The flight is normal: what Russian businessmen fly on. What Russian officials fly
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 did not do without his aircraft transport. 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. Another argument in favor of such purchases is the fact that regular flights are 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 - big 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.
Russia approached World War I with the largest air fleet. But big things start small. And today we want to talk about the very first Russian aircraft.
Aircraft Mozhaisky
The monoplane of Rear Admiral Alexander Mozhaisky became the first aircraft built in Russia and one of the first in the world. The construction of the aircraft began with a theory and ended with the construction of a working model, after which the project was approved by the War Department. Steam engines designed by Mozhaisky were ordered from the English firm Arbecker-Hamkens, which led to the disclosure of the secret - the drawings were published in the journal Engineering in May 1881. It is known that the airplane had propellers, a fabric-covered fuselage, a wing covered with balloon silk, a stabilizer, elevators, a keel and landing gear. The weight of the aircraft was 820 kilograms.
The tests of the aircraft took place on July 20, 1882 and were unsuccessful. The airplane was dispersed on inclined rails, after which it rose into the air, flew several meters, fell on its side and fell, breaking its wing.
After the accident, the military lost interest in development. Mozhaisky tried to modify the airplane, ordered more powerful engines. However, in 1890 the designer died. The military ordered the plane to be removed from the field, and its further fate is unknown. Steam engines were stored for some time at the Baltic Shipyard, where they burned down in a fire.
Aircraft Kudashev
The first Russian aircraft to be successfully tested was a biplane designed by design engineer Prince Alexander Kudashev. He built the first gasoline-powered aircraft in 1910. On tests, the airplane flew 70 meters and landed safely.
The mass of the aircraft was 420 kilograms. The wingspan covered with rubberized fabric is 9 meters. The Anzani engine installed on the aircraft had a power of 25.7 kW. On this plane, Kudashev managed to fly only 4 times. During the next landing, the airplane crashed into a fence and broke.
After Kudashev designed three more modifications of the aircraft, each time lightening the design and increasing the power of the engine.
"Kudashev-4" was demonstrated at the first Russian International Aeronautical Exhibition in St. Petersburg, where it received a silver medal from the Imperial Russian Technical Society. The aircraft could reach speeds of 80 km / h and had a 50 hp engine. The fate of the airplane was sad - it was smashed at aviators' competitions.
"Russia-A"
The biplane "Russia-A" was released in 1910 by the "First All-Russian Association of Aeronautics".
It was built on the basis of Farman's airplane design. At the III International Automobile Exhibition in St. Petersburg, he received a silver medal of the Military Ministry and was bought by the All-Russian Imperial Aero Club for 9 thousand rubles. A curious detail: up to this point, he had not even risen into the air.
From the French aircraft "Russia-A" was distinguished by a high-quality finish. Wings and plumage were covered with double-sided, the Gnome engine had 50 hp. and accelerated the plane to 70 km / h.
Flight tests were carried out on August 15, 1910 at the Gatchina airfield. And the plane flew over two kilometers. A total of 5 copies of "Russia" were built.
"Russian Knight"
Biplane "Russian Knight" became the world's first four-engine aircraft designed for strategic reconnaissance. The history of heavy aviation began with him.
The designer of the Vityaz was Igor Sikorsky.
The aircraft was built at the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works in 1913. The first model was called "Grand" and had two motors. Later, Sikorsky placed four 100 hp motors on the wings. every. In front of the cockpit was a platform with a machine gun and a searchlight. The aircraft could lift 3 crew members and 4 passengers into the air.
On August 2, 1913, the Vityaz set a world flight duration record - 1 hour 54 minutes.
"Vityaz" crashed at the competition of military aircraft. The engine fell out of the flying Meller II and damaged the plane of the biplane. They did not restore it. On the basis of the Vityaz, Sikorsky designed a new aircraft, the Ilya Muromets, which became the national pride of Russia.
"Sikorsky S-16"
The aircraft was developed in 1914 by order of the Military Department and was a biplane with an 80 hp Ron engine, which accelerated the C-16 to 135 km / h.
