A special consolidated agitation squadron them. Maxim Gorky

Fundraising for the creation of agitation squadrons to them. Maxim Gorky began in October 1932 at the initiative of the magazine "Spark", in honor of the 40th anniversary of the creative activity of Maxim Gorky. By order of March 17, 1933 (signed by A.Z. Goltsman, head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR), the formation of an agitation squadron was announced, and on May 5 (Printing Day) of 1933, its regular work began.

“During the 5 years of the squadron’s existence, several hundred campaign campaigns were carried out, 3200 rallies were held, 5 thousand various reports and lectures were made. The squadron flew 55 million km, and covered over 10 million people with various activities. ” ^[1]

• commander of the agitation squadron: the chief editor of the magazine "Spark" - journalist Koltsov, Mikhail Efimovich
• Deputy commander of the agitation squadron: Rear Admiral of the Marine Aviation Reserve Avdonkin Sergey I (? vanovich?), Then Gvozdev F.N. (1938)
• Head of the campaign department: A. Orlov (1938)
• chief of staff of the agitation squadron: Zhukovsky, V. Grunin
• squadron engineer Chernov
• pilot Berezhnaya (aircraft unknown)
• pilot Kalan (aircraft unknown)
• pilot Kononenko (aircraft unknown)
• pilot Orlov A. G. (aircraft unknown) (campaign flights in August 1938 in Smolensk and Oryol regions) ^[2]
• pilot I. Polyakov (flew 1 million km as part of the agitation squadron) (aircraft unknown)
• Titov pilot (aircraft unknown)
• Turus pilot (aircraft unknown)
• pilot Filiptsev (aircraft unknown)
• pilot Shumeyko, Avksenty Andreyevich ^[3] (aircraft unknown)

1932

In autumn, work was stopped on the first version of the ANT-20 - the passenger version of the ANT-16 with 4xM-35 (preliminary design). We decided to make the ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" with 8XM-34FRN.

1933

February 1, work began on the ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky"

On March 10, the All-Union Committee for the Construction of the Propaganda Giant Maxim Gorky signed an agreement with TsAGI. In March, the composition of the squadron was approved - Maxim Gorky, ANT-14, ANT-9, U-2, G-1, Steel-2, and the airship V-3

March 17 was formed agitation squadron "Maxim Gorky"

In March, TsAGI signed an agreement with the All-Union Committee for the construction of the ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky"

In April, the draft design of the ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky” was considered. They wanted that, in addition to the propaganda, it could also be a mobile headquarters for the highest military and political authorities

On May 6, the regular work of the Agitheskadril named after Maxim Gorky began

In May, the K-5 with the name "Spark" and under the direction of V.V. Osipov participated in the Moscow-Kharkov-Rostov-on-Don-Kharkov-Moscow campaign, by which the Squadron named after "Maxim Gorky"

On July 2, the backup work was stopped and the finished units were handed over for the manufacture of the ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky”

Since July, Steel-2 began to be mass-produced at Plant No. 81

On July 12, a ceremonial transfer of the U-2 Pioneer Truth aircraft to the Gorky agitation squadron took place. It is built on funds raised by pioneers throughout the country.

1934

On March 30, the ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky” was built (according to other sources, in July).

On June 17, the ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky” flights began.

On June 19, in connection with the meeting of the Chelyuskins, the ANT-20 flew over Red Square and 200,000 leaflets were dropped. The plane was piloted by Gromov M. M. and Zhurov I. And ..

On August 18, the ANT-20 participated in the parade at the bottom of the aircraft.

1935

On May 1, about 800 aircraft took part in the parade and the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky closed the column with two I-15s and, using the Voice from Heaven loudspeaker, sent greetings and performed the Internationale.

On May 17, Antoine de Saint-Exupery flew on ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" as a correspondent for the newspaper Paris-Soir (Paris Soire - Evening Paris)

On May 18, the ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky" crashed. The catastrophe ANT-20 occurred as a result of an attempt to perform a dead loop by N. Blagin on the I-5 around the wing. The wreck was partially captured from the P-5. Killed 50 people. The May catastrophe with the ANT-20 negatively affected the pace of work on the ANT-42, as the OKB took up a new series of ANT-20 aircraft.

On May 19, SNK and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) decided to build instead of the dead ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky” three aircraft of this type - “Vladimir Lenin”, “Joseph Stalin”, and “Maxim Gorky”, but made only the passenger 6-engine ANT -20 USSR L-760, which flew along the route Moscow-Mineralnye Vody.

