The state of the fleet of Russian airlines - bmpd. Why do we fly on old foreign planes, and not on new domestic ones

Most of the aircraft flying in Russia are no older than their analogues used abroad. However, 17.7% of the aircraft fleet are old aircraft, many of which have exhausted their resources and have problems with parts. Another disadvantage of the domestic market is problems with service and supervision, which is why almost the entire Russian fleet is registered in third countries

Photo: Transport-Photo Images

It became biggest disaster in history Russian aviation. The day after the tragedy of the Kogalymavia (Metrojet) Airbus 321, which killed 224 people, the Russian investigation opened two criminal cases under the articles “providing services that do not meet safety requirements” and “violating flight safety rules or training for them” . The searches took place at the carrier's office, Domodedovo, Samara airport, where the aircraft was refueled. State Duma deputies immediately called for a ban on the operation of aircraft older than 15 years (Airbus Kogalymavia was 18 years old) and the deprivation of the license of carrier companies with a small number of aircraft. The head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Alexei Pushkov, said that it leads to plane crashes. Deputies put forward similar initiatives after the crash of a 23-year-old Boeing 737 in Kazan on October 17, 2013. Then, as now, the public ignored statements by airlines and industry experts who argued that an aircraft is not a machine and 20 years of operation is not such a long time for it.

Both aircraft - Boeing in Kazan and Airbus over Sinai - were operational according to the latest data. The Kazan disaster, as the commission of inquiry decided, the Egyptian one, was recognized as a terrorist attack three weeks later. Suspicions of the poor condition of aircraft flying in Russia, however, have not evaporated. RBC analyzed the fleet of Russian companies operating regular and charter passenger flights and found out how justified the suspicions of wear and tear.

How we thought

The list of valid airworthiness certificates of the Federal Air Transport Agency as of October 22, 2015 (that is, aircraft that are allowed to fly in Russia), data from the official websites of carriers and Internet resources airfleets.com, russianplanes.net and flightradar24.com was taken as a basis. We excluded from complete list small aircraft (private jets), airplanes local airlines(practical range less than 1000 km, mainly An-2), helicopters, business jets, as well as all aircraft not used for passenger transportation - for example, cargo and agricultural. The sample also did not include aircraft that are not used to transport passengers for commercial purposes: for example, the air fleet of the Air Force, the Ministry of Emergencies and the special squad for the transportation of top officials (SLO Rossiya), as well as aircraft owned by aircraft manufacturing plants. The lists we received from detailed information about each aircraft were sent to all operating airlines with a request to confirm the correctness of the data we collected. All responses were included in the analysis results.

Our statistics also included aircraft of the second largest Russian airline, Transaero. was adopted on October 1, and on October 26, the company lost its air operator certificate and ceased operations. The Transaero fleet is in the process of being returned to lessors: Aeroflot, which got part of the airline's routes, may receive several dozen cars, the rest will be sold on the market or written off. Taking into account the entire fleet of Transaero in the sample (according to open data as of October, this is 122 aircraft), we were guided by the fact that most of it can be transferred to other Russian operators, and the composition of the fleet reflects the economic model of the largest private Russian carrier.

What will happen to the huge fleet of Transaero, the second carrier after Aeroflot in terms of the number of aircraft (one of them is in the photo), is still unclear (Photo: TASS)

Which models are chosen

The most popular family in Russia is the medium-haul Airbus 320 (A320, A319 and A321): 249 such aircraft are allowed to fly in the country. In second place with 203 sides is the medium-haul Boeing 737 family, whose flights were recently asked to be suspended by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC).

According to our data, there are only 130 long-haul aircraft in Russia, of which 76.6% are Boeing 747, 767 and 777 models.

There is no definition of a medium-haul aircraft in Russian legislation. In the world, it is customary to include vehicles with a flight range of more than 2.5 thousand km into this category. Long-haul vehicles in Russia are those with a flight range of more than 8,000 km.

Not so long ago, Airbus became the leader among aircraft flying on medium-haul routes in Russia. The Big Four companies — Aeroflot, S7, UTair, Transaero — split in two in their preferences in 2013, explains a researcher at the Institute of Transport Economics and transport policy Higher School of Economics Andrei Kramarenko. The first two chose Airbus, the second - Boeing. Now Transaero has stopped flights, and UTair has significantly reduced its fleet.

Two competing aircraft manufacturers provide most of the world's aircraft fleets. According to the data of the international organization Center for Aviation (CAPA, Australia) for April 2013, 39.7% of all ships operated in the world are Boeing aircraft and 28.7% - Airbus. Russia is no exception. Aircraft of the two companies occupy 61.7% Russian park 14.3% - other foreign aircraft (Embraer, Bombardier, De Havilland Canada, Let, ATR).

