The history of the Lipetsk Aviation Center began during the First World War. Back in 1916, the first workshops for the collection of French aircraft of the Luran type appeared here. In October 1918, by order of the Glavvozdukhflot, a squadron of heavy bombers "Ilya Muromets" began to form in Lipetsk. The squadron was based at the airfield, which was at that time on the former outskirts of the city near the railway station). Bombers "Ilya Muromets" and light aircraft "Swan" accompanying them actively participated in hostilities during the period civil war.

In March 1923, the formation of the Lipetsk Aviation School began, which was intended to train future Soviet pilots, but in 1924 the school closed without having time to organize itself.

Object "Lipetsk" - German aviation school

Fokker D.XIII fighters in Lipetsk.

Research activities in the field of aircraft construction and the study of military aircraft materials in Germany, within the limits of the restrictions imposed by the Versailles Agreement, were terminated. Nevertheless, individual studies could be carried out abroad, in particular, in the USSR.

The opening of a German aviation school in the USSR had been planned since 1924. The document on the creation of the school on April 15, 1925 in Moscow was signed by the head of the Red Army Air Force P. I. Baranov and the representative of the Sondergroup R, Colonel H. von der Lit-Thomsen. The creation of the school was led by the "Aviation Inspectorate No. 1" of the German Defense Directorate. The use of the airfield and school facilities was free of charge, all expenses for complete equipment were borne by the German side. About 2 million marks were allocated annually for the maintenance of the school.

The Germans in a very short time reconstructed the production facilities, erected two small hangars, a repair shop, and already on July 15, 1925, a joint tactical flight school was opened. Initially, the material base was 50 Fokker D-XIII fighters purchased by Vogrue with funds from the Ruhr Fund in the Netherlands in 1923-1925. On June 28, 1925, the planes arrived from Stettin to Leningrad on the steamer Edmund Hugo Stinnes. Transport aircraft and bombers were also purchased. The training of the flight personnel took place within 5-6 months. The school was headed by Major V. Shtar, and the position of a Soviet deputy, a representative of the Red Army, was also envisaged.

In the summer, during the flight period, the ground personnel numbered over 200 people, in winter the figure decreased. In 1932, the total number of personnel of the center reached 303 people: 43 German and 26 Soviet cadets, 234 workers, employees and technical specialists. The leadership of the Reichswehr strictly controlled all the details of the activities of joint structures on the territory of the USSR, special attention was paid to secrecy. German pilots wore Soviet uniforms without insignia.

Conducted at the school research, for which the material part German General Staff secretly purchased from abroad. AT practical course pilot training included practicing air combat, bombing from various positions, studying weapons and equipment for aircraft - machine guns, cannons, optical instruments, etc.

For all the time the school has been operating, only about 700 pilots have undergone combat training in it, of which there are about 120 German pilots and 100 technical personnel.

In the early 1930s, even before Hitler came to power in Germany, German participation in the project began to noticeably decline. Already at the talks in November 1931, the German side avoided discussing the possibility of turning the aviation school in Lipetsk into a major joint research center. This happened due to the rapprochement of the USSR with other Western European countries, in particular with France. The Treaty of Rapallo, signed between the RSFSR and the Weimar Republic in 1922, began to lose its relevance. On September 15, 1933, the Lipetsk project was closed, the buildings erected by German specialists, and a significant part of the equipment were transferred to the Soviet side.

Air Force Higher Flight Tactical School

Since January 1934, the Air Force Higher Flight Tactical School began to operate on the basis of the liquidated facility.

After the Great Patriotic Wars We were re-equipped with jet aircraft, a new training aviation regiment was added, which trained command personnel for long-range aviation units. In the same period, two airfields were built: the first - with a concrete coating, in the Venus region, the second - with an unpaved surface, in the region of the village of Kuzminsky Otverzhki.

4th center for combat use and retraining of air force flight personnel

Coat of arms of the Lipetsk Aviation Center

The 4th Center for Combat Use of the Air Force was formed in Tambov on April 19, 1953. In 1954 he was transferred to Voronezh, and in 1960 to Lipetsk, after which he was transformed into the 4th center for combat use and retraining of the Air Force flight personnel.

More than 45,000 officers of various specialties were trained in the training department of the center during the Soviet period. In the Lipetsk Aviation Center, 11 Soviet cosmonauts were also retrained for new types of aircraft. As a symbol of the glorious aviation history of Lipetsk, in August 1969, a monument was erected on Aviator Square - the MiG-19 fighter fighter soaring upwards.

