Georgy Filippovich Baidukov

Georgy Filippovich Baidukov was born on May 13 (26), 1907, at the Taryshcha railway siding, now part of the Tatar District, Novosibirsk Region. From the age of nine, he wandered, then was raised in the Barabinsk boarding school, from which he was expelled two years later. He wandered again before working as a construction worker on the Siberian railway from 1921. In 1926, he graduated from the Omsk Railway Vocational Technical School.

He joined the army in 1926. That same year, he graduated from the Leningrad Military-Theoretical Air Force School, and in 1928, from the Kacha Military Aviation School for Pilots. He served in combat units of the Soviet Air Force.

Early Life and Aviation Career

From 1931 to 1934, Baidukov served as a test pilot at the Air Force Research and Test Institute (NII VVS). Starting in 1934, he studied at the engineering faculty of the N.Ye. Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. However, he only completed the first year, as in the spring of 1935, he was seconded from the academy to prepare for a transarctic flight on the ANT-25 aircraft.

On August 3, 1935, as part of S.A. Levanevsky’s crew, Baidukov participated in an attempt to fly across the North Pole to the USA. This attempt was interrupted due to technical malfunctions, after which Baidukov continued further testing of the ANT-25.

Transarctic Flights and Heroic Deeds

From July 20 to 22, 1936, aboard the ANT-25 aircraft, Baidukov, as co-pilot, alongside commander V.P. Chkalov and navigator A.V. Belyakov, completed a non-stop flight. The route covered 9374 km from Moscow, across the Arctic Ocean and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, to Udd Island (now Chkalov Island, at the mouth of the Amur), with a flight time of 56 hours and 20 minutes.

For the successful completion of the flight and the courage and heroism displayed, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 24, 1936.

Later, from June 18 to 20, 1937, also on the ANT-25 as co-pilot with Chkalov and Belyakov, Baidukov completed another non-stop flight. The Moscow-North Pole-Vancouver (USA) route covered 8504 km in a straight line, with a flight time of 63 hours and 16 minutes.

From 1935, he worked as a test pilot at aviation plant No. 22 in Moscow, testing serial bombers like the SB and Ar-2. In 1937, he set a world aviation speed record on a DB-A aircraft.

He participated in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 as the commander of an aviation group.

Wartime Leadership and Post-War Legacy

Between August and December 1941, Baidukov was on a government mission to the USA to acquire American aircraft. During the Great Patriotic War, from January 1942, he served as deputy commander of the 31st Mixed Aviation Division on the Kalinin Front and commander of the Air Force of the 4th Shock Army. From May 1943, he commanded the 212th (later 4th Guards) Assault Aviation Division.

From January 1944, he was commander of an assault aviation corps. He actively participated in the liberation of Kyiv, Belarus, the East Prussian Operation, the liberation of Gdańsk, and the crossing of the Oder.

After the war, he held command positions in the Air Force. Between 1947 and 1949, he was Head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (GVF), participating in tests of the Tu-70 passenger aircraft in the autumn of 1947. From 1949 to 1952, he served as deputy head of the NII VVS for flight operations, and in 1951, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff.

From 1952, he served as deputy, then first deputy head of the Main Staff of the Country’s Air Defense Forces for special equipment. From 1957 to 1972, he was Head of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense and a member of the Military Council of the Country’s Air Defense Forces. From 1972, he served as a scientific consultant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Country’s Air Defense Forces, retiring in 1988.

He lived in Moscow and was a member of the Union of Writers. He died on December 28, 1994, and is buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery.

He attained the rank of Colonel General of Aviation in 1961 and Test Pilot 1st Class in 1940. He received the USSR State Prize in 1970. He was awarded 22 Soviet orders, including two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, and two Orders of Suvorov 2nd Class. He also received numerous medals and foreign awards, being the holder of the largest number of Soviet orders.

Streets are named after him in Moscow, Vitebsk, Mogilev, and Donetsk. Langr Island in the Sea of Okhotsk was renamed in his honor, and he is an Honorary Citizen of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.