Domestic aircraft account for only 24% of the total fleet of Russian carriers. Moreover, on modern samples - An-148, Tu-204, Tu-214 and Sukhoi Superjet- only 6.3%. The remaining 17.7% are old modifications of the An, Tu and Yak, most of which flew back in the USSR. "But in terms of passenger traffic the share of these machines is less than 5%,” adds Alexander Fridlyand, professor at the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation.

Sukhoi Superjet is the leader in terms of number among modern Russian models: domestic airlines have 39 such boards. RBC),” says Friedland. According to him, for local and regional routes it is large, and on main routes with good passenger traffic it is inferior to economical cars with 150-200 seats. “His niche is the main, but weak in terms of flows directions,” the interlocutor believes.

An-24 has not been produced since 1979, but there are 67 more such aircraft in the fleet of Russian companies (Photo: Transport-Photo Images)

From Soviet aircraft most of all in the fleet of An-24 airlines - 67 aircraft. A turboprop passenger aircraft for short and medium haul lines was developed by the Antonov Design Bureau (KB) in the late 1950s. Maximum capacity- up to 52 passengers. Operated mainly by Russian regional companies(RBC considers those who do not make long-haul flights, flights through the capital's air hub and are not based in Moscow and St. Petersburg). “An-24 is the only aircraft in the world of this class that lands on the ground, on packed snow or on ice,” recalls the Honored Pilot of the USSR, President of the Infrastructure Development Fund air transport Oleg Smirnov. He flew all over airspace USSR and in the current conditions on Far North practically irreplaceable."

Now the An-24 continues to be used by companies based in the north: Polar Airlines, Yakutia, Chukotavia. So far, it is impossible to replace it en masse with foreign models. Firstly, in aircraft of foreign brands that could land at the airfields of these regions, fewer passengers explains Kramarenko. In addition, the technical documentation for them is in English, which is not known to all pilots and personnel of the An-24. However, during 2012-2013, Yakutia leased five Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft with a capacity of 70 to 80 seats. In addition to Bombardier, Canadian De Havilland Canada 6 Twin Otters fly in the Aeroflot subsidiary of the Far Eastern airline Aurora. Most likely, in the coming years, all An-24s will be replaced by foreign aircraft, “because they run out of their resources and it will become extremely difficult and expensive to maintain their airworthiness,” predicts a partner at the consulting company Concuros, a former vice president. civil aircraft Sukhoi" Dmitry Mirgorodsky. There are no replacements for their domestic counterparts.

The second most popular among Soviet aircraft is the Yak-42: there are 33 such aircraft in the fleet of Russian airlines. However, several of them are in storage: some are waiting for the replacement of parts, some will no longer rise into the air. The cars are part of the Gazpromavia, Grozny Avia, Izhavia, Saratov Airlines". The last company started flying Brazilian Embraer 190s two years ago.

How old are airplanes in Russia

As the study showed, on average in Russia, the age of foreign models is less than their resource, while our aircraft are often older. According to Andrey Sharypov, head of the department for certification of civil aviation ships of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation, for foreign aircraft it is about 40-60 thousand hours, that is, 30 years. For the Soviets it was less - about 20 years. The manufacturer can extend the resource individually for each vessel.

For example, the average age of the Boeing 737 Classic generation (modifications 300, 400, 500) in Russia is 20.2 years. Generations Boeing 737 Next Generation (modifications 600, 700, 800, 900) - 9.1 years. Airbus modifications 320 - 7.5 years, A319 - 11.9 years (see infographic). These figures are not much different from the global average. The Dutch airline KLM, according to planespotters.net, Boeing New Generation on average fly at the age of 9.3 years. The American low-cost airline Southwest Airlines, according to USA Today and airfleets.net, is 9.7 years old. Boeing 737 Classic cars (modifications 300, 400 and 500) of this airline are on average over 22 years old.

As for Airbus, the A320 fleet of the German Germanwings is 23 years old. The American Delta, which flies with Aeroflot in the Skyteam alliance, has 20.7 years. Delta's A319 aircraft are 13.8 years old.

The oldest model of aircraft flying in Russia is the An-24. On average, they are 42.1 years old. The average age of another Soviet Yak-42 aircraft still in operation is 24.7 years.

Soviet aircraft and modern Russian ones (with the exception of the Sukhoi Superjet), unlike foreign ones, have problems with details. Mass production such machines have been stopped, so you have to order components by the piece, which costs many times more, says Sergey Koval, deputy head of the department for monitoring and verifying the authenticity of the Civil Aviation Research Institute. As a result, parts with forged documents are sometimes put on Soviet cars. According to Koval, up to 8% of illegal parts are now on the market, and from 2001 to 2015, 50 serious incidents occurred due to problems with parts (incidents with planes and helicopters are taken into account).

What happened to the Soviet design bureaus

The Saratov Aviation Plant, which produced the Yak aircraft, is bankrupt and completely liquidated. Design bureaus The companies that developed the Soviet aircraft — Tupolev Design Bureau and Yakovlev Design Bureau (now part of the United Aircraft Corporation) — continue to exist mainly by escorting the remaining ships in service, Koval says. Antonov Design Bureau (now the Antonov State Enterprise) is located in Ukraine.

