It can be said that Alexander Anisimov, a pilot with incredible talent, is unfairly forgotten today. Most often, references to him can be found in other people's memoirs. Printed publications almost always remember this legendary fighter pilot in passing and only as the best friend of another, more famous Soviet pilot, Valery Chkalov.
This state of affairs is completely unfair, since Alexander Anisimov is a test pilot whose biography is worth attention, and he himself deserves to be remembered.
The aerobatics performed by this truly talented person were not able to be repeated by many.
Alexander Anisimov is a pilot. Biography, brief data that have survived to this day
Unfortunately, to this day, very little information has been preserved about the family, childhood and youth of a man who was not embarrassed to call a brilliant pilot during his lifetime. Some sources date itbirth is indicated on 1897-16-11, in others - 1897-16-07. It is known for certain that he was born in a small village called Vzezdy, which now belongs to the Novgorod region.
Family History
Unfortunately, the details from Anisimov's youth have not been preserved to this day. Perhaps some interesting and significant facts are still stored in the archives, but there is no free access to them. It is known that his family was poor as it was on the Incoming Labor Force lists. Alexander Anisimov (a pilot whose talent will be admired by thousands in the future), along with his brothers and sister Alexandra, were designated as a poor family in this list.
The revolution led the head of the family and the father of the future test pilot, Frol Yakovlevich, to such a deplorable situation. Prior to that, he was a very large and successful entrepreneur-merchant, whose main area of \u200b\u200bearning was flax processing. But after the revolution, he was first arrested and then shot. The same fate befell one of Alexander's brothers, Vasily, who was shot in 1937 and then posthumously rehabilitated.
Primary education received
Future pilot Alexander Anisimov (biography, whose photo is given in our article) at one time studied at the Medvedsky School, after graduating from three departments of which, he continued his studies at the Novgorod city four-year school. He graduated from this institution in 1912 and after graduating he received the speci alty of a driver-mechanic. It was to them that he worked in the next twoyear.
Conscription for the first war
In 1914, Alexander Anisimov (a pilot known throughout the Soviet Union in the near future, and then still a simple ordinary young guy-mechanic) was drafted into the ranks of the Russian army. Since the First World War broke out during this period, the guy unwittingly took part in it.
After Anisimov got into the army, he was able to use his speci alty. In 1915, Alexander, he graduated from the motor class at the Polytechnic Institute in Petrograd. From February 1915 to October 1916, he was a mechanic in the 4th mechanical detachment and eventually received the rank of senior non-commissioned officer.
It is known that during the First World War, Russia rapidly lost a lot of its pilots in the conduct of air battles. The tsarist government decided to train pilots from the most gifted and best soldiers. Having shown himself to be a talented minder and a reliable soldier, Alexander passed the selection and was sent to study at the Petrograd flight school. It would seem that for the young man everything turned out in the best way, and the prospects of becoming a conqueror of the sky opened up before him (which many of his peers could only dream of). But in 1918 everything changed.
Voluntary departure for the Civil War
After the revolution begins in 1917, Anisimov decides to quit his studies. He decides to volunteer for the Civil War that struck Russia. Anisimov was of peasant origin and sincerely believed in a bright future promised by the power of the Soviets. It is natural that onwar he went to fight for the Reds. In 1918 he became a member of the Red Army.
Service in the Red Army
During the next year after joining the Civil War, Alexander Anisimov (pilot in the near future) served on the Eastern Front and took part in battles with the Czechoslovak corps.
He served as a senior aircraft engineer and was assigned to the V Socialist Air Squadron. In the same position as an aircraft mechanic, starting in 1919, he was transferred to the 1st Petrograd air squadron, which fought on the Western Front with the Poles.
Continuing your studies
Since after the end of the Civil War Anisimov did not have a higher education in the aviation field, he went to study at the military-theoretical aviation school, which was located in Yegorievsk. Having quite successfully graduated from it in 1922, he continued his studies at the Kachinskaya and Moscow Higher Aviation Schools, and in 1924 he was trained in bombing and aerial shooting at the Serpukhov aviation school.
Flight career
This young man after completing his training in a short time managed to become a professional pilot. For 5 years, starting in 1928, he stayed at the Air Force Research Institute, doing flight test work. In 1931, he was promoted and was appointed commander of his unit.
This talented test pilot was directly involved in the testing of such aircraft as the I-4 and I-5. Piloting the first fighter, he participated in the test of the legendary "Link-1".
Memories of a pilot
Anisimov's best friend throughout his life was V. Chkalov, who was his colleague. Unfortunately, due to a huge injustice, Alexander Frolovich is most often remembered as a friend of Chkalov. But those who remembered Anisimov himself confirmed that he was a truly brilliant pilot. He possessed an unsurpassed piloting technique, he always performed all the most complex aerobatics, requiring special skill, cleanly, did it very naturally and easily.
They say that at one time, Chkalov in Anisimov liked most of all his desire to learn something new in technology and specifically test aircraft.
Some of those who were personally acquainted with Alexander Frolovich said that he could give the impression of an evil and aggressive person who suffered from excessive pride. In many ways, this opinion was due to the fact that Anisimov never wanted to share the secrets of his tricks with anyone. He believed that each pilot should have his own unique style in aerobatics, and everyone should develop it on their own. Of course, this offended many.
At the same time, Chkalov, being himself a fully accomplished personality and pilot, managed to sincerely make friends with Anisimov. This couple was envied by many, because the top management forgave them a lot (for example, comic fights between themselves that friends could arrange during regular tests), taking into account and respecting their rare professionalism.
Tragic death
Alexander Anisimov is a test pilot who retired fromlife very early, at the 37th year of life. Death caught him in the sky, but not during the test of the next aircraft, as many might assume. In 1934, one of the French film companies called "She-Noir" began shooting the documentary film "The Aviator". The French decided that only Anisimov was suitable for performing stunts and filming, because they considered him an aerial acrobat, a bird-man.
The leadership of the Air Force has given its consent to filming. The first day, October 16, 1934, went great. Anisimov performed all sorts of tricks at extremely low altitude, the French were delighted. After the filming was completed, Louis Chabert (representative of Ches Noir) even presented the pilot with a Swiss watch as a token of admiration and gratitude. Although seemingly idyllic, the second day of filming ended in tragedy.
On October 17, Anisimov took to the air, but since the cameras had to capture his tricks as clearly as possible, he could not rise to a great height. The rudder pedal could not withstand the low height. It broke down, and Anisimov's plane fell rapidly and shattered into fragments.
Alexander Anisimov (pilot): personal life
Of course, many are interested in the details of the personal life of such an outstanding pilot. But in the public domain there is no information about his wife and possible children. A few years ago, Channel One showed the feature film Chkalov. Wings”, which was dedicated to the life story of V. Chkalov. Of course, the storyline could not do without the best friend of the hero - Anisimov. In a film billed as a biopic,it is shown that Alexander had a wife, Margot. She was a dancer and actually loved not Anisimov, but Chkalov himself.
After the release of the film, Chkalov's daughter, Olga, denied many of the facts given in this tape. Among other things, she said that in fact no woman under the name Margo had ever existed. According to Olga, the pilot Anisimov Alexander (wife, whose children aroused the interest of a wide audience) had a single beloved woman named Bronislava. And, of course, the main part of his life was occupied by work and love for aircraft. Unfortunately, more detailed facts from the personal life of this pilot are unknown.
