Mikhail Mikhailovich Gromov (; – 22 January 1985) was a Russian and Soviet military aviator,

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

Early life

Gromov's father, Mikhail Konstantinovich Gromov, was of noble

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

and served as military medic. His mother, Lyubov Ignatyevna Andreeva, was from peasant family and received training as an obstetrician. Gromov spent his childhood in

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

Rzhev Rzhev ( rus, Ржев, p=ˈrʐɛf) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population: Hist ...

, Myza-Raevo (near Moscow). He graduated from Voskresensky Real School in Moscow, and went on to study at the IMTS from 1916 to 1917. In 1917, Gromov graduated from aviation theoretical courses at IMTS and started his army service.

Career

Institutional positions

Upon graduation, Gromov served as a

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

and military

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. In 1923, he won the Soviet championship in weightlifting. In 1925, he started working as a

for the Air Force Research Institute testing the planes designed by

Andrei Tupolev Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev (; – 23 December 1972) was a Russian and later Soviet aeronautical engineer known for his pioneering aircraft designs as the director of the Tupolev Design Bureau. Tupolev was an early pioneer of aeronautics i ...

and Nikolai Polikarpov. From 1930 to 1941, Gromov then worked at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and became chief-pilot. From March to August 1941, Gromov was the first director of the Flight Research Institute, a flight research and testing centre in Zhukovsky. The name of M. M. Gromov was awarded to the institute in 1991 to celebrate the Institute's 50th anniversary. After the war, Gromov was deputy commander of the Long-Range Aviation from 1946 to 1949. Later, till 1955, he was head of Department of flight service of Ministry of Aviation Industry. In 1955 he was discharged. From 1937 to 1946, Gromov was deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...

(1st convocation). In late 1940, he initiated the establishment of the Fedotov Test Pilot School.

Testing history

Gromov was involved in extensive testing and promotion of Russian airplanes throughout Europe and Asia. For example, from June to September 1925, Gromov flew the Polikarpov R-1 in the long-haul group flight of nine aeroplanes on the route

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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. A year later, in 1926, Gromov completed a European promotional flight in a Tupolev ANT-3 on the route

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

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. Notably, on 25 April 1927, he made the first Soviet

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

jump out of a

Polikarpov I-1 The Polikarpov I-1 was the first indigenous Soviet monoplane fighter. It had to be redesigned after the crash of the first prototype, and was eventually ordered into production in small numbers, but it was never accepted for service with the Sov ...

in a testing that involved the plane having entered into an unrecoverable

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

. From 10 to 12 September 1934, Gromov, A. I. Filin, and I. T. Spirin made a record closed-circle non-stop flight on the route

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

in a

Tupolev ANT-25 The Tupolev ANT-25 was a Soviet long-range experimental aircraft which was also tried as a bomber. First constructed in 1933, it was used by the Soviet Union for a number of record-breaking flights. Development The ANT-25 was designed as the r ...

, flying in 75 hours. Gromov was subsequently awarded the title of

for this feat. In July 1937, Gromov, Andrey Yumashev, and Sergey Danilin a new non-stop flight distance record of from Moscow to San Jacinto, California, via the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

in a

Service in World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Gromov took command of several units: * From December 1941 to February 1942, Gromov was commander of 31st Mixed Aviation Division ( Kalinin Front). *From February to May 1942, he was commander of the Air Force of Kalinin Front. *From May 1942 to May 1943, he took command of the 3rd Air Army. *From May 1943 to June 1944, he was commander of the 1st Air Army. *From 1944 to 1946, Gromov was head of the Main Department of combat training of frontline aviation of the Air Force.

Miscellaneous

From 1959 to 1961, Gromov headed the Weightlifting Federation of USSR. Gromov used his influence and renown to attain reconsideration of

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...

's case, which resulted in Korolev's transfer from the prison camp at

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

to TsKB-29. Gromov lived in Moscow. Gromov's wife, Nina Georgievna Gromova (1922–2019), was an equestrian sportswoman. Gromov died on January 22 1985 in Moscow. He is buried at

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

Commemorations

Monuments

File:Бюст М.М. Громова, п. Чкаловский.jpg, Monument in

Shchyolkovo Shchyolkovo ( rus, Щёлково, p=ˈɕːɵlkəvə) is a city and the administrative center of Shchyolkovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River ( Oka's tributary), northeast of Moscow. Population: 112,865 ( 20 ...

near Chkalovsky, Russia File:Hangar 1 + Gromov.jpg, Mikhail Gromov

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

on the Gromov Flight Research Institute hangar 1

In philately

File:1938 CPA 599-601.jpg, Danilin, Gromov and Yumashev on the USSR postage stamps (1937) File:Russian post cover on M. M. Gromov 100-years anniversary in 1999.jpg, Russian post envelope with commemorative stamp on M. M. Gromov 100-years anniversary (1999)

In phaleristics

The Gromov Medal was established in March 2011 by the Gromov Flight Research Institute as a highest corporate award in memory of the founder of the institute. File:Gromov Medal.png, Obverse File:Медаль Громова - Gromov Medal 2.jpg, Reverse

References

External links

Biography
on the old and frozen LII website * Громов, Михаил Михайлович // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. том 7. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1972 * S. P. Korolev. Encyclopedia of life and creativity / Editor C. A. Lopota, RSC Energia, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gromov, Mikhail 1899 births 1985 deaths Russian aviators Soviet World War II pilots Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet colonel generals Soviet Air Force generals Soviet test pilots Russian aviation record holders Soviet aviation record holders Flight distance record holders Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Commanders of the Legion of Honour Gromov Flight Research Institute employees Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute employees People from Tver People from Tver Governorate Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery