Test pilots are people of a courageous profession. A disaster of trust Why I want to become a test pilot

The day before world day aviation and astronautics we met with Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Reserve Colonel Mikhail Pozdnyakov.

On December 1, 1980, while testing the Tu-22M3 missile carrier, the plane went into a tailspin, and crew commander Mikhail Pozdnyakov decided to eject from a height of 800 meters. “There was no fear, it was annoying,” recalls Mikhail Ivanovich. “It’s a shame that such a good car is in a landfill.” Okay, let's put aside our fears. Is there romance? Are pilots closest to the stars? “Yes, what romance. The first time you fly, it’s euphoric, there are clouds below you, the sun above... And then, then what a romance - you have to work.”

In the footsteps of Gagarin

- How did you become a test pilot?

Until the eighth grade, I dreamed, like my father, of becoming a tractor driver. He knew how to operate a combine harvester and a tractor. But when I was in eighth grade, Yuri Gagarin flew into space. And then I decided that I would become a pilot and enter the school where Gagarin studied. And he achieved his goal. Graduated from the Orenburg VVAUL named after. I.S. Half a bin. I served in Kustanay for five years, when one day a test pilot flew to us. So foppish: leather pants, chevret (leather) jacket. We ask, how can you become a test pilot? He says the training center has been operating for a year, write reports. My friend and I were called to Akhtubinsk, to the training center. They looked at our documents and said: “You are not suitable for us.” They barely persuaded us to be tested.

- How do you become test pilots now?

Previously, the state taught. The Ministry of Aviation Industry selected the best of the best from all regiments. Now each aircraft designer recruits his own pilots. That is, he needs to take a pilot from a combat unit, wait for him to quit, then pay a lot of money for his training. After training, he will receive a third or fourth class test pilot degree. Then he must reach first class - only then does he have the right to conduct state flight tests. It is clear that all this time he needs to pay money, but there is no profit from him. So there are not enough test pilots now.

Yes, we generally don’t have enough professionals. Who now, like you in the eighth grade, wants to be a test pilot?

That's right, everyone wants to be businessmen, like we once were astronauts. While I was still serving in Kustanai, orders came to train as an astronaut. We ran! But I didn't come over. However, the work of a test pilot is more interesting than flying Belka and Strelka. One of our graduates became an astronaut Alexander Viktorenko. He flew into space four or five times, told how they grow plants, conduct experiments, and play sports so that their muscles do not atrophy. Boring. This is necessary, of course, humanity will have to explore space. What will happen in 200 - 300 years? The depths are thinning, nature is changing, cataclysms that never happened before. Scientists say that one day humanity will have to “move.” And our scientists need to hurry up so that we can have a hand in this.

“A plane is not your woman”

- They say that pilots treat airplanes like living beings.

I always laughed at those who said that a new plane is like a new woman. This is a piece of iron that was created by hands and thoughts smart people. Very “smart”, but still a piece of hardware. And the pilot needs to be even smarter than she is. Teaching a person to fly is easy...

- Even me?

Certainly. You can teach a person to fly in a month. But to know everything and act clearly in moments of crisis or when equipment fails - this is much more difficult. This is why we have emergencies.

Is it really true that pilots are to blame for most accidents? I thought they were just appointing switchmen...

Pilots are poorly trained. Remember how many accidents there were when the engine failed and the pilot could not land the car. Why? After all, it's not that difficult. But because the pilot needs to be prepared for this, to know how to act in an emergency situation. Remember, in Irkutsk, a plane drove into a hangar and caught fire, the pilot only had to turn off the reverse, and he sat as if in a coma. I didn't know what to do. Or in Yaroslavl, when the hockey players died. Before the flight, the pilot must calculate the length of the takeoff run. Let’s say 1200 meters, a runway of 2500 meters, if you haven’t reached the required speed, turn on reverse, we’ll sort it out on the ground. And the stupid crew took off and killed themselves and the people. Previously, the civilian fleet had a strict system for training and monitoring pilots. There was a mandatory test on simulators, even experienced commanders were sent to the training center, where they were informed of various cases of accidents and incidents (the so-called prerequisites), told what, how and what the reasons were. Now nothing really is being done.

You can't beat our engineers

No more than a dozen new aircraft enter service with the army per year, and there are no new civilian ones in sight either. It feels like there is nothing but junk flying in the sky.

Our planes are good. They won’t just start falling on their heads. It’s bad that there are few aviation specialists: technicians and engineers. There is no proper control over the condition of the machines. In addition, some organizations produce counterfeit products. Let’s say an engine is being repaired, and “left” turbine compressors have been installed. They are exactly the same, but with less strength. Or they installed a counterfeit valve that didn’t work when it should. All this can lead to an accident. The price of death is the banal greed of producers.

Throughout the 20th century, we observed the rapid development of design and scientific thought. But in the last 20 years we haven’t heard anything about breakthroughs.

Well why not? Our designers have always created beautiful aircraft. And it’s already impossible to come up with something new, but 15 years ago, for example, they came up with a controlled thrust vector, nozzles that can rotate, which provides greater maneuverability in the air. They are already installed on fifth-generation fighters, which are also being tested here in Akhtubinsk.

In one old interview you said that the time of fools in the army will someday end. What is the root of this stupidity that has no end?

There has always been more order and good human relationships in aviation. What did the actions of our army leadership lead to? They came up with some nonsense - to pay bonuses to the most worthy. At the same time, who is worthy of the award is decided by the commander. Suppose they gave this pilot 100,000, but not a ruble to me. Now let’s assume that the dishonest commander simply agreed that the pilot would give half of the bonus to him. But suppose the third pilot is offended - he was given money, so let him work hard. That is, antagonism begins in the team, which should not happen in a fighting team. It has always been our custom to throw all bonuses, no matter to whom and for what, into a pile and divide them according to class. No hard feelings. It was then and it is now. But I still believe that the time of fools will definitely pass.

DOSSIER

Pozdnyakov Mikhail Ivanovich. In 1969 he graduated from the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. In 1969-1974, he was an instructor pilot at the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation School of Navigators.

In 1975 he graduated from the Test Pilot Training Center in Akhtubinsk. In 1979 - MAI.

Has a total flight time of more than 6,000 hours, including a test flight of about 3,000 hours.

In 1997, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation with the Golden Star medal.

In 2001 he moved to Volgograd. Chief engineer of GKU "Complex".

There are many different professions in the world, but I like the profession of a pilot the most.

A pilot is a person who knows how to fly an airplane, helicopter or other aircraft. Many had to control a virtual plane and attack the enemy while sitting in front of a computer. But this is a game, and in reality the profession of a pilot is one of the most technically complex.

The pilot, naturally, should not be afraid of heights and be able to take responsibility in a critical situation, accept correct solution; therefore, he must be highly qualified

A specialist and have excellent professional training.

It is especially important to be proactive and remember that those who lack self-confidence have nothing to do in the sky. You also need great willpower, endurance, good health, not only physical, but also moral. This is especially important for test pilots, since a normal everyday workday consists of stressful emergency situations.

Three axes of rotation of the aircraft have already been invented. The pilot can only take this method as a basis and learn to fly the aircraft. A pilot needs to soar like a bird, maintain balance, and make turns not only

For your own satisfaction. The importance of the profession lies in the fact that every time the pilot takes the helm, he must be responsible for the lives of passengers and crew members.

The professionalism of a pilot is also important when piloting an aircraft in aerial combat, where the skill of flight control determines how many enemy aircraft will be destroyed.

The difficulty of this profession also lies in the fact that, for example, the test pilot must be the first to check the serviceability and reliability of the aircraft during the flight, because the lives of passengers and crew members also depend on this.

Everyone whose profession is connected with heaven must remember that heaven does not forgive mistakes.

(6 ratings, average: 3.67 out of 5)

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It's no secret that one of the promising areas for the development of future combat aviation is the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles. They have already led to significant changes in modern combat tactics, and their importance will only increase in the future.

But before an unmanned aircraft can fly like a modern manned fighter jet, it must be tested. “And, most likely, a test pilot will test it first, after which they will make it unmanned,” says the head of the flight service, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Belyaev. It is the test pilot who plays the main role.

