Hero pilots. Rescue of Chelyuskinites

In February 1934, the steamship Chelyuskin, sent to conquer the Northern Sea Route, was crushed by ice. The crew and passengers, among whom were women and children, did not panic. They managed to unload everything necessary for life on the ice, set up a tent camp and lived in it for more than two months, maintaining composure and faith in salvation. Scientists observed the Arctic and gave lectures on various topics. Special teams regularly cleared landing sites for airplanes. Illiterate people (and there were some) were taught to read and write. They published a wall newspaper called “We Will Not Surrender.”

The real heroes of the Chelyuskin epic are the Soviet polar pilots. For the first time in the history of world aviation, in harsh weather conditions, with the strongest winds and forty-degree frost, they made numerous search flights, discovered an ice camp and transported 102 people to the mainland. And all this on planes that did not have closed cabins and were not equipped with navigation devices.

Both the Chelyuskinites and the pilots acted on the edge of the possible, in conditions of complete uncertainty. They managed to find unusual solutions that required incredible physical, moral and intellectual effort. To this day, the rescue of the Chelyuskinites is perceived as an adventure novel with a wildly twisted plot.

Vladislav Serov is the author of three books included in the Historical Comics series. He studied a huge amount of historical materials and created a gripping graphic novel about the heroes of this incredible polar epic.

The author of the articles “Let’s Talk About the Chelyuskin” and “How Heroes Saved Heroes,” writer Oleg Bundur, supplemented the heroic canvas of the comic with interesting details about the expedition and its main participants – the rescued and the rescuers.

Recommended reader age: 6+

Author: Vladislav Serov
Number of pages: 64
Publisher: Melik-Pashayev
Cover type: hardcover
Dimensions: 300 × 226 × 10 mm
ISBN: 978-5-00041-399-9