Valentin Vasin

Valentin Petrovich Vasin (; 30 October 1923 — 11 November 2010) was a decorated Soviet test pilot and head of flight operations (1973–1995) in the Gromov Flight Research Institute.

Early life Vasin was born on 30 October 1923 to a workers Russian family in Alyoshino village. He grew up in Novogireyevo, graduated a high school and completed training at the Reutov aeroclub in 1941 before joining the army. He attended the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots. Upon graduation in 1944 he served there as an instructor pilot until 1947 when he completed the Higher Officer School of Instructors and continued as a flight instructor until May 1951.

Test pilot career After graduating from the Fedotov Test Pilot School in 1953 he began his career at the Gromov Flight Research Institute, where he worked as a test pilot for over twenty years. There, he conducted numerous tests on new aircraft and various modifications to existing aircraft. In 1955 he conducted tests of the TV-2T engine on a Tu-4 flying laboratory. On 11 February 1956 he participated in the maiden flight of the An-8 as co-pilot, and later that year on 25 March he achieved a speed exceeding Mach II on a Ye-50 fighter, breaking a speed record. On the MiG-19, MiG 21, Su-7, and Su-9 he conducted tests of landing without engine power, and tested engine types for the Su-9, Su-11, MiG-21, and SM-12. He also flew test flights in conditions of weightlessness, including on tests of the LDAZ rocket engine on an Il-28 in 1956. On 1 May 1957 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his test pilot work, but continued to work as a test pilot afterwards, flying tests the Yak-27V in 1958 and graduating from additional training at the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1959.

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