The film tells the story of the legendary Soviet test pilot Yuri Aleksandrovich Garnayev, who died along with his crew while fighting forest fires in France. Yuri Garnayev tested catapults... Flew our helicopters to France... Worked in Europe for many months, fulfilling orders that pilots from other countries refused. Then he fought a fire in the south of France, where he died.
The solar disk in the clouds.
The runway receding back.
Jet fighters in flight.
A photograph of test pilot Yuri Garnayev at the airfield.
A photograph of Garnayev at the controls of a helicopter.
A panoramic view of the area (top).
Three Mi-6 helicopters flying to the Le Bourget Air Show in 1965. A view of the front of the helicopter cockpit.
Views of the Moscow Canal and the Northern River Terminal building (top).
Helicopters in flight.
A view of a field with haystacks (top).
Sunbeams in tree branches.
Bees on a sunflower.
A rooster in the grass.
A herd on the road.
Reflection of trees in the water.
Photographs of Garnayev as a child with his parents and relatives.
Newsreel from the 1930s: a plane in flight.
The faces of children watching the plane in flight.
The plane stops in a meadow near a village after landing.
The pilots climb out onto the wing.
The pilots greet local residents.
Faces of young men talking to pilots.
A pilot tells Komsomol members and schoolchildren about the operation of an aircraft engine.
Faces of young people.
An elderly local man in a flight helmet in the passenger seat of an airplane.
Photos of Garnayev in his youth, at the beginning of his working career.
Helicopters in flight.
Raindrops on the glass, views of Vilnius airport during the rain.
A passenger airliner at the airfield (360-degree panorama).
A photo portrait of Garnayev at the age of 20. Newsreel from 1937: cadets of the flying club discussing the upcoming flight.
Cadets at the airfield studying the hardware of an airplane.
Faces of cadets.
An instructor explains the theory of flight to the cadets.
A cadet measures his pulse rate.
Young people in a dormitory make their beds after getting up.
Morning toilet.
Young people turn on the radio and start morning exercises, do exercises.
Young men and women get dressed and leave the dormitory for the factory.
The production process at the factory, faces of the workers.
An instructor holding a model of an airplane explains the theory of flight to cadets at an aeroclub, the cadets' faces.
Studying the aircraft's hardware in the classroom.
An instructor demonstrates to cadets how the airplane's controls work using a simulator.
A rural morning landscape (panorama).
Faces of cadets standing at an airfield near an airplane.
At the instructor's command, the cadets run to the airplanes.
The pilot puts on his glasses.
The propeller is spinning.
Grass, blown down by the propeller.
The landing gear of an airplane starting its takeoff run and taking off.
An airplane taking off, interspersed with modern landscapes (top).
A training airplane in flight.
Clouds above the horizon.
The blades of a helicopter's propeller are spinning (bottom).
The helicopter pilot closes the cockpit window.
The pilot's hand is on the control stick.
A helicopter taking off.
The pilot's face.
A helicopter flying away into the distance.
Views of fields and rivers (top).
Faces of the crew members.
Views of the instrument panel.
Photos of Garnayev in the helicopter cockpit.
Newsreel from the second half of the 1940s: a train en route.
View of a part of the square and the building of the Belorussky Railway Station in Moscow.
A double-decker trolleybus on a street in Moscow.
People on the streets of Moscow.
A jet fighter in flight.
Photo by Garnaev.
Landing of a jet fighter.
View of an aircraft during maintenance.
Checking the chassis and rudders of the aircraft, equipment at work.
Newsreel from the late 1940s - early 1950s: testing a jet fighter using a catapult.
A test pilot gets into the cockpit of a jet fighter.
Closing the canopy.
Launch of a jet fighter from the launch pads.
A fighter in flight.
The face of the test pilot during the flight and overloads.
Launch of another jet aircraft from the launch pads.
Testing of the first aircraft catapult in the USSR. Photographs of Garnaev working as a catapult tester.
Newsreel: testing a catapult on the ground, the face of the tester during overloads.
Testing a catapult while moving at high speed on rails.
Testing catapults in the air from different altitudes.
Garnayev puts on an oxygen mask.
Garnayev in a high-altitude spacesuit sits on a chair and checks the fasteners.
Garnayev in a spacesuit.
Garnayev lifts the visor of the pressure helmet and removes the oxygen mask after checking.
Garnayev climbs into the cockpit of the plane and sits in the chair.
Garnayev in the cockpit of the plane before takeoff for a test jump.
Airplane in flight.
Ejection of the test pilot.
Test pilot in a prolonged jump.
Opening the parachute canopies.
Garnayev extinguishes the parachute canopy after landing.
Garnayev's face after landing.
Winter rural landscapes (panorama).
Photos of Garnayev during his work as a test pilot.
Newsreel from the 1950s: landing a dummy in the cockpit of an airplane for another catapult test.
Closing the cockpit canopy.
Run and takeoff of a twin-engine training fighter.
An attempt to shoot off a dummy from the front cockpit.
A dummy stuck in the cockpit.
View of the runway.
The fighter with the stuck dummy finishes taxiing after a blind landing.
Photo of Garnayev in a flight helmet.
Views of Europe (top).
Flying helicopters (bottom).
View of one of the populated areas of Denmark (top).
View of a windmill.
An Mi-10 helicopter over a forest.
Cows grazing in a meadow.
Panorama of a sports airfield in Denmark, helicopters after landing.
Danes near one of the Soviet helicopters.
Danish journalists board the helicopter to get acquainted with the Soviet equipment.
Children's faces.
One of the journalists types a text on a portable typewriter.
Photojournalists at the airfield.