The operation revealed the positive qualities of the aircraft, mass production was started. At first, the S-16 served to train pilots for the Ilya Muromets, in World War I it was equipped with a Vickers machine gun with a Lavrov synchronizer and used for reconnaissance and escorting bombers.
The first air combat of the S-16 took place on April 20, 1916. On that day, ensign Yuri Gilsher shot down an Austrian aircraft from a machine gun.
C-16 quickly fell into disrepair. If at the beginning of 1917 there were 115 aircraft in the Airship Squadron, then by the autumn there were 6 of them. The remaining aircraft fell to the Germans, who handed them over to Hetman Skoropadsky, and then went to the Red Army, but some of the pilots flew to the Whites. One C-16 was included in the aviation school in Sevastopol.
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.
The crash of an Airbus 321 on October 30, 2015 was 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 the "market attitude" to the industry 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 - according to the latest data, were serviceable. The Kazan disaster, as the commission of inquiry decided, was due to the human factor, while 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), local airlines (operating 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. The decision on its bankruptcy was made 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 it is 122 aircraft), we were guided by the fact that most of it could be transferred to other Russian operators, and the composition of the fleet reflects the economic model of the largest private Russian carrier.
Which models are chosen
The most popular family in Russia is medium-haul (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 models, and.
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, it became the leader among aircraft flying on medium-haul routes in Russia. The Big Four companies - "", "" - in 2013 divided in two in their preferences, 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 aircraft fleets of the world. 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, for modern samples -, Tu-214 and - only 6.3%. The remaining 17.7% are old modifications of An, Tu and Yak, most of which flew in the USSR. “But in the volume of passenger traffic, the share of these vehicles is less than 5%,” adds Alexander Fridlyand, professor at the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation.
The Sukhoi Superjet is the leader in terms of number of modern Russian models: domestic airlines have 39 such aircraft. “The Sukhoi Superjet has a niche, but it is very narrow due to its size (capacity is up to 100 seats),” says Friedland. According to him, for local and regional routes it is large, but 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.
Of the Soviet aircraft, most of all in the fleet of 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. The maximum capacity is 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).
“The An-24 is the only aircraft of this class in the world that lands on the ground, on packed snow or on ice,” recalls Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR, President of the Air Transport Infrastructure Development Fund. - 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: "", "", "". So far, it is impossible to replace it en masse with foreign models. First, foreign-made aircraft that could land at the airfields in these regions can accommodate fewer passengers, Kramarenko explains. In addition, the technical documentation for them - on English language, which is not owned by all pilots and personnel of the An-24. However, during 2012-2013, Yakutia leased five aircraft with a capacity of 70 to 80 seats. In the "daughter" of "Aeroflot" of the Far Eastern airline "", in addition to Bombardier, Canadian ones fly. Most likely, in the coming years, all An-24s will be replaced by foreign aircraft, “because they run out of their resource, 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: 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. Cars enter the parks "", "", "", "". The latter company started flying Brazilian planes 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, our aircraft are often more. According to Andrei 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 a generation (modifications , ) in Russia is 20.2 years. Generations Boeing 737 Next Generation (modifications,) - 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 German A320 fleet 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 of such machines has 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 who developed Soviet aircraft, - Design Bureau Tupolev and Design Bureau Yakovlev (now part of the United Aircraft Corporation) - continue to exist mainly by escorting the remaining ships in operation, says Koval. 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 ship commander, I don’t ask: will you give me an old plane or will I fly on a new one - this does not 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, for example, in 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 the 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 transportation, so his 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).
If we count by averages, then the fleet of private companies is even a little younger - it is 19.2 years old. Of the 24 private sector companies, 16 have fleets under 20 years old. The average age of state-owned and state-owned carriers is 20.7 goals. And out of 24 companies, 12 parks are under 20 years old.
Place of registration
Most of the passenger fleet in Russia is in foreign jurisdiction, shows RBC study. According to our calculations, out of 987 Russian airlines flying scheduled and charter flights with a capacity of more than ten seats, 508 registered in Bermuda, 109 in Ireland, one aircraft in France. For example, all Aeroflot aircraft (except Sukhoi Superjet), S7 and UTair are registered in Bermuda. All three companies declined to comment. The registration of 60 RBC aircraft could not be determined.
