Hero of the Soviet Union

Andrey Borisovich Yumashev was born at St. Petersburg, Russian Empire, in March 1902.

Early Life

After graduating from school he wanted to be an artist and an architect, and started his artistic education attending classes at the Society for Encouragement of Artists before the Revolution.

He briefly worked as a land surveyor in the summer of 1918 before joining the Red Army in August of that year.

Before entering combat in the Russian Civil War he trained as a cadet at the 2nd Petrograd Artillery Course, and in October 1920 he was deployed to the front line as part of an artillery division on the Southern Front.

Andrey Borisovich Yumashev then participated in the Battle of Perekop against the forces of Pyotr Wrangel and Nestor Makhno.

A painting of the Red Army Crossing the Syvash (1935), painting by Nikolay Samokish.

This was an important battle between the "White Russian" forces of Gen. Pyotr Wrangel and the “Red Army” of Soviet Russia.

In February 1921 he departed from the frontlines to attend additional artillery training in Sevastopol and upon graduation he was briefly stationed in the Kharkhov Military District.

Aviation Career

Having transferred to the air force in 1922, he went on to graduate from the Yegorievsk Theoretical School of Pilots in 1923, followed by the 2nd Borisoglebsk Military School of Pilots and the Serpukhov School of Air Combat in 1924.

During his studies he developed an interest in gliding and built a glider of his own design, the Yu-1, which he won an award for at the 3rd All-Union glider competition in Koktebel.

By 1926 he worked as an instructor at the Serpukhov School where he had previously attended, but in 1927 he transferred to working as a test pilot at the Air Force Research Institute, where he continued to fly gliders in addition to other aircraft, setting two glider records in 1928.

Over the next ten years he tested fighters, bombers, and transports, and was appointed Test Pilot First Class.

Having quickly worked his way up to squadron commander at the research institute, he went on to participate in several flights breaking payload records in 1936 and became a military representative in the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute.

During his work as a test pilot he participated in tests on various aircraft including the I-3, I-4, Heinkel I-7, Tupolev R-3, Tupolev R-6, TupolevR-7, Tupolev TB-1, Tupolev TB-3, Stal-7, Petlyakov Pe-8, and Tupolev ANT-9.

The Moscow-San Jacinto Flight

On 12 July 1937 he took off from Moscow in an Tupolev ANT-25 as co-pilot alongside Mikhail Gromov and navigator Sergey Danilin for what became the record-breaking Moscow-San Jacinto flight, replacing Gromov as pilot during a portion of the flight.

The Tupolev ANT-25 was a single-engine low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear.

Constructed primarily out of metal, the plane was flown by a crew of three.

The pilot sat directly behind the engine, followed by a crew rest area, then the navigator/radio operator station, followed by the co-pilot's cockpit.

The Tupelov ANT-25 Specifications:

Crew: Three;
Length: 44 feet 0 inches;
Wingspan: 111 feet 7 inches;
Height: 18 feet 1 inch;
Empty weight: 8,157 pounds;
Gross Takeoff Weight: 17,637 pounds;
Fuel Capacity: 13,735 pounds;
Engine: 750 hp;
Maximum Speed:: 153 mph;
Range: 4,500 miles;
Service Ceiling: 6,900 feet at Gross Weight, 25,755 feet when lightly loaded.

A photograph of the Moscow to the US Tupelov ANT-25 aircraft.

A photograph of ANT-25 designer Andreiw Tupolev alongside some of the aircraft test pilots.

Despite encountering a variety of difficulties, such as having to fly blind at various points and having difficulty finding a place to land since the San Diego Airport was experiencing poor weather, they managed to safely land in a pasture near the city of San Jacinto on 14 July.

This is the place they found to land at:

A photograph of the field they landed at near San Jacinto, CA in 1937.

In total, the flight lasted 62 hours and 17 minutes, covering 6,305.6749 miles, and set the record for a non-stop long-distance flight.

A crowd gathers in a field near San Jacinto, California, on 14 July 1937 to view the Tupolev ANT-25 flown by Mikhail Gromov, Andrei Yumashev and Sergei Danilin after its record-breaking flight.

After landing the crew went on a three-week tour of the United States, being given the status of honorary citizens of the city of Los Angeles by the mayor and meeting with president Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Washington DC.

Enter "The Aeroplane" Magazine

The weekly aviation magazine "The Aeroplane" was launched in June of 1911 by C.G. Grey, and he claimed that the magazine would provide the best aviation coverage in the world. C.G. Grey also was the second editor Jane's All the World's Aircraft.

A photograph of C.G. Grey, founder of the aviation magazine The Aeroplane in June of 1911.

Offended by the claims of the Soviets to the long-distance world record, C.G. Grey wrote an editorial shortly after the record-setting flight claiming that the ANT-25 was not capable of such endurance.

The ensuing controversy threatened to disrupt a thaw in the frosty relationship between the USSR and western countries.

It caused serious annoyance to a Soviet Union striving to use aviation for diplomacy and international prestige.

It had the potential to embarrass the USA, which had extravagantly celebrated the three airmen’s feat, and the President, who had entertained them at the White House.

Nor would the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the governing body for air sports and records, and the Royal Aero Club be seen in the best light.

It seemed Grey was a lone voice speaking against the forces of officialdom — which was exactly how he liked it.

He went all-out to persuade the Royal Aero Club to object to the Russian record. The Aeroplane’s efforts redoubled when the record was homologated in early November, and limited-time remained in which a protest could be registered.