After the collapse of the USSR, the military-industrial complex degraded, the budget of the army was significantly reduced and, as a result, the Lipetsk Aviation Center faced hard times. Changes for the better began only in 2003: fuel limits increased, the material base began to strengthen.

In July 2003, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Lipetsk, an hour and a half air show took place. A delegation of French military pilots, led by General Jean Romuald Robert, flew to this event. The delegation arrived on two S-130 military transport aircraft, three Mirage fighters and F-200 attack aircraft.

On April 22, 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited the air center when they arrived in Lipetsk to attend the opening of the Italian plant Ariston. Aviation equipment was demonstrated in action, aerobatics were shown, including the most complex ones, with the personal participation of the head of the center Alexander Kharchevsky.

Lipetsk center for combat use and retraining of flight crews, aerobatic team "Falcons of Russia" at MAKS-2009.

On August 3, 2007, the latest Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber took off from the test airfield of the Novosibirsk Aviation Industrial Association. Under the control of GLITs pilots Sergey Shcherbina and Alexander Aschenkov, the aircraft arrived at the Lipetsk Aviation Center, where it was solemnly received and entered service in the Air Force.

Front-line bombers Su-24 and Su-34 of the Lipetsk Pulp and Paper Plant and PLS took part in the parade on Red Square on May 9, 2008 in honor of the 63rd anniversary Great Victory above Nazi Germany. The Su-34 was personally controlled by the head of the air center, Major General A.N. Kharchevsky.

In 2011, the military prosecutor's office of the Western Military District opened a criminal case on extortion of money from the pilots of the Lipetsk Aviation Center. According to Interfax, the reason for this was the information contained in the Internet appeal of Senior Lieutenant Igor Sulim, which was confirmed during the audit. The defendants in the case initiated under Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were the commander of the military unit, Colonel Eduard Kovalsky and his deputy for educational work, Colonel Sergei Sidorenko.

The task of which is the retraining of flight and technical personnel, the introduction of advanced methods and developments of flight systems in combat units.

At the origins of the Luftwaffe

It was a mystery to find a German training and test association in Lipetsk from 1925 to 1933 with the mediation of the Red Army Air Force. Here, research was carried out on the material part, flight equipment was checked. The pilots of the Lipetsk Aviation Center were intensively trained. The work is classified, the cadets of the school dressed in the uniforms of ordinary Red Army soldiers. The material part was purchased abroad and delivered by secret routes to the school. It was under the jurisdiction of the German General Staff. The existence of the center was contrary to the Versailles agreements.

Personnel were being prepared for the future Luftwaffe of the Third Reich. Air combat techniques, new bombing developments were practiced, the latest types of weapons, optics and instruments were tested. 120 fighter pilots trained. The less information about the school, the more legends arose around it. Two were alive. This is that the city was not bombed during the war years. The second says that the founder and commander of the German air fleet studied here. Nothing has been confirmed.

Creation of a research association

The center has been formed since 1949. Initially, it was a training unit for fighter pilots. Then there were mergers with other courses, enlargement of the structure, change of location, until they finally stopped in the city of Lipetsk.

The training of aviators and testing continued in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense. This research military unit carried out:

• improving the methods of combat use of aviation;
• comprehension by pilots of new technology;
• introduction of advanced teaching methods;
• development of means of destruction.

Achievements

Mastered dozens of types aircraft. 50 thousand officers of aviation specialties were trained and trained, cosmonauts of the USSR improved here, 50 applicants defended their academic degrees. 50 research and flight tests were carried out, a complex experimental and survey program was completed.

The Center conscientiously carried out the assigned tasks in the interests of the Air Force and the Defense Ministry. In a short time, complexes of the latest generations of fighters were mastered and documentation was developed for the operation of this equipment in combat conditions. In 1992, the pilots of the scientific unit for the first time flew on the Su-27 to the USA, three years later, in experimental demonstration air battles with foreign colleagues, they emerged victorious. Indispensable participants in aerospace shows, where they demonstrated the maneuverability of our aircraft in air group combat.

The Lipetsk Aviation Center is constantly present at arms exhibitions and military equipment, participant of international and Russian exercises.

Descendants will remember

The flight specialty imposes strict requirements on the professionalism and moral qualities of the pilot. This has been repeatedly confirmed heroic deeds air fighters who gave their lives to save people in the line of duty.