“The country in whose register the aircraft is registered, in fact, assumes obligations to supervise its airworthiness,” explains Oleg Panteleev, head of the analytical service of the Aviaport agency. “The representatives of the aviation authorities of the register conduct regular inspections, control the maintenance of the aircraft.”
There are 311 aircraft registered in Russia, mostly of Russian and Ukrainian production. But there are exceptions to this: for example, "" from Krasnoyarsk registered the Czech Let L-410 Turbolet in Russia. As Vladislav Vlasov, a representative of the company, explained, this is the decision of the owner - the State Transport Leasing Company, which is 100% owned by the Ministry of Transport.
Foreign registration in most cases is the decision of owners, private leasing companies, both foreign and Russian. The fact that VTB Leasing also prefers to register aircraft outside of Russia was told by a source in the market to RBC. VTB Leasing declined to comment.
The main reason for this choice is the distrust of the international market for Russian maintenance standards, says Kirill Alpatov, director of the legal department at Sberbank-Leasing. “According to Western standards, only an aircraft technician who works with avionics can change a compass on an airplane, not an aircraft technician who changes wheels and brakes,” says Alexander Kochetkov. - Not so in Russia. A technician can change wheels, a light bulb in the cabin, something in the air conditioning system, and anything else, and after him comes a person who signs the work he has done. By Western standards, this is unacceptable. Imagine having your appendix operated on by a dentist – that’s the Russian maintenance scheme.”
As a result, according to him, any Boeing 737 that stayed in Russian registry at least a year, loses up to 30% of the market value. CEO of the leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. Alexander Rubtsov is more moderate in his assessments: according to his calculations, an aircraft that has been in the Russian register for 5–10 years loses up to 10–15% of its value.
There are other reasons: if the aircraft is registered in Ireland, Bermuda or Aruba, then the lessor is exempt from property tax, transport tax and some other fees. Property tax in Russia is 2.2%, in Ireland, Bermuda and Aruba it is not.
By registering their aircraft abroad, Russian airlines have underpaid about 145 billion rubles to the budget over the past 2.5 years, auditors of the Accounts Chamber calculated at the end of last year. “The applied approach leads to the non-receipt of a number of payments to the federal budget, such as VAT on lease payments, property tax, tax on the income of the lessor, since it is registered in a foreign state,” the auditor Sergei Shtogrin noted at the time.
Foreign jurisdiction is protection for the lessor in case of bankruptcy of the airline, adds Panteleev: Russia does not fully participate in the Cape Town Convention, which protects the rights of owners, and we do not have a procedure for registering and deregistering ships. Therefore, in the Russian register, lessors will have the risk that if the client goes bankrupt, the planes will not be returned quickly, and they will be stuck for a long time, for example, in the Domodedovo customs clearance zone, he explained. Panteleev is not aware of other countries in which ships are registered in foreign jurisdictions as massively as in Russia: aircraft that fly, for example, in the USA or France, are registered there.
Despite problems with maintenance and parts for Russian aircraft, all the experts with whom RBC spoke for this material consider the domestic passenger fleet to be reliable. According to the ICA report (which includes 11 states former USSR), in 2014, 82% of all accidents are related to human factors, 16% to technical failures and 2% to adverse external impacts.
Against the backdrop of the collapse of the domestic aviation industry and the ongoing import of Boeings and Airbuses, the important fact that our "people's representatives" fly mainly on Russian aircraft is clearly evident. How long will this injustice continue?
While we, mere mortals, fly on stale and half-rotten imports, the bureaucracy STILL prefers to use Russian (Soviet)-made aircraft, which continue to FLY PROPERLY.
You can talk a lot about how our ministers, the so-called "servants of the people", opened markets for Western companies, thereby destroying domestic aviation. However, it is also necessary to show in this article what the first persons of the state fly on.
The currently existing Special Flight Detachment "Russia" (hereinafter SLO) was created in 2009 to serve the first persons of the state and, in fact, is a SPECIAL PRIVILEGE fleet, which is CONTINUOUSLY AND OPERATIONALLY RENEWED.
As of December 2014, the Rossiya SLO has the following types of aircraft:
Tu-154M - two cars;
IL-96-300 - four;
Il-96-300PU/Il-96-300PU(M1) - four;
Tu-214 of various modifications - eleven vehicles;
Tu-204-300 - two;
Tu-134 - five;
Yak-40 - three;
An-148-100E - three.
In addition, the government squadron has 15 Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopters. And at the same time, in the government fleet there are only two French aircraft "Airbus" A-319 and "Falcon-7X"!
As you can see, it is not difficult to understand why high-ranking officials prefer to fly even on such FAMOUS SOVIET VETERANS as the Tu-134, NOT TO TALK ABOUT THE LEGEND OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY - Tu-154M!
An extremely important fact is that ALL government aircraft and helicopters have RUSSIAN registration numbers. And this despite the fact that ordinary "foreign" cars are registered either on Bermuda or in Ireland. And at the same time, Russian technicians do not even have the right to board foreign, including offshore, aircraft to check their technical condition, familiarize themselves with flight documents! This speaks volumes. Because when it happens flight accident It's not just about the plane. Much depends on the regulation of the industry. The offshore aircraft is leased from a Russian company. In the event of a tragedy with him, a foreign company receives insurance. And all the costs of compensating the families of the dead and material damage are borne by the Russian side (see N. Chekhovsky's interview for 01/09/2013, "Our aircraft industry was deliberately killed", "Svobodnaya Pressa.ru").
And then an even more ugly truth came to the surface. Back in 1992, the Voronezh Aviation Plant built three aircraft - two for Boris Yeltsin and one for the then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The first presidential Il-96-300PU was built quite quickly, but the creation of the second was slowed down for a long time. As a result, in 1995 we decided to make interior decoration in Switzerland - the leader in the arrangement of aircraft interiors for the first persons of various states.
This liner, built for B. Yeltsin in 1996 at the Voronezh Aviation Plant, was once spoken of as a technical miracle. After the modernization, the salon became two-story - with two bedrooms, showers, a meeting room, a relaxation room and even an intensive care unit. The plane was painted in Holland, and the interior was finished in Switzerland according to the sketches of the artist's son Ilya Glazunov. At the same time, the interior decoration of the presidential "Il" is estimated at 35-40 million dollars. At the same time, the total cost of the government's Il-96-300PU, which is considered the most expensive domestic airliner, reaches $400 million.
In the 2000s, several Il-96-300PU(M1) were ordered, equipped with latest systems special communications, telecommunications and navigation. Their interiors are designed like study rooms; the liners are also equipped with modern computers with the data bank necessary for operation.
The presidential Il-96-300PU costs about 400 million dollars, only the interior trim with walnut veneer cost 18 million. Taking into account the cost of bodyguards and other related expenses, the cost of one day of the presidential international tour is about 1.2 million dollars. Considering a large number of cell phone calls from high-profile individuals to their homes and the cost of maintaining an expensive plane all cost the government $12 million a year.
At the same time, the finishing of the second government "Il" is much richer. In the first Il-96PU there was one bar, in the second - three. The office of the president is, however, small, about nine square meters. But plumbing cost a pretty penny - a bathroom, for example, almost 75 thousand dollars. And all the wooden trim inside is domestic (see the material for 01/30/2007, “The salon of the presidential liner was filmed by one of the members of the“ Kremlin pool ”, www.compromat.ru).
Bye ordinary Russians they cautiously board worn-out Boeings and Airbuses, while domestic airliners go “for storage” (more precisely, for scrap metal), the government, without stint, finances the Rossiya SLO for itself, “people’s deputies” ...
P.S. But not only ministers pamper themselves with "flying palaces". Thus, the Boeing-767-300 of Roman Abramovich is estimated at up to $1 billion. The cabin of the aircraft is trimmed with red and walnut wood, decorated with gold, equipped with all necessary security and communication systems. Work on the alteration of the cabin was also carried out in Switzerland. Such are the things...
To the 25th anniversary of the air groups
"Swifts" and "Russian Knights"
To fly like them, pilots study for years. Their work is beautiful, honorable and incredibly difficult. Any athlete will envy their health and endurance. They have fan clubs not only in Russia, but also abroad, their schedule of performances is drawn up a year in advance. Almost no international air show takes place without them.