The age of the aircraft, according to professionals, does not affect its technical condition and airworthiness. “As a commander of a ship, I don’t ask: will you give me an old plane or will I fly on a new one, this doesn’t interest me at all,” Smirnov explains. The main thing is whether the plane passed on time throughout its life Maintenance and repairs. In addition, every detail of the aircraft has its own resources. By the time, Smirnov says, "the plane is 17 years old, these parts can be replaced several times."

The study showed that 58.7% of the aircraft in the Russian fleet had only one or two operators. And more than ten air carriers that have replaced each other - in the luggage only 3% of the boards. And in many cases, two of the same companies used the aircraft in turn. So, for example, the Izhavia aircraft had a Yak-42: according to airfleets.net, if you take into account the alternation of the same carriers, it changed 20 operators in 28 and a half years. According to Smirnov, professionals are distrustful of an aircraft that previously flew "in countries with high humidity, such as Africa." However, both the lessor and the owner are obliged to put such a car in order. In this regard, the lessor, and not the previous operator, is important for the technical condition of the aircraft, the expert believes.

As a rule, carriers refuse aircraft for economic reasons, and not because of the end of its resource, according to a study by the leasing company Avalon (offices in the US, Ireland, Dubai, Singapore and China). In Russia, foreign and new domestic aircraft models cease to be used at the age of 20-23, says HSE researcher Kramarenko. Global figures, according to Avalon research, are similar.

Airline age preferences

Russian airlines with the oldest fleet use Soviet aircraft. Among carriers with ten or more sides, the oldest fleet - 41.2 years - belongs to the Turukhan company, which is part of the UTair group. It mainly operates charter flights, including for mining companies. But Turukhan also has regular flights, so its aircraft were included in our study.

In total, there are 16 companies in Russia that operate aircraft older than 25 years for regular and charter flights (see table).

The youngest park is at Pobeda, which has recently started working as a subsidiary of Aeroflot. Her sides are only a year old. Aeroflot, on the other hand, has an average fleet age, according to RBC calculations, of 4.6 years. The planes of Transaero, which stopped flying, were on average 18.6 years old (the S7 fleet - 9.2 years, and UTair - 14 years). In 2005-2008, many Russian airlines, including the Big Four carriers, when fuel prices went up, massively upgraded their fleet, preferring aircraft with lower fuel consumption. In particular, this explains the rather young fleet of foreign aircraft in Russia, Friedland notes.

On April 1, 2001, the norms came into force international organization Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), which established lower engine noise levels for aircraft flying in Europe. Almost all Soviet and Russian aircraft of that time: Tu-134, Tu-154B, Tu-154M, Il-62, Il-86. Thus, airlines that actively flew to Europe and transited over European countries, were forced to change old noisy cars to new imported ones.

Low-cost airline Pobeda is the youngest Russian air carrier with the youngest park. Their Boeing is only a year on average (Photo: TASS)

There is also a significant difference between the average age of aircraft from different companies abroad. According to the Bloomberg rating, compiled in January 2013, the American Delta has an average age of 15.8 years, Southwest Airlines - 14.7, Aeromexico - 15.2, Lufthansa - 12.4, Air France - 11.5, Ryanair - five years.

Each company chooses for itself what is more cost-effective for it: a new or old aircraft, Mirgorodsky emphasizes. For example, buying a new Boeing 737-800 will cost about $48-55 million. The same ten-year-old model will already cost $16-18 million, says Alexander Kochetkov, head of the Gold "nsky Leasing leasing company. But old aircraft also require maintenance costs. Not all companies can afford to pay such amounts at a time - they have to lease cars.In Russia, according to Ilyushin Finance Co., at least 80% of aircraft in operation are leased.

This is exactly what the largest market player, Aeroflot, is doing, which is going to enter the top 20 global air carriers in terms of revenue and passenger traffic by 2025. For the sake of this goal, the airline has been not only increasing, but also refreshing its fleet for several years now, General Director Vitaly Savelyev repeatedly said in his interviews. “It is difficult to compete on the world market on an old aircraft,” Mirgorodsky explains the strategy. Aeroflot also gives older models to its subsidiaries - the airlines Aurora, Orenburg Airlines, Donavia, Rossiya.

But many companies do not even have enough money to lease new aircraft. Transaero, for example, which dreamed of ousting its state competitor, due to expensive debt financing, as she herself admitted in her financial reporting, built up the fleet with cheap foreign and old cars, Vedomosti wrote. After the devaluation of the ruble at the end of last year, leasing for Russian companies has risen in price even for old aircraft (leasing payments are made in foreign currency. — RBC), adds Mirgorodsky. According to Kochetkov's estimates, leasing a new Boeing 737-800 costs an average of $4.2 million per year, and about $2 million for a ten-year one.