The Danes exit the Mi-10 helicopter after inspection.
The Danes talk to Soviet helicopter pilots.
Views of the front of the Mi-8 helicopter.
Crimean seascapes.
The road to the airfield in Crimea.
Photo by Garnaev.
Newsreel: a helicopter at a Crimean airfield before a test flight.
Garnaev approaches the helicopter and climbs into the cockpit.
A dummy is in the co-pilot's seat.
The helicopter takes off before the blade jettison test.
The helicopter in flight.
Pressing the blade jettison button.
Garnaev leaves the helicopter's cockpit with a parachute, flying on autopilot.
Blade jettison, the falling helicopter, the dummy descending by parachute.
The dummy lands on the ground.
Photos of Garnaev with fellow pilots, during preparation for the flight.
Tail sections of fighter jets standing in a row at the airfield.
A fighter jet during pre-flight preparation.
Test pilots walking along the airfield, Garnayev among them.
Photo of Garnayev near the plane.
Garnayev getting into the cockpit.
Closing the canopy.
The plane begins taxiing to the runway.
The takeoff run and takeoff of a jet fighter.
A test pilot in the cockpit during a flight.
Aircraft of various types during test flights.
View of the runway from the navigator's cabin.
The radar antenna is rotating.
Photo of Garnayev in the helicopter cockpit.
View of the sea surface (top) and the right side landing gear of the helicopter.
Panorama of clouds (top).
Takeoff of the Tu-104 passenger airliner.
Test pilots Anokhin and Garnayev in the cockpit.
Experimental animals in transparent cages in the cabin of the plane during a study of the effects of weightlessness on the body.
Experimental cat in weightlessness.
Garnayev at the controls.
Cosmonauts during training in weightlessness.
Airplane in flight.
Photographs of cosmonauts Yu.A. Gagarin, A.A. Leonov, V.K. Photographs of Garnayev among cosmonauts and designers of rocket and space technology.
Newsreel: 1958: view of one of the vertical takeoff vehicles - a turboplane.
Garnayev approaches the turboplane and climbs into the cockpit.
Garnayev in the turboplane cockpit preparing to test the vehicle.
The turboplane takes off from the ground.
Garnayev in the turboplane cockpit during a test flight.
Turboplane controls.
The turboplane gains altitude.
Garnayev in the turboplane cockpit, the turboplane makes turns over the airfield.
Safe landing of the turboplane.
The vertical takeoff aircraft takes off and lands.
Garnayev climbs out of the aircraft cockpit and descends to the ground.
Photograph of Garnayev.
Photograph of Garnayev with guests during the celebration of his 49th birthday.
Photographs of Garnayev during flights.
Flying helicopters.
View of the Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (from above).
Views of the pavilions of the International Air Show in Le Bourget in 1965. Panorama of the aircraft presented at the air show.
Examples of Soviet aviation and rocket and space technology.
Soviet Mi-10 and Mi-6 helicopters on the site.
Panorama of a part of the exhibition area.
Examples of Soviet space technology presented at the air show.
Gagarin Yu.A. gives autographs and talks with the organizers of the air show.
Examples of foreign aircraft presented at the air show, demonstration of the capabilities of a light helicopter.
Demonstration of the capabilities of the Mi-10 crane helicopter.
Transporting a bus by helicopter.
Visitors to the air show watch the helicopter.
Landing of the crane helicopter.
A bus drives off the ramp.
Demonstration of the fire extinguishing capabilities of the Mi-6 helicopter.
Takeoff of jet aircraft at the Le Bourget Air Show.
Group flights of jet aircraft, synchronized aerobatic maneuvers, performances of aerobatic teams.
Photos of Garnaev at the Le Bourget Air Show, performance of the Italian participant of the air show.
The crash of the Italian plane.
Spectators and a fire engine rush to the crash site.
Rescuers and firefighters at the crash site of the plane of the Italian pilot Donatti, extinguishing the fire.
Jet aircraft and aerobatic teams from different countries during a performance at the air show.
Photo of Garnaev with pilots at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Soviet helicopters during a demonstration flight.
Photo portrait of Garnaev.
Mountain landscapes (top).
Landscapes of Switzerland.
Operation of Soviet helicopters in Switzerland during the installation of power transmission line supports in the Alps.
The process of installing support pylons using a helicopter.
Photo of Garnaev next to the installed support.
Panorama of the mountain "serpentine" (top).
Photos of Alpine landscapes and points of construction of a cable car.
Photo of Garnaev and his comrade Vasily Kalashenko.
Helicopter with cargo on a rope.
Photo of a gorge.
Views of the Swiss Alps (top).
Photos of the installation of a large cabin on a mountain peak.
View of a mountain road with tunnels.
Panorama of part of a seaside town in the south of France (top).
Photos of Garnaev on the French Riviera with French colleagues and firefighters.
View of the front of the helicopter.
Firefighting equipment located in the helicopter cabin.
Photo of Garnaev's helicopter.
Photos of Garnaev before the last flight.
Photos of Garnaev with children and family members.
Fires in the south of France, water being dropped from a fire helicopter, photo of Garnaev in the helicopter cockpit.
Helicopter flying away.
The radar antenna is rotating.
Aircraft are being prepared for takeoff at sunrise.
The plane begins to taxi onto the runway.
View of the front of the plane.
The plane begins its takeoff roll along the runway, takes off, and turns into a luminous point above the horizon.
Garnaev Yuri Aleksandrovich - test pilot Sergei Nikolaevich Anokhin - test pilot Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin - cosmonaut pilot
1969
USSR Moscow Paris France Denmark Western Europe
Winter Summer Autumn