XV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2023

«Amazingly charming, completely devoid of outward «heroism», endowed with an excess of a sense of humor - this remained until his very last day Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Doctor of Technical Sciences, retired colonel Mark Lazarevich Gallay... He, undoubtedly , was the most significant of all whom I only knew in my already quite short journalistic life ...», - wrote about Mark Gallay, a domestic journalist L.I. Sidorovsky [6].

Soft and intelligent, Mark Lazarevich Gallay was not at all like a pilot who made dozens of sorties, tested aircraft in the most difficult conditions and taught Yuri Gagarin himself to fly. A close friend of Mark Gallay, film director Eldar Ryazanov, spoke of him like this: «With a heroic biography, he had a completely unheroic appearance.» [5].

Gallay met Eldar Ryazanov in the 1950s at the House of Creativity. Mark Lazarevich by that time was the author of a number of excellent books, joined the Writers' Union. As Eldar Ryazanov said about his stories: «There is not a single fanfaron word, not a single slogan. It's just a pattern of life.» [5].This is not surprising, because the material for the works of Mark Gallay was his own memories and impressions of the war, about serving as a test pilot, about working in the cosmonaut corps.

Mark Lazarevich Gallay (1914-1998) lived an amazing life: he was a Soviet test pilot, participant in the Great Patriotic War, writer, Hero of the Soviet Union. In his youth, M. Gallay worked as a turner, studied at the Leningrad Institute of Engineers of the Civil Air Fleet, and in 1937 graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. He became interested in aviation at a young age. Simultaneously with the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, he graduated from the pilot school at the Leningrad Aeroclub, gained good experience in glider flights and parachute jumps. After graduating from high school, Mark Gallay began working as a tester at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, and graduated from flight school on the job [2].

When the Great Patriotic War began, M. Gallay became a fighter pilot of the 2nd separate fighter air defense squadron of Moscow, which was formed from test pilots. Until September 1941, he participated in the defense of Moscow from Nazi air raids, made 9 flights. During the first night raid on Moscow on July 22, 1941, M. Gallay shot down an enemy Dornier-215. Years later, he told Eldar Ryazanov that when the battle was over, the sun had already set, and in the darkness he could not immediately understand where his airfield was located. He could not wait for dawn in the air, there would not be enough fuel. Then Mark Lazarevich remembered that the airfield was located near the Moscow River. He went downhill, found the river by the characteristic brilliance of the water, was able to orient himself in the darkness and safely land the plane. For this fight, Mark Gallay was awarded the Order of the Red Banner [3].

In 1942, while on the Kalinin front, M. Gallay served as squadron commander and made 28 flights. Then, by order of the command, like other test pilots, Mark Gallay was recalled from the front to their place of work before the war. Mark Lazarevich returned to the Flight Research Institute, where he continued to engage in the most important activities for the front: he modified serial aircraft for combat conditions, including equipping them with new engines.

Later, he was sent to conduct practical exercises with pilots who were to fight on the front lines. Mark Gallay was not just an engineer of combat vehicles and a test pilot - he made many sorties, and believed that he simply had no right to explain with a pointer in his hands in the classroom how to behave under fire. With great difficulty, he managed to obtain permission to conduct practical exercises in the air, in real combat conditions. So, a year later, by the summer of 1943, he was again at the front and made sorties deep behind enemy lines.

In June 1943, the plane in which the pilot was located was shot down in the area of the city of Bryansk occupied at that time. Mark Lazarevich was in no hurry to leave the cockpit, he tried to take the plane as far away from the city as possible. As a result, Gallay jumped when his clothes were already on fire. The pilot did not land very well, having sustained a spinal injury [4]. The partisans helped to get to their own Gallay, to whom he was able to get through, overcoming back pain. After 12 days, he was taken by plane to the front line, after which he returned to flight test work. Once in his native Flight Research Instiute, Gallay learned that he was considered dead.

Mark Lazarevich continued his work on aircraft for the front. It was he who tested such legendary combat vehicles as the MiG-9 fighter, Tu-4, and others. During the war, Gallay met and became friends with Sergei Korolev, who was then a political prisoner and worked in the aviation maintenance battalion of one of the military airfields.

Despite a spinal injury, Mark Lazarevich flew for another twenty years - he had to wear a corset - and tested 124 types of aircraft, including Er-2, MiG-9, La-5, Yak-7, Me-163, Tu- 4, I-215, Yak-20, etc.

In 1958, M. Gallay retired from the Armed Forces of the USSR to the reserve with the rank of colonel. In 1958-1975 he returned to Flight Research Instiute as a senior researcher. In 1960-1961, he worked as an instructor-methodologist for piloting a spacecraft in OKB-1, which was led by S.P. Korolev. Mark Lazarevich worked with the first group - the Gagarin Six - in one of the branches of the Flight Research Instiute, in laboratory, where the simulator of the Vostok-3A spacecraft was located.