The land around Lipetsk is abundantly watered with the blood of pilots. Think about it, fifty pilots died. This is the price of the security of our Motherland!

Once there was a tragedy. The crew of S. Sherstobitov and L. Krivenkov in flight suddenly ignited first one, then the other engine. After extinguishing the fire, it was necessary to sit down immediately. It happened over the city. At the cost of their lives, the pilots managed to take the car towards the outskirts locality the crew was killed. The plane had a full refueling and bomb load. You can imagine the consequences of the fall.

Heroes of Russia Lipetsk Aviation Center

Six people received the title: four are alive and working, and two died.

Head of the Lipetsk Aviation Center Major General S.S. Oskanov became the first. He was an experienced ace, a professional. During a test flight in February 1992, the equipment failed, and the car began to fall on the settlement. At the cost of life, the fighter managed to be taken aside, people were not injured. For this feat, Oskans is presented with the highest distinction.

The last list was supplemented by a lieutenant colonel who was treacherously shot down in Syria. The pilot died, becoming the sixth.

Weekdays

Today, the Lipetsk Aviation Center is a research base for MiG and Su combat systems. And aerobatic teams are a vivid confirmation of the abilities of the Russian Air Force. The efforts of the Center are aimed at the quality of combat training, increasing flight hours. The created series of simulators is an exact copy of units and mechanisms. However, the functionality of the training equipment is delimited.

On some, the elements of piloting are polished, on others the methodology for applying technology is fixed, on the third - lessons on fixing the skills acquired during the study of the controls. A multidisciplinary procedural simulator for the crew of the MiG-29UB aviation complex (combat training) has been created. It includes the tasks and functions that air professionals perform during the flight: reconnaissance, the use of weapons in the conditions of electronic countermeasures.

In the fight against terrorism

The Lipetsk Aviation Center gives practical experience to pilots on MiG and Su models.

Russian aircraft during the operation in Syria delivered hundreds of missile and bomb strikes. Jewelery accuracy of hits is noted, which is ensured, among other things, with the help of the latest Russian analytical complex "Il-20". The aircraft is equipped with no such means of detection and optical sensors. This is the necessary support for the crews piloting the Su. The flying laboratory is called the Russian manned reconnaissance aircraft.

Aircraft strike targets with phenomenal accuracy, excluding hits on other objects. In Syria, terrorists are bombed by strike complexes Su modifications 24, 25, 30 SM, 34.

Today the commander of the Lipetsk Aviation Center is a military pilot, Gen.Mr. Yuri Aleksandrovich Sushkov.

In the photographs and video recordings, light filters are lowered on the helmets of air fighters. Faces can not be shown - security requirements. This is practiced in world aviation. It is not a fact that pilots studying at the Lipetsk Research Center will fight. But those aces who launch planes at a target in Syria studied here.

: lvl

Information Type military The country Russia Location 8 km west of the city of Lipetsk NUM height +184 m Timezone UTC+3/+4 Runways

Number	Dimensions (m)	Coating
15/33	3000x60	concrete

Since September 2016, the head of the Lipetsk Aviation Center is Lieutenant General Yuri Aleksandrovich Sushkov.

4 The pulp and paper mill and PLS VVS is located at the Lipetsk-2 airfield, 8 kilometers west of the center of Lipetsk, not far from the urban areas of Venera and Mine No. 10. In storage is a large number of decommissioned aircraft intended for disposal: Su-24, Su-27, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, MiG-31

In addition to the existing concrete runway (RWY) 15/33, the airfield has an old concrete runway 10/28 with dimensions of 2,500 × 40 meters, it is used as a parking lot and a taxiway.

Story

The history of the Lipetsk Aviation Center began during the First World War. Back in 1916, the first workshops for the collection of French aircraft of the Luran type appeared here. In October 1918, by order of the Glavvozdukhflot, a squadron of heavy bombers "Ilya Muromets" began to form in Lipetsk. The squadron was based at the airfield, which was at that time on the former outskirts of the city not far from the railway station (see: Tereshkova Street (Lipetsk)). The Ilya Muromets bombers and the Lebed light aircraft accompanying them actively participated in hostilities during the civil war.

The Germans reconstructed the production facilities in a very short time, erected two small hangars, a repair shop, and already on July 15, 1925, a joint tactical flight school was opened. Initially, the material base was 50 Fokker D-XIII fighters purchased by Vogrue with funds from the Ruhr Fund in the Netherlands in 1923-1925. On June 28, 1925, the planes arrived from Stettin to Leningrad on the steamer Edmund Hugo Stinnes. Transport aircraft and bombers were also purchased. The training of the flight personnel took place within 5-6 months. The school was headed by Major V. Shtar, and the position of a Soviet deputy, a representative of the Red Army, was also envisaged.