Disaster in the sky above Sinai Peninsula reiterated the question posed in the subheading. However, such questions, which are not easy to find a direct and honest answer, you can ask a lot.

Why, say, the average age of the American fleet is 10 years, the European one is 13, and the Russian one is all 20? Why do our airlines, instead of a new domestic Tu-204, buy pretty shabby Boeing 737 or Airbus A321 for the same money? Finally, why does the government not only not protect the domestic aviation industry, but also contribute to its final death? Since officials and bodies do not answer these questions directly and honestly, we will try to figure it out on our own.

Today, three-quarters of domestic air travel in Russia is carried out by aircraft made abroad. But some quarter of a century ago, the share of Soviet-made airliners was a fourth of the entire world fleet. So why don't our aircraft manufacturers regain their former glory, and why don't domestic air carriers support them with orders? But because it is unprofitable for carriers. Solve the problem: the Russian Tu-204 costs 40 million dollars, and its counterparts: Boeing 737 and Airbus A321 - 85 and 110 million, respectively. Which aircraft will the economical domestic air carrier choose? The answer seems obvious, but this answer is wrong. Not so long ago, a certain Russian airline agreed to supply 40 Boeing 737 aircraft - it was reported that the contract value was $ 3.3 billion. Yes, only with “live money”, more precisely, with a lump-sum deposit, the airline paid only a 10th part of the required amount. The remaining expenses were covered by a group of American banks. Thus, no one bought the planes - they were simply taken on a long-term lease.

You will probably ask: why didn't the carrier make a similar deal with Russian aircraft manufacturers? Yes, because our aircraft manufacturers do not have their own banking lobby. So it turns out that replenishing the fleet with expensive imported aircraft is more profitable for our air carriers than with cheap domestic ones.

There is no one to build new Russian airliners

Well, yes, the joke is with them, with Russian banks, who don't care about the entire domestic aviation industry. Unlike the authorities, they are guided by momentary profit. But what about the government? What is on our agenda today, import substitution? What will we replace Boeing with? There is, say, a new Tu-334 - it was assumed that this liner would replace the obsolete Tu-134 and Yak-42. The designers did their best: the plane can land on any Russian airfields, even unpaved ones. And even without running engines, the designers checked. In addition, the new "carcass" almost entirely consists of domestic components. Only 3% of aircraft parts are imported. And even with the traditional problem of domestic airliners - excessive noise - the designers managed to cope: the aircraft meets all European standards. Well, where are they, these same Tu-334s?

There is no one to build them. 2 million people were employed in the Soviet aircraft industry. And now - 100 thousand at most. A quarter of a century ago, 40,000 people worked at the Ulyanovsk Aviation Plant. Today - about 8 thousand. Almost the same number - at the aircraft factories in Voronezh and Kazan. There is a problem with personnel, says Vladimir Kondratyev, head of the Center for Industrial and Investment Research at IMEMO RAS. Professionals are aging, the average age of specialists in the design sector is approaching the critical age of 60 years. The Voronezh and Ulyanovsk aircraft plants need to almost double the number of personnel, but where can they find specialists? Yes, the dashing 90s are a thing of the past, aircraft manufacturers were given the opportunity to restructure their debts to the budget and stabilize their financial situation, explains Vladimir Kondratyev. And today the main problem of the domestic aviation industry is not even in the absence of orders, but in the catastrophic lack of specialists to carry out production programs. “Air carriers explain their desire to buy Western-made equipment by the fact that Russian aircraft manufacturers have insufficient production volumes,” the expert explains, “and small production volumes, in turn, are the result of state underfunding of enterprises. It's a vicious circle."

Ten years ago, it was decided to gather all domestic aircraft manufacturers into the United aircraft corporation(UAC). Both military and civilian. It is clear that the financing of military projects is our priority and the funds allocated by the state for development were thus distributed primarily between Sukhoi and Irkut, while the rest were content with the leftovers. There was no question of any even distribution of money allocated for development. By the way, the Tu-334 project has become a hostage to the uneven balance of power in the KLA: it seems to have been deliberately "muted" while developing the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project.

Russia chooses "new" Boeing, created 40 years ago

Thus, there are two unsolvable problems. First, it is unprofitable for Russian airlines to buy Russian aircraft. The second is that Russian aircraft manufacturers do not have the opportunity to build enough aircraft. But there is a third problem - the chronic lack of funds for carriers to purchase new cars. Just now, State Duma deputy Alexei Pushkov proposed to ban the operation of aircraft older than 15 years. Yes, but that is hardly possible. Take, for example, UTair, the third company in Russia in terms of passenger traffic and passenger turnover (and now, after the Ministry of Transport has canceled the certificate for Transaero air transportation, it is already the second). About 9 million people use the services of this carrier annually. Two years ago, the average age of UTair's fleet exceeded 20 years. And it is unlikely that today these indicators have fundamentally changed. The government does not provide state subsidies for the purchase of new aircraft, and the cost of leasing abroad grows in inverse proportion to how the ruble falls. If the State Duma performs a miracle by banning the operation of obsolete airliners, the same UTair will be forced to cancel at least a third of its flights. And UTair is, so to speak, the cream of our passenger air fleet. Almost the best among 24 main Russian carriers. Judge for yourself: the average age of VIM-Avia aircraft is 21 years, Nord-Avia is 22 years, Grozny Avia is

24 years, Saratov Airlines - 26 years, Izhavia and Alrosa - 30 years. But in addition to the main airlines, there are also regional and local ones. Guess for yourself what is the average age of aircraft in the same "Angara" or "IrAero". I'll tell you: for the "thirty".

