Orenburg Higher Military Aviation Red Banner Pilot School named after I.S. Polbin. The history of the school dates back to the Moscow School of Air Combat and Bombing, the formation of which began on August 10, 1921. On August 9, 1922, she was transferred to the city of Serpukhov, and on June 20, 1927, she was transferred to Orenburg. On the route Serpukhov - Penza - Orenburg, instructor pilots overtook the planes. In the autumn of 1928, the Higher Military School of Pilot Observers was relocated from Leningrad to Orenburg, which became part of the Third Military School of Pilots and Pilot Observers. In June 1938, the 3rd VASL was transformed into the VAUL them. K. E. Voroshilova. In February 1939, the school was divided into two independent schools: the First Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Pilots. K. E. Voroshilov and the Second Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Navigators, which made it possible to improve the conditions for training pilots and navigators. In the late 1940s, training at the school was carried out on Il-10 aircraft, in the first half of the 1950s, Il-28 and MiG-15 jet aircraft entered the Orenburg Aviation School. In 1960 it received the status of a higher educational institution; the personnel and educational and material base of the Orenburg Air Force Navigator School and the Kirovobad Pilot School (earlier transferred to the city of Orsk) joined the school. On December 23, 1963, at the initiative of the Orenburg Regional Committee of the Komsomol and the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots, the first school for young cosmonauts in the Soviet Union was created. Since May 1967, it has been named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General Polbin. In 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1956, 1957, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, in the orders of the Minister of Defense of the USSR and the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, the school was noted among the best military educational institutions in the country. On February 12, 1993, the school was disbanded. On the basis of the school, the Orenburg Cadet Corps was created - a multidisciplinary educational institution that provides initial training in flight, helicopter, aviation engineering, missile, anti-aircraft missile, fire fighting. At the same time, on the territory of the former flight school, the Berlin Order of Kutuzov, III degree, military transport aviation regiment, withdrawn from the Baltic states (its aircraft are based at the Orenburg-2 airfield) was located. In 2013, the prosecutor's office of Orenburg initiated a criminal case for non-preservation of a monument of history and culture - the building of the Orenburg Higher Military Flight School - under Art. 243.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the requirements for the preservation of a cultural heritage object, which, through negligence, caused damage to it on a large scale). Since 2003, non-residential premises of the former school were transferred by local authorities to federal ownership and were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Now the building houses the Space Museum, which is a branch of the Museum of the History of Orenburg, the Orenburg Cadet Boarding School named after I. I. Neplyuev, and the Orenburg Theological Seminary (part of the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, since during the Russian Empire it housed a diocesan school).

Story

The history of the school dates back to the Moscow School of Air Combat and Bombing, the formation of which began on August 10, 1921. On August 9, 1922, she was transferred to the city of Serpukhov, and on June 20, 1927, she was transferred to Orenburg. On the route Serpukhov - Penza - Orenburg, instructor pilots overtook the aircraft.

In the autumn of 1928, the Higher Military School of Pilot Observers was relocated from Leningrad to Orenburg, which became part of the Third Military School of Pilots and Pilot Observers. In June 1938, the 3rd VASL was transformed into the VAUL them. K. E. Voroshilova. In February 1939, the school was divided into two independent schools: the First Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Pilots. K. E. Voroshilov and the Second Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Navigators, which made it possible to improve the conditions for training pilots and navigators.

In the late 1940s, training at the school was carried out on Il-10 aircraft, in the first half of the 1950s, Il-28 and MiG-15 jet aircraft entered the Orenburg Aviation School (in front of the building of the cadet corps there is the only surviving aircraft in the world, on which YA Gagarin himself flew).

