Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (Вале́рий Па́влович Чка́лов) (February 2, 1904 - December 15, 1938) was a Soviet aircraft test pilot and a Hero of the Soviet Union (1938).
He developed several new figures of aerobatics. In 1936 and 1937 he participated in several ultralong flights, including the flight from Moscow, USSR to Vancouver, Washington, USA via the North Pole on an Tupolev ANT-25 plane (June 18-20, 1937).
He was killed in a plane crash during a test flight.
The city of Orenburg bore the name Chkalov from 1938 to 1957.