Mikhail Belyaev

Test pilot 1st class. In flight test work at the MiG Corporation since 1996. He was the first to take to the skies and test the MiG-29KUB (together with P.N. Vlasov) and MiG-35 (together with S.V. Gorbunov) fighters. Participated in testing of MiG-AT, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29OVT, MiG-29M2, MiG-29SMT, MiG-31 aircraft and their modifications, as well as the passenger Il-103. He has repeatedly demonstrated domestic aircraft at Russian and international air shows. Awarded the Order of Courage. In the spring of 2017, for the courage and heroism shown during the testing of new aircraft, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Continuation

The TASS interview took place on the eve of the 105th anniversary of the formation of the Russian Aerospace Forces on the territory of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky near Moscow.

How a dream came true

Belyaev was born in 1967 in Saratov, in the family of a military man. And, like every boy at that time, he had a dream - to become a pilot. For the first time, five-year-old Mikhail was brought to the airfield by his father. He saw the MiG-21 aircraft for the first time, smelled the burning kerosene when the jet engine was running and the plane was taxiing - and all this left indelible impressions for the rest of his life. After this, Belyaev firmly decided that he would become a real pilot.

Then there was school, studying at the Chernigov Higher Aviation School of Pilots (1984–1988), service in the USSR Air Force, receiving the fighter pilot class and a new dream - to become a test pilot. “I had this dream since college... Somehow there I began to understand the whole essence of this profession. Then, when I delved deeper, I realized that the pinnacle of flight skill is test work. And at the pinnacle there is always a test pilot. it’s a dream to become one,” recalls Belyaev.

He made his first flight in his first year at school, when he was 17 years old.

I could fly airplanes, but I couldn't drive a car yet (laughs). It was on an L-39, a jet trainer. First flight with an instructor. Well, then the task was to learn to fly in order to fly out on our own

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

He says that the most important stage in the life of every pilot is the first independent flight. “And you get into the cockpit, you realize that you are alone and there is no one behind you, and you can’t believe it until you take off... And this feeling that I’m flying and I’m alone is one of the most important firsts impressions, it’s very cool,” admits Belyaev.

Wariness, it is always present. The question is how to be able to deal with this and how to prepare yourself so that the feeling of fear does not arise, but remains at the level of alertness or caution. I don’t know fear as such, I don’t remember

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

At the Chernigov school they flew the L-39, MiG-21 and MiG-23 aircraft, at that time the main combat fighter of the Soviet Union. Moreover, if the first two aircraft belonged to the second generation of aircraft, then the MiG-23 was already considered the third. It introduced automation and new types of weapons.

After college, when Belyaev came to serve in the air regiment, they continued to fly these planes, but already at the end of the 80s, mass re-equipment began with light fighters of the fourth generation MiG-29. “Well, of course, in comparison with previous aircraft, it was a small revolution, and in my mind, in particular,” the pilot recalls.

Thrust-to-weight ratio, high maneuverability. When it was possible to carry out an air battle, say, with a pair of old MiG-23s against one MiG-29, while the “23rd” had full afterburner, extreme modes everywhere, and the MiG-29 easily maneuvers and evades pursuit, time after time coming into the tail of these planes. I didn’t understand this until I switched to the MiG-29 myself

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

In 1995, Belyaev graduated from the Test Pilot Training Center in Akhtubinsk, where he attended the so-called Soviet pilot training school. And there was no constant control on the part of the commander. “You are given freedom of action. Here is a parking lot of aircraft - choose any one, take the tests and then go, fly. And in principle, you can fly uncontrolled, without an instructor,” says the pilot.

And that's all for young man, who went through army school, was a little unclear at first. And then we realized that this is exactly what the learning process should be like at a test pilot school, when they trust you. And that’s how I began to learn the basics of flying, I was lucky, I got involved in it

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

In 1996, Major Belyaev was selected to RSK MiG. And here the pilot again had to make another revolutionary decision: to leave the army and become a civilian. “For every test pilot, the next dream is to go to work in industry, in well-known companies - MiG or Sukhoi. I was lucky, they offered me,” he admits.

The most important thing is to dream. Everything else will already come: health - first of all, then - flight experience and personal qualities. But those who do not want to be test pilots never enter this profession.

