Visual Shards Blog. Profession - flying Civil aviation pilot's blog livejournal

How to become a pilot?

  • How easy is it to get a job as an airline pilot after training?
  • It all depends on the current demand in the pilot market, including in your hometown. Schools do not send to work, but airlines can invite graduates - this has been the practice for recent years. My advice is not to focus on your hometown if you have the opportunity to find a job somewhere. At least in Kamchatka. It is very important to gain experience and flying time.
  • Is it true that of the people who dream of becoming pilots, very few achieve their dreams?
  • Let's look from the other side. Is it true that most pilots become pilots from those who never dreamed of it? I think that in the second option, the number of those who got into aviation without a dream is negligible. Of course, not everyone who dreamed of being a pilot as a child realized this dream. Very often there is simply a lack of determination.
  • Where can I learn quickly and efficiently? And is it worth working as a flight attendant first?
  • For example, at Oxford Aviation Academy. Working as a flight attendant will not give you any advantages other than experience working with people and some understanding of the aircraft and flight safety.
  • How can a flight attendant become an aircraft commander?
  • Train as a pilot, pass the co-pilot level and prove worthy of becoming a captain.
  • What are the health restrictions for training to be a commercial pilot on Boeing, Airbus aircraft and for working at S7 Airlines?
  • These restrictions are prescribed in the FAP MO GA-2002. This is a fairly lengthy document and can be found on the Internet. IN civil aviation use it.
  • Is there a chance to get into S7 Airlines with a CPL license and 150 hours + ME?
  • Currently, the airline has adopted a policy of hiring graduates of pilots. educational institutions Russian Federation. If you are one, then you can apply for training. If a vacancy opens, fill out the application and send it to us.
  • I dream of connecting my life with aviation, but there are small obstacles: I have myopia, -1.5/-1.75. Do I have any chance of passing VLEK?
  • All requirements for medical indicators, the procedure for medical examinations are specified in the Federal Aviation Rules for Medical Support, Order No. 50 (FAP MOGA 50). The requirements have been updated and become more lenient in relation to candidates for training as a pilot. Since I don’t remember it by heart (I don’t need it), I recommend that you don’t be lazy and find this document on the Internet - in it you will find answers to all questions regarding the examination of doctors.
  • What is the best way to become a pilot: to a branch after 9th grade or to an institute after 11th grade? What is the difference?
  • The institutes do not train to become pilots. There are schools - higher or secondary, there is a university in St. Petersburg. There are training centers that will train you to become a pilot at your expense (but traditionally Russian airlines give preference to graduates of government agencies). I don’t know how it is now, but when I was studying, even to enter a secondary flight school, a completed school education- didn’t enroll after 9th grade.

About airplanes

  • Why is FMC needed? Why enter a route there and fly along it, if all the same, all instructions during the flight along the entire route are given by the controllers of the zones in which the flight takes place, that is, they already “guide” the board to the destination?
  • Planes fly along the highways. Accordingly, the data of these routes is entered into the FMC, and the aircraft flies along them. In addition to the navigation function, FMC can do a lot of things: maintain a given altitude, climb and descent profiles, calculate takeoff and landing speeds, predict fuel consumption, calculate optimal altitude and flight speed, etc.
    The controller, of course, does not constantly issue instructions to each aircraft; his main task is to make sure that they are flying on the correct routes. Sometimes the dispatcher gives instructions to maintain a particular course (if required by the situation) or to fly to a certain point on the route, bypassing the previous ones.
  • They say that the fundamental difference between Soviet passenger aircraft(the best in the world) and Western - these are the actions of the variometer. Can I find out more about the device? Its functions during takeoff, flight at a given flight level and landing?
  • Sorry, but I smiled. The variometer shows the rate of change in altitude in meters per second or feet per minute. Eat different principles measurements of this speed, and they are used both on domestic aircraft and on foreign ones.

