Pyotr Dolgov
| Pyotr Dolgov | |
|---|---|
Pyotr Dolgov
|
|
| Born | 21 February 1920 |
| Died | 1 November 1962 (aged 42) |
| Allegiance |
 Soviet Union
|
| Service/branch | Soviet Air Force |
| Years of service | 1940 - 1962 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Awards |
 
|
Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov (Russian: Пётр Долгов; 21 February 1920 – 1 November 1962) (Hero of the Soviet Union) was a colonel in the Soviet Air Force. Dolgov died while carrying out a high-altitude parachute jump from a Volga balloon gondola.
Dolgov was born into a family of farmers in the village of Bogoyavlenskoye (now Dolgovo) in Zemetchinsky District, Penza Oblast. He served with the Soviet airborne in World War II. In January 1945, Dolgov became a company commander in the 350th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 114th Guards Rifle Division. Dolgov participated in the Budapest Offensive and the Vienna Offensive. On 6 April, Dolgov reportedly knocked out a self-propelled gun and killed 40 German soldiers. He was wounded but allegedly refused to leave the battlefield. Dolgov graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1947.
He reportedly designed the ejection seats for the Vostok spacecraft.
On 1 November 1962, Dolgov and Eugene Andreyev ascended in a Volga balloon gondola from Volsk, near Saratov, to make high-altitude parachute jumps. Andreyev successfully completed his jump. Dolgov, testing an experimental pressure suit, jumped at 28,640 meters (93,970 ft). The helmet visor of Dolgov's pressure suit hit part of the gondola as he exited, and the suit depressurized, killing him. On 12 December 1962, Dolgov was posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union.
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