Valentina Grizodubova Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova ( , " Valentina Stepanivna Grizodubova " ; May 10 , 1909 in Kharkov – 1 May , 1993 in Moscow ) was one of the first female pilots in the Soviet Union and was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labour decorations . Early life and pre - war career . Born in Kharkiv , Ukraine , she was the daughter of Stepan Vasil ' yevich Grizodubov , a pioneer aircraft designer . At the age of fourteen , she flew a glider solo . She played piano and graduated from a conservatory as well as the Khar ' kov Technical Institute . She also spoke several foreign languages . In 1929 , she graduated from the Penza Flying Club of the paramilitary association " Osoviakhim " . She also trained at the Khar ' kov Flying School . In 1933 , she graduated from the Tula Advanced Flying School . Here she became a flight instructor and trained 86 male pilots , many of whom became Heroes of Soviet Union . From 1934 to 1938 she flew in a " " Propaganda " " Squadron named after Maxim Gorky . She flew many types of aircraft and set seven world records including one for highest altitude reached by a female pilot on a two - seater seaplane , 3 , 267 meters ( 10718 . 5 feet ) on 15 October 1937 , ( FAI Record File Number 121 . 16 ) three speed records and one for long - distance flying between Moscow and Aktyubinsk together with Marina Raskova . On September 24 – 25 , 1938 , as the commander and along with Marina Raskova and Polina Osipenko , she completed the 5 , 908 . 61 kilometers ( 3 , 671 . 44 miles ) flight of the " Rodina " ( Russian for " Motherland " ) on the Antonov ANT - 37 , setting an international women ' s record for a straight - line distance flight . ( FAI Record File Number 10444 ) She had already accumulated 5 . 000 hours ' flight before her historic flight , and together with her crew members became one of the first women to be appointed a Hero of the Soviet Union on 2 November 1938 , also receiving a reward of 25 . 000 rubles . German - Soviet War . Since March 1942 she took part in the German - Soviet War . She was appointed commanding officer of the 101st Long - Range Air Regiment , formed in May 1942 , which consisted of about three - hundred men : pilots , navigators , engineers and ground support personnel . Her unit was equipped with Lisunov Li - 2 , transport aircraft ( Douglas Dc - 3 built under licence ) and the pilots were conscripted by Civil Air Fleet . Grizodubova ' s Li - 2s had a crew of six aviators : pilot , co - pilot , navigator , flight - technician , radio operator and air gunner . The unit had initially the task of bombing enemy troops , to fly to partisans and - in June 1942 - to help supply the besieged Leningrad . Subsequently , 101st Long - Range Bomber Air Regiment was ordered to bomb Wehrmacht units that had broken Bryansk and South - Westerns Fronts and were heading for Voronezh . Grizodubova led her Regiment almost every night overcoming strong flak defences and Luftwaffe night fighters in Kursk , Orel and L ' gov areas . In September 1942 , 101st Long - Range Air Regiment was placed at disposal of the Central HQ of the Partisan Movement . The unit flew more than 1 , 850 sorties to partisan held areas , delivering about 1 , 500 tons of arms and ammunition and hundreds of tons of radio equipment , printing presses , film cameras and reading matter , for Soviet partisan leaders . The Regiment evacuated 2 , 500 wounded partisans and homeless orphans too . However , poor airstrips and enemy fighters were a constant threat to the Li - 2s and their crews . On Grizodubova ' s initiative , by March 1943 , partisans built an improved airstrip on the right bank of the Dnieper , where up to a dozen aircraft could be parked in daytime . On 27 May 1944 her Regiment was awarded the honorific title of Krasnosel ' skiy for participating to break the siege of Leningrad . By the time Grizodubova was recalled to Moscow , in June 1944 , she had flown about 200 sorties . Two months later , on 30 August , the 101st Long - Range Air Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and , later , the honorific of " Guards " . Post War . In the 1940s she served as the sole female member of the " Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Crimes of the Fascist German Invaders and Their Accomplices , and of the Damage They Caused to Citizens , Collective Farms , Public Organizations , State Enterprises , and Institutions of the USSR " ( Chrezvychainaia gosudarstvennaia komissiia or Чрезвычайная Государственная Комиссия ; ChGK ) , appointed to investigate Nazi war crimes in the Soviet Union . Legacy . Grizodubova was the Honorary Citizen of Penza . A monument in Moscow is dedicated to Valentina Grizodubova . References . < div class = " references - small " >