  • I always dreamed of getting into the cockpit. How can you make your dream come true, who to contact to be allowed into the cockpit during a flight?
  • During the flight, strangers are prohibited from being in the cockpit. However, after the flight there are no restrictions on this matter and, if you are lucky and the door to the cockpit is open when passengers disembark, you can try asking to look into the “holy of holies”. The chances of crew friendliness are especially high when flying on foreign airlines - Russian ones, unfortunately, are not so open yet. But we are working on it.
  • The RUS on the Airbus-321 is located on the side of the pilot and is an unimpressive handle. Is it more difficult to operate than a full-size helm?
  • I flew the A-320 only in a simulator. I like the concept itself, it's convenient. After all, on the A-320 the pilot does not control the control surfaces directly, but sets trajectories for the computer, that is, he does not need to constantly move the sidestick while maintaining roll or pitch. From this point of view, the sidestick is just right. Although Boeing thinks otherwise, leaving the controls on its ultra-modern B-777 and B-787, which have a control principle similar to the A-320.
  • Where are dogs transported on planes?
  • Dogs are transported to luggage compartment. I recommend that you carefully study the rules for transporting animals; information can be found on the airline’s website.

A lot of adrenaline appears in the blood, and you experience a kind of euphoria from a job well done

About work

  • How does the pilot feel when the plane takes off from the ground?
  • I won’t exaggerate; there really aren’t any special feelings at the moment you take off from the ground. But after landing - there is, especially after some difficult flight. A lot of adrenaline appears in the blood, and you experience a kind of euphoria from a job well done.
  • Are there any special features of different boards of the same type?
  • I'll say this. The Boeing 737s I have flown on have few individual features. But with the Tu-154 - yes, everyone wants to have their own individual character.
  • I wonder if there are female pilots in Russian civil aviation?
  • Not as many as we would like, but every year there are more and more of them. There are two girls working in our airline.

  • Tell us about pilot training at the S7 Airlines training center. Does retraining take place, who is trained and retrained, on what basis and at what cost?
  • The training center offers its services to any airline wishing to conduct one or another type of training for which it has a license. The options are different. Either the training is provided by the center's teachers and instructors, or the airline can rent classrooms and simulators. The final cost of a particular course depends on this. Actually, if we are talking about a training agreement (for example, retraining on a B-737) with some airline and a center, then the input requirements are determined not by the center, but by the airline.

My favorite airport is Barnaul. This is my hometown. I like to fly to Tivat, Split and Chambery - the airports there are in very beautiful places.

  • Are pilots cold in the cockpit during flight?
  • Sometimes it can even be very hot. Even if the cabin is cool. Not all flights are a cakewalk.
  • Why do they say before a flight “Attention personnel: doors are in position...” - what is it?
  • This is a mandatory procedure. The command is given by the senior flight attendant. After this, the conductors responsible for their emergency exits prepare the emergency release system of the ladders for possible use - if evacuation is necessary, it will be enough to open the door and the ladder will fall out, inflating to the required shape. These systems are under the control of the cabin crew, that is, the conductors. The work takes place directly on the doors; pilots cannot do it from the cockpit.
  • Can a passenger open the door independently during a flight? What will happen then?
  • During the flight, the passenger will not be able to open the door. This will be prevented by the pressure difference: the air presses the door from the inside and it is physically impossible to overcome this.

Of course, there is excitement - flying a plane is not like riding a bicycle through the forest.

About personal

  • How do you relax between flights?
  • Before and after an overnight flight, I try to get some sleep.
  • How does your wife feel about your work?
  • My wife is a godsend for a pilot. I was very lucky to have her.
  • What is your favorite departure and arrival airport?
  • My favorite is probably Barnaul - because it is my hometown. For this reason alone, I will always put him first. And I really like flying to Ulan-Ude - I’m a fan Buryat cuisine, Tivat, Split and Chambery - the last three airports are located in very beautiful places.
  • What plane would you like to fly on?
  • Of all the modern airliners, I especially look at the B-777.
  • When you fly as a passenger, do you experience the same feelings as the driver in the front passenger seat?
  • I hardly pay attention to the work of pilots, but I am very interested in watching the work of flight attendants. In general, I try to fall asleep to get there faster.
  • What's the most beautiful thing you've seen up there in the sky?
  • The most beautiful thing in the sky is cities at night under night thunderstorms.
  • How do you feel when taking off and landing? Are you worried?
  • The pleasure of flying. Of course, there is excitement - after all, flying a plane is not like riding a bicycle through the forest.
  • What exams did you take upon admission?
  • I didn't take any exams because I graduated from school with a gold medal.
  • Where can you meet pilots?
  • In an Aeroport.

We are waiting for new questions from you. Denis Ocan will answer the most interesting of them personally. New questions and answers will be published on this page.

