Group "Blue Angels" (Blue Angels). Blue Angels aerobatic team show

In the summer of 1992, the Russian Ministry of Defense created the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Studio. But the military department does not have its own ether. And no one then, in the era of a developing market, the Ministry of Defense was going to give frequencies. However, the young and vain, the first Russian general of the army, Pavel Grachev, sets our leadership a pretentious task: the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Network of the Russian Ministry of Defense not only go on the air, but also win the information war launched by foreign and Russian media against the young Russian army!
The press service of the Ministry of Defense and the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel are taking frantic and sporadic measures to promote on the air the developments of the video application of the magazine "Soviet Warrior", from which the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of the Ministry of Defense grew. But, venerable and hardened in perestroika on-air battles, the sharks of Central Television do not buy into the colonel's creative efforts, naive in their execution. The producers of the Central Television were especially amused by the story about the reception of musical geeks in the new building of the military department. The minister needed PR, and the young talents needed a reprieve from the army!
Then the naval officers who graduated from the short-term courses of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography, who served at the Television Center of the Navy of the Russian Federation, involve graduates of the famous All-Union state institute cinematography. And me, including.
"There is no prophet in his Fatherland!" - this maxim reigned in the corridors of Ostankino at that time. “What talent can these peppers from the Ministry of Defense show?!” - condescendingly looked the newly appeared telebosses of market relations at representatives new wave military journalism. But they were severely mistaken in their short-term forecasts. And now our subsidiary TV channel ZVEZDA is proof of that!..
Captain First Rank Alexander Bozhzhov is developing a practically special operation to create and air a story about the arrival of an aerobatics team of the US Navy in Russia. Famous US NAVY carrier-based pilots "BLUE ANGELS" are coming to us!
The press service of the Ministry of Defense cuts off almost all federal TV channels from covering the landmark event, misleading them and setting them on the wrong track. In Kubinka we find ourselves in a privileged position.
Here we get acquainted with the legendary pilot, the Hero Soviet Union, Major General NIKOLAI ANTOSHKIN. In these troubled days of the Great Japanese tragedy, especially its nuclear aspect and repeated explosions at the power units of the FUKUSHIMA-1 nuclear power plant, I recall the revelations of a combat ace about the participation of the Soviet Air Force in the aftermath of the 1986 accident at the nuclear power plant in CHERNOBYL! ..

For 1992, this was a real sensation. So that the world-famous aerobatics team of the US Navy - US NAVY "BLUE ANGELS" - "BLUE ANGELS" flew to our former USSR ???..
Who fought against us, or we against them, in the skies of Korea in 1950?! And they arrive at the Guards Proskurovsky Red Banner Orders of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Center for the Display of Aviation Equipment named after the three times Hero of the Soviet Union Air Marshal I. N. Kozhedub! ..
Judging by the hectic behavior of my military leadership, the TsTRS of the Russian Ministry of Defense understands all the insidiousness of the precedent. The decision to invite yesterday's Cold War enemies is taken, of course, by the President of Russia. Suddenly, a call comes from the Minister of Defense himself. Yes, and the air!.. The air of the Central Television must be conquered!
- Where is your Tarkovsky, or Fellini, what's his name? .. With a tricky surname, gone?! our general asks strictly our editor-in-chief Alexander Bozhzhov. - Everyone in the buffet is spinning with operators. Who would have thought that in the building of the Main Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the USSR they would sell alcohol on tap?
The captain of the first rank Alexander Bozhzhov finds our film crew in the cafeteria. He looks at us with anxiety as he runs into the cafeteria where the formidable Lev Mekhlis and General of the Army Aleskey Epishev used to eat cutlets. But the former cameramen of the Film Studio of the USSR Ministry of Defense, who came to VOEN-TV from top secret topics, knew the immutable rule of a professional cameraman: do not eat even 100 grams before filming! .. And they taught me this.
- The press service of the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, asks our Glavk to provide the maximum possible coverage of this historic event! - A stern Afghan general drills us with glassy eyes. - Colonel Bogdan Vysheshnyuk, - the general nods at the mustachioed colonel, - undertakes to resolve security issues and allow the leading channels of Central Television to the airfield in Kubinka.
The Colonel is clearly uneasy. Still alive in his memory, instantly obsolete, job descriptions, but which no one canceled. Such a massive fraternization of US military pilots and our "Russian Knights" started in the Kremlin?! ..
