FIRST - Chkalov Non-Stop Transpolar Flight, Vancouver, Washington - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

On June 20, 1937 three aviators from the Soviet Union made a historic FIRST non-stop flight from Moscow over the North Pole and then landed unexpectedly at 19 hours, 30 minutes Moscow time at Pearson Airfield in Vancouver, Washington. Valery Chkalov, pilot, Grergiy Baidukov, co-pilot and instrument pilot, and Alexander Belyakov, navigator, became instant celebrities throughout the world for their daring long-distance record flight. The aviators completed the Moscow to Vancouver flight in 63 hours, 10 minutes covering 5,288 nautical miles.

The 1937 over-the-pole flight was commemorated in 1975 with the erection of a large monument in the United States that hailed a Soviet achievement. ANT-25 crew members Grergiy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov who were then generals, attended the ceremonies. Valery Chkalov was killed in 1938 while test flying a new aircraft.

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