On May 27, a meeting was held with the chief of the SUAI, G. N. Korolev, on the construction of three aircraft to replace the dead ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky." The deadline for the first aircraft to enter TsAGI by May 1, 1936, and the second and third by November 7, 1936 at Plant No. 22

The last flight was filmed by the crew of the R-5 aircraft as part of the test pilot of the Air Force Research Institute Rybushkin Vladislav Vladimirovich ^[25] and cameraman Shchekutiev Alexander Gavrilovich .

July 17, the first propaganda flight of the Crocodile aircraft on the route: Moscow - Gorky - Kazan - Sverdlovsk - Chelyabinsk - Magnitogorsk - Kuybyshev - Saratov - Stalingrad - Rostov - Dnepropetrovsk - Vinnitsa - Kiev - Minsk - Vitebsk - Smolensk - Moscow. On board the aircraft was a team of the Central Competition Commission of the CEC of the USSR, which was to check the progress of the competition of the city Councils. The brigade included workers of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture and special correspondents of Pravda, Izvestia, Crocodile, and All-Union Radio. During the plane’s stay in Kazan, it took off in the air activists of the contest of Soviets, the best railway workers and school workers. Every five minutes, the plane took off, a total of 90 people were lifted into the air above Kazan.

Martyrology of the victims of the Maxim Gorky disaster (50 people)

“ 11 crew members and 37 passengers — shock workers of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, including six people with children, died” (From the front line of Pravda on May 19, 1935 ). In a mid-air collision, pilot Blagin , piloting a training aircraft, also died.

Crew (11 people) ^[26] :

1. Mikheev Ivan Vasilievich (1898-1935, pilot of the Maxim Gorky AE)
2. Zhurov Nikolai Semenovich (1897-1935, TsAGI pilot)
3. Begam Alexander Lazarevich (1903-1935, radio engineer of the Maxim Gorky AE) ^[27]
4. Kravtsov Alexander Andreevich (1896-1935, TsAGI engineer)
5. Bunin Valentin Petrovich (1906-1935, TsAGI engineer)
6. Busnovatov Semen Lvovich (1907-1935, TsAGI flight engineer)
7. Lakuzo Vladimir Petrovich (1909-1935, TsAGI flight engineer)
8. Medvedev Alexey Alekseevich (1905-1935, TsAGI flight engineer)
9. Fomin Ivan Afanasevich (1893-1935, TsAGI flight engineer)
10. Vlasov Petr Maksimovich (1907-1935, flight engineer at Maxim Gorky AE)
11. Matveenko Sergey Fedorovich (1895-1935, flight engineer at Maxim Gorky AE)

Passengers (38 people, including 7 children) :

1. Bakuta Alexandra Antonovna (1904-1935, wife of TsAGI engineer) [ Bakuto “Air Fleet Technique” No. 5/1935]
2. Vakhlyanina Evgenia Khrisanfovna (1897-1935, mechanic) [Vakhlyanina Elena Khrisanfovna - mechanic of the TsAGI flight station “Air Fleet Technique” No. 5/1935]
3. Galaev Ivan Vasilievich (1907-1935, carpenter, party organizer of the TsAGI plant workshop)
4. Dmitrieva Maria Fedoseevna (1907-1935, locksmith of TsAGI plant) [ Fedorovna “Air Fleet Technique” No. 5/1935]
5. Kazarnovich Semen Abramovich (1906-1935, worker, secretary of the party committee of the TsAGI plant)
   • Kazarnovich Volodya (1925-1935, son of S. Kazarnovich)
6. Kukin Konstantin Efgrafovich (1909-1935, control master, party organizer of the TsAGI plant workshop)
7. Lapshin Ivan Petrovich (1887-1935, worker of TsAGI plant)
8. Lebedev Sergey Stepanovich (1908-1935, Secretary of the Komsomol organization of the TsAGI plant)
9. Lopyrev Mikhail Aleksandrovich (1908-1935, supervisor, party organizer of the TsAGI plant workshop) [ Loparev “Air Fleet Technique” No. 5/1935]
10. Matrosov Petr Fedorovich (1904-1935, engineer, production manager at TsAGI plant)
11. Mareev Alexander Sergeevich (1896-1935, engineer of TsAGI plant)
12. Meshalin Peter Andreevich (1904-1935, TsAGI driver)
13. Mirkina-Izraileva Anna Markovna (1912-1935, wife of the TsAGI commandant)
14. Novikov Mikhail Fedorovich (1903-1935, planner of the TsAGI plant)
15. Nudelman Raisa Borisovna (1909-1935, engineer of TsAGI plant)
16. Orlov Alexey Ivanovich (1904-1935, engineer of TsAGI plant)
    • Orlova Lida (1927-1935, daughter of A. Orlov)
17. Petrushevsky Victor Alexandrovich (1895-1935, chief accountant of TsAGI plant)
    • Petrushevsky Volodya (1921-1935, son of V. Petrushevsky)
18. Podvolsky Igor Nikolaevich (1905-1935, technician, TsAGI plant)
19. Postavnin Vasily Efimovich (1898-1935, chief mechanic of TsAGI plant, engineer)
20. Proskurnikov Victor Sergeevich (1913-1935, engineer of TsAGI plant)
21. Prokhorova Sofya Yakovlevna (1901-1935, locksmith, party organizer of the TsAGI plant workshop)
    • Prokhorova Nelya (1924-1935, daughter of S. Prokhorova)
22. Razumikhina Alexandra Filippovna (1907-1935, wife of an engineer at TsAGI plant)
    • Razumikhin Vadim (1927-1935, son of A. Razumikhina)
23. Salmina Nadezhda Yakovlevna (1912-1935, supervisor of the TsAGI plant)
24. Sapronov Alexey Vasilievich (1905-1935, chairman of the factory committee of TsAGI plant)
25. Solomatkin Andrey Andreevich (1902-1935, head of the planning section of the TsAGI plant) [ Salamatkin “Air Fleet Engineering” No. 5/1935]
26. Suntsov Ivan Vasilievich (1898-1935, worker, trade union worker at the TsAGI plant)
    • Suntsov’s son (surname and name are not indicated, buried in the same niche with his father “I. Suntsov and his son” )
27. Sukhov Alexander Sergeevich (1906-1935, worker of TsAGI plant)
28. Haruto Ignat Ivanovich (1887-1935, TsAGI factory foreman)
29. Tsarev Alexey Petrovich (1897-1935, locksmith of TsAGI plant)
    • Tsarev Kolya (1923-1935, son of A. Tsarev)
30. Shenogin Sergey Gavrilovich (1891-1935, foreman, trade union worker at TsAGI plant)
31. Yancharek Sigismund Yakovlevich (1916-1935, TsAGI plant locksmith)