Unexpectedly for myself, I declare:
- Federal channels from conducting video filming of demonstration performances of aerobatic teams, at the airfield in Kubinka, SHOULD be cut off!
The captain of the first rank of naval intelligence, it was he who found me in a haystack: a naval officer, a member of the party, most importantly - a graduate of VGIK, but without a Moscow residence permit! Alexander Bozhzhov turns white looking at me. "What are you wearing?!" - is read in his puzzled look.
- Otherwise, we will never go on air with our LOGO! I continue, taking advantage of the sudden pause. “Moreover, the Ministry of Defense of Russia will never have its own branded TV programs or its own TV CHANNEL! ..
- What? What?! - freezes our general, like the ocean before the storm. - YOUR TV CHANNEL???..
Now this once formidable general has been sitting in the State Duma for a long time, and he has forgotten his once subordinates creative people. But we all remember, and we remember this first minute of the air of our native Ministry of Defense of Russia.
I understand and feel that our general intuitively guesses what is at stake, and how it all can end: MILITARY TV CHANNEL!
- What is a Logo? – without further ado, he asks.
- The verbal part of the trademark, or trademark! - and, without letting the general come to his senses, I continue, as in an exam at the institute.
After the strict views of Sergei Bondarchuk and Sergei Gerasimov, the general's post-perestroika anger amuses me more than frightens me.
- Requirements for the logo: memorability!.. Versatility!.. Originality!.. Associativity! - Without stopping and not explaining the essence of the words, I am still afraid of being misunderstood. – Expressiveness!.. Functionality!.. Conciseness!.. Uniqueness! - I hit with words in one point.
A graduate of the Academy of the General Staff, our handsome Lieutenant General had a natural ingenuity and listens to me not only attentively, but also with understanding.
- An ideal logo should solve several fundamental functions: Phatic!.. Expressive!.. Referential!.. Impressive!.. Poetic, and so on! “A general cannot defeat me on his own battlefield.
- Perhaps you misspoke! - our bearded cameraman Mikhail Zverovoy is trying to correct me. - Probably, "actual"?
- Exactly, "phatic". To speak out and meet understanding! I explain.
- Consider, you understood! the general suddenly concludes. - Fatally! – and laughed. What logo do you propose?
I pause:
- "VOYEN - TV"! ..
All those present in the office of the head of the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel of the Ministry of Defense freeze.
Is Russia a country at war?! - Alexander Bozhzhov can not stand it. - I understand that during the Great Patriotic War, the logo "VOYEN-KINO" was appropriate. But now?!..
None of the military present wants to say out loud the names of the hot spots: Abkhazia, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, North Ossetia, South Ossetia, Tajikistan. Yet this is not a war!
Each of us remembers our own. I will remember for the rest of my life the words of the officers whose children we took by plane for the holidays to the pioneer Far Eastern camp "Ocean" in June 1992. Then the war was already breathing down the children's backs.
- All this will end big Caucasian war! - bitterly predicted military personnel.
I listened to these prophetic words and did not fully believe in them, despite the depressing pictures when our troops left the Vaziani airfield in a hurry.
- It is not given to us to predict How our word will respond, - the general suddenly summed up. - Prepare the logo "VOYEN - TV". But it is realistic to use it exclusively at my command!.. If we cut off the leading TV channels from the video filming of the “plot grain”, the producing producers will not make up a “conspiracy of silence” for us? - the chief of Glaucus was worried.
We must give him his due, the general managed to grasp several special terms, the main one being the famous “seed of the plot”, which I came up with from the “seed of the role” of Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Having managed to study the theater of television actions, I did not doubt the greed and omnivorousness of the editors of the Central Television, who are greedy for this kind of sensation.
- The plot will be SWALLOWED! I assured the Afghan general.
- Look! .. We did not graduate from VGIK! - with a threat in his voice summed up the conversation the head of Glavka.
The military is letting our civilian film crew go home. And the general begins to call his friends in the service and study, so that there are no extra video cameras on the Kubinka take-off field during the "H".

REFERENCE
"BLUE ANGELS" blue angels) is an aerobatics team of the US Navy. Created in 1946. Joint system "BRILLIANT".
In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to the Far East to participate in the Korean War (this move was caused by a shortage of flight personnel). In 1951, the Blue Angels were re-formed. If necessary, its aircraft can be prepared for participation in hostilities in 72 hours. Twelve former Blue Angels pilots have become admirals. And one even an astronaut!