In the summer, during the flight period, the ground personnel numbered over 200 people (from the German side - about 140 people), in winter the figure decreased (from the German side - about 40 people). In 1932, the total number of personnel of the center reached 303 people: 43 German and 26 Soviet cadets, 234 workers, employees and technical specialists. The leadership of the Reichswehr strictly controlled all the details of the activities of joint structures on the territory of the USSR, special attention was paid to secrecy. German pilots wore Soviet uniforms without insignia.

Research work was carried out at the school, for which the material part of the German General Staff was secretly acquired abroad. The practical training course for pilots included practicing air combat, bombing from various positions, studying weapons and equipment for aircraft - machine guns, cannons, optical instruments (bombing sights and mirror sights for fighters), etc.

In just eight years of the existence of the aviation school in Lipetsk, 120 fighter pilots were trained or retrained in it (30 of them were participants in the First World War, 20 were former civil aviation pilots) for Germany. The exact number of Soviet aviation specialists who were trained under the guidance of German instructors could not be established.

In the early 1930s, even before Hitler came to power in Germany, German participation in the project began to noticeably decline. Already at the talks in November 1931, the German side avoided discussing the possibility of turning the aviation school in Lipetsk into a major joint research center. This happened due to the rapprochement of the USSR with other Western European countries, in particular with France. The Treaty of Rapallo, signed between the RSFSR and the Weimar Republic in 1922, began to lose its relevance. On September 15, 1933, the Lipetsk project was closed, the buildings erected by German specialists, and a significant part of the equipment were transferred to the Soviet side.

Air Force Higher Flight Tactical School

4th Center for Combat Use of the Air Force was formed in Tambov on April 19, 1953. In 1954 he was transferred to Voronezh, and in 1960 - to Lipetsk, after which he was transformed into 4th center for combat use and retraining of air force flight personnel.

More than 45,000 officers of various specialties were trained in the training department of the center during the Soviet period. In the Lipetsk Aviation Center, 11 Soviet cosmonaut pilots were also retrained for new types of aircraft. As a symbol of the glorious aviation history of Lipetsk, in August 1969, a monument was erected on Aviator Square - the MiG-19 fighter soaring upwards.

In 2013, the flight crew of the aviation center began mastering the super-maneuverable multifunctional Su-30SM fighters; in 2014, the development of the Su-35S fighter began.

In 2014, the airfield of the aviation center was used as a base airfield for the duration of the Aviadarts competition for aircrews of the Air Force and the Navy.

In August 2015, the head of the aviation center, Major General Alexander Kharchevsky, resigned; his place was taken by the Hero of the Russian Federation, Major General S. I. Kobylash.

Structure

• 968th Research and Instructor Mixed Aviation Regiment (968 iisap) - Lipetsk - MiG-29, Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, Su-30, Su-34, Yak-130
• 4020 Aircraft Reserve Base (4020 BRS) - Lipetsk

In 2007, the center received the latest Su-34 fighter-bomber and modernized Su-24M2 front-line bombers. In 2010, it became part of the Lipetsk Aviation Center

Home Structure Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Air Force Lipetsk Aviation Center History of the Lipetsk Aviation Center

19.04.2013 (12:21)

State Order of Lenin Red Banner Training Center for Aviation Personnel and Military Trials of the Ministry of Defense Russian Federation named after V.P. Chkalova (Lipetsk Aviation Center)

January 1, 1949- 4 Fighter Aviation Training Center was formed ( Military Unit 62632), the place of deployment of the village of Razboyshchina, Voroshilovsky district Saratov region. Reason: Directive of the General Staff of September 24, 1948 No. org / 5/94613.

March 1, 1953- on the basis of the Higher Aviation Courses for blind and night training of pilot-officers of the Air Force and 4 training center Fighter Aviation formed the 4th Center for Combat Use of the Air Force. The basis for this was the directive of the Minister of War of the USSR of February 3, 1953 No. org / 5/567814, the directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Soviet army dated February 27, 1953 No. 135556, and the city of Tambov was determined as its location.

