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Rockets and People
cockpit after the liftoff flight, then announced, “The airplane can be cleared
for flight.”
After the takeoff runs and liftoffs there were repairs, adjustments, and repeated
leak checks.They tuned the altitude recorder, air speed recorder, acceleration load
recorder, and control position recorder, then weighed and balanced the aircraft.
The first flight was scheduled for 12 May.They were aiming for good visibility
throughout the flight from takeoff to landing. But we had no luck with the
weather—it rained.
The aircraft had no radio equipment, not to mention the fact that “black boxes”
did not yet exist. Nor was there a single radar at the airfield.We relied completely
on visual control from the ground, a post-landing report from the pilot, and the
processing of the recordings made by the delicate recorders installed on the
aircraft—if, God willing, they remained intact.
State Commission Chairman Pyshnov conducted a session during which they
reviewed the bench test results, the reports on the takeoff runs and liftoffs, and the
remarks of lead engineers Roslyakov and Tarakanovskiy.They reviewed the flight
diagram drawn on a sheet of Whatman paper. Bakhchi reported that he was ready
for the flight.
Finally, on the advice of the meteorological service, they scheduled the flight for
12:00 p.m. on 15 May. But by that time, low clouds had once again obscured the
entire sky.We cursed the weather and empathized with the hundreds of curious
onlookers who, in spite of the secrecy, had climbed onto the roofs of hangars and
houses and up into trees, hoping to find out why the airfield had fallen silent since
morning.All other flights had been canceled. For the first time, combat aircraft that
used Koltsovo as a stopover airfield on flights from Siberian factories to the front
were prohibited to land.
After many days of intense work, the wait for a break in the weather created a
nervous atmosphere. Bakhchi was also nervous. At 4:00 p.m., Air Force NII chief
P. I. Fedorov, who was no less nervous than the rest of us, suggested that
Bakhchivandzhi take off in a training airplane to determine the airfield visibility
and reference points from the air.Twenty minutes later Bakhchi returned from the
flight and reported,“The weather is breaking up. I can fly!”
The day was fading away. It was now or never. They inspected the plane yet
again.Arvid Pallo sniffed for acid fumes more carefully than anyone else. Everyone
reported his readiness status according to procedure. Bolkhovitinov embraced
Bakhchi and gave him the traditional Russian kiss on both cheeks.
The pilot adroitly climbed into the cockpit and began to settle himself. He
ran his hand over the throttle one more time, rocked the control stick forward
and backward, and moved the pedals. Everyone dispersed from the airplane
except Pallo, who wanted to check one last time that there were no leaks. Everything
was dry on the exterior. Bakhchi calmly said, “Away from the tail,” and
closed the cockpit canopy; he then switched on the propellant component feed
and ignition.
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