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

From dream to reality

It is no secret that flying has a very harmful effect on the human body. And most of this falls to the lot of test pilots. Belyaev says that there is a constant impact of many harmful and even aggressive factors: hypoxia, various accelerations (when maneuvering an aircraft), the effects of overloads arising from these accelerations, and more. Therefore, the pilot clarifies, we must take care of our health and try to somehow maintain and strengthen it.

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

Once a year, each test pilot undergoes a complete serious examination and once every six months - a so-called in-depth examination. To a simple question about what food can and cannot be consumed before flights, Belyaev thinks a little and answers ironically: “I am forced to classify myself as quite elderly people, so I try to exclude carbonated drinks and heavy foods from my diet, and replace it with a glass of dry red wine, and something natural - meat, vegetables, of course."

Like astronauts, test pilots have overloads, and sometimes they reach extreme levels. For example, when descending to Earth, the maximum overloads experienced by astronauts reach 4.67 g. Belyaev admits that during demonstration flights at air shows, which, for example, spectators could see at the last MAKS 2017, pilots maneuver with an overload of 9g.

I had a maximum of more than 10g. It was maneuvering with extreme overloads. Compared to astronauts, the effects of overload are different here. When flying into space and returning from there, these overloads are much longer, but less significant. And astronauts are positioned to minimize exposure. They are in a reclining state, in armchairs, i.e. this is long, but, let’s say, to some extent more comfortable, compared to the overloads that fighter pilots experience when maneuvering

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

Belyaev says that ordinary combat pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces are limited on the basis of the experience acquired by test pilots of RSK MiG. “We talk about the fact that you can fly anywhere along the borders, we show it and prove it. This is the border: here a person can be and an airplane can be, but it is no longer possible and there is no need for it,” he clarifies.

But with the delivery of this or that aircraft to the troops, the tester’s work does not end. The next task is to show and convey to combat pilots and their commanders the capabilities that the aircraft possesses. The pilots travel to their equipment bases, where demonstrations and training take place on site. Moreover, this applies to both the Aerospace Forces and the Navy.

It’s not enough to create a product and test it; you need to ensure that this product is used and all the possibilities are used to the fullest extent.

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

In official documents, says Belyaev, the term “personal assessment of pilots” is always present. “Even if, perhaps, some parameters that are recorded on the monitoring and recording equipment during the flight indicate that there are deviations from the given standards, but the pilot’s assessment is positive, then the pilot’s assessment wins,” he says .

Physically, the most difficult aerobatic maneuver, according to Belyaev, is long-term maneuvering at high G-forces in the region of 9g. This is a normal turn, a turn. “The plane is relative to some center, it rotates in radius... It’s like on a merry-go-round. You sit down, start spinning, and it pushes you in,” he says.

And if during the demonstration we insert rotations there, “barrels”, this is for a person - at first you were crushed with an overload of 9g. For example, my weight is 80 kg, with overload this means 820 kg is pressing on me. Then I make a rotation and continue the turn again. Those. the g-force change signs that affect the pilot are very large, and physically it is quite difficult

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

Speaking about performances at air shows, Belyaev admits that preparation for them takes from a month to two weeks. After this, the readiness of the crew to perform demonstration flights is confirmed. The pilot also names the most complex cabin in all respects - this is in Le Bourget. “The specificity is such that above the runway you can descend to a height of 100 meters, and just within 1 km this minimum altitude is 300 meters. There are populated areas there, you can’t fly below 300 meters,” says Belyaev. Therefore, maneuvering has to be structured in such a way as to either bypass a populated area or take place at a higher altitude.

I had the imprudence once, in 2007, to take my family to an exhibition in Dubai, after which it has been 10 years since we go to Dubai every year. My wife Oksana likes both the flights and the atmosphere of the exhibition. Although, in fact, he says that once again I don’t want to watch you fly. Of course he's worried

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

With the MiG-29OVT (an aircraft with deflectable thrust vectoring), Belyaev conquered many air shows around the world, demonstrating such aerobatic maneuvers that no one has yet been able to repeat. For example, the pilot admits, “a double somersault.”

