80 years ago, Ogonyok wrote about the first flight of the giant propaganda aircraft Maxim Gorky.

80 years ago, Ogonyok wrote about the first flight of the giant propaganda aircraft Maxim Gorky, which became a legend of Soviet aviation. “The world’s greatest land aircraft has entered service on the republic’s airships,” the magazine reported. “The aircraft was built entirely from Soviet materials. Test flights fully justified all preliminary calculations. The aircraft was built according to the latest state-of-the-art in world aviation technology.” By the standards of that time, "Maxim Gorky" is truly unique. “The air giant has eight engines with a total power of about 7 thousand horsepower, is equipped with the latest aeronautical instruments, and its fuel reserve allows it to fly 2 thousand kilometers without landing,” Ogonyok said in detail.

The propaganda plane "Maxim Gorky" was supposed to demonstrate the full power of the young country that was building communism. But its life was short: the aircraft giant crashed a year after its first flight

The giant aircraft "Maxim Gorky" was built as the flagship of the propaganda squadron of the same name. The idea of its creation arose in the fall of 1932, when the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of Maxim Gorky’s creative activity. And on May 5, 1933, Printing Day, its regular work began. All this time, on the initiative of the journalist and writer Mikhail Koltsov, editor-in-chief of Ogonyok, funds were being raised for the construction of the flagship aircraft. The construction of the aircraft giant took about 6 million rubles, and took less than a year.

“Maxim Gorky,” as Ogonyok described it, “is an aircraft that provides comfortable conditions for travel and work.” It was designed for more than 70 people. Its huge wings housed service rooms and cabins. On board there was its own power station, pay phone, radio transmitters, printing house, library, darkroom, and film equipment. The “Voice from the Sky” loudspeaker was used to broadcast during the flight, and a special lighting installation made it possible to project slogans onto the clouds.

However, the pride of the Soviet agitprom lasted less than a year. In May 1935, during a demonstration flight at Moscow's Central Aerodrome, an accompanying aircraft crashed into it. After the collision, the Maxim Gorky began to fall apart in the air, an explosion occurred, and the aircraft giant crashed to the ground.

Dates – Ogonyok No. 21 (5327) from 06/02/2014