***
September 2, 1992 They arrive accompanied by our elite aerobatic team"SWIFT", and not just anywhere, but to the super-elite KUBINKA. Sky-blue beauties "BLUE ANGELS"!.. On elegant, as on varnished and sleek foreign cars, on carrier-based fighter-bombers "HORNET - 18 - F / A".
The entire aviation elite of the capital gathers for a unique spectacle in the provincial Kubinka. The air force attaches from all over the world, accredited in Moscow, are striking, shining with their flight uniforms and their lovely spouses.
The newly emerged Russian nobility, having its own interests in the American and aviation business, surrounded by assistants and secretaries, show business stars and even opera singers, meaningful and mysterious, as if she had been doing this for a whole century, that she ruled this country, condescendingly pushes among the laid tables on the veranda of the observation deck.
Only the gray-haired aces of the Second World War, in general uniforms and with the stars of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, keep aloof from this motley and imposing audience, meeting us, journalists with video cameras, with prickly glances.
Finally, the creatives of the international air show are remembering the front-line soldiers. Lovely creatures with trays, on which glasses of vodka and cognac sparkle in the sun, and sandwiches with red caviar, swim up to the Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Efimov with smiles.
The legendary attack pilot, paying absolutely no attention to the girls, is watching the arrival of the US aerobatic team through binoculars. "Blue Angels" in cruising formation, in afterburner, with obvious chic, with a roar, sweep over the tower. Yes, so low that the smell of aviation kerosene is clearly felt.
- Mikhail, do you remember how we cut them down in Korea?! - the planes leave for a U-turn, their roar subsides, and Marshal Efimov, turning to his neighbor, takes a glass of cognac from the tray. - About a thousand!
And the marshal's neighbor was someone other than twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Mikhail Odintsov.
- How can I not remember, Alexander Nikolaevich? .. We fought with them over the jungles of Vietnam! - a thin and youthful front-line soldier takes a misted glass of vodka. - More than four thousand piled. Including "BOEING B-52" - "STRATOFORTRESS".* As many as THREE DOZENS!..
Air Force Attaché, with crystal glasses in white gloves and sunglasses, occupied with sandwiches with black caviar, as if by chance, turn their gilded caps towards our grandfathers. Fluent in Russian, many foreign officers, especially a Korean and a Vietnamese, in gratitude, with raised glasses, nodded their heads and smiled.
- Evgeny Pepelyaev! the Korean attaché bares his yellow teeth.
Everyone drinks the traditional glass of corporate in-flight friendship together.
However, the American air attache defiantly turns away from the smartly dressed public, looking out through binoculars for the next entry of the Blue Angels.
- Whoever remembers the old, that eye out! - approaches a group of front-line soldiers and, trying to defuse the situation, laughs Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Antoshkin.
- Girl, pour Kolya Antoshkin into a glass! - Demandingly asks the waitress Marshal Efimov. - Penalty! ..
Dressed in a Russian national costume, the girl fills Antoshkin with a whole glass of cognac.
- It will be useful for him, to flood the Chernobyl radiation! - Colonel-General Mikhail Odintsov picks up with a chuckle.
The brilliant female foreign environment of the tables served by the Kremlin, having heard the word CHERNOBYL, without noticing an obvious oversight, hides exquisite figures behind the bodies of their handsome husbands. And the air attaches involuntarily take a step back.
And only the Air Force Attache of the Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow, a tall pilot-colonel, having heard and seen the hero of the Chernobyl tragedy and taking a glass of vodka, goes to the acting commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District Nikolai Antoshkin.
- Oh, Nikolai! the colonel chimes. – How did our “BLUE ANGELS” seem to you?!
- Blue Angels! This is the best aerobatic team in the world!** - the Russian general says solemnly.
And they drink their own.
- Great, real vodka! – the American attache winces blissfully, biting a sandwich with black caviar.
- From the cellars of the Kremlin! - General Nikolai Antoshkin is not joking.
For the sake of such a unique occasion, the chief of protocol of the President of Russia gives the appropriate order, and selected, the best in the world, vodka with the label "Capital" is delivered to Kubinka. In the right amount!
With an unprecedented, but pleasant for the body, rumble above the tower, the Blue Angels formation once again passes with a landing approach.
On the site near the hangars, on an impromptu stage, a concert of the best Russian creative teams begins.
The captain of the first rank Alexander Bozhzhov approaches me.
- Everything goes according to plan. ORT - removes, this is a creature of the Kremlin administration. And Russian television is wandering somewhere in the forests near Moscow! ..