Each flight of the Swifts and Russian Knights, which celebrate their 25th anniversary this year, is a dream come true, overcoming imperfection human nature. The inspiration and joy that planes give people, easily soaring into the sky.
About the secrets of the mastery of Russian aces, their new aircraft, the history of air groups, the present and future - in the TASS material.
THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND
"Knights" and "Swifts" appeared almost simultaneously - on April 5 and May 6, 1991. The names of both groups were invented by the pilots themselves. Both those and others are based on Kubinka as part of the Display Center aviation technology named after I. N. Kozhedub.
The first private display of the forerunner of the Strizhi aerobatic team on the MiG-29 took place back in 1986 in Finland, where the group was invited on a friendly visit.
"Swifts" fly the MiG-29. These aircraft arrived in Kubinka in 1983, before that the MiG-21 and MiG-23 were at the disposal of the pilots of the aviation center. At that time, pilots on four MiGs were not called an aerobatic team, the name "diamond on the MiG-29" was used. In 1991, a new era began.
"Swifts" were formed from the best pilots on the basis of the 234th Guards Proskurov Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was always called "ostentatious" among the troops. Its tasks included not only protecting the air borders of Moscow, but also demonstrating the capabilities of advanced aviation technology.
The current coloring of the Swifts was proposed by the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG in 2000. So the outlines of giant blue birds appeared above and below on the fuselage of aircraft.
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Interesting fact
In August 1993, the Vityaz was invited to the Canadian air base Abbotsford, where their demonstration performances ended in a small curiosity: Canadian pilots argued with the Russians that the Su-27 as a fighter was inferior to their CF-18 Hornet aircraft. The dispute was resolved in front of two hundred thousand spectators - the "Knights" in a training battle defeated the "Hornets", proving the unsurpassed qualities of their combat vehicles.
"Russian Knights" is the only aviation group in the world that demonstrates aerobatics on heavy combatant Su-27 fighters. Their planes, like those of the Swifts, do not differ from combat vehicles in anything, except for the color.
The Su-27 entered service with the 1st Aviation Squadron of the Aviation Equipment Display Center in May 1989. At first, the pilots trained in pairs, threes, and then fours of cars in the diamond formation. At the beginning of 1991, the composition of the aerobatic team of six aircraft was finally formed.
The first performance of "Knights" took place four and a half months after the official birthday of the group, on August 24, 1991, at the first Polish air show in Poznan. Then the group commander Vladimir Bazhenov came up with a solo aerobatics program.
This visit was the starting point in creating a unique image of the group. It took less than a month for the specialists of the Sukhoi Design Bureau to develop a single design and paint all the group's fighters.
The Art of Combat
Simple, complex and aerobatics, admired by millions of spectators, has its own practical meaning. Each figure that the aircraft "writes out" in the sky is designed to evade the enemy.
The goal of the attacker is to take an advantageous starting position and hit the pursued aircraft, the goal of the one who is being overtaken is to get away from the attack, dodge the missile, and, if possible, go "into the tail" of the attacker. The pilot must feel calm in the air, be completely confident in his aircraft and master it perfectly.
It has practical meaning and working for the entertainment of aerobatics shooting false thermal targets, better known as heat traps - a sheaf of bright lights that planes release when flying in a group or alone. In a real battle, this "salute" is necessary in order to confuse the infrared homing heads of enemy missiles.
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
Pilot training, performing a complex of aerobatics, the ability to conduct maneuverable air combat are the basis of training for every fighter pilot
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
"Let's take the "Barrel" figure as an example (turning the aircraft around the longitudinal axis by 360 degrees - approx. TASS). If it is single, then this is the basic figure performed by all pilots. If it is a group figure, then it is already difficult, only pilots do it" , - says the commander of the Russian Knights, military pilot 1st class Sergey Eremenko.
When the "Barrel" is made by an air group, the skill is manifested in the synchronous execution of this figure, simultaneously begun and completed, in the precise keeping of one's place in the ranks and the position of the aircraft in space.