Six years ago, Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko took the Il-96-300 out of production by a strong-willed decision - supposedly the liner was not able to compete with Boeing and Airbus. At the same time, the government abolished the 20% duty on foreign long-haul aircraft. It was probably expected that now the fleets of Russian carriers will be significantly updated. But this did not happen: as before, tight-fisted carriers preferred to lease outdated equipment, often just rubbish that was not killed in third world countries. The government, thus, as they say, did not work well. “If the government had supported the production of the Tu-334 and An-148 in time, the Russian domestic air transportation market would not be three-quarters full of foreign aircraft today, for the most part worn out, - Vladimir Kondratiev is convinced. “Just think: our country today flies on the Boeing 737, created 40 years ago!” By the way, only one imported system was installed on the IL-96-300 - inertial navigation. Everything else, from the tail to the instruments in the cockpit, was ours, domestic.

On this topic

The state is not interested in the development of civil aircraft industry

We usually remember the state of the civil aviation fleet after another disaster occurs. Here are just the conclusions "above" sometimes make such that it's time to ask: is a high expert adequate? I remember that after the Lokomotiv hockey team died in the Yak-42 crash near Yaroslavl, Dmitry Medvedev generally agreed to the point that he proposed to curtail the entire civil aviation industry and buy passenger liners abroad. “The value of human life is higher than all other considerations, including support for a national producer,” Medvedev said. “If our (manufacturers. - Ed.) are not able to get promoted, we need to buy aircraft abroad.” And how can you get promoted here if the state allocates about 3 billion dollars a year for all new developments of aviation engineers, including the military? For example, for the development of one Boeing 787 project - the Dreamliner, the corporation slammed $ 32 billion. And our designers are forced to cut several hats from one sheepskin at once.

By the way, the vast majority of experts note that the idea of ​​​​merging both civil and military aviation into one corporation was fundamentally wrong and that today civil aircraft industry is in deep stagnation - a consequence of an unsuccessful management decision. For 10 years of work of the UAC, engineers curtailed the Il-92-300 and Tu-334 projects and never brought the Tu-204 project to mind (today this aircraft is already obsolete, but its life tests have not yet been completed - otherwise than a mess, reigning in civil aircraft construction, this can hardly be explained). “Maintenance procedures on the Tu-204 have not yet been worked out, and this aircraft is already over 20 years old,” complains Ivan Andrievsky, First Vice President of the Russian Union of Engineers. – As a result, aircraft maintenance takes much more time than maintenance of a similar foreign-made airliner, sometimes repairs can take several months. And Tu-204s, therefore, are more often idle than they fly, and carriers lose money.” Bad plane Tu-204? Good, just unfinished. As the engineers say, "raw." Was it difficult to improve? Yes Easy! Only money was short.

Why are military corporations building civilian liners?

The outstanding Soviet aircraft designer Genrikh Novozhilov, a legendary man, twice Hero of Socialist Labor, told a story that reflects the state of affairs in the domestic civil aircraft industry in a mirror. President Vladimir Putin arrived at the plant in Samara, where the An-140 is being built. The managers complained to him: they say, because of the events in Ukraine, the local subcontractor, Antonov, unilaterally broke all agreements and it would be wiser in the current situation to switch to the production of IL-114. But there is no money, but 5-6 billion rubles are needed. Putin replied: for such an aircraft, this is not the price of the issue, work, the money will be. And then the process stalled. Perhaps due to the fact that the plant in Samara is run by private business and it seemed unproductive to support it with budgetary funds. They decided to build the Il-114 in Kazan, they say, there is already a plant where the Tu-160 is being built.

“And now more than a year has passed,” the designer complains, “and there is no decision on the Il-114, just as there was none.”

Why is that? Yes, because for the UAC the civil aircraft industry is the same ballast as in Soviet times for military factories the production of toys. Our military aircraft sell well in the world, the corporation earns billions on them, but there is no question of using at least part of these funds for the development of civil aircraft construction. By the way, today in Russia, in fact, only two projects for the construction of passenger liners are financed - Superjet and MS-21. Both projects are being carried out by the military corporations Sukhoi and Irkut. And specialized civil aircraft manufacturers with vast experience and names that have not yet been forgotten - the same design bureaus of Tupolev, Yakovlev or Ilyushin - remain in the wings, dragging out, if not frankly miserable, then clearly unenviable existence. “Today, the Russian aircraft industry is subject to the formula “money - goods - money”, while the goods are not Russian, but foreign, and the money remains only partially in Russia,” Genrikh Novozhilov states. “The domestic civil aviation industry in its own state has turned out to be a stepdaughter and is forced to get out by all means in order to survive.”