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (Eng. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress - Stratospheric Fortress) is an American ultra-long-range strategic missile-carrying bomber in service with the US Air Force.
** - Blue Angels! This is the best aerobatic team in the world!

The day after the arrival, on September 2, 1992, high-ranking spectators of the airfield in Kubinka saw a spectacle that is unlikely to be seen by anyone in the future. However, anything can happen in this life.
Only Russian President Boris Yeltsin was absent from the observation tower. The aviation beau monde not only of Moscow, but of Russia arrives and gathers for a phenomenal spectacle - a show of the best aviation aerobatic teams in the world: our "SWIFT", "RUSSIAN VITYAZ" and the deservedly famous USA "Blue Angels" - "BLUE ANGELS"!
And the Minister of Defense of Russia sets an impossible task for the creative team of VOEN-TV: to conquer the air! .. And not only to repeat the long-standing success of the legendary TV show “I SERVE THE SOVIET UNION”, where civilian stars, such as Mikhail Leshchinsky and German Sedov, ruled the ball . And the main curator was the military department of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Pavel Grachev demands the creation of a fundamentally new television product, namely, a TV CHANNEL (“STAR”, for example), subject only to the military department.
Without their own transmitter, their own frequency and the state license for broadcasting, this task is perceived by specialists, colored with black humor, as crazy! However, the generals clicked their heels, and the sensible colonels began to grope for gaps in the orderly ranks of the Central TV channels.
On the ruins of the TV show "I Serve the Soviet Union", a group of former like-minded people are trying to revive the former spirit of the rating brand. But there is no Soviet Union either, and there is no one to serve it - the former faithful representatives of one of the oldest professions quickly find their niches in money-based media holdings, and many simply fall behind the cordon. And emigrants from Russia from there broadcast to the whole world, very successfully for half a dollar and a ruble of Euro, about the true state of things in our country, and most importantly, truthfully about our past. How did they live here?
The newly minted “RADAR” flashes by… “POLYGON” appears. But these were already parodies of the old popular program. And from the departmental shadow of the Russian Ministry of Defense comes an unknown video supplement to the magazine "SOVIET VOIN". The video application is being transformed into the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Studio of the Russian Ministry of Defense!..
So, we are faced with an operational-tactical task of going on the air. Our military leadership is developing a kind of special operation to cut off part of the central TV channels so that military journalists themselves provide a ready-made story. And this event is very risky, because censorship has been canceled, and the Press Service of the President of Russia monitors the submission of material.
The observation tower of the airfield in Kubinka has never, in its history, seen so many generals and diplomatic uniforms embroidered with gold. And all this official establishment is illuminated gems shining earrings and necklaces, and fur handicrafts and smiles of high-ranking ladies warm the golden September day with warmth.
When the show ends, shocked by what I see, I for a long time forget about my first love - the navy! .. I was attracted to work in military journalism by officers of the Naval Intelligence of the Russian Navy, however, with one condition - I will be a naval officer. However, since that memorable day, amazed by the flying art of our pilots, I have been imbued with a real sense of reverent delight for all the Russian Armed Forces. And I understand why it happened. At the same time, I remembered the story “SINGERS” by our Russian writer Ivan Turgenev! ..
Officially, these flights of aerobatic teams of the two Great Powers were not of a competitive nature. And yet, not only the female curiosity and professional interest of the Air Force Attaches accredited in Moscow forced such a respectable audience to gather on the observation deck in Kubinka. And our front-line soldiers, Heroes and twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, marshals and generals, only emphasize the importance of the moment.
In the behavior of representatives of the US Embassy in Moscow, the US military and air attache, some stiffness and excitement are noticeable at the same time. Yesterday, they and their spouses behaved quite differently, washing down vodka and cocktails with casual conversations with representatives of the business world.
The usually smiling Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Antoshkin, commander of the aviation of the Moscow Military District, is strict and collected. But Stalin's air marshal Alexander Efimov has nothing to do with it.
- Today Nikolay will expel x-rays!
Looking at our bewildered faces, Antoshkin explains:
- During flights and overloads, the body is cleared of radiation. Otherwise, how would I have survived after Chernobyl?!..
From newspaper and magazine publications, we knew that Nikolai Antoshkin, taking a personal part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, hovering in a helicopter over the destroyed block, received a lethal dose of radiation. And the doctors insisted on writing off the general from the flight service ...
