Marshal Savitsky and his winged family

Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya set eight world records in piloting, becoming a real ace. She became the second woman after Tereshkova, who conquered space. With these achievements she added the fame of her last name. Her father is Marshal Savitsky, a veteran pilot of the Great Patriotic War and a chevalier of two gold stars of the Hero.

The life of this whole family is connected with the sky. Lydia Pavlovna, the wife of the legendary ace, was also a valiant pilot during the war, for her exploits she was awarded a military order, the "Red Star".

Evgeny Savitsky was brought up in an ordinary labor family. In 1917, he orphaned, left his father's house. The fate of the homeless child changed after he got into the orphanage, and then to a vocational school. After FZU, he worked at a cement plant, mastered several working professions and showed the ability to master complex techniques.

Following the motto of those years "Komsomolets - on the plane!" Nineteen-year-old boy became the school of the 4th Stalingrad Aviation School, where he persistently studied the material part and mastered the skills of piloting. After its termination, the future Marshal Savitsky is distributed to the Far Eastern Military District, where already in 1929 he applies the acquired knowledge during military operations on the border.

By the beginning of the war, he was already an experienced pilot, teaching a new generation of young pilots. Major Savitsky is eager for the front, but he is refused, motivating the need for high-quality instructors in the rear. In the autumn of 1941, he still managed to get into the combat unit as a trainee. The LaGG-3 fighter is his first combat vehicle, and the pilot uses all its capabilities, knocking down the Messerschmitt-109 and almost dying himself. The new, in 1942, Savitsky Yevgeny Yakovlevich notes, carrying out a task of special importance, causing an accurate strike against the German headquarters.

The perseverance of the pilot gives results, he is appointed to command the 205th Air Division, with which he had a glorious battle path. Air Force - a special kind of troops, commander-pilots participate in air battles on a par with everyone. Now he flies on the "Yaks", which remains faithful to all four terrible years. The exception is the nominal "Lavochkin-5" with the inscription "Valery Chkalov" on the fuselage, donated by the workers-Gorky.

In 1944, the aircraft was shot down by enemy antiaircraft guns, with forced landing, the ace was injured in the spine. On that day he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant-General and awarded the first star of the Hero.

In total during the war, pilot Savitsky shot down twenty-two enemy aircraft, not counting the group victories and headquarters "Storch" already over Berlin. By the way, it was on this that Adolf Hitler could try to escape from retaliation.

After the war, the hero did not rest on his laurels, but mastered new types of aircraft and supervised the training work in the USSR Air Force . Marshal Savitsky became the author of fascinating books about Soviet aviation and the history of war in the air.

At the age of 63, the illustrious pilot made his last flight in life. One can only guess at the emotions that he experienced, lifting into the air a supersonic interceptor. Perhaps I remembered my Yak-3 ...

Marshal Savitsky passed away in 1990, before the collapse of the country, which he loved and protected, as he could.

Old pilots do not die, they fly up and remain in heaven.