In the life of

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 ...

, air shows were a highly regarded type of

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

, almost always of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

nature. They happened on various occasions and anniversaries, in many locations across the country. A notable

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

was the

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

Air Show held annually in August.

Dates

Soviet Air Fleet Day

The most frequent date of air shows was the Soviet Air Fleet Day (). It was also known as the Soviet Air Forces Day (), or Soviet Aviation Day.Pre-history of MAKS
- provides the complete information on Russian and Soviet air shows. It was established in 1933 and was most usually held on the third Sunday of August, weather permitting. The initial exhibition on 18 August 1933, was a result of

Yakov Alksnis Yakov Ivanovich Alksnis (, ; – 29 July 1938) was a Soviet military leader and the commander of the Red Army Air Forces from 1931 to 1937. Biography Jēkabs Alksnis was born in a farmer's family in Naukšēni Parish, Governorate of Livonia ...

initiative, and was held in

Khodynka Aerodrome Khodynka (, ''Khodynskiy''), officially Frunze Central Aerodrome, formerly known as Central (''Tsentralny'', ), was an airport in Moscow, Russia, located northwest of the centre of the city. History The aerodrome was founded on 17 June 1910, w ...

(the Central Moscow Aerodrome), but since the next year the show became located on Tushino airfield near

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 ...

, where it remained for entire decades. In 1937, the parade was attended by nearly a million people, observing the masses of aircraft spelling in the sky "

LENIN Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

", "

STALIN Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

" and "

СССР 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 celebrations repeated until the fall of Soviet Union, and continue in Russia (location is now Zhukovskiy airport, see

MAKS airshow MAKS (, ) is an international air show held at Zhukovsky International Airport, the home of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast, Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow, Russia. The event was organized by the Russian Ministr ...

May Day

1 May was dedicated to multitude of parades throughout the Soviet Union. They often included large-scale

flypast ''FlyPast'' is an aircraft magazine, published monthly, edited by Tom Allett, Steve Beebee and Jamie Ewan. History and profile The magazine started as a bi-monthly edition in May/June 1981 and its first editor was the late Mike Twite. It is ow ...

s. - May Day of 1954.

Other

The Soviet Air Fleet Day became primarily associated with

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

(VVS), so a separate day has been established for

Soviet Air Defense Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Russian Air Force, Air Force in 1998 ...

(PVO) a second arm of Soviet military that employed numerous fighter squadrons. It was called Soviet Air Defence Forces Day (), occurred on the second Sunday of April, and was celebrated with air parades of lesser scale. The

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

anniversary usually included air parade, but as it was held on 7 November, the aircraft were often cancelled because of weather conditions. The same problem pertained to 19 November, the Soviet Rocket Forces and Artillery Day. Notably, the 50th anniversary of October revolution air show was held in the summer, on 9 July 1967 at

Domodedovo airport Moscow Domodedovo International Airport ( rus, links=no, аэропорт Домодедово, p=dəmɐˈdʲɛdəvə) (IATA: DME, ICAO: UUDD), formally Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, is an international airport serving Mosc ...

. In an unprecedented display of air power, it featured twelve new types or variants of military aircraft, and prompted concern in the West, especially with reveal of the

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is a ...

, which appeared to be better than current U.S. fighters and influenced the F-X program and therefore the

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's desi ...

Notable first appearances

The Soviet air shows conveyed more than entertainment. In the atmosphere of harshly enforced clandestinity, these air shows were frequently the main source of information about the recent aviation achievements of Soviet design bureaus (OKBs). Both Eastern and Western public opinion benefited from it, as well as foreign military intelligence.

References