They say that when S.P. Korolev invited him to work, Gallay laughed a lot. «How am I going to teach astronauts to fly if I myself have never been in space?» he said. Nevertheless, he accepted the invitation and it was he who prepared all the first cosmonauts for flights - Y. Gagarin, G. Titov and others. The legendary phrase «Let's go» Gagarin also adopted from his mentor. Working out on the simulators various emergency situations that could arise during the flight, Gallay explained in detail to the future cosmonaut all the «introductory», then said:

- Ready to fly?

- Ready!

- Then let's go!

And he pressed the start button.

In fact, the pilot in this situation should say: «Crew, I'm taking off!» However, Mark Lazarevich himself recalled that dislike for the chic phrase «Crew, I’m taking off!» he felt it when he heard a certain «flyer» proudly pronounce it, preparing to take off in a light aircraft, the crew of which consisted of him alone.

Returning from his flight, Yuri Gagarin said to Mark Gallay: «Mark Lazarevich, everything was exactly as you decribed. It's like you've been there before me.» [4].

Since 1959, he was deputy chairman of the methodological council of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR for flight tests. He published about 30 scientific papers, taught at the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Academy of Civil Aviation.

He published his first book «Through Invisible Barriers» in 1960, and already in 1965 Gallay became a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR. Since 1975, he has completely concentrated on literary work. His most famous works are «Tested in the sky», «Meetings at airfields: A documentary story. Essays. Articles», «Aviators about aviation», «Sky that unites», biographies of Valery Chkalov and Valentina Grizodubova and others. Based on the works of Mark Gallay, the feature film «Three Percent Risk» (1984) was shot. Gallay became a character in A.A. Agranovsky «Open Eyes», dedicated to the creation of the MiG-9, one of the first Soviet jet fighters, and one of the prototypes of the character based on this essay of the film by T. Lioznova «They conquer the sky», filmed in 1963. In 1997, Eldar Ryazanov made a documentary called «The unit of decency is one Gallay», which most clearly characterizes the personality of the pilot and writer.

Mark Lazarevich Gallay died on July 14, 1998. He is buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow. He had the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, was awarded three Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Badge of Honor and 16 medals. He was an Honored Test Pilot of the USSR (1959), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1972), Professor (1994), Academician of the Academy of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Honored Test Pilot Shcherbakov A.A. wrote about M. Gallai: «I did not have a chance to work with Gallay, but still I can consider myself his student no less than the student of Anokhin, Bernikov, Shiyanov, with whom I flew together. His test biography, his approach to flight work was a good example for me. Gallay also passed heavy flight accidents in test work, but the reason for his luck is completely different. He, being an educated aeronautical engineer, was able to think through the methodology of flight tests, he was able to predict possible unexpected difficulties, and therefore he was ready to overcome them in flight.» [7].

Mark Lazarevich himself believed that aviation is not heroism, but a huge work. The famous Soviet journalist, publicist, prose writer and screenwriter A.A. Agranovsky in his book «Open Eyes» wrote about M. Gallay: «Gallay really believed that aviation requires from people, first of all, solid knowledge and great work.» [1].

References

1 Agranovsky A.A. Open eyes. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1963. - 280 p. – URL: https://www.4italka.ru/dokumentalnaya_literatura_main/biografii_i_memuaryi/146290/fulltext.htm

2 Balakov I. B., Simonov A. A. MiG testers. – URL: https://testpilot.ru/review/ispmig/pilot/galay.php

3 Vasin V.P., Simonov A.A. FLIGHT RESEARCH INSTIUTE testers. https://testpilot.ru/review/ispFlight Research Instiute/pilot/40/gallay.htm

4 Emelyanov I. «The unit of decency is one Gallay». April 16 is the birthday of Mark Gallai // Zhukovskie Vesti, 04/16/2020 https://www.zhukvesti.ru/articles/detail/20024/

5 Ryasanov E.A. The unit of decency is one Gallay. – https://yandex.ru/video/preview/8592231276239932135?text=единица%20порядочности%20один%20галлай%20смотреть%20онлайн&path=yandex_search&parent-reqid=1675600392442400-17001050141086349814-sas2-0119-sas-l7-balancer-8080-BAL-5743&from_type=vast

6 Sidorovsky L. I. My dear man. A word about Mark Lazarevich Gallai // https://litbook.ru/article/6256/

7 Shcherbakov A.A. Mark Lazarevich Gallay // https://testpilot.ru/review/ppt/older/gallay.php