Ask a question to the flight instructor.


Denis is a pilot instructor for one of the largest airlines in Russia. Which one is easy to understand by reading his blog. And if up to this point you might have been tormented by typical questions like “How do planes take off?”, “How do planes land?”, “How do you fly a plane manually?”, after reading Denis’s detailed posts, a lot will become clearer.

Yuri Yashin
Without a doubt, Yuri is the most smiling of all public pilots. Now he works at S7 Airlines as a second pilot. Airbus aircraft A-320. Thanks to Yuri’s passion for photography, we have the opportunity to see on the blog picturesque pictures from the cockpit, as well as photos of aircraft at destination airports. And thanks to his talent as a storyteller, we regularly learn about everyday life in flight.

Marina Lystseva
Marina says: “You don’t have to work for an airline to be as close to the planes as possible.” The fact is that Marina is an aviation photographer whose telephoto lenses can reach everywhere. Her passion for aviation began 15 years ago while working as editorial director at the magazine “Bulletin of Aviation and Cosmonautics”. And it still continues, now to the delight of blog readers. And yes, a small note: in the author’s interpretation, the nickname is correctly read “photographerRuff” ;)

Andrey Ivanov
Andrei admits that as a child, like all children, he dreamed of becoming a pilot or astronaut. His eyesight did not allow him to train as a civil aviation pilot, but it did not deprive him of his dream of flying. Today Andrey combines several hypostases associated with the sky. He is an aviation engineer, private pilot, director of the Il-14 restoration project and director of AOPA-Russia.

Here somehow Alexander started a “Funny Topic”: http://arabskiy-pilot.livejournal.com/18415.html
I don’t really like stories on the topic of “how we almost didn’t do it,” but since the Commander of Arabas said “it’s necessary,” then it means it’s necessary. Yalla... (Let's go in Arabic). I started writing a response to his post, but it turned out to be a bit long, and I need to feed my LiveJournal, so I’m posting here.
Next there will be “a lot of bukaf” and scary...

Second half of the 90s, summer. Aeroclub. Glider L-13 "Blahnik". Beautiful and interesting flights. By that time, I was already a 3rd year athlete, I already knew and knew something, and of course I couldn’t do without “feathers from the butt.”
That summer, gasoline became very bad, and in order to avoid unnecessary takeoffs of towing aircraft, the authorities decided to “raise” two athletes in one glider - first one flies, then the other. For the same reason of the lack of gasoline, the authorities closed our flights along the routes (to avoid unplanned landings on sites and flights of towing aircraft for gliders), as a result, we flew in the language of KULP-PASO-86 (flight training course for glider aviation sports organizations ) Ex. 36 "Hovering near the airfield." The duration of the exercise is 2 hours, and taking into account the fact that the exercise is paired, then for all 4 hours, and in fact the whole flight day, the glider is ours. That day I settled in the rear cabin, my friend (and colleague in study, work and everything else) Leshka in the front.
The weather that day was “bomb-like” - almost no wind, blue sky, a uniform heap with a lower edge two kilometers away. This is the case when, on a glider, without any engine, using rising air currents, we gained altitude without straining. And even on the contrary - we rather had an excess of it, because if we fly not along a route, but in one area slowly and calmly, then we were already bored...
The most “interesting” way for us to spend our altitude and at the same time warm up and have fun was aerobatics. True, by that time most of our gliders were almost older than ourselves, and therefore it was a bit daunting to strain the equipment with aerobatics, but “hunt is worse than bondage.” Of all the “difficult” figures, only the corkscrew was mandatory, which at the beginning of the season we necessarily repeated with the instructors, and then, of course, many times on our own. We persuaded the same instructors (easily, to be honest) and then we ourselves performed loops, corkscrew flips and even a bell - everything that spun in the “vertical” plane Blahnik performed well. But naturally, due to the glider wing span, lateral rotations were much worse for him, and we practically did not see the same “barrels” that are usual for airplane aerobatics.
And after twisting everything else, one of us remembers about the “barrel” - shouldn’t we twist it? - Let's!!! Before the barrel, we consult (if our youth knew...) how we should spin it. It seems that someone once saw her with an instructor, someone heard something from someone. We decide that to “spin” we will need a speed of 160 km/h and everything will work out.
- Go!
Leshka spins, he’s more used to it from the front cockpit. Pull the handle away - nose down, speed up. To yourself - the horizon. “Boom...” - the handle goes all the way to the side - we list. At first everything goes well... but as the roll increases, the nose of the glider begins to drop. Apparently Leshka is trying to hold it up by “giving” the opposite pedal or something else went wrong in our aerodynamics, but by the time we find ourselves in inverted flight, the rotation stops completely. The picture that stuck with me forever: we are in an inverted position, with the nose of the glider pointed strongly towards the ground, and our speed is rapidly increasing. And the green field and the forest next to it, which are below us, but at that moment it seems to us that they are above us, and are quickly falling into our cabins. Leshka in front shouted something very uncensored and obscene, for me it worked better than any critical mode alarm. It became clear that we would no longer be able to “tighten” the barrel, so we had to take a different route. To be honest, probably the most correct thing would have been to give the stick away from me, go out into the horizon in inverted flight, reduce speed, and then think about how to flip back, but at that moment I just pulled the stick towards me. The glider willingly continued to lower its nose and now it looked like it was coming out of a loop. The only thing is that our speed was already prohibitive - initially Blahnik’s RLE recorded a maximum speed of 262 km/h, then in the Union, in order to preserve materiel, it was limited to 180 km/h. We had already accelerated beyond 260... The air flow, which usually flows around the glider with a small and smooth noise, simply roared, and behind us something loudly crunched and crackled. Fortunately, I was smart enough not to push myself too hard, and fortunately the Czech comrades built the Blahnik firmly. Having noted a height of 600 meters at the lowest point, we jumped back up, gradually reducing speed. Taking into account the fact that we started twisting from 1500 meters, and Blahnik loses no more than 150 meters per turn of the corkscrew, the loss of altitude turned out to be simply enormous - 900 meters in ten seconds (well, we were smart enough to start “twisting” this thing with a reserve, because that officially the lower limit of aerobatics was considered to be 600 meters altitude...). Afterwards we both started swearing - it’s not that we scolded anyone, but our emotions got the better of us. But now we were flying very smoothly, listening to the slightest creaks of the glider structure behind us. Then, having calmed down a little and looked around, we reported the end of the task and the entrance to the circle. Someone teased us on the radio: “Are you fast, are you seasick? "But we somehow had no time for jokes. Because a little more and...
Well, of course, we then examined the glider for a long time, shaking and tugging at different parts.
And not immediately, but after a couple of weeks we told our Instructor about the incident. The most powerful moment of the debriefing is “what would I say to your mothers?” stuck in my soul for a long time...