Since 1954 the Center has been located in Voronezh. In 1960, the formation was relocated to the city of Lipetsk and was transformed into the Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Air Force Flight Personnel. In 2011, he was awarded the name of the State Order of Lenin of the Red Banner Center for the Training of Aviation Personnel and Military Trials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation named after V.P. Chkalov. In 2009, the Center for the Display of Aviation Equipment named after I.P. Kozhedub (Kubinka), and from 2011 to 2013, under his control were the centers for combat training of long-range, army and military transport aviation.

The center is a special flight-methodical, research and training unit designed to develop and develop methods for the combat use of military aviation, training and retraining of personnel for existing and coming into service aviation systems and weapons.

The Center has mastered over forty main types of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. Among them are the first-born jet Il-28, MiG-15 and all subsequent serial aircraft of front-line aviation, as well as unmanned reconnaissance vehicles such as "Strizh", "Flight", "Wing". In 1960, a training department was created at the Center, in which more than 60,000 officers of various specialties were trained. 11 USSR pilot-cosmonauts retrained for new aviation equipment at the Center.

Thirty-three Heroes served in the Center Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. For merits in the development of aviation technology, the titles of Honored Military Pilot (Navigator), Honored Military Specialist, Honored Communications Worker were awarded to 56 people. For a great contribution to scientific development problems of the combat use of aviation systems and means of destruction, forty servicemen received the degree of candidate of sciences.

During the existence of the Center, more than 50 research LTUs have been carried out and more than two thousand research papers have been completed.

Throughout its history, the Center has successfully fulfilled the tasks set by the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force. The personnel took part in the testing exercises atomic bomb at the Totsk training ground in 1954, showed the combat capabilities of the Su-24 front-line bombers at the Vesna-75 exercises, was among the first to master the 4th generation Su-27 and MiG-29 aircraft in the 80s and developed methodological documents for them operation in combat units, in 1992 they made the first flight in the history of front-line aviation to the United States on Su-27 aircraft, in 1995 the pilots conducted 36 training air battles with South African pilots and won all of them.

The Aviation Center participated in the MAKS-2007, MAKS-2009, MAKS-2011, MAKS-2013 and MAKS-2015 aerospace shows, where pilots on Su-27, Su-30SM, MiG- 29 and SU-34 demonstrated maneuverable air combat, solo and group aerobatics. In 2006 and 2010, the Center hosted inspectors from OSCE participating States.

In 2006, 2008, 2009 2011, 2013 and 2015, the Center participated in the International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment in Nizhny Tagil, May 9, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 2016 in the air parade over Red Square in honor of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. In 2012, 57 crews of operational-tactical, army and transport aviation participated in the Common Sky air festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force.

The aviation center is a participant in major international and Russian exercises such as "Frontier-2005", the collective security forces of the CIS countries, "Center-2008", "Interaction-2008", "West-2009", "East-2010", "Union Shield-2011" ". "West-2013". The center was the base for conducting joint exercises of the Russian and French Air Forces in 2013, the Russian and Indian Air Forces "Aviaindra-2014", as well as the All-Russian and International competition of flight crews "Aviadarts-2014" and "Aviadarts-2015"

The flying profession makes the highest demands on the moral qualities, physical abilities and professional skills of a person. Lipetsk aviators have repeatedly shown courage in critical situations that arose during flights. Pilots L.A. Krivenkov and S.M. Sherstobitov, E.I. Zakharov and V.I. Novoselov sacrificed themselves to save the lives of others. For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, the title of Hero of the Russian Federation was awarded (posthumously) to Major General of Aviation S.S. Oskanov and Lieutenant Colonel O. A. Peshkov.

The symbol of the glorious aviation history is the monument on Aviators' Square - the MiG-19 fighter jet soaring upwards. The inscription on its pedestal reads: “The monument was erected in August 1969 in honor of the exploits of the soldiers-pilots of the local garrison during the civil, Great Patriotic Wars and in memory of the location of the squadron named after V.I. Lenin.

Today, the Center is the main base for researching the combat capabilities of aircraft, the Su-30SM and Su-35, with the subsequent introduction into Air Force practice of the developments obtained during flight experiments. The aerobatic teams that are in its composition, and are the hallmark of the Russian Air Force. For many years they have been successfully demonstrating to the world the power of Russian aviation, the maneuverability of domestic fighters and the skill of pilots.

At present, the main efforts of the personnel of the Center are aimed at increasing the intensity of combat training, increasing the flight time, further researching the combat capabilities of the aircraft in service, and retraining the flight and engineering staff of combat units.

