Monument to the BI-1 Aircraft

Brief information

At the edge of the parking area of Koltsovo Airport stands a monument to the aircraft that first took to the sky right here. The BI-1 was the first aircraft in the USSR with a liquid-fuel rocket engine to make a successful flight. In the text, it is described essentially as a piloted cruise missile: this explains why an aviation monument that looks ordinary at first glance is connected not with passenger aviation, but with early rocket technology.

The connection with the place is not symbolic. In 1941, the USSR Air Force Research Institute was located on the territory of today’s airport, where during wartime an interceptor fighter with a very rapid rate of climb was being urgently developed. Therefore, the monument in front of the airport marks not just an aircraft type, but the site where its testing history began.

What to notice first

The main detail is the stele with a full-size white model of the BI-1. The aircraft is positioned not horizontally, but as if it is sharply gaining altitude. This pose is directly connected with the machine’s purpose: to take off quickly, climb to a high altitude, and intercept bombers. The form of the monument turns a technical requirement into a visible gesture.

It is worth comparing the aircraft with the memorial plaque beside it. The model shows an upward surge, while the plaque brings the viewer back to the specific test pilot G. Ya. Bakhchivandzhi and to the aircraft itself. Another important detail is the monument’s current location: it used to stand in front of the old terminal building, in a prominent place for passengers and people meeting them, but has now been moved to the edge of the parking area. Because of this, the monument reads as a trace of the airport space’s former arrangement.