The “Cobra” that we are demonstrating, let’s say, we reached angles of 150 degrees, i.e. It's practically "lying on your back." And at the same time we were in this area for quite a long time, after which we returned back

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

This speaks about the aerodynamics of the aircraft, its torque characteristics, that it can not only enter such a figure, but also return back. The MiG-29OVT tested aerodynamic solutions related to improving dynamic and maneuverability characteristics, as well as solutions for a new power plant. What they got as a result of the tests, says Belyaev, surprised the pilots.

Here we can reveal a little secret: it happened that science explained practice. Those. first there was practice, as a result of tests some maneuvers were performed, and then the science of aerodynamics and flight aerodynamics explained these maneuvers. Although it should be the other way around

Mikhail Belyaev

senior test pilot of the MiG Corporation, Hero of Russia

We also demonstrate the so-called standing on the tail, says the pilot. At the same time, the speed relative to the ground is around zero.

"TASS/Ruptly"

“This is when a plane with an angle of attack of 90 degrees, then turning into 180, hovers vertically and is in the air, hanging only due to the thrust of the engines. The plane simply stands vertically,” he clarifies. When asked whether foreign pilots can do this, Belyaev replies: “I haven’t seen it.”

This kind of aerobatic maneuvers are needed, Belyaev sums up, primarily to demonstrate the capabilities of the aircraft during an air show. And then, based on this, the development of various maneuvers begins - anti-missile, anti-aircraft.

In one of the Bashkir health resorts, I was lucky enough to talk with the honored test pilot, international master of sports in aerobatics, Hero of Russia, President of the Russian Aeromodelling Sports Federation, test pilot of Sukhoi Design Bureau JSC Yuri Mikhailovich Vashchuk.

During the parade, we all admire the pilots’ ability to pilot, perform various stunts, we look and see a car that soars up, goes through a loop, then a second, then spins in a “corkscrew” or changes direction in a “cobra.” But behind this comes hard work, a lot of training, monitoring and test flights. Test pilots are people who have learned to control their fears, make decisions in a split second and go to the end in any situation.

Childhood dream

- Yuri Mikhailovich, tell us how you decided to choose the path of a test pilot?

It was love at first sight. I remember that I often visited my great-grandfather in the summer in the village of Meret, Novosibirsk region, and there every day planes flew overhead. Most of all I liked the AN-2, the “maize plant,” because it flew very slowly and you could run after it for a long time all the way to the taiga. This episode decided everything; I was only 3-4 years old when I realized that I had found my dream. My father, although he was a simple driver, instilled in me a love of aviation from childhood, took me to the airport, and we made model airplanes. Later, when in the 9th grade I asked him: “Dad, do you want me to become a pilot? He replied: “No. Better become an engineer."

- Have you still decided to make your dream come true?

Of course, this is the most important thing. True, there have always been difficulties, but this is even more interesting, it strengthens you. For example, in the summer of 1980 in Barnaul, I decided to enter a flight school. He did not pass the medical examination; his tonsils were enlarged. I was upset, of course, but didn’t give up. He immediately removed his tonsils and went to enroll in Omsk, where he passed the selection process and was enrolled in the DOSAAF aviation training center. Later I graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute. So I realized my dream.

- Tell me, how are things going with aviation in the country now?

Now we have a shortage of up to 1.5 thousand military pilots in the army. Many pilots leave due to age, and replacement rates are poor. We have one flight school in Krasnodar. Just ten years ago they recruited 10 people, then 20, 40, 150 people. And already, when my son entered, they recruited 660 people. So the situation is improving.

- Is your son also in love with the sky?

Of course, this is a love from childhood, I put him on a plane when he was a baby. And at the age of 14, he flew an airplane for the first time. There is a video about this on the Internet - type “14-year-old pilot” in a search engine.

- And it wasn’t scary?

I'm really scared ( laughs). He later said that he was also worried. At fourteen, the feeling of fear is still small, this is only beneficial. In general, before the flight, he went through a serious training school, instructions, and knew how to behave in emergency situations. So inside I understood that the first flight would be great. And so it happened.

-Tell me, how did you decide to come to Bashkiria?