Maxim Kalashnikov, writer, publicist:

- Nothing changes in the Russian aviation industry. We continue to systematically destroy our civil aviation industry, buying foreign rubbish in the secondary market, subsidies for civil aviation for fuel, which, by the way, have been promised for a long time, just as they never were. Carriers save on everything, dooming passengers to pay for all their petty tricks with their lives. Flight safety is generally pushed into ... (unprintable word. - Ed.). I see the only way out of the impasse - a return to the Soviet model. We must build our own aircraft, revive the state order and state support for the industry. Perhaps carriers should be forced to focus on domestic equipment. There are ways to change the situation radically, the main thing is to want to resort to them.

Igor Korotchenko, military expert:

- The catastrophe in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula - regardless of the reason for the fall of the Russian Airbus - gives rise to a number of uncomfortable questions for domestic carriers. How could it happen that a plane that made an emergency landing with a deformation of the tail not so long ago was easily allowed to fly? After all, it is known that fatigue deformations can appear even after a few years. How did it happen that this plane received a flight certificate? Until now, the presence of such a certificate served as a guarantee of the quality of transportation. My opinion: everything needs to be checked carefully and to establish why the “broken” board received a flight certificate and why the carrier treated the safety of passengers in an inappropriate way.

The Russian Aerospace Forces have begun transferring their Russian Knights aerobatics team to the powerful new Su-30SM aircraft.

Currently, "Russian Knights" fly on Su-27 aircraft. It's a little puzzling why the Russians donated their best combat aircraft to the aerobatics team. The Su-30SM is too powerful and formidable to be used for group aerobatics during demonstration flights at an air show. It would be much wiser to use cheaper and less modern Su-30M2 vehicles, if the Russian military really wants to demonstrate their new front-line fighter at ostentatious events.

Read also: "Russian Knights" received the second batch of Su-30SM fighters

"The second batch of Su-30SMs has just arrived in Kubinka from the manufacturing plant," a spokesman for the Russian military department told the Moscow news agency TASS. - Now the Russian Knights air group is fully equipped with new fighters. In the new training period, from December 1, pilots will start flying new aircraft.”

But although the Russian Knights aerobatics team will fly eight Su-30SMs, it will retain several Su-27s. It can be assumed that with the advent of the Su-30SM, which has engines with thrust vector control, this unit will include new figures and maneuvers in its program, taking advantage of the improved characteristics of this fighter.

Another aerobatic team that very often performs at the air show together with the Russian Knights is the Swifts. Since 1991, the pilots of this group have been demonstrating their skills and technical capabilities of the MiG-29 light fighter. This machine has such a high thrust-to-weight ratio that it can perform a 90o hill with speed gain. The highlight of the joint performance of the "Vityaz" and "Swifts" is the passage of the common group in the formation "Kubinsky Diamond", when nine fighters - four MiG-29s and five Su-27s (Su-30SM) - pass over the audience in a rhombus.

The US Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team ("Petrels") currently flies on Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon (Series 52D) aircraft. This is one of the few combat units of the Air Force, whose machines are equipped with Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines with increased thrust.

US Air Force pilots often grumbled that the Burevestniks were flying the latest and most efficient aircraft, having received them to replace the older F-16s with 32 series engines. Even the aerobatic team commander at the time agreed that the Petrels did not need this latest combat aircraft.

Meanwhile, the US Navy's Blue Angels aerobatics team fly F/A-18 Hornets, some of the oldest in naval aviation. She is currently transitioning from the oldest F/A-18A to the slightly newer F/A-18C. The squadron now has three single-seat F/A-18As, one two-seat F/A-18B, 10 single-seat F/A-18Cs and a pair of two-seat F/A-18Ds.

It is possible that over time the Navy will transfer pilots from this group to the F / A-18E / F Super Hornet, which is one of the oldest vehicles in service with the fleet. But the main task of this group is to perform at the air show, and therefore the Blue Angels are by no means the first in line to receive the latest aircraft. The Navy's combat units are always the first to receive the latest samples - this is a matter of priorities. “Super Hornet is a fairly modern aircraft, but the Hornet is a very reliable aircraft that has been proving its qualities for 30 years now. And its characteristics are quite sufficient for demonstration flights,” the Blue Angels reported on their website.

A few comments on this article on InoSMI:

zolotuhin.travel: Dave (Dave Majumdar, author of the original article - approx. AR) does not understand: an aerobatic team, the same combat squadron as everyone else, and in which case it will simply hang the missiles and go ahead.