The claimed record was “ridiculous”. Grey insisted The Aeroplane had, “Proved that the whole thing could be nothing more than a Flight of Fancy.”

To read the publication’s editorials of 1937, one could imagine the world distance record set by Mikhail Gromov, Andrei Yumashev and Sergei Danilin had come completely out of left field.

In fact, it was the culmination of many years of trial, experimentation and exploration in the sciences of long-distance flight and polar aviation.

The USSR’s interest in flying in far northern regions was kindled in 1928, when it provided two aeroplanes to assist in the search for survivors from the airship Italia after it crashed on the polar ice.

Further exploratory flights and high-profile rescue missions using aircraft soon followed.

At the same time, the establishment of aerial links to other parts of the world was an increasing priority for the Soviet government as it began to look outward, and long-distance flights were an obvious means of signalling that intent.

A Tupolev TB-1 named Strana Sovyetov (‘Land of the Soviets’) flew from Moscow to New York in stages in 1929.

However, the idea of non-stop long-distance flights does not seem to have arisen until 1931.

Today, Aeroplane Monthly (formerly known as "The Aeroplane") continues to focus on iconic military aircraft from the 1930s to the 1960s such as the Spitfire, Hurricane, and Lancaster.

Aeroplane magazine also regularly includes fascinating features on historic civil light aircraft and other types that are scarcely covered elsewhere – making it the most balanced historic aviation monthly on the market, and a must-read for all aviation enthusiasts.

The Tupolev TB-3

A photograph of the Soviet TB-3 4-engine heavy bomber in 1936.

The Tupolev TB-3 was a four-engine heavy bomber built of a steel framework with corrugated steel skin panels. It had fixed landing gear. Initially, each main gear supported two wheels in a bicycle configuration. This was later changed to a single wheel and tire.

General Characteristics:

Crew: 8-10;
Length: 80 feet 1 inch
Wingspan: 137 feet 2 inches;
Height: 27 feet 11 inches;
Empty weight: 24,692 pounds;
Gross weight: 37,920 pounds;
Maximum takeoff weight: 42,549 pounds;
Propellers: 4-bladed fixed pitch;
Maximu speed: 132 mph;
Range: 1,200 miles;
Service ceiling: 15,700 feet.

Paratroopers jumping from a Soviet TB-3 heavy bomber.

On October 28, 1936, pilot Andrey Borisovich Yumashevlying and crew flew a four-engine Tupolev TB-3 bomber near Tchelcovo, U.S.S.R., to set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude With a 11,023 pound payload, reached an altitude of 29,462 feet.

This was the fourth world altitude record set by Yumashev with the TB-3.

For the 28 October flight, Yumashev’s airplane was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, 1,837 cubic inche Shvetsov ASh-62 nine-cylinder radial engines, rated at 1,000 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m., each.

This engine was developed from the earlier Shvetsov M-25, which was a license-built version of the Wright Aeronautical Corporation R-1820 Cyclone.

The previous month, Andrey Yumashev had set three similar world records.

At that time the TB-3 had been powered by four liquid-cooled, supercharged, 2,863.7 cubic inche displacement, Mikulin AM-34FRN 60° V-12 engines with gear reduction, rated at 1,200 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m.

Interestingly, this engine had a different piston stroke length for the left and right cylinder banks, resulting in different displacement for each bank.

On 11 September, Yumashev had flown the TB-3 to an altitude of 26,627 feet with a 11,023 pound payload.

On 16 September, he reached 21,670 feet while carrying 22,046.23 pounds.

Finally, on 20 September Andrey Yumashev and the TB-3, this time with crewman Cheverdinsky, reached 6,562 feet with a 126,455.47 pound payload.

While most were powered by liquid-cooled V-12 engines, various combinations of propellers were used. Some airplanes used wooden two-bladed propellers, while some used four-bladed propellers on the inner two engines.

Later bombers used four-bladed propellers on all engines, while some ANT-6 transports used metal three-bladed variable-pitch propellers.

The first prototype had flown in 1930 and the TB-3 was in service until 1939, by which time it was obsolete.

There were still more than 500 when the Great Patriotic War began in 1941. In addition to service as a heavy bomber, it also flew cargo and was a paratroop transport

Yumashev Borisovich retired from the Soviet military in 1946. He then went on to become an accomplished artist.

During his military service, General Borisovich Yumashev was named Hero of the Soviet Union, twice was awarded the Order of Lenin, and five times the Order of the Red Banner. He was also awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Major General Yumashev Andrey Borisovich died at Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R., 20 May 1988.

FAI Record File Number 8291

FAI Record File Number 8209

FAI Record File Number 10412

FAI Record File Number 8730

FAI Record File Number 9300

Final Years

In the 1930-es, Yumashev have met I.I. Mashkov, P.A. Korin, N.P. Romadin, P.P. Konchalovsky, R.R. Falk, A.V. Fonvizin, and later V.V. Sterligov.

This circle of friends determined Yumashev’s artistic future.

In 1946 A.B. Yumashev joined the Moscow Department of the Artists Union.

He had his one-man shows in the 1980-es in Moscow, at the Vorontsov’s Palace in Alupka, in the Obninsk museum, and in Vancouver (Canada).

The artist’s works are in the in the Tretyakov State Gallery, the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum, Smolensk Art Museum, Obninsk museum, and in many other public and private collections.

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this newsletter, sign up to receive your own weekly newsletter here: Subscribe here!

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!