Now I came for health. In general, I fell in love with your region immediately. I remember the first time I was invited by Ural Nazibovich Sultanov, we have known each other for a long time, he was once my instructor. An aerospace school was opened in Ufa with the support of the Bashkir regional branch of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation. And Ural Nazibovich invited me to meet with children in the village of Kalinovka, we talked with the children, shared my experience. I was delighted, the children were all so smart, talented, capable, their eyes sparkled. I was very pleased. And according to the program, it was possible to go to one of the sanatoriums of the republic. This is how my family and I first found ourselves in the Yakty-Kul sanatorium. After eight days spent here with my family, having gained pleasant impressions, we returned back to Zhukovsky. And there, upon arrival, I noticed that I had lost ten to fifteen years. And I clearly remember this feeling.

Cool head, warm heart

- You are now in excellent physical shape, how do you manage this?

Just work on yourself, no secrets. I try to play a lot of sports, lead an active lifestyle, watch my diet, but without restrictions. Still, I try to eat healthy food. I believe that everything should be a joy; for me, sports and activity are part of life. I can't live without it. I am the oldest test pilot at Sukhoi, I have increased workloads, but I love my job, and it only benefits me, it gives me a charge of vigor and strength.

“And yet injuries are inevitable in such a dangerous profession.” You ejected twice, right?

Yes, I ejected a couple of times, both in 2002. But everything worked out and I wasn’t hurt. Pilots undergo a full check after ejection; the body is subjected to serious stress, the spine first of all. I remember once, even after the ejection, I was carrying a nurse on a stretcher; she came to check my health at the place where I was hanging on the parachute lines, between the trees. On the way back, she slipped and fell, broke her leg, and we carried her across the ice on a stretcher to the car.

- How to overcome the feeling of fear, learn to make decisions in a split second, and calculate everything accurately?

Every person has a feeling of fear. This is absolutely normal. There are simply two types of people, some are plunged into a stupor by fear and cannot do anything, while others, on the contrary, it mobilizes and sharpens all their skills. It is important to know the maximum, love your job and be dedicated to the profession. Constantly improving, it just seems like a romantic profession. Being a pilot means, first of all, knowledge of all aircraft systems, not only flight skills, it is important to understand the structure of the aircraft in order to predict actions in various situations. A high degree of concentration, quick reaction, intuitive understanding, coupled with strict calculation - this is the pilot’s skill, ideology, his life...

- So, after all, the first thing is planes?

Well, the girls, of course, later (with Yes). This is what happened in my life. I got married late, but I am very happy and grateful to my wife for her understanding and support.

- Did you come with your wife?

Yes, this is the second time we have come to vacation in your stunning region. This feather grass, mountains, huge lake. I've never seen anything like this anywhere. My wife is also impressed.

- Have you tried kumiss?

Yes, my colleagues treated me once in Ufa. I also tried it at the sanatorium and liked it. I tasted your honey, chuck-chuck. So you can say almost Bashkirs .

program "Behind the scenes" leads Nikolai Mamulashvili.

Representatives of a wide variety of professions, sometimes rare, sometimes extreme, but more often than not the most ordinary ones, are guests in our studio.

Testers, doctors, divers, firefighters, diplomats, pilots, racing drivers, climbers, journalists and rescuers... These professionals have something to tell about the underside of their work, about what we don’t know, about what usually remains behind the scenes.

They all have one thing in common: love for their work. These are people with character, they never back down. Each of them has gained real recognition and is in its place.

Guest in the studio - Honored Test Pilot Sergey Nikolaevich Zavalkin.

Today we will talk about the profession and the work of a test pilot. But, first of all, I would like to say a few words about the guest, so that all listeners can understand what kind of person he is.

In aviation Sergey Nikolaevich Zavalkin for almost 40 years now. Served in Air Force units. For many years, he has also been an expert at the IAC Aviation Register (Interstate Aviation Committee), engaged in certification and testing various types aircraft of Russian and foreign production. During this time, he participated in the testing and certification of more than 15 Russian and 12 foreign aircraft. He brought heavy aircraft out of various positions, including stalls on takeoff. In particular, in 1997 in Montreal, during tests of the Canadian Challenger 603 Regional Jet, and also brought the domestic Il-114-100 out of a tailspin. This happened during tests in Tashkent in 1999. He flew 12,000 hours, of which more than 5 thousand were tested. He has mastered more than 50 types of aircraft on which he has worked and continues to work as a leading test pilot.

