After Valery Pavlovich Tchkalov's death during the test of the fighter "E - 180" December 15, 1938, the Soviet of People's Commissars passed the resolution " About perpetuation of the memory of V.P.Tchkalov ".

January 9, 1939 the presidium of the Gor'kovsky Oblispolkom together with the Bureau of the Oblast Committee of C.P.S.U. (B) in elaboration of this resolution made a decision to found V.P.Tckalov memorial museum at his birthplace.

In a pavilion - hangar of the museum there are large-sized displays, such as the planes, which are connected with V.P.Tckalov's flying and test activity. First of all, it is the giant "ANT-25", spreading out its scarlet wings taking up all the length of the hangar. On board of this plane Tchkalov crew made the two non-stop flights: the first one was on the route Moscow - the Far East, and the second - over the North Pole to America.

In November, 1938 V.P.Tchkalov was on a short-term holiday at his birthplace. On December 1 he was urgently called to Moscow for the tests of a new fighter "E-180".

The history of the designing of this plane is this. During the initial phase of the civil war in Spain our fighter "E-16" excelled German fighter "МЕ-109В" in speed and in other flying characteristics. A little bit later a modified German plane "ME-109E" appeared in the sky of Spain. It had already a higher speed in comparison with "E-16". Polikarpov's design office was given a task to design a new high-speed fighter. It was going to be "E-180".

December 12, 1937 Tchkalov was elected deputy to the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In the exposition a whole room is dedicated to Tchkalov's work as deputy. In this room the furniture of the study in Valery Pavlovich's Moscow apartment was restored. Soft leather armchairs and a sofa. A writing table on which there is a bronze ink-set, an ashtray made from an aircraft engine piston, and a bulky folder with letters from his voters. For deputy Tchkalov there were no unimportant requests and complaints that were not worth paying attention to. He always tried to solve any problem both in accordance with human and state laws.

The exposition of the biggest hall in the museum, the former parlour, is dedicated to Tchkalov's visits to his birthplace. It is here that he lived coming to his parents. The furniture and articles he served himself are preserved.

The exposition of the third hall of the museum tells its visitors about the two distant non-stop flights of V.P.Tckalov 's crew, i.e. to the Far East and over the North Pole to America.

In one of the photos Tchkalov crew is photographed together with chief designer A.N.Tupolev and with the plane "ANT-25" in the background. Tupolev was at the head of the design office, where the plane was constructed.

Tchkalov consistently, one by one, graduated from Egorievskay, Borisoglebovskay, the Moscow and the Serpuchovskay flying schools. Documents and photos of the exposition give us an idea that Valery was not only a good student, but he also went in for sports and played in an amateur theatrical circle. In the showcase there is a photo of the plane " Avro ". On board of this plane Tchkalov made his first ten-minutes flight. Near-by there're characteristics and attestations of Tchkalov's training flights.

V.P.Tckalov's memorial house is one of the most popular museums in the Volga region. Let us get acquainted with the exposition. The first hall of the museum is the former kitchen. The articles displayed here tell us about Valery Tchkalov's childhood and youth. In the middle of the kitchen stands a huge Russian stove with a spacious stove bench. One can also find here some articles of the furniture: a semi-side board, a corner cupboard, and a wooden bench …

The town of Tchkalovsk (former Vassilieva Sloboda) is one of the most ancient settlements on the river Volga. Its historic roots date back to early times. It is known that Duke Yury Dolgorucky won the Mikor Kitterh over from the Cheremisses in 1152 and named it Yorodety Radilov and sent his son Basil to reign it. In order to have a reserve in Yorodety for defense from the attacks of the Mordvas, Cheremisses, Volgian Bolgars the duke founded another fortress on the other bunk of the Volga, near his residence. Its first inhalations the duke's warriors, were free not to pay taxes. This gave rise, to the name of Vassilieva Sloboda.
In the XVth c. Vassilieva Sloboda was in the possession of Dmitry Donskoy's cousin - Vladimir Andreevich. Then it came over to Basil Schuysky his wife died in Boshessenky convent in Moscow. She was a nun and she bequeathed the village to convent for Voznessensky prayer for the dead in the Schuysky family.

Nowadays a question arises: "what was the purpose of the flights and who was interested in them?"

At the beginning of the 30-ies people's commissar of defense of the young Soviet state K.E. Voroshilov used to say: " he, who is strong in the air, is generally strong nowadays". And this slogan was rather topical and not only in our country, but also all over the world. Flights were the demonstration of force and power of this or that state; in other words, they had, first of all, a political significance.