In 2013, the prosecutor's office of Orenburg initiated a criminal case for non-preservation of a monument of history and culture - the building of the Orenburg Higher Military Flight School - under Art. 243.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the requirements for the preservation of a cultural heritage object, which, through negligence, caused damage to it on a large scale). Since 2003, non-residential premises of the former school were transferred by local authorities to federal ownership and were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Now the building houses the Museum of Cosmonautics, which is a structural subdivision of the Museum of the History of Orenburg, the Orenburg Cadet Boarding School named after I. I. Neplyuev and the Orenburg Theological Seminary (part of the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, since during the Russian Empire it housed a diocesan school).

Training grounds

The school included 3 training aviation regiments:

• 814th training aviation regiment with support units (airfield Orenburg-2) and field airfield Orenburg-3, later Terensai. The regiment is armed with L-29 aircraft.
• 904th training aviation regiment with support units (airfield Chebenki) and field airfield Sol-Iletsk. Aircraft in service until 1980

Orenburg Higher Military Aviation Red Banner Pilot School named after I.S. Polbina celebrates its 95th anniversary. More than 800 graduates from all over Russia will gather to congratulate the entrance hall, teachers and fellow students.

Graduates of the Orenburg “letka” glorified the Motherland with heroic deeds, wrote many bright pages in the development of aviation and astronautics. Among them are 150 generals, 341 Hero of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor, Hero of the Russian Federation. Alma mater of flying art was glorified by four cosmonauts: Yuri Gagarin, Valentin Lebedev, Alexander Viktorenko, Yuri Lonchakov.

For 72 years of its work, the “letka” has trained over 28 thousand pilots and navigators. The flight crew took part in the battles of Khalkhin Gol, in Spain, the Great Patriotic War. The pilots were the first to master the skies of the Arctic and Antarctic.

RIA56 recalled the main historical milestones of the famous tap hole:

- The history of the school dates back to the Moscow School of Air Combat and Bombing, the formation of which began on August 10, 1921. On August 9, 1922, she was transferred to Serpukhov, and on June 20, 1927, she was transferred to Orenburg.

- In February 1939, the educational institution was divided into two independent schools: the First Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Pilots. K.E. Voroshilov and the Second Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Navigators, which made it possible to improve the conditions for training pilots and navigators.

- In 1960, the entrance hall received the status of a higher educational institution. The personnel and educational and material base of the Orenburg Air Force Navigator School and the Kirovobad Pilot School joined the school.

- On December 23, 1963, at the initiative of the Orenburg Regional Committee of the Komsomol and the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots, the first school for young cosmonauts in the Soviet Union was created.

- Since May 1967, the school has been named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General Ivan Polbin. It was with the Orenburg flight school that the first independent flight and the formation of Polbin as a pilot were connected. At the entrance to the building, on a marble pedestal, there is a bust of a Soviet hero pilot, a talented military leader who died in 1945.

- In 1993, the entrance hall was disbanded, but the traditions and memory of the labor and military feat, which were accomplished by teachers, commanders, technical staff and cadets of the illustrious team, continue to live.

- Since 2003, non-residential premises of the former school have been transferred by local authorities to federal ownership and are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

- Now the building houses a cadet flight school with initial flight training.