Every boy probably dreams of becoming a pilot. Well, even more so as a test pilot. The work is interesting, difficult, dangerous. My first and traditional question: what predetermined your choice? How and why did you become a test pilot?

S. Zavalkin: It was probably some kind of family tradition after all. Well, not exactly a family tradition, but the incompleteness of something. Many of my relatives, including my father, aspired to become pilots, but due to various circumstances they did not succeed. For example, my two uncles. His father's younger brother Anatoly flew Tu-16 aircraft, but in 1961, when there was a reduction in the Air Force, he was fired and ended his life as an engineer. My father's older brother Sergei flew as a gunner-radio operator. In the 30s, my father entered a flight school, but since they lived in the Penza region, in the outback, the parents’ perception of their son’s future flying fate was very difficult. His relatives all attacked him, and in the end he was forced to withdraw his documents and go to study to become a teacher. He completed teacher training courses and was a physics and mathematics teacher.

How and by what principle is test pilots selected? How do you get into this elite of elites? How are test pilots trained?

S. Zavalkin: In order to become a test pilot, first of all, you need to become a pilot. You must be either a civilian pilot, or a military pilot, or a DOSAAF pilot, and your qualifications must meet certain, fairly high requirements. Today in Russia there are two schools of test pilots. This Test Pilot School at the Flight Research Institute of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the second is a military school of test pilots at the State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Akhtubinsk. And both of these schools adhere to approximately the same requirements for their candidates and make selections. True, the civilian school trains test pilots for factories of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the military school trains test pilots for the same factories, for military representations at these factories, and directly for the State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defense. That is, there is a large unit of test pilots who are involved in testing military aircraft.

We were trained according to a year-long program. Now test pilots are trained for two years. This is in Akhtubinsk. And for a year and three months at the Flight Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

How does selection happen? First of all, you need a very great desire to become a test pilot. Therefore, in any case (both civilian and military), a person must declare that he wants to become a test pilot. At the same time, he must have a professional pilot diploma. That is, he must graduate from a full-fledged flight school. As a rule, he must have a higher education. Now both civilian and military flight schools provide such education. With some exceptions: there are two schools in the country that do not provide a diploma of higher education, these are Buguruslanskoe And Sasovo Civil Aviation Flight School, and all military flight schools immediately provide higher education.

And after this there is a meeting with representatives of the flight test profession, who evaluate the capabilities of a particular person based on the documentation and make some inquiries. The fact is that the aviation world, like any other highly professional world, is quite narrow, and people in this world know a lot about each other. And if they don’t know what to find out, gathering information is very easy. In addition, a theoretical interview takes place. That is, the level of knowledge that a person has acquired when approaching the status of a candidate for this profession is checked. And if a person meets all these conditions, then he is invited to take the exams.

I heard that you personally became a test pilot almost on the third try? I understand that selection for this profession and Soviet years, and now was and remains very tough?

S. Zavalkin: For example, I had to go to an interview three times. The first time I came was when I served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG), in the 931st reconnaissance regiment. Actually, I passed the entire interview. And the interview was quite tough and difficult, four people talked to me (an engineer, a test pilot, the head of the flight methods department, and at the end Tsuvarev Valentin Ivanovich, head of the Test Pilot Training Center). I seemed to talk to everyone, there were no problems, I graduated from college with a gold medal, I commanded a flight in the regiment, the flight was excellent, the guys flew very well. And I simply had no doubt that I passed this interview.

But it was not there.

S. Zavalkin: Yes. And at the end of our conversation, Valentin Ivanovich asks: “Comrade captain, do you smoke?” Firstly, in those days everyone smoked. Moreover, in Germany we were given cigarette rations. I answer: “Of course, Comrade Colonel, I smoke.” He says: "Okay." He takes a red pen and puts a red line diagonally on the candidate’s card: “Okay, we’ve talked about everything, they’ll let you know.” I leave for the unit, and there is silence.