Tisha Belkin: But, as it were, today is an aerobatic team, and tomorrow (if necessary) a strike force, with extra-class pilots at the helm.

funtosavurus: Apparently Dave is not aware that "Knights" and not only they DEVELOP training programs for combat pilots. That in their textbooks it is not only written how to perform the aerobatics element, but also in what COMBAT situation this element is necessary. And then these textbooks go to the Lipetsk Center, where pilots take refresher courses. So everything is on point. Yes, and the advertising side of the performances will increase, which is also not superfluous.

Culman: Looking at how aerobatics is twisted combat aircraft, knowledgeable person can draw far-reaching conclusions about their characteristics - and suggest who should, from whom it is worth ordering new fighters. 🙂

krezozavr: Aerobatics is not only an air show and military parades, but also a test of a car in rather difficult conditions for this very car, so why not drive an additional new dryer? Well, as mentioned above, today the group is at the parade, and tomorrow it may be in battle.

What do Russian oligarchs fly? Surely, many are interested in this question. Indeed, due to the seriousness of their business, the transport of billionaires is also becoming more serious. Therefore, we decided to satisfy the curiosity of readers. The fleet of our Russian billionaires is truly wide - from the Yak-142 to the Boeing 767-300. What is not here - birds for every taste.

Major banker, co-owner of Alfa Group, 3rd place Forbes rating Mikhail Fridman bought his personal Bombardier Global Express jet in 2005. Such a toy cost the businessman €40 million.

Bombardier Global Express

The owner of the TSK holding, Telman Ismailov, has not only the golden hotel Mardan Palace (Turkey), but, as it turned out, even the golden Falcon 7X VP-BVY aircraft. Although there is no official data that the jet belongs to Ismailov, most likely he is the owner. All facts speak in favor of this. It was this plane that Telman sent to Switzerland, for his sons, who had turned on the street race. How much such a miracle costs is not known.

Falcon 7X VP-BVY

A prominent businessman and one of the co-owners of Wimm-Bill-Dann, David Yakobashvili, owns a Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft. Such a bird costs about $30 million. In addition, the multimillionaire also owns a Gulfstream G550 business jet worth $55 million.

Gulfstream G550

The richest senator in Russia and at the same time a major businessman, Sergei Pugachev, has two aircraft at his disposal: a $25 million Falcon 2000 Ex Easy and a $10 million Gulfstream IIB.

Falcon 2000 Ex Easy

Gulfstream IIB

The owner of Norilsk Nickel and former partner of Mikhail Prokhorov, Vladimir Potanin, also could not do without his aircraft. The billionaire owns a $33 Gulfstream V jet. million

Gulfstream V

Of course, not everyone can afford such toys, because the price of the aircraft is 10 million dollars. However, this is not just a whim of the oligarch. An argument in favor of such purchases is also the fact that scheduled flights difficult to use for business trips when you need to visit several places at once. Having your own plane solves the problem. Plus, big businessmen thus increase their security. After all, where there is big money, there is also big risk.

The owner of Severstal Sergey Mordashov purchased a luxury airliner for business flightsBombardier Challenger 604 for $28 million.

Bombardier Challenger

The owner of the bank "Russian Standard" and the vodka brand of the same name, Rustam Tariko, preferredaircraft Boeing 737-7BJ/W BBJworth $50-52 million.

Oil magna Vagit Alekperov enjoys the comfort of a Falcon 900EX for $30 million. Also, a more modest Yak-142 aircraft, which costs $2.5 million, was seen in the billionaire’s air fleet.

The head of the Skolkovo innovation center and the owner of the Renova holding, Viktor Vekselberg, operates a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express. The price of such a crumb is approximately $ 23 million.

One of the most expensive liners among our billionaires is owned by the owner of Rusal, Oleg Deripaska, who in turn owns part of Vladimir Potanin's Norilsk Nickel. The oligarch uses the services$45 million Gulfstream GV-SP.

These are the birds that are in the fleet of our Russian billionaires.Big money - great opportunities. Buta cool business jet is not only a demonstration of the status of an oligarch. This is not a luxury, but a means of transportation, thanks to which big businessmen solve their no less big business.

Billionaire politician Mikhail Prokhorov, who is going to create a folk hybrid "Yo-Mobile" and develop domestic basketball, owns two aircraft. Prokhorov flies a $45 million Gulfstream GV-SP and a $30 million Falcon 900 EX.

Falcon 900 EX

Deputy from the United Russia faction Andrei Skoch, who is also a member of the Forbes rating and concurrently the richest deputy in the State Duma, also prefers to fly with style. The billionaire's fleet has a luxurious Airbus A319-115CJ. To fly such a bird in your own pocket, you need to have about $ 50 million. That is how much a business jet is valued.

The head of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, is also not a fan of public airlines. The billionaire travels in comfort in his own $25 million Embraer-135BJ Legacy jet.

