Arkady Kamanin was born on November 2, 1928 in the Far East, where his father served at that time.
Replacing several residences, which was associated with the variation of the Father's Sites, before the beginning of the war, he was with his parents in Moscow. Here the Kamanin family soon got a luxurious apartment at the time of the apartment in the famous house on the embankment. Already at a rather young age, Arkady shows a considerable interest in the paternal service and to everything that is connected with it - to aircraft, to the summer. All holidays he disappears on a military airfield, where the nuances and the subtleties of the profession of mechanics are comprehended.
And in 1941, in front of the war, he even managed to work for this profession at the Moscow Aviation Plant. However, the circle of interests of the boy is not limited to military affairs and aircraft. He is engaged in sports, reads a lot, plays musical instruments (accordion and accordion). Literature fascinated him passionately, he was also given to the music with all his heart. Well, there is nothing about sports about sports.
War
In 1941, N. P. Kamanin continued in Uzbekistan, in Tashkent. There Arkady lived with his family for about 2 years to 1943. In February, the 43rd of his father appointed a commander of one of the assault avoidors, and in the spring of the same year, the boy along with his mother moves to his father - to the place of deployment of his military unit, - where the aircraft begins to work again.
And here there is a natural question: as a minor child - at that time, Arkady Kamanin was only 14 years old - in wartime could not send to the rear, but leave the military unit in the location? The answer to him is simple: the boy stubbornly stated "I will not go!" And really refused to leave. The father was angry, was amazed, but he soon gave way, fastening the heart, because the high level of arcadia qualifications as a mechanic turned out to be more by the way for the need for a military unit in experienced professionals. However, during the war, the need for qualified technical workers was an urgent constant.
So, the 14-year-old boy was credited with a volunteer in the ranks of the Red Army to the position of the mechanic of special equipment (in the 423th aircraft dial of the Kalinin front). However, to stop at the achieved Kamanin Jr. was clearly not going. Now he tries himself as a pilot, learning from adult pilots who allow him to learn to pilot, helping to understand theory and practice of this case. So the first practical skills appeared, experience gained.
The first aircraft on which he climbed into the sky was the training double U-2. At first he flew on it as an observer navigator and a bornemaker, but in July 43 he received an official admission to independent flights. Hand held his own father's own father after passing the appropriate exams. The demandingness and severity of General Kamanin was well known, so in the professionalism of the Communications pilot Arkady Kamanina could not be doubted.
And now the 14-15-year-old parenchy began to perform intelligence flights, mining the valuable information right "from under the nose" of the Nazis, delivering the commanders of the commanders of the advanced parts and performing others by no means simple tasks of their command. Letunka - namely "Letunk" called Arkady Adult Squadron Pilots - tried to preserve, but the war did not leave any special opportunities to avoid danger. Yes, he himself never sought it. The guy on a par with everyone received combat mittles and made a flight for the flight, each time risks not to return from the next departure.
He was distinguished by a stunning fearlessness. Well known one of the cases confirming it. Returning to its U-2 at the location of the squadron headquarters, he saw a beaten Il-2, which made a forced landing and lying on a neutral strip. By paying attention to the fact that the plane cabin was closed, the young pilot understood: the pilot inside the plane and certainly wounded. Without a moment about the risk and danger of such a act for yourself personally, Arkady put his U-2 next to a shot down by the aircraft, overloaded a pilot into it and photographic equipment from a shot down IL-2 (the task, of course, quite difficult to consider that the wounded was An adult man, and Arkady is just a teenager who, by the way, did not differ in a special greenery or excessive force). Those with a planned counterattack, artillerymen and tank workers, with the assistance of attack aircraft, distracted the attention of the Germans from the arrogant corn, and U-2, tangling at the funnel, successfully took off with neutrals. The boy managed to get to his headquarters unharmed, and even save the life of the wounded Soviet officer, who was Lieutenant Berdniki.
It was for this feat that Arkady Kamanin received his first award - the Order of the Red Star. He was then 15 years old. This case occurred with the Kamanny-younger when he was already fought on the 1st Ukrainian front. And then there was another 2nd Ukrainian (from September 44th). Just fighting on the 2nd Ukrainian front, already at the beginning of the 45th year, Arkady received his order of the Red Banner. This award was awarded to him for the successful delivery of the secret package to the partisan detachment. Then the guy had to commit a semi-third-hour flight along the unexplored route (under the city of Brno in the Czech Republic) for the front line. The task was particularly difficult, because the route passed on a mountainous area, which was distinguished by a complex relief.
In 1944, Sergeant Kamanin deserved the second Order of the Red Star: when attacking the headquarters of the Bandera squad, he took off at his U-2 under fire, threw the strikers with manual grenades and caused reinforcement.
In general, the list of the pilot A.N. Kamanina has 283 hours of a common laid, which has been accumulated by more than 400 - and according to some data more than 650 - combat departures. Moreover, many of them were carried out in difficult meteorological conditions and under the sight of enemy guns. During this time, he received 6 combat government awards. In addition to the orders of the Red Star and the Red Banner, which were already mentioned, these were: Medals "For Taking Budapest", "For the capture of Vienna," For the victory over Germany "and another Order of the Red Star.
Ended the war. The future seemed brilliant. The 16-year-old Arkady, which significantly retaining his peers in his studies, began to catch up with their inherent zeal and conscientiousness. And managed to do it for the only academic year. In comprehending of science, he also had everything in love: having received a certificate of secondary education, already in 1946 (in October) Starshina A.N. Kamanan was enrolled in the Air Force Academy. Zhukovsky listener on the preparatory course, whose program he began to master confidently and thoroughly.
Then there would be years of study, then the service in the Soviet army and maybe the chance to become a member of the Soviet Cosmonauts squad, one of whom his father later turned out to be ... But fate ordered otherwise. At 18, Arkady unexpectedly fell ill with meningitis and on April 13, 1947, he was supremely resolved.
The most ever is buried in the history of the Great Patriotic War pilot at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.