The Soviet Transpolar Flight of 1937
Magnificent Triumph of Soviet Aviation
[Monument front]:
Near this site at Pearson Airfield on June 20th, 1937, three Soviet aviators completed the first non-stop flight from the U.S.S.R. to the U.S.A.
Command Pilot Valeri Chkalov, Co-Pilot Georgi Baidukov, and Navigator Alexander Belyakov, completed the Moscow to Vancouver Flight in 63 hours 16 minutes, covering 5,288 nautical miles.
The plaques above and on the reverse side were cast in the Soviet Union and presented to Vancouver by the Soviet People to commemorate the event.
This memorial was dedicated on June 20, 1975
[Monument back, left plaque]:
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?????, ? 19 ??? 30 ??? ??????????? ???????,
??????? "???-25" ???????? ?????? ?? ????????? ??????,
???? ????????? (???? ??????????). ??????? ???????? ????????? ????????????? ??????? ??????-???????? ?????-??????????? ????? ???????.
("??????", 21 ???? 1937 ?.).
????? ?????????? ????? ??????, ???????? ? ???????
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?? ?????? ? ??????? ????? ?????.
(“????????” 21 ???? 1937 ?.).
[Monument back, right plaque]:
A translation of the above plaque
Magnificent Triumph of Soviet Aviation
Yesterday, at 19 hours, 30 minutes Moscow time, the aircraft “ANT-25” accomplished a landing at Pearson Army Airfield in Vancouver, Washington.
It was a successful completion of a heroic non-stop flight from Moscow across the North Pole to the United States of America.
(“Pravda”, 21 June, 1937)
Heroes of the Soviet Union, Chkalov, Baidukov, and Belyakov, were the first in history to pioneer an air route from Europe to America over the pole.
(“Izvestia” 21, June, 1937)
Marker is on E. 5th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