In 2013, the Su-30SM super-maneuverable multi-purpose aircraft were put into service, and in 2014, studies began on the combat capabilities of the Su-35S. The educational and material base is constantly being improved. Now students and teachers of the Central Officer Courses have at their disposal computer classes, workstations, complex and procedural simulators, for example, an interactive training system for the MiG-29CMT aircraft, which includes a computer class and a procedural simulator.

Since September 2016, the head of the Center has been the Honored Military Pilot of Russia, Candidate technical sciences Major General Sushkov Yuri Alexandrovich.

The history and modernity of the Center are formulated in the motto: "To teach aircraft to fight, to teach pilots to win!"

Getting information...

Air Force Day is celebrated in Russia on August 12. On the eve of the professional holiday, the leader of the Falcons of Russia air group of the Lipetsk Aviation Center, sniper pilot and researcher Colonel Alexander Gostev spoke in an interview with RIA Novosti correspondent Ekaterina Zgirovskaya about the secrets of the skill of the most "combat" Russian aerobatics group, the Sokolov friendship with the French regiment " Normandy-Niemen”, as well as the requirements for Air Force pilots and the prospects for creating a female aerobatic team in Russia.

- Alexander, how did the group appear and why was it given such a name - "Falcons of Russia"?

- The Lipetsk Aviation Center for a long time did not want to admit that it had an aerobatic aviation group, because the Center was studying the issue of combat use. We started aerobatics because a certain part of the pilots reached perfection and reached a level where they could already do what you see now. We started doing this a long time ago, just at first there was no name, it was just a link of the flight crew. And when one of the tasks of the Lipetsk Aviation Center was to demonstrate the capabilities of aircraft, it was decided, although it was rather late, in 2006, that it was necessary to acquire a name. How was it born? The falcon is a swift bird of prey, to match the tasks that Lipetsk pilots solve.

- What kind of aircraft are currently used by the group and how many of them? How many pilots of the Lipetsk Aviation Center are included in the aerobatics team?

- The equipment that should enter service with the Russian Air Force first comes to the Lipetsk Aviation Center, we fly around it, work out piloting techniques, navigation, and combat use. The group exists on the basis of the 1st aviation squadron, which flies on aircraft of the Su-27 type (a fourth-generation multipurpose highly maneuverable all-weather fighter - ed.). And the Su-27 has many modifications - the Su-27S, Su-27P, Su-27M, then we got the Su-30 aircraft in the first form, and then the modernized Su-27SM, and the Su-30SM and Su- 35, which came just recently.

The group includes our six on the Su-27, two pilots on the MiG-29, the Su-25 group. In the Su-25 group, Colonel Alexander Kotov, who performs solo aerobatics. In addition, the Su-25 is now widely used to display smoke in the form of the Russian flag.

- How many pilots are now mastering the Su-30SM aircraft?

- About 12 pilots fly on it at our Center now. We are exploring the issues of super-maneuverability and group flying, and also started complex aerobatics. All pilots fly from the aerobatic team - Kharchevsky (General Alexander Kharchevsky - head of the Center and commander of the air group - ed.), I, Major Dmitry Zaev, lieutenant colonels Yuri Spryadyshev and Alexander Sorokin and others. Unfortunately, we have only four Su-30SM aircraft, they arrived quite recently, we are only taking the first steps on them, we are studying them. In addition, they are constantly undergoing some kind of improvements and modernization, so we have not yet been able to put all four aircraft in the group and fly them “diamond-shaped”.

- In what combinations do the Falcons of Russia predominantly perform aerobatics on demonstration flights?

- We fly in six, but extremely rarely, although all the shows where we were recently - Nizhny Tagil, Armavir, Krasnodar - everywhere started with a six, then the commander (Alexander Kharchevsky - ed.) showed a single aerobatics, and the main program was performed by a four .

- And how are things going with the introduction of the Su-35 (a jet super-maneuverable multipurpose fighter of the 4 ++ generation)? Will these fighters take part in the demonstrations of the Falcons of Russia aerobatic team?

- The aircraft is absolutely not designed for this, however, like the Su-30SM. First of all, these are combat aircraft, and the pilots of the Lipetsk Aviation Center are distinguished from the Center for the Display of Aviation Equipment in Kubinka (the base of the Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatic teams - ed.) is that the pilots there are engaged exclusively in piloting, demonstrating the capabilities of the aircraft and flying according to the combat training plan, and the tasks of our center have been expanded. This includes writing methods, and for this, flying, instructor activities, and only then demonstrating the capabilities of aircraft.