The next time I obviously had to walk “on the edge” was a couple of years later. At that moment I was still flying in the flying club, but already as a co-pilot on the An-28. We used this airplane in a variety of guises - we dropped paratroopers from it, and flew around Ukraine for all sorts of flying club needs, and carried VIPs (everything was fair and legal - the airline was registered in the flying club and we flew under its call sign and civilian rules). It was also actively used in various demonstration flights, and the elements of aerobatics performed on it (barrel roll, spin flip) were very impressive.
And here is another “big show,” something like May 9, with the maximum amount of flying club equipment and an influx of spectators on the ground. Two An-28s in one of the main roles, while the flight program provides for flying as a pair with one engine turned off, and after they are launched, passing on a collision course with performing rolls after diverging, and then a joint flight with the Yak-52 group.
I'm in the cabin with the Chief - Head of the Club. He is a good Pilot, Champion of the Union in gliding, and of course he has flown a lot in aerobatics, including the An-28. But, as happens with Chiefs, administrative matters take too much time and even in the air, issues of “managing the entrusted household” are not always resolved. It let us down greatly this time.
The program was arranged quite tightly. So that the spectators would not get bored, the pauses between our approaches were filled by one of the aerobatic pilots on the Yak-55 and the Yak-52 group. We “passed” with the engines turned off, went “to the zone” behind the spectators to start them. While I'm doing the launch manipulations, the Chief is making turns and observing the situation. In the “arena” the Yak-55 worked out its complex and moved to the side, but occupied the wrong zone - too close to the display site. My Commander interferes with the connection:
- Move away, you're disturbing!!!
The 55th falls off, the group of 52nds finishes their work, now it’s our turn to enter oncoming courses and barrels after diverging. By this time, my engine is already running, I report to the Commander. He adjusts the engine settings, but I see that he is still looking more at the Yaki than at our own flight.
“The 102nd is ready,” the second An-28 responds.
-The 101st is ready, let's go!
The commander abruptly shifts the plane to the opposite bank and begins the approach. But apparently, because the 55th was standing close, the 52nd also shifted their place, we have to part ways with them, the Commander is again distracted by instructions. And we find ourselves closer to the stands than the second plane. The headlights were already turned on, the commanders exchanged confirmations “I’m watching,” but we are clearly jumping ahead, because the second An-28 is just finishing the turn. My Commander is doing something like a snake, but there is no escape - the engines are on takeoff, nose down - passage and acceleration to the barrel. We diverge a little away from the center, now we need to “twist”. The beginning of a roll on, in fact, a transport An-28 is very similar to a glider - acceleration of speed and “pitch up”, both of which take a certain amount of time. Since we are already away from the center of the display, the Commander is in a hurry. I note to myself that at the moment the rotation began, we still lacked a couple of tens of kilometers per hour in speed and the pitch, instead of the usual “over 40*,” turned out to be “a little over 30*.” The rotation starts as usual, but as the roll increases, the nose of the plane begins to dig in. In an inverted position, in which the plane usually finds itself in approximately horizontal flight, we are already passing with the nose strongly down. And during the second part of the rotation, it sinks lower and lower. By the roll of 90* we are already diving with a pitch beyond... To be honest, who the hell knows what the pitch was, we are falling wing down for the hell of it!!!
In the forest behind the airfield, a sanatorium began to be built back in Soviet times. We managed to drive out the multi-story box of the main building and a couple of lower buildings nearby, but then the money ran out and these gray ghosts stuck out unfinished from the pine forest for many years. So, at that moment our trajectory confidently stuck into one of these boxes.
In normal times, the responsibilities of the co-pilot during displays included various auxiliary actions at the command of the Commander (flaps, headlights, control of systems, etc.) and gently holding on to the controls “just in case” (co-pilots trained to “twist” the same the most important thing is that the Commanders are in the process of training, preparations, flights in the zone, higher from the ground). But today I had the opportunity to actively pilot:
- Conclusion!!! - the Chief barked at the SPU in a sharply hoarse voice. Now the two of us were unscrewing the steering wheels and pulling towards ourselves, actually resting against the full speed limiters. Time stretched out, although the world outside was blurred into a green ribbon by the speed and proximity of the earth. The plane reluctantly came out of the roll, reversed its trajectory, flew over the tops of the pine trees, fortunately past the upper floors of the sanatorium, and pulled into a climb.
A short after-thought: “Damn, just a little more!!!” The Commander's voice interrupted:
- That's it, let go!
Apparently I was still holding the helm tightly, preventing him from piloting.
We flew through the rest of the program sluggishly, not quite hitting the 120-meter piece of asphalt where we usually landed for show to demonstrate a short landing, but that day all this already seemed like such trifles.
They taxied in and turned off, usually the Chief quickly left the cockpit, hurrying to do the next thing, but that day he was delayed. He sat for a while, looking into space, pulling the wet gloves off his hands, then turned to me:
- Sorry, they could have killed themselves...
And a joke from RP at the debriefing, by the way, of the USSR Champion in aerobatics, Viktor Mikhailovich Solovyov:
- Mikhalych, next time you should be more careful, otherwise I’ve already closed my eyes...

And if you look back, there were a couple of situations of a slightly different kind, when not my life was in danger, but the lives of other people who depended on me. In my opinion, this is even scarier!
The first incident that still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up was when I was still a student, flying gliders, and at the same time working as a technician on the Vilga B-35 aircraft (a cheerful yellow plane for “lifting” gliders and all sorts of other small needs).

