Vladimir Kokkinaki Vladimir Konstantinovich Kokkinaki ( , 12 / 25 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 " . Life and career . Kokkinaki was born in Novorossiysk on 12 June 1904 ( O . S . ) to a family of Greek descent . His younger brother , Konstantin Kokkinaki ( 1910 – 1990 ) , was also a distinguished test pilot . In 1921 he finished elementary school , and worked on grape plantations and in the Novorossiysk port . He entered the Red Army in 1925 , and served in the infantry until July 1927 . He then entered the Leningrad Military - Theoretical School of the Red Air Force , from where he graduated in 1928 . He subsequently entered the Borisoglebsk pilot school , from where he graduated in 1930 . In April 1931 , after a period of service in the 11th Fighter Squadron in the Moscow military district , he was transferred back to the Leningrad Military - Theoretical School as an instructor because of his pilot skills . In the period 1932 - 1935 he served as test pilot for the Air Force , testing a series of aircraft . The first aircraft he tested was the attack aircraft Kocherigin - Gurevich TSh - 3 . Subsequently he entered the Ilyushin Design Bureau ( OKB ) as its chief test pilot , where he remained until 1964 . Throughout that period , he was the first to test fly all the aircraft of the OKB , including the prototypes of the Ilyushin Il - 4 medium bomber , the Ilyushin Il - 2 " Shturmovik " attack aircraft , the Ilyushin Il - 28 jet bomber , and the Ilyushin Il - 14 transport aircraft . He became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1938 . Promoted to Major General of Aviation in 1943 , during the Second World War Kokkinaki served as head of the Main Inspectorate of the People ' s Commissariat for the Aircraft Industry and as head of its flight - test service between the years 1943 - 1947 . He retired from the Air Force in January 1966 , but continued working for OKB Ilyushin in a supervisory capacity with overall responsibility for flight testing , with his last project being the Ilyushin Il - 62 . He became the vice chairman of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ( FAI ) in 1961 and assumed the position of chairman in 1966 , a position he held until 1967 , after which he was appointed to the honorary chairmanship . In the 1960s , he also served as chairman of the USSR Aviation Sport Federation . Kokkinakis lived in Moscow , where he died on 7 January 1985 . He is buried in the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow , along with his wife , Valentina . Records . On 21 November 1935 , Kokkinaki managed to obtain the unofficial world record for ceiling in a Polikarpov I - 15 fighter , reaching the altitude of 14 , 575 meters . On 20 April 1936 , he performed the Nesterov Loop for the first time with a twin - engine aircraft , a TsKB - 26 ( the prototype of the Ilyushin Il - 4 ) , in the presence of Joseph Stalin . In 1936 - 1937 , Kokkinaki set seven successive altitude with varying payload records with the TsKB - 26 . His first official record , on 17 July 1936 , was also the first official Soviet aviation record . On 28 June 1937 Kokkinaki flew the circular Moscow - Sevastopol - Sverdlovsk - Moscow route , a distance of 5018 km , with a DB - 3 , setting a record in both speed at 5000 km range ( with a median speed of 325 km / h ) and range on a circular route . This flight was followed three months later by the 4000 km Moscow - Baku - Moscow route . On 27 – 28 June 1938 , on board a modified TsKB - 30 named " Moskva " , with A . M . Bryandinskiy as his navigator , Kokkinaki flew from Moscow to Spassk - Dalny in the Soviet Far East , covering a distance of 7 , 580 km in 24 h 36 min , mostly at an altitude of 7000 meters , with an average speed of 307 km / h . For this feat , he was awarded the title " Hero of the Soviet Union " on 17 July . On 28 April 1939 , with Mikhail Kh . Gordienko as co - pilot , he tried to surpass this feat by performing a non - stop east - west transatlantic flight from Moscow to New York City , to coincide with the opening of the " Land of Tomorrow " World Fair . However , due to encountering bad weather , the airplane was forced to come down on Miscou Island in New Brunswick , Canada ( TIME magazine account ) . Coming not long after the death of Valery Chkalov , and with the approaching war , this well - publicized debacle spelled the end of the Soviet Arctic aviation exploits of the 1930s . Despite failing to reach his original destination , he still covered a distance of 8 , 000 km in 22 h 56 min , at an average speed of 348 km / h , and since 1959 , the route he used ( Moscow - Novgorod - Helsinki - Trondheim - Iceland - Cape Farewell - Miscou Island ) is used for the regular flights between New York and Moscow . In 1965 , he was honored by the International Air Transport Association with the diamond " wind rose " necklace for his finding the " shortest flight route between Europe and America " . From 1958 to 1960 , he set another series of thirteen altitude with load and speed records flying the Ilyushin Il - 18 . His last world record was in 1960 , when he flew an Il - 18 at a distance of 5 , 018 kilometers with a payload of 10 , 000 kg and a median speed of 693 km / h . Awards and honours . Kokkinaki was awarded : A street in Moscow has been named after him ( fittingly , next to the " Academician Ilyushin " Street ) , and a bronze bust was erected in his home city of Novorossiysk on the occasion of the second award of the HSU title and Gold Star . A tanker , built in Kherson in 1985 , is also named in his honor . A heavy - lift airplane Volga - Dnepr Ilyushin Il - 76TD - 90VD ( RA - 76950 , cn 2043420697 ) was named in his honour . An Aeroflot Russian Airlines Ilyushin Il - 96 ( RA - 96011 , cn 74393201008 ) has also been named in his honour .