At present, we, Russians, fly mainly on Boeings and Airbuses, which flooded our airports. And at every step there is an advertisement of "foreign" aircraft. But are they safe to fly?

When a Russian passenger, going on vacation or a business trip, boards a Western liner, the first thought that naturally arises from him - is the plane serviceable? Will this colossus reach its destination?

It must be admitted that the fears of passengers about flight safety are more than justified - the West WILL NEVER SELL NEW EQUIPMENT TO RUSSIA! THE WEST WILL STRIKE THE RUSSIAN AVIATION INDUSTRY! And here it will be necessary to compare the flight performance and durability of foreign and our aircraft.

The first thing that catches your eye - low position engines under the wings and a short distance from the bottom of the engine to the ground in American and French aircraft. Indeed, during taxiing and takeoff, there is a high probability of foreign objects entering the air intake, and this is fraught with disaster. The air intakes of the Tu-154 are located much higher and closer to the keel. Moreover, the engine thrust of the Tu-154 is 11100 kg/s (for comparison, the thrust of the B-737-800 is 10890 kgf). ABOUT top speed and there is nothing to say - for the legendary "Carcass" it is 950 km / h. The Boeing only pulls at 840 km/h.

The strength of Western liners also leaves much to be desired. As you know, they cannot normally land on unprepared and unpaved airfields, of which there are enough in Russia, and the successful landing of the Tu-154M in Izhma very eloquently shows that domestic aircraft made in good faith. Another incident involving the Tu-154 is stubbornly hushed up by the world media. On September 27, 2006, at Manas airport (Kyrgyzstan), a Tu-154M taking off and an American KS-135 tanker blocking its runway collided. Upon impact, the "American" immediately caught fire and could not be restored after the fire. And the legendary "Tu" lost part of the wing plane, but managed to land safely on the airfield. And it's still flying!

Or take the death on April 2 this year of the Franco-Italian ATR-72 near Tyumen. These delicate, capricious machines can only be operated in the southern latitudes, and, in fact, they are not competitors not only to our new An-140, but also to the good old An-24. The disasters that occurred in the United States (October 31, 1994) and Cuba (November 4, 2010) with the participation of the ATR-72 confirmed the danger of its operation, since main reason accidents became icing. Even before the accident on October 31, 1994, pilots noted the danger of flying the aircraft under certain weather conditions and the possibility of stalling without warning. . And after these disasters, the ATR-72 is no longer operated abroad in the northern latitudes.

A serious drawback of Western aircraft is their limitations in operation due to climate and air humidity. For example, during the tests of the Tu-334 in Iran, in highlands in rarefied and hot air, the car took off even on one engine. Western planes, in contrast to the "tupolev", in the heat, fly only at night, as the engines do not have enough power. And now, on hot, summer days in Russia, we do not hear the takeoff of foreign aircraft. Also, at temperatures below -30 degrees Celsius, Boeing, ATR, etc. cannot be operated.

How else are our Tupolevs, Antonovs and Yakovlevs superior to Boeings? The configuration and aerodynamics of domestic aircraft allow them to react much less to external sources of disturbance: when they enter the turbulence zone, they feel much less discomfort than on Boeings and Airbuses.

They also write a lot about the “comfortability” of foreign cars. For example, the air conditioning system is so poorly thought out that it is not like airing the cabin, but like a draft. Disabling such a system in flight (even for the Boeing 767-300) impossible. Therefore, passengers have to literally wrap themselves up so as not to freeze. There is no need to talk about the tightness in the cabin ...

Since in Russia, not all passengers speak English language(and the emergency instructions on the hatches, backs of the seats and on the armrests are written in English), then it turns out that in flight there is a VIOLATION OF CONSUMER RIGHTS.

Another “Achilles heel” is available for Boeings and Airbuses: control of the liner using a computer. And experts from the Federal Security Service say that Western suppliers send electronic components to Russia in ready-made. What if, on someone’s malicious command, a secret program, a virus, goes off and a vital electronic unit goes out? The plane is doomed. History reminds - Saddam Hussein bought air defense systems from the French. And before the start of the air phase of the operation in Iraq, all previously serviceable control systems died overnight, at the command from the satellite (see the article by V. Leonov "Pests against the Tu-334: a game to take off", "Arguments of the Week", May 24 2011).

Meanwhile, it is planned to allocate more than 5 trillion rubles for the development of the aviation industry in Russia until 2020. rubles. Mainly for the production of Superjet 100 and MS-21. But where is the guarantee that the money will not be spent on a slightly different purpose than the Russian aircraft manufacturers plan? Due to the lack of competition, there is simply nothing to replace the Superjet 100.

A report by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus says that over the next 20 years, Russian airlines will purchase 1,006 passenger aircraft for a total cost of $95 billion. In turn, Boeing plans to export over 1,000 airliners to the CIS countries within the same period. It seems that the "development" of the domestic aviation industry can go exactly according to this scenario ...

Konstantin Fedorov