For the traditional “show off” on May 9, my Airplane “worked” to the fullest: it carried the flag during opening and closing, carried the glider in the process, and at the end it flew a dozen “ride-along” flights. In the evening there was a strong thunderstorm with wind and rain. On May 10, the entire flying club had a day off, but not me, because it turned out that my plane was “working” for filming.
I dragged myself to the wet and empty airfield, swearing and swearing...
It’s not early in the morning, but there’s absolutely no one at the Aero Club airfield except the watchman’s lady. Wet grass, which instantly gets your feet wet, given the fact that after the thunderstorm it got sharply cold, and I didn’t take this into account and was dressed only in a uniform, this is unpleasantly invigorating. The only good news of the day is that Anatoly Aleksandrovich Ruzhansky, very respected and adored by us young people, should fly as a pilot, and yesterday, setting me a task, he hinted that it would probably be a bad idea for me to fly too. But before he arrives, I’m preparing the plane.
On a piston aircraft, pre-flight preparation is a long and messy undertaking (shout out to the technicians who do this all their lives and in any weather!). I remove the clamps, the lower engine hoods, unscrew the oil plugs of the lower cylinders, drain the oil, turn the screw, tighten and lock the oil plugs back, and check the oil level. Finally everything is ready to launch and try out.
I climb into the cool, but at least windless cabin, traditionally look around, shout: “From the propeller!!!” When you press the start button, the engine slowly shudders, sneezes, turn on the magneto, pump fuel with a syringe - cold start... Fortunately, compared to “my” second plane, this one is much newer and starts easier in the cold. The engine seizes, the engine sneezes, and begins to rumble. It warms up, and so do I, just from the front bulkhead drying my wet feet. And for now, the point is, I decide to check the rudders (to be honest, now I’m not even sure whether such a check is included in the pre-flight preparation by the technician, it’s more of a pilot’s part, but still). And this is where THIS happens.
I move the control knob toward or away from me - order. To the left is order. To the right - the handle reaches the completely deflected position and... gets jammed there tightly. All my attempts to get her out of this strange situation end in nothing. It moves towards itself or away from itself, but not by roll!!!
Yesterday's active flights flashed through my head, my signatures in the Airplane's Logbook - "in good order, ready to fly" and the possible consequences of the control jamming in the extreme position... The shock was so serious that I continued testing the engine, with the thought "this cannot be , some kind of nonsense, I didn’t remove the clamp or something got in during yesterday’s thunderstorm.
Having completed the testing schedule, I got out of the cabin. The ailerons “stood” like scissors, there was nothing foreign around them...
I don’t want to bog you down with technical details, so what follows is brief, as it was approximately written in the “act of investigation of the prerequisites for the accident”: starting with... the B-35 series of aircraft, the manufacturer (PZL, Poland), made changes to the skin design. Instead of the “overlapping” riveting of sheets that was originally used, the “butt-to-butt” pattern was used. In the end parts of the wing, which are subjected to large alternating loads and relative movements during flight cycles, this design lost its tightness as it wore out, which in turn led to the ingress of a significant amount of moisture onto the attachment point of the aileron rod rocker to rib number..., its corrosion and subsequent destruction.

P.S. another “scarecrow”, this time from the driver’s series. Again the same flying club, late autumn, dead evening. We arrived on the An-28 from another VIP flight. We arrived after dark, so we landed at the Kiev Zhulyany airport, and then the Chief gave us a lift to the flying club where the car was parked.
The airfield is empty, the guard recognized the Chief’s car, went out onto the porch of the guardhouse, and waved. I waved back and stomped off to my car and into the parking lot.
In the morning we took off like autumn - it was dry and snowless. By evening the weather turned bad, it began to snow, and when I arrived at the parking lot, the “Nine” was a large snowdrift. I tried to rake the windows at least a little and found out that the snow started with rain and the glass was completely frozen over.
“Okay, I’ll start it up, warm it up, and then the windows will come off.”
The car is parked with its stern facing the asphalt exit path, rolled during the day; a couple of meters need to be driven through the virgin snow, under which the ground is wet. I started the engine and turned on the heated windows. The rear window of the Nine is heated by electricity, it’s cool (almost like an airplane POS), but in the cold it takes time, and it’s cold, dark and you just want to go home.
“I’ll start driving like this, and then it’ll freeze...”
I’m trying to see what’s behind me, but since there was also rain and wind, the mirrors are also barely visible. “What could it be there, darkness and cold!”
I move the car forward a little so that I can accelerate backwards along a clear track under the wheels, put it in reverse gear, sharply release the clutch, throttle and...
The car, quite expectedly, takes off and breaks through the snow. I twist the steering wheel to fit into the rut on the road. With my peripheral vision I notice something large and dark rushing very close to the door and mirror. Turning around and stopping in the headlights, I discover the silhouette of a grandmother-watchman.
While I was fiddling around and warming up in the car, she came up from the guardhouse and stood right behind me, not expecting such a sudden start from me.
- Grandma, what are you doing?!
- Yes, I see you haven’t been going for a long time, I thought, let me go out and have a look.
I suddenly feel so hot that I have to take off my flight jacket...

