The Chkalov Transpolar Flight Monument, or simply Chkalov Monument, is a monument located at

Pearson Field Pearson Field also once known as Pearson Airpark, is a city-owned municipal airport located one mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States. Pearson Field is the ...

, in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

near the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The monument commemorates , and was dedicated on June 20, 1975 with copilot Georgy Baidukov and navigator Alexander Belyakov in attendance; pilot

Valery Chkalov Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (; ; – 15 December 1938) was a test pilot awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (1936). Early life Chkalov was born to a Russian family in 1904 in the upper Volga region, the town of Chkalovsk, Russia, Vasi ...

was killed during a test flight in 1938, the year after the flight. The monument was the first ever erected in the United States to commemorate an achievement of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The monument was originally erected on the south side of the airfield, along

Washington State Route 14 State Route 14 (SR 14) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east-west on the north side of the Columbia River, opposite Interstate 84 (I-84) to the south in Oregon. SR 14 forms a section ...

. When SR 14 was widened and rebuilt in the 1980s, the monument was moved to its current location on the north side of the field, adjacent to the

Pearson Air Museum The Pearson Air Museum is a place-based aviation museum at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, USA. Managed by the National Park Service as part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, museum exhibits provide an opportunity for visito ...

on East 5th Street. File:Vancouver, Washington, October 2020 - 149.jpg File:Vancouver, Washington, October 2020 - 151.jpg

References

External links

* 1975 establishments in Washington (state) Monuments and memorials in Vancouver, Washington Outdoor sculptures in Vancouver, Washington Soviet Union–United States relations {{Washington-sculpture-stub