A single "Barrel" in combat gives the pilot the opportunity to suddenly change his spatial position, to get away from the enemy missile.
For an air fight, a variation called "Kadushka" is more relevant, when the plane does not just rotate around its axis, but moves a little "smeared", while simultaneously moving in a circle.
Sergey Eremenko,
Almost all figures are performed on overloads. Perhaps the most difficult to complete is the "Bell" and the passage at a minimum speed (200 km / h). It is necessary to support the plane, not to let it collapse and not go into a tailspin
Sergey Eremenko,
commander of the "Russian Knights"
Aerobatics in the most general form are divided into single and group, while group ones are performed in various formations: "Pyramid", "Envelope", "Arrow", "Column".
© YouTube/TASS
Interesting fact
When performing aerobatics, all pilots look only at the leader's aircraft. They hold one plane, focusing only on him. It is the leader who creates the aerobatics pattern, is responsible for all the parameters of the figures performed, for the formation, and the task of the followers is to maintain their place in the ranks.
When an aircraft is piloted alone, the pilot demonstrates everything that the machine is capable of, shows its capabilities. When performing aerobatics, the group must be in formation, synchronism, and a certain construction of maneuvers.
Piloting should be energetic, concise, concentrated, the time intervals between different figures and rebuildings should be minimal.
This is how the picture of aerobatics is formed, a harmonious pattern and the meaning of flight are born, so that the active maneuvering of aircraft does not turn into "flickering", but reveals all the beauty, controllability and dangerous power of combat vehicles.
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
If the pilot is distracted for at least half a second, then it is not a fact that at a speed of 600-700 km / h he will be able to maintain his place in the ranks. The task of the follower is to fully concentrate on the leader and perform his maneuvers behind him. Naturally, with the advent of experience, the pilot already has the opportunity to be distracted for a split second, to look somewhere, to control some additional parameters. But still, 90% of his time in group aerobatics, he looks at the leader
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
BRILLIANT IN THE SKY
Interesting fact
The distance between the tips of the wings of aircraft in group aerobatics is 1 meter.
One of the most recognizable symbols of the Swifts and Russian Knights is a giant rhombus consisting of four MiG-29s and five Su-27s. This aerobatic formation was given the name "Cuban Diamond" for its clear edges, outlined as if by a ruler.
For the first time, the four Russian Knights, together with the six Swifts, flew in a single formation of ten aircraft on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the Aviation Technology Display Center in March 2003.
In 2004, a joint flight was included in the screening complex aerobatic teams consisting of nine aircraft (five Su-27s and four MiG-29s) in a "rhombus" formation with a full range of aerobatics. This fact became a world record in the history of aviation.
For several years in a row, Swifts and Vityazi have been flying in nines over Red Square on May 9 and performing in this way at many holidays.
HOW AIR ACROBATS ARE PREPARED
Both "Swifts" and "Russian Knights" have been flying in an updated composition (six) since 2014. Each new pilot must undergo serious training in order to be eligible to fly in an air group.
"We are interested in having people come to us. These should be pilots with a qualifying flight time of at least a second-class pilot, who have almost fully completed a combat training course. In addition, personal, human qualities are important. An air group is a small family where everyone should be absolutely confident in your comrades,” says Osyaykin.
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
In addition, young pilots come to our aviation center, from which we train air fighters. We fly with them both for air battles, and for interceptions, and for combat use for various purposes. And only then we look closely at them and try for aerobatics. All this goes in parallel
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
Pilots do not get tired of emphasizing that they fly on front-line serial machines. Both "Swifts" and "Knights" often sit at the controls of aircraft in other air units and "twist" exactly the same program. This is done in those cases when it is more expensive to "drive" aircraft and an engineering group from Kubinka.
“Of course, there is no global difference between the aircraft, but, of course, there will always be “microscopic” nuances. On one aircraft, the engines work a little differently, you land in another - both reach power in the same way. And, of course, the pilot who flew for the steering wheel of a single machine, everything will tell about the tiny differences in its management,” says Eremenko.
Any flight is always a certain risk. The program of each performance is always thoroughly calculated taking into account the distances back and forth, the time and complexity of piloting, the amount of fuel filled, terrain features, and the availability of alternate airfields.