The culprit of the disaster :

1. Blagin Nikolay Pavlovich (1899-1935, TsAGI test pilot, pilot of the I-5 aircraft)

Chelyabinsk

• 1935

On July 24, 1935, the Crocodile propaganda plane brought the members of the jury of the contest “Cities of the Soviets” for the title “Best City of the Country”. He was met by 10 thousand citizens. 60 of the best drummers appreciated his flying qualities, and Chelyabinsk radio fans were able to receive radio broadcasts from the aircraft.

At the beginning of September 1935, the Hero of the Soviet Union propaganda plane flew to Chelyabinsk, which delivered journalists of the newspaper For Communist Education and officials of the People's Commissariat of Education to check the readiness of the Chelyabinsk region for the new school year.

• 1936

On October 7, 1936, representatives of Special Steel arrived on board the Crocodile and checked the work of the city’s metallurgical plants. Then, for the first time, Chelyabinsk citizens were shown the propaganda films “Alexey Stakhanov” and “Stalin's Falcons”.

• 1938

On September 30, 1938, during a campaign on the country's new buildings, the Crocodile propaganda plane visited the city for the third time. This time, Stakhanovite innovators flew in to promote work experience: F. I. Maltsev introduced the masons of the residential and domestic construction of the plant named after S. Ordzhonikidze with his own method of organizing the construction, Y. V. Erokhin demonstrated techniques "for bonding floors using the brackets of his invention." Together with them, the Italian anti-fascist J. Germanetto flew in, delivering reports to the workers of Chelyabinsk and Kopeisk.

One of the propaganda aircraft that flew to the settlements of the Southern Urals, was at the Chelyabinsk flying club.

• Lennart Andersson - Red Stars 6 - Aeroflot origins (Apali Oy, Sammonkatu 50, 33540 Tampere, Finland).
• Bobrov N. S. "Pilot Mikheev", publishing house "Young Guard", M., 1936
• "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Design Bureau A.S. Yakovlev." Volume 1
• Kotelnikov V. - “Maxim Gorky” the rise and fall of the air colossus. ISBN 978-5-699-49272-5
• Saukke M. B. - “Maxim Gorky” is the story of a giant plane. ISBN 1-932525-30-0
• Hurges L. L. - “Moscow - Spain - Kolyma. From the life of a radio operator and a convict. "
• Chulkov V. I. - “Notes of the pilot.”
• Yakubovich N. - "The Truth about Pravda, Wings of the Fatherland magazine 11/2002

• Photos U-2 of the Special consolidated agitation squadron named after Maxim Gorky
• Forum site airforce.ru
• Chronicles of the development of aviation in the USSR
• Note in the magazine "Twinkle" No. 27, 1932. "We will build a giant plane" Maxim Gorky ""
• Air Fleet Engineering Magazine No. 5, 1935