It is seventy years since Soviet test-pilot Valery Chkalov performed a nonstop flight from Moscow to Vancouver, on North America's West Coast, via the North Pole on a single-engine plane.
During the flight he and his crew covered a distance of almost 9,000 kilometers. He also participated in several long-distance flights, tested new planes and was awarded the highest state honour – Hero of the Soviet Union. Soon after his record flight to the U.S., a bust of him was placed at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. He was killed during a test flight one year later.