The Swifts aerobatic team on the MIG-29 is the first to take to the skies. They were beautiful in their acrobatic figures and formations. And if now, someone from the composition or admirers of this wonderful group is reading this novel, then forgive me for the modest description of this performance by the Swifts. MIG-29 vehicles are lighter in class compared to the American Hornet-F-18 and our SU-27.
When the elite USA “Blue Angels” begin their work, “BLUE ANGELS” on large varnished toys, everyone present in Kubinka freezes. Aviation enthusiasts know SIMPLE aerobatics figures: Turn, Horizontal eight, Spiral, Dive, Slide, Combat turn.
And I remember Turgenev's story "Pyvtsy":
“So, the hawker stepped forward, half-closed his eyes and sang in the highest falsetto. His voice was rather pleasant and sweet, though somewhat hoarse; he played and waggled this voice as if it were a top, constantly flooded and shimmered from top to bottom and constantly returned to the upper notes, which he sustained and pulled out with special diligence, fell silent and then suddenly picked up the former melody with some daring, arrogant prowess.
Everything trembles inside when the Blue Angels perform DIFFICULT aerobatics: Banking over 45°, Flip, Loop, Immelmann Flip, Dive (with a dive angle up to 60°), Slide (with a pitch angle up to 60°), Controllable barrel, Coups on the hill, Corkscrew!
"SINGERS":
“His transitions were sometimes quite bold, sometimes quite amusing: they would give a lot of pleasure to a connoisseur; a German would have been indignant at them. It was a Russian tenore di grazia, t;nor l;ger 1. He sang a cheerful, dance-like song, the words of which, as far as I could catch through the endless embellishments, added consonants and exclamations!...
Only with a song can one compare the filigree close formations of the incomparable blue-gold "Blue Angels". Short and loud takeoffs high speeds, rolls, delayed flips, Cuban eight. For greater effect, pyrotechnics are used.
Rhombus ("Diamond"): It is carried out from a simultaneously taking off group of four aircraft. The group immediately after takeoff goes to the loop in a rhombus.
Aerobatics "mirror", performed from a pair of aircraft, one of which flies on the "back" parallel to the other, creates an optical mirror effect.
I notice how the brilliant ladies suddenly scream out of empathy and inner fear. These are "HORNETS", when performing aerobatics ON COLLISION COURSES, moving towards each other, they diverge in close proximity to each other. The wives of the military attachés, clutching their husbands' forearms with their hands, hide their heads on the order slats.
I remember Turgenev's "SINGERS" by heart. Today they come in handy!
“The hawker sang for a long time without arousing too much sympathy in his listeners; he lacked support, a choir; finally, at one particularly successful transition, which made the Wild Master himself smile, the Stupid could not stand it and cried out with pleasure. Everyone freaked out."
The BLUE ANGELS are stepping up the pace of their amazing show.
"Fan" - a single plane performs a roll around five planes flying in a "rhombus" formation! .. Dissolution of "Fountain" and "Scissors"!
"Barrel four" - four planes roll around their trajectory! ..
Everyone admires Americans. Professionals see and understand each other by the smallest elements of coherence and flow. Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union Marshal Alexander Efimov and Colonel General Mikhail Odintsov twirl their gray heads approvingly.
And literary "SINGERS" sound in me.
“Encouraged by the signs of general pleasure, the hawker whirled around completely, and already began to trim the curls, clicked and drummed with his tongue so frantically, played his throat so furiously that when, finally, tired, pale and drenched in hot sweat, he let go, throwing his whole body back, the last fading exclamation - a common, united cry answered him with a violent explosion. The stunner threw himself on his neck and began to choke him with his long, bony arms!
A multi-year program of the best carrier-based pilots of the US Navy, incorporating world-class flying achievements recent years, honed to perfection, could not but shock even specialists and worldly veterans of the Air Force.
"BLUE ANGELS" were created in 1946... With their filigree craftsmanship, they delighted and continue to delight millions of viewers around the world. Including presidents, kings and sultans!..
And our "RUSSIAN VITYAZI" were formed only on April 5, 1991! What can a young, practically newly created, unknown aerobatic team of the Russian Air Force?! ..
Great Russian prose. A century and a half has passed, and Turgenev's famous story "The Singers" seems to have been written only to comment on this unforgettable event.
After the American-angelic triumph, our multipurpose "heavy" serial fighters Su - 27 - "RUSSIAN VITYAZI" rolled to taxiing.
“WHