Soviet aviation record holders

Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova (Russian: Мари́на Миха́йловна Раско́ва, née Malinina; 28 March 1912 – 4 January 1943) was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma of professional air navigator. Raskova went from a young woman with aspirations of becoming an opera singer to a military instructor to the Soviet first female navigator. She was the navigator to many record-setting as well as record-breaking flights and the founding and commanding officer of the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment, which was renamed the 125th M.M. Raskova Borisov Guards Dive Bomber Regiment in her honor. Raskova became one of over 800,000 women in the military service, founding three female air regiments, one of which eventually flew over 30,000 sorties in World War II and produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (Russian: Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born 8 August 1948) is a retired Soviet aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space. On her 1984 Soyuz T-12 mission she became the first woman to fly to space twice, and the first woman to perform a spacewalk.

Marina Lavrentievna Popovich (née Vasiliyeva; 20 July 1931 – 30 November 2017) was a Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer, and decorated Soviet test pilot. In 1964, she became the third woman and the first Soviet woman to break the sound barrier. Known as "Madame MiG", for her work in the Soviet fighter, she set more than one hundred aviation world records on over 40 types of aircraft over her career.

Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova (Russian: Валентина Степановна Гризодубова, Ukrainian: Валентина Степанівна Гризодубова Valentyna Stepanivna Hryzodubova; 27 April [O.S. 14 April] 1909 in Kharkov – 28 April 1993 in Moscow) was one of the first female pilots in the Soviet Union awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the only female Hero of the Soviet Union to also be awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labour.

Polina Denisovna Osipenko (Russian: Полина Денисовна Осипенко, Ukrainian: Поліна Денисівна Осипенко, Polina Denysivna Osypenko; 8 October 1907 – 11 May 1939) was a Soviet military pilot, most notable as the co-pilot who, together with Valentina Grizodubova and Marina Raskova on September 24–25, 1938 performed a non-stop flight between Moscow and the Sea of Okhotsk, setting a new distance record for non-stop flights operated by women. For this achievement, she and her two colleagues were named Hero of the Soviet Union, the first three women to receive highest military distinction in Soviet Union on 2 November 1938.

Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki (Russian: Владимир Константинович Коккинаки; 25 June [O.S. 12 June] 1904 – 6 January 1985) was a test pilot in the Soviet Union, notable for setting twenty-two world records and serving as president of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Viktor Georgiyevich Pugachev (Russian: Ви́ктор Гео́ргиевич Пугачёв) (born 8 August 1948 in Taganrog, RSFSR) is retired Russian Air Force officer and a former Soviet test pilot who was the first to demonstrate the so-called Pugachev's Cobra manoeuvre to the general public in 1989, flying an Su-27. Gold medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to him in the late 1980s. He graduated from Yeysk military aviation school in 1970, test-pilot school in 1978 and the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1980. After two years with Gromov Flight Research Institute he joined OKB Sukhoi where he tested the Su-9, Su-15, Su-24, Su-25 and the Su-27. On 1 November 1989 he landed an Su-27K on an aircraft carrier for the first time in Soviet history. He became famous after his 1989 Su-27 demonstrations on the Paris Airshow. Pugachev is credited with first ever non-vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.

Alexander Vasilyevich Belyakov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Беляко́в; 21 December 1897 [O.S. 9 December] – 28 November 1982) was a Soviet flight navigator who, together with command pilot Valery Chkalov and co-pilot Georgy Baydukov, set a record for the longest uninterrupted flight in 1936 and made the first non-stop flight across the North Pole, flying from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Gromov (Russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Гро́мов; 24 February [O.S. 12 February] 1899 – 22 January 1985) was a Russian and Soviet military aviator, test pilot, researcher, and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Sergeyevich Ilyushin (Russian: Владимир Серге́евич Ильюшин; 31 March 1927 – 1 March 2010) was a Soviet general and test pilot, and the son of aerospace engineer Sergey Ilyushin. He spent most of his career as a test pilot for the Sukhoi OKB (a rival of Ilyushin OKB). Ilyushin was also a rugby union administrator who was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame (then known as the IRB Hall of Fame) in 2013.