Until 1993, one of the oldest educational institutions in the Air Force, the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School of the Red Banner Pilots named after I.S. Polbin, was located in Orenburg on the picturesque bank of the Ural River.
The history of the school dates back to the Moscow School of Air Combat and Bombing, the formation of which was started by decree of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 1951 of August 10, 1921. On August 9, 1922, she was transferred to the city of Serpukhov near Moscow. The most famous graduate of the school was V.P. Chkalov . Orenburg bore his name from 1938 to 1957.
In the period from June 20 to October 16, 1927, the Serpukhov Higher School of Air Combat was relocated to Orenburg. On the long-range route Serpukhov-Penza-Orenburg, instructor pilots overtook the planes. For the first time in the history of aviation, a flight of a large group of aircraft was made without flight accidents and was enthusiastically received by the Orenburg residents. The grand opening of the school took place on November 7, 1927. On October 1, 1928, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council No. 280, the “Leningrad Higher School of Pilot-Observers”, which became part of the Third Military School of Pilots and Pilot-Observers, was relocated to Orenburg.
Over the past years, the school has come a long and glorious military path, has gained rich experience in training flight personnel with a secondary, and since 1960 - with a higher education. In June 1938, the 3rd VASL was transformed into the VAUL them. K.E.Voroshilova. And in February 1939, the school was subdivided into two independent schools: the First Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Pilots. K.E. Voroshilov and the Second Chkalovsky Military Aviation School for Navigators. This separation made it possible to improve the conditions for the training of pilots and navigators.
The school has trained tens of thousands of air fighters. It brought up many of those who glorified the Soviet Motherland with heroic deeds, enriched aviation science and technology with new discoveries and achievements.
About 350 generals, graduates of the school, commanded aviation formations in various years. Thousands of pilots, navigators and other aviation specialists have carried and are carrying out military service in almost all. aviation garrisons of the country.
Such prominent pilots as S.I. Gritsevets gained wings at the school, A.K.Serov , P.F. Zhigarev, A.B. Yumashev , F.P.Polynin. Honored military pilots of the USSR L.I. Beda, S.D. Prutkov, M.S. Kobyakov studied there. He became the Honored Military Navigator of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union A.M.Antonov. The high title of Honored Test Pilots of the USSR was awarded To A.P. Yakimov , N.I. Rusakova , K.K. Rykov , E.F. Milyutichev , V.P. Khomyakov and others. He graduated from college, the world's first jet aircraft tester Hero of the Soviet Union G.Ya.Bakhchivandzhi .
Pets of the Orenburg pilot increased the heroic traditions of aviation. They wrote outstanding pages in its history. These are the heroic flights of V.P. Chkalov and M.M. Gromova with their crews across the North Pole to America, this is the courage and courage of Orenburg pilots in air battles in the area of ​​​​Lake Khasan, on the Khalkhin Gol River, on the Karelian Isthmus. The names of the graduates of the school are well known not only in our country. They are remembered in Spain and Mongolia.
During the Great Patriotic War, despite great difficulties, the school successfully coped with the training of aviation personnel for the army in the field. Orenburg residents demonstrated mass heroism on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. In the battles for the honor and independence of the Motherland, 33 of them made air rams, 52 pilots repeated the feat of Nikolai Gastello. N.V. Gomanenko, I.F. Pavlov, I.S. Polbin, E.I. Pichugin are forever enlisted in the lists of personnel of aviation regiments. Among the pupils of the school there are 341 Heroes of the Soviet Union. And the pilots S.I. Gritsevets, L.I. Beda, T.Ya. Begeldinov, S.D. Lugansky, V.N. Osipov, I.S. Polbin, I.F. E.P. Fedorov was awarded this title twice.
The names of graduates of the school have been assigned to many cities, villages and educational institutions, dozens of squares and streets, hundreds of schools.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the school, in accordance with the new conditions, reorganized the work on the training of aviation personnel. His team successfully coped with the training of pilots for the air force.
The sixties in the history of the school occupy a special place. In accordance with the new requirements in the spring of 1960, the school was one of the first in the Air Force to be transformed into the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots (OVVAUL). To staff the school, the personnel and educational and material base of the Orenburg Navigator School and the Kirovobad Pilot School (earlier transferred to Orsk) joined it.
The school became one of the largest educational institutions of the Air Force. On April 12, 1961, his graduate Yu.A. Gagarin made the world's first flight into space and laid the foundation for the profession of pilot-cosmonauts. In 1960, the pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union V.V. Lebedev, studied at the Orenburg flight school. In 1969, the pilot-cosmonaut Hero of the Soviet Union graduated from the school with honors. A.S. Viktorenko .
On December 23, 1963, at the initiative of the Orenburg Regional Committee of the Komsomol and the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots, the first school for young cosmonauts in the Soviet Union was created.

Since May 1967, OVVAUL began to bear the name of the school's pupil, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Aviation Major General Ivan Semenovich Polbin. Since 1970, pilots of naval and long-range aviation have been trained here.