- Yes, it is - we take part in all the exercises that are held. During the flight shift, we will perform a training flight as part of a four or six, and the second or third flight is already flying to the training ground or to air battles, preparing the youth. We have regular business trips to train pilots from other air bases.

- The Air Force pilots are subject to very serious requirements - from the physical to the psychological. What do you need to get into flight service at the Lipetsk Aviation Center and become part of the Russian Falcons group? How is the selection going?

- When I got to the Lipetsk Aviation Center, it was in 1990, there were very specific requirements - a pilot, senior pilot or flight commander, here all pilots were in the position of flight commander. The flight personnel in the squadrons had a limited number of people, it was determined not lower than the second class. This was under the structure of the Air Force, which was then.

At the end of the 90s, they began to cut the flight due to a lack of kerosene, and the beginning of the breakthrough was already in the 2000s - at that time, young flight crews went to the Center. Since then, this bar, which was before, does not exist. Pilots can come to us from the school. At first, the guys were selected with a very good theoretical background - excellent students or medalists, this tradition continues: if there are vacancies, they can take a lieutenant. And then we get to work. There were examples that a lieutenant graduated from college with honors, flew a MiG-29, but did not pull it here. Maybe because there are more serious types of training here, there is a certain filtering of the flight crew, when he reaches a certain skill, we look at whether this pilot will pull flights in flight orders.

Before considering the professional qualities of a pilot, of course, we look at what this pilot is like as a person. If he has a bad character, he is an unreliable comrade, then I would not want to fly with him in a group where the interval and distance are three meters. A person who can make an independent decision in the air and not obey the will of the leader, who takes full responsibility on himself in flights, is not desirable in a group.

- Do you plan to expand the composition of the Falcons of Russia group in the near future?

“We do this all the time. Our group is quite old - the average age of the pilots of the group is 45-50 years old, so we are constantly engaged in the selection of candidates. Those who have already been selected improve. But since we are not the Display Center, we are not only doing this, there are a lot of other tasks. Now four of our pilots are sitting on exercises at another airfield, we are left without simple aircraft, the technical staff is literally torn.

- There are people who believe that aerobatic pilots are a waste of budget money.

- I assure you that if now a couple from the Falcons of Russia aerobatic team were selected as participants in the Aviadarts air training competition, no one would have a chance.

For three years, by decision of the ex-Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, the Krasnodar Flight School did not recruit cadets, and now it is recruiting, but the competition is less than two people per place. Our trouble is that we do not have any information program that would interest young people in military service, and even more so in aviation. Now the most prestigious professions are lawyers and bankers - earthly people.
Demonstration flights play a big role. We recently had a show in Orenburg, after the flights people were allowed to see the exposition, two young people came up, looked and said: “What a fool I was that I didn’t go to the flight school.”

This is not public money. And any demonstration is an extra workout. There are commercial displays by the organizers - all kinds of exhibitions of weapons. They pay the Department of Defense for our involvement.

- Does the Lipetsk Aviation Center have income from the participation of Sokolov in these commercial projects?

- Neither the Lipetsk Aviation Center, nor the pilots of the aerobatic team from these shows have a penny. We are the people of the sovereign, we carry out the orders of the Supreme Commander and the Minister of Defense. They have the right to send us anywhere. We all earn money in this case for the Ministry of Defense.

- What is the "trick" main feature group "Falcons of Russia", allowing you not to confuse you with "Russian Knights" and "Swifts"?

- If we take the aerobatics of the four, I do not see ascending figures with turns, loops with turns, loops with turns on the ascending and descending parts in the performance of the "Knights". The main difference is that we show elements of air combat. Our special feature is that Lipetsk pilots fly all types of aircraft.

- "Knights" and "Swifts" are much more hyped than you? What is it connected with?

- We are on friendly terms with them, in no case there are no problems. Their promotion is somewhat determined by the proximity of Moscow. The aviation equipment display center in Kubinka is a developed infrastructure and structure of the airfield, specially painted aircraft (we painted ours at the beginning of the 2000s, and even then a few), a demonstration base, a control tower building and an observation tower for guests, a hangar for demonstrating equipment. AT Soviet times When Kubinka began its existence, they held two or three shows a week for foreign representatives. All foreign delegations who came on visits to Russia visited Kubinka as an obligatory item on the program. International screenings followed.

