In the life of Soviet Union, air shows were a highly regarded type of

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

, almost always of military nature. They happened on various occasions and anniversaries, in many locations across the country. A notable

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

was the

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

Air Show held annually in August.

Dates

Soviet Air Fleet Day

The most frequent date of air shows was the

Soviet Air Fleet Day Russian Air Force Day (russian: День Военно-воздушных сил, Den Voyenno-vozdushnykh) is a professional military holiday of Russia celebrated on 12 August to honor the active and reserve personnel, as well as veterans of the R ...

(russian: День Воздушного Флота). It was also known as the Soviet Air Forces Day (russian: День Военно-воздушных Сил), or Soviet Aviation Day.Pre-history of MAKS
- provides the complete information on Russian and Soviet air shows. It was established in 1933 and was most usually held on the third Sunday of August, weather permitting. The initial exhibition on 18 August 1933, was a result of

Yakov Alksnis Yakov Ivanovich Alksnis (russian: Яков Иванович Алкснис, lv, Jēkabs Alksnis; – 28 July 1938) was a Soviet military leader and the commander of the Red Army Air Forces from 1931 to 1937. Biography Jēkabs Alksnis was b ...

initiative, and was held in Khodynka Aerodrome (the Central Moscow Aerodrome), but since the next year the show became located on Tushino airfield near Moscow, where it remained for entire decades. In 1937, the parade was attended by nearly a million people, observing the masses of aircraft spelling in the sky " LENIN", " STALIN" and "

СССР The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

". The celebrations repeated until the fall of Soviet Union, and continue in Russia (location is now Zhukovskiy airport, see MAKS airshow).

May Day

1 May was dedicated to multitude of parades throughout the Soviet Union. They often included large-scale flypasts. - May Day of 1954.

Other

The Soviet Air Fleet Day became primarily associated with

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

(VVS), so a separate day has been established for

Soviet Air Defense Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...

(PVO) a second arm of Soviet military that employed numerous fighter squadrons. It was called Soviet Air Defence Forces Day (russian: День войск противовоздушной обороны СССР), occurred on the second Sunday of April, and was celebrated with air parades of lesser scale. The October revolution anniversary usually included air parade, but as it was held on 7 November, the aircraft were often cancelled because of weather conditions. The same problem pertained to 19 November, the Soviet Rocket Forces and Artillery Day. Notably, the 50th anniversary of October revolution air show was held in the summer, on 9 July 1967 at Domodedovo airport. In an unprecedented display of air power, it featured twelve new types or variants of military aircraft, and prompted concern in the West.

Notable first appearances

The Soviet air shows conveyed more than entertainment. In the atmosphere of harshly enforced clandestinity, these air shows were frequently the main source of information about the recent aviation achievements of Soviet design bureaus (OKBs). Both Eastern and Western public opinion benefited from it, as well as foreign military intelligence.

References