Alexander Vasilievich Fedotov passed away 32 years ago, leaving behind three of the 18 absolute aviation records set during his lifetime. The genius of the sky, he rose to a height of 37,600 m on a jet engine, writing his name in gold letters in the history of aviation. What else is known for this amazing person whose name is given to the school of test pilots?
Born in Stalingrad
His date of birth is 06/23/1932. Few people know that at first they called him Albert. But at 9 years old he will come to his mother with a request to change his name. Born in Stalingrad and having lost his father at the front, he will not want to have a name in the German manner. And she will go to the registry office to fulfill the request. He was proud of his small homeland and believed that it was a great honor to be born in this wonderful Volga city. There were few of them, boys, after the war, and each with particular pride pronounced the place of his birth.
Alexander Fedotov grew up tall and athletic young man, was engaged in athletics. But he chose a profession between two completely different types of activity, for he loved them equally: heaven and painting. Thanks to the artist’s abilities, he was able to see beauty and perceive the world sharper. But the desire to fly won.
Education
Alexander Fedotov will study all his life. Even in Stalingrad, he will graduate from the Air Force special school, after which he will go to the Armavir Flight School - HABACUL. There he will come to the conviction: if you go to aviation, then be a leader. He will become one of the first cadets who will receive the right to take off on his own, and will prove himself so that after graduating from college in 1952 he will be left as an instructor pilot. For several years he will train cadets, but he will keep the dream of flying for real - to try the plane at all limits. Hearing about recruiting at SHLI (the school of test pilots), he will without hesitation submit a report.
The officers will be ready to take on the condition that he removes shoulder straps. And the young man will leave military service. At the end of SHLI in 1958, he will begin to work as a test pilot at the Design Bureau named after A.I. Mikoyan, but in 1965 he will again sit at the desk of the Moscow Aviation Institute in order to receive an engineering education.
Professional career
His second homeland will be Zhukovsky, Moscow Region. For 26 years, the future Major General of Aviation (will receive the title in 1983) will be on flight test work, personally lifting ten new models of fighters of the design bureau of A. I. Mikoyan into the sky. Since 1962, he will be appointed senior test pilot, heading the flight service of the design bureau and giving a “ticket to life” to all of his modern aircraft. Having worked all his life at one flight station, where about 700 people worked, he contributed to the professional growth of talented children. The whole situation was conducive to the development of a flight and scientific perspective. The station nurtured two future general and four main aircraft designers.
In fact, Alexander Fedotov was an active participant in the creation of new fighter models, a co-author of engineers, perfectly mastered aerodynamics. When the troops didn’t get along with flights on the MiG-23, he personally flew through military units in order to study problems on the spot and show how to properly operate the new machine.
Sports achivments
Obsessed with the sky, at the same time, the test pilot set aviation records, glorifying the USSR. Having reached the speed of M = 3 for the first time in the country, he wanted to get ahead of his American colleagues with the best indicators. And it succeeded. In 1975, he became a world-class master of sports for a number of achievements, including the world record for speed on a route of 100 km. The FAI (international organization) will award him the highest award - the Big Gold Medal, which will be presented in Montreal.
Many Soviet pilots studied under A. Fedotov. For them, he acted as a coach, painting training flight programs. One of his charges was Svetlana Savitskaya, the future pilot-cosmonaut. For success in training aviation athletes, Alexander Vasilievich will be awarded the title of Honored Trainer of the USSR.
Tragic death
In 1966, Alexander Fedotov received the Star of the Hero of the USSR for his courage in testing aircraft. With high flying skills, composure and the ability to anticipate possible emergency situations in flight, he successfully catapulted three times during unforeseen failures on board the aircraft. He even deduced for himself the emergency behavior formula described in the diary. But 04.04.1984, this formula will not work.
MiG-31 took to the air for the next test flight. On board with the test pilot was the navigator V.S. Zaitsev. The flight mission included checking the operation of the fuel system. At the 8th minute, the ground services received a message about the return of the aircraft to the airfield, as the instruments indicated a fuel leak. During an emergency landing, the flowmeter needle approached zero, so the commander landed the plane without entering the circle. He believed that the fighter was light. In fact, at least 12.5 tons of fuel were actually on board, which led to a stall mode. The bailout occurred too late, until the last crew tried to save the car and airborne records to find out the causes of the accident.
Memory
There were always a lot of people around A. Fedotov. He attracted to himself, possessing a talent for communication and the ability to captivate him. Deprived of pride and arrogance, he earned the recognition of others, warmly calling him among themselves Fedot. It is difficult for them to believe in the death of a person who taught everyone to perform a flight mission without compromising safety and knew the plane to the last screw. The city of Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, is the place where the test pilot is buried. His name is one of the local streets. The hero has three children and his wife Galina.
Every year on April 4 at exactly 12-00 close and friends meet at his grave, where hundreds of aviators come to honor the memory of the best test pilot of the 20th century. And according to tradition, the MiG-29, performing the “bell" - the most difficult aerobatics figure - breaks the silence of silence . So the crew reports to his idol.