They regularly have an aerobatics team, we don't have that. In the structure of the Center in Kubinka there was a special department that dealt with public relations and propaganda.

And we, as the structure of a conventional warhead, had none of this.

- By what principle are the events at which you perform divided among the aerobatic pilots: where do the Knights fly, where do the Swifts, where do the Falcons go?

- For this purpose, there is a special person in the aviation department who deals with these shows. Events are planned for showings domestically and abroad. Foreign states, as a rule, send their applications, and there they decide in the aviation department of the Air Force General Staff where which group will go. But, as a rule, "Knights" go abroad, a few "Swifts" due to the fact that it is problematic to fly the MiG-29 somewhere. And flights along the Tambov province are all given to us.

— Do you fly abroad? Are there any difficulties because of your "combat" image? "Knights", for example, are now afraid to let them go to an air show in Switzerland due to the fact that the description says that they are capable of combat use.

— No, absolutely. We make friendly visits, we distilled equipment to China. In France, we have been developing friendly relations with the Normandie-Niemen regiment since 1993-1994, they have flown to us repeatedly, invited us to the opening of the monument to the Normandie-Niemen regiment in Le Bourget. We had a visit to Norway. This is all according to the plan of military-technical cooperation.

In the near future, by the way, international exercises "Indra-2014" India-Russia will be held. The first stage in late August - early September will be held at the base of Lipetsk, and the second stage - in November, at the base of India. We will fly there, but not on our own planes, but there we fly on the planes of the host country. We will fly in joint crews. Here they will fly on our Su-30SM aircraft - a Russian pilot will sit in front, an Indian in the back. But in November it's the other way around.

- Have you received an offer to teach aerobatics to pilots of the new aerobatic team "Wings of Taurida" on combat training Yak-130s? They are taught by Swifts, although you are geographically much closer.

- There was a proposal, this issue was discussed for a very long time. Literally the next day after the decree of the Commander-in-Chief on the creation of an aerobatic team on the basis of Borisoglebsk on Yak-130 aircraft, the deputy head of the VUNTS (Air Force Academy - ed.) called us and asked us to provide Borisoglebsk pilots with assistance in carrying out legal and practical measures to create an aerobatic groups. And think about how to teach them to fly.

The question was considered that several of our pilots were to retrain on the Yak-130 and then teach them. But the arguments came into force that Kubinka was going to be transferred to the Yak-130. It has been discussed for several years now. Therefore, it was more expedient for those pilots who are planned to be transferred to these aircraft in the future, and put for training Borisoglebtsy. But now, since the aerobatic team on the Yak-130 will be created in Borisoglebsk, it is unlikely that the Cubans will be transplanted.

- By the way, about training and combat training - every week there are reports from Ukraine that the militia shot down another Su-25 of the Ukrainian Air Force. Is it poor pilot training or very well-aimed militias?

- The fact is that accuracy is not particularly needed there, everything is done by a rocket. The crew has almost no chance. Let's remember Afghanistan - the struggle for the "Stinger" (MANPADS "Stinger" - ed.), Our government then wanted to get them, because an insane number of planes and helicopters were shot down by these MANPADS. Here the tactics came into force, the pilots, having comprehended it, raised the heights, the Stinger can reach a height of 3-4 kilometers, they began to fly higher and throw bombs without descending, and ceased to fall into the zone of action of these MANPADS. And in Ukraine, this is clearly the unprofessionalism of their pilots.

- Do you think there is a chance in Russia to create a women's aerobatic team? Would you take on such a task?

— No, not at all. I have a somewhat negative attitude towards female pilots. Unless Svetlana Kapanina is unique, she is the only one on the whole planet - a six-time world champion.

There was a moment when, at the suggestion of the commander and the Minister of Defense, we had a training course for girls. But no matter how much we looked, we understood that it is better for a woman to engage in some kind of female profession.

To create an aerobatic team, a pilot needs to fly for at least 6-7 years.

— At what events before the end of this year will we be able to see the Falcons of Russia?

- On Air Force Day, the commander-in-chief comes to us in Lipetsk, we perform demonstration flights, and on August 13 we start in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. We fly there on military transport planes, and there we will fly on planes of the Domninsky regiment (Transbaikalia). There will be an anniversary of the aircraft factory, on August 16-17 we take part in flights on the occasion of these celebrations.

How will you celebrate Air Force Day?

- We will celebrate it at home, on our Lipetsk land, with flights in honor of Air Force Day, then we will get together, remember all our guys.