ( Moszkowski , Egorov, Zakharov, Kovalenko, Kukharenko, Mukhin, Povalyayev, Poydus, Filippov, Freiman, Cherkashin) led by Minov for the first time in the USSR made a series of training jumps from an airplane near Voronezh . American parachutes of the Irvin company, purchased as a result of Minov’s trip to the USA, were used for jumping [5] . In total, during the training sessions from 26 to 29 June, 59 training and demonstration parachute jumps were performed.
The first experience gained in 1930 gave impetus to the further development of parachuting in the Soviet Union. By the end of 1931, Soviet paratroopers completed about 600 training and demonstration jumps [6] . The hobby was so popular that “ parachute towers ” were installed in the city parks of culture and recreation, from which anyone could jump [7] .
See also
- Airborne Forces Day
- Kotelnikov, Gleb Evgenievich
Notes
- ↑ Russia celebrates the Day of the Parachutist // Arguments and Facts .
- ↑ 26 linnya - Parachutist Day (inaccessible link) (in Ukrainian) // Institute of Leadership and Social Sciences.
- ↑ Day parachute (inaccessible link) (Ukr.) // Federation of parachuting in Ukraine.
- ↑ Soviet parachuting: how it all began .
- ↑ Parachute case in the USSR (inaccessible link) . special forces.org . Archived October 28, 2012.
- ↑ Day parachuter // calend.ru.
- ↑ Day parachutist // Vesti FM .