In the process of communicating in Akhtubinsk, I already made friends among the test pilots and in the flight method department of the Test Pilot Training Center. I called one of the representatives of the flight methods department. And he says: “You were at the interview?” “Yes,” I say, “it was.” “And what did Tsuvarev tell you?” - he continued. “Yes, I didn’t say anything,” I answer. “Didn’t he ask you about smoking?” - “Yes, I asked.” - “And what did you answer him?” - “I smoke.” - “Oh, you have to start all over again.” Tsuvarev simply had his own specifics, he instilled a culture of drinking, say, alcoholic beverages, and was a categorical opponent of smoking. Well, in general, this was actually very correct.

The following year, I actually quit smoking before entering test pilot school. I arrive, talk to everyone again, again we meet with Tsuvarev, and he tells me: “You know, comrade captain. Everything seems to be fine with you. Everything is fine, everything is wonderful. But there is a small nuance. Here you are serving in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, and in order for us to recall a person from the GSVG, this a big problem, I need to contact the Minister of Defense, etc." I ask: "What, I can’t do it from there, or what? We are transferring from there to the Union. What problems could there be?” He says: “Let’s change to the Union, and then we’ll talk.” Again I leave for the unit, again silence.

I'm coming for the third time. At that moment, Tsuvarev was on vacation; Sattarov Nail Sharipovich, and we were already familiar with Sattarov. Firstly, he interviewed me, and then he was a great friend of my friend from Akhtubinsk, in the future he became my instructor at the testing school, Boris Ivanovich Sivkov. And we met with Sattarov, had a conversation and that’s it. That was the end of it. In the evening, and I was staying just at Boris Ivanovich Sivkov’s, the bell rang. I went to open the door, Sattarov was standing on the threshold and said: “Sergey, that’s it, the request has been sent.”

Then we came for the exams. Exams were, at least in modern times, very difficult. Firstly, there were about a thousand candidates who came for interviews. About 300 people were selected for the exams. And the group that entered the testing school consisted of 22 people. There was a large group that time. Usually there were 15-17 people. Passed the exams.

The exams were completely difficult. Why are they difficult? Because, and we understood this already from the interview, the questions were extraordinary. Answering them required not just some knowledge and formulas, they required a very creative approach. Because the testing profession requires that a person, when he boards an airplane, not just move levers, but understand what is physically happening with the environment and the aircraft he is testing. Accordingly, the most important subject was aerodynamics and technology.

And of course there was flight test. And then at the Akhtubinsk test pilot school, again it was know-how Tsuvarev Valentin Ivanovich, the flight test was taken on two types of aircraft. One is on his own, mastered type. And the second - on any other type. In this case, the Tu-134 aircraft was used, where you had to set a certain mode within a certain time. They asked you: this is your speed, this is your altitude, set the mode. And time was noted.

Again, everything happened not easy for me. Why? Because I flew on Yak-28 planes, and the Yak-28 plane is a plane with one pilot, and in order to test it, you need a pair. The management called me and said that they didn’t have twin Yak-28s, so I would take the exam on the Yak-40. I tell them: “How can this be? I fly a supersonic aircraft with a swept wing, with booster control, and you are now offering me a transport aircraft with a straight wing and a steering wheel.”

They answer that this is a Yakovlev plane, so go to the parking lot and study the plane. You have three days to do everything. Then you will pass the tests and go to take the exam.

That is, you were offered an aircraft that was almost completely unfamiliar to you?

S. Zavalkin: Yes. But this happened not only to me. This happened with all those people who came from this particular type of plane, because it’s really sparkling Yak-28 did not have. The rest of the people who were with MiG-21 And MiG-25, it was easier. They took the exam on their type. And so I passed the main exam on my “native” type Yak-40. The second exam was Tu-134. Then there was a competitive selection, a credentials committee, and as a result, 22 people were accepted into the school of test pilots. Last year we celebrated the 30th anniversary of graduation from this school and gathered in Akhtubinsk. It must be said that seven of this number are still flying.

Led the program Nikolai Mamulashvili. Release director Julia Duntse.