Georgy Mosolov Will Speak At Daytona Beach, Prescott Campuses

World renowned Russian test pilot Col. Georgy Mosolov will give his presentation, "Tales of a Russian Test Pilot," later this month at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Daytona Beach, FL and Prescott, AZ campuses.

Mosolov will speak at 10 am EDT on September 16, in the Willie Miller Building on the Daytona Beach campus. He will speak again at 10:30 am local time on September 22 in the Davis Learning Center Auditorium on the Prescott campus.

The first man to fly the world-famous MiG-21, Mosolov at one time held two world speed records and one world altitude record in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Like his close friend Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut, Mosolov received the Hero of the Soviet Union Gold Star, the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor.

Data collected during Mosolov’s flight testing of the MiG-19 led to the refinement and redesign of the so-called "flying tail," a technological improvement used in all subsequent jet fighters worldwide to facilitate supersonic flight.

Mosolov’s popularity as a pilot was wide-ranging – children’s homes, schools, gold mines, and frontier posts were named after him – and he personified courage and progress in the Soviet Union, particularly after his near-fatal supersonic ejection from a MiG prototype in 1961.

"Georgy Mosolov was to test pilots what Yuri Gagarin was to astronauts," said Rodney Rogers, professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle.

Mosolov will visit Embry-Riddle en route to the annual symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in Los Angeles, where he will speak about his adventures. He is an honorary member of the organization.

FMI: www.embryriddle.edu