In 1993, the flight school was disbanded. On its basis, the Orenburg Cadet Corps was created, which not only continues the traditions of the legendary "letka", but also leads its own history. The first anniversary is behind it - the fifth anniversary, 649 parachute jumps, 75 independent flights on a combat aircraft. From an Air Force school, the cadet corps gradually turned into a multidisciplinary educational institution that provides initial training in flight, helicopter, aviation engineering, missile, anti-aircraft missile, and firefighting.
Since 1993, the Berlin Order of Kutuzov, III degree, military transport has been located on the territory of the former flight school.

If we talk about heroes, then I don’t know all those who graduated from the Orenburg VVAUL who can be considered heroes, but I know one - my friend Viktor Kubrakov! We were friends with him back in school, after school, being in the unit (Guards air garrison, Crimea), we were friends with families: my wife and his wife, both Tatyans, were friends, our children went to the same kindergarten group. On May 11, 1979, he took off on a Tu-22M2 aircraft, soon a very dangerous failure occurred on one of the engines, as a result of which, at an altitude of 3900 meters, almost above the village of Yantarnoye (Crimea), the engine exploded and the aircraft began to fall and collapse ... G-loads reached 11 multiple times (this means that the body became 11 times heavier than usual) ... He had only 25 seconds at his disposal and he used them exactly like a hero - he managed to turn on the toggle switch for the forced abandonment of the crew (the crew itself was at the commemoration admitted that no one could put the catapult into action due to strong and alternating (it presses to the chair, then tears it away from it) overloads), i.e. it was he who saved the entire crew ... The commander himself was not included in this system (the designers believed that the commander would be able to do something else in the last seconds and then eject on his own) ... Viktor "did more" - he managed to take the plane away from school, which he fell on, and turning on the afterburner with one running engine, he took the plane away from the school ... He himself did not have time to use the catapult and died ... Now the school in the village of Yantarnoye bears his name, there is a monument to Viktor Kubrakov nearby ... He was posthumously awarded Order of the Red Banner!
Here is a photo from the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper with an article about him:

And exactly 10 years later, for some reason, I "struck" to compose a verse about him ... Below I quote this verse:

In memory of my friend Viktor Kubrakov

A winged car takes off
"Concrete" floats under the wing
And the turbines work in unison ..,
Will the airport wait for you ..?

"Needle" steel pulls the thread across the sky
In its supersonic motion
And no matter how strong the "enemy" was, was not insidious,
He will be convinced of your courage ...

A powerful rocket descended from the pylon,
She took a sheaf of flame with her.
Life is fleeting, like this attack,
But there is always a place for a feat in it ..!

And now the rocket carrier is flying back,
Victor has peace of mind
He will now request entry to the zone
And the train will receive from the RP ...

But suddenly the instruments seemed to be "stunned",
And the arrows rushed about, as if delirious
And the engine seems to be barely, barely
"Turns" the turbine into trouble ...

The report to the ground is capacious, fleeting:
“The turnover of one fell ..,
I ask you to land urgently
And give a free echelon..!

But time seems to run out
Fate has drawn the Rubicon
A car in the air... exploded
Spinning, began to fall somersault ...

And in these terrible moments,
When it seemed - the crew died ..,
The only decision you made was
Save your comrades!

And overloads press repeatedly
And the body seems to be filled with lead ..,
Moments go forever
They are not available to you...

With great difficulty you press the toggle switch ..,
There is no more valuable gift on earth ..!
This is how you save your friends
Generously "forgetting" about yourself ..!

And "flashed" three domes in the sky,
Born under a lucky star
And you are in a burning explosive "torpedo"
You fly to meet the sinful earth ..!

All three stand in mournful guard
At the head of his commander,
Their memory in "those moments" returned,
Trying to save in thoughts and his ...

But it all happened the way it did.
The other, as you know, is not given ...
And I want the name not to be forgotten
And the bright image of my friend ..!