The pilot, who was the first in the world to break the sound barrier on the MiG-21, passed away at the age of 86.
On November 0, 2017, at the age of 86, Soviet test pilot 1st class Marina Popovich died.
Marina Lavrentievna Popovich (maiden name - Vasilyeva) was born on July 20, 1931 on the Leonenki farm in Velizhsky district of the Smolensk region of the RSFSR (now the Russian Federation). She later stated that she attributed several years to herself when she entered military service, and the correct date of her birth is July 12, 1937.
She graduated from high school in Novosibirsk, where the family was evacuated during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In 1951 she graduated from the Novosibirsk Aviation Technical School (now the Novosibirsk Aviation Technical College named after B. Galushchak). She was a cadet of the flight department of the Novosibirsk Aero Club. In 1957 she graduated from the Central United Flight Technical School DOSAAF in Saransk (Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, now the Republic of Mordovia), in 1962 - from the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation (now the St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation).
Candidate of Science (Engineering) (1969). The topic of the thesis is "Increasing the flight range due to laminarization and the method of flight tests of aircraft with laminated flow control".
After graduating from the aviation technical school, she worked as a design engineer at the Novosibirsk plant named after I. Comintern (now - NPO NIIIP-NZiK JSC). In 1954-1955 she was an instructor at the Central United Flight Technical School in the city of Saransk, since 1958 - an instructor pilot at the Central Aero Club named after V. I. V. P. Chkalova (Moscow). She piloted all types of aircraft that were operated at that time in DOSAAF. In 1960 she began to master jet aircraft.
In 1962, she took part in the first selection of women - candidates for cosmonauts, underwent a medical examination at the Central Military Scientific Research Aviation Hospital (TsVNIAH), but did not get into the cosmonauts.
In 1963 she was admitted to the ranks of the Air Force (Air Force) of the USSR as a transport pilot. Since 1964 - test pilot at the State Red Banner Scientific Testing Institute of the USSR Air Force (Chkalovsky airport, Moscow region). She was the first female Soviet test pilot to break the sound barrier on a MiG-21 jet fighter, for which she received the nickname "Madame MiG" in foreign media. She became the only woman in the Soviet Union - a 1st class military test pilot.
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In 1978 she was transferred to the reserve from the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces.
In 1979-1984 she worked as a leading test pilot at the Oleg Antonov development bureau in Kiev (Ukrainian SSR, now Ukraine). She flew as a crew member on an An-22 transport aircraft.
She has set more than 100 aviation records, of which 10 are registered with the International Aviation Association (FAI). The total flight time is about 6 thousand hours on 40 types of aircraft and helicopters.
Colonel-engineer of the reserve.
She was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and the "Badge of Honor", medals. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
She was a member of the Writers' Union of the Russian Federation. She was a member of the Communist Party.
She served as Vice President of the International Center of the Roerichs.
Independently and co-authored nine books, including collections of poetry, prose, books about UFOs, etc. Co-author of scripts for the films "Bouquet of Violets" (1983, directors Vera Stroeva, Oleg Bondarev) and "Sky with Me" (1974, director Valery Lonskoy).
She was married twice. First husband - Pavel Popovich, pilot-cosmonaut. Daughters from their first marriage - Natalya (born in 1956) and Oksana (born in 1968). The second husband is Boris Zhikhorev, a military pilot.
Marina Popovich was fond of studying UFOs and other anomalous phenomena.