© Video provided by the Voeninform Agency of the Russian Ministry of Defense
LIFE ON OVERLOAD
During solo aerobatics, the overload can reach up to 9 g (units), which means that a person is pressed by gravity nine times his own weight. Group aerobatics usually does not exceed 6 g-forces. According to Eremenko, at the same time, even with an overload of three units, it is already difficult to take your hand off your knee.
“With such discomfort, the pilots must maintain their place in the ranks, think with lightning speed and respond to various deviations, listen to the leader’s commands,” says the Vityaz flight commander.
Of course, pilots are saved from overload by special suits that do not allow blood to drain from the head and torso, but this does not change the essence - every fighter pilot must be unconditionally healthy physically and mentally, with an excellent vestibular apparatus. The strictest selection for health is precisely in aviation, especially in fighter aircraft.
Sergey Eremenko,
commander of the "Russian Knights"
A pilot is an ordinary person, just the requirements for him are more stringent. When you just start flying aerobatics, the effect of overload is unusual. It takes time to get comfortable. But then everything becomes a habit.
Sergey Eremenko,
commander of the "Russian Knights"
According to the commander of the Swifts, when taking off in an airplane, especially when performing aerobatics, a person must have a certain reserve of strength so that he does not become ill, so that he does not lose consciousness and maintain maximum concentration.
Every year, fighter pilots undergo a medical examination after vacation, a quarterly medical examination, semi-annual in-depth examinations, and every year - a medical flight commission (VLK). Moreover, it can be both inpatient and outpatient.
If the pilot does not have any serious diagnoses, then he undergoes it on an outpatient basis once every three years. If the doctors have any questions, then every year a person goes to the hospital and is examined for three weeks. Every year a medical certificate is given - the right to fly until the next VLK.
WINGS OF ASOV
In 2016, "Russian Knights" will gradually switch to new type aircraft - multipurpose fighters Su-30SM (serial, modernized). Its design uses front horizontal tail and engines with thrust vector control, which gives the car super-maneuverability. That is, the ability of aircraft to maintain controllability at very high angles of attack with high overloads and change position relative to the air flow. This ensures the safety of maneuvering in combat.
Viktor Bondarev,
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces,
Viktor Bondarev,
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces,
Hero of Russia, Colonel General
The coloring of the new aircraft will be the same as the current ones, and the demonstration program will undoubtedly be updated.
Comparing the Su-30SM with the Su-27, the Russian Knights flight commander notes that "to some extent, it is a little more difficult for group aerobatics."
“But in solo aerobatics, there will be much more opportunities, it will be much more colorful and diverse. There you can perform such figures, which have not yet been named,” Yeremenko sums up.
Su-30SM (according to NATO classification–Flanker-H)
The first flight was made in 1989. The Su-30 is a two-seat ("spark") multipurpose heavy fighter of the "4+" generation, created on the basis of the Su-27UB through its deep modernization. Has supermaneuverability.
It is designed both to gain air supremacy and to strike at ground and surface targets. The design of the aircraft used front horizontal tail and engines with thrust vector control.
The fighter's ammunition portfolio includes a wide range of weapons, including air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface precision guided weapons. The Su-30SM can be used as an aircraft to train pilots for advanced single-seat fighters. Since 2012, these aircraft have been under construction for the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Su-27 (according to NATO codification–Flanker-B)
Designed to gain air supremacy. The first flight of the prototype took place in 1977.
The first Su-27 entered the Armed Forces Soviet Union in 1984. State joint tests of the aircraft were completed in 1985.
The basic Su-27 is equipped with a pair of AL-31F bypass turbojet engines with afterburners. Normal takeoff weight of this aircraft is 22.5 tons (whereas the MiG-29 - 15.3 tons).
The Su-27 can carry up to 6 medium-range air-to-air guided missiles and up to 4 R-73 short-range guided missiles with thermal homing heads.
The size and weight of the aircraft, its inertia and, oddly enough, its excellent aerodynamics are the main reasons that require a subtle approach to co-piloting and great skill of pilots.
Sergey Osyaykin,
commander of the air group "Swifts"