The conclusion is comic: Don’t sing or dance, don’t stand or jump where there is guidance or where the “roll” is spinning!!! (Roll - barrel in English).
The conclusion is serious: when Comrade Commander Arabas brought up this topic, I objected that this was not the best thing to remember. But his thought was that this experience should be shared, so that the next ones wouldn’t come across it later. I would really like to believe that this will help someone. Good luck to all of us!!!

How rigorous is the medical examination for the crew? What is a flight mission? How is an aircraft checked? The other day I was lucky enough to visit a place where ordinary visitors to Domodedovo airport usually cannot get into and take a look at the process of preparing pilots and other crew members of S7 Airlines for the upcoming air travel.


1. Meet the pilot from left to right" S7 Airlines" Tatarov Maxim Vyacheslavovich, captain of the aircraft Omelyanenko Vladimir Nikolaevich and press secretary of the airline Anna Bazhina.

2. Airport staff, just like passengers, undergo pre-flight inspection, only in a separate room specially designated for this. We take off our cap and forward through the frames. Everything is as strict as for mere mortals.

3. If you are physically ill, and even more so mentally ill, you will not be able to board the flight. Here, a whole medical board of several doctors awaits the pilots.

4. Who's next? Measuring pressure and temperature is only part of the medical check-up before the rest of the pre-flight preparation can be done.

5. After this, the crew goes to a large room called the “briefing room”. Here check-in for the flight takes place, each pilot checks in at the electronic terminal, entering his ID and password.

6. The flight mission and documents on board are printed ( technical description aircraft of the previous team and technicians), all this is carefully studied and discussed.

7. The flight mission also includes familiarization with the airports of departure, arrival and possible alternate airfields along the route.

8. This “bible” contains all the information about airfields and more.

9. To an outsider, all this seems incredibly complicated and confusing.

10. Just look at this map. Your head will spin.

11. Also in the briefing room there is a meeting with the senior flight attendant (often these are introductions, since crews are constantly changing). The senior flight attendant reports on the readiness for departure and the number of cabin crew on the flight.

12. When this whole story is over, we put on special vests and forward to the aircraft. Oh yes, how is the weather there? Previously, reports (wind direction and strength, precipitation and risk of thunderstorms) were received in a separate room. Now all information is provided to the crews in the briefing room.

13. Here is our handsome Airbus A-319, almost ready to depart on flight 19 Moscow - St. Petersburg.

14. Let's take a closer look at him. Here is one of the engines.

15. Front chassis.

16. Place of attachment to the fuselage.

17. And this is what the insides of the rear chassis look like.

18. There was a hellish flow of air from this small window - it almost blew away!

19.

20. When else will you take a selfie like this!

21. Meanwhile, it would be nice to feed our liner.

22. Loading luggage.

23. Well, it's time to go inside. For bloggers, as well as for staff, the entrance to the boarding bridge is from the side along a special ladder.

24. Telegantry control.

25. Well, well, everything is already in place.

26. The most interesting thing is, of course, the cockpit and cockpit.

27.

28.

29. Do you know how easy it is to distinguish an Airbus cabin from a Boeing cabin, for example?

30. Initially, the co-pilot inspects the board, and the PIC prepares the cockpit. Then they change places. Systems are prepared and checked, documents are filled out, the route and features of the departure and arrival airfields are checked once again.

31. Flight attendant S7.

32. Meanwhile, a tugboat had already taxied below. This means that the airliner is almost ready for takeoff.

33. Let's catch.

34. By the way, picking him up is not such a simple task as it seems at first glance.

35. Well, that’s it, you can move in the direction of takeoff.

36. Goodbye, dear friend. Although you are strict in appearance, you are kind inside. I hope we'll meet again.

37. Acceleration. Or correctly, it seems - a take-off run.

38.

39. Breakaway. Though English language in a sense, it is considered poorer, but in this case it sounds more interesting - Take off the ground.

40. Bye, green!

Like this. Many thanks to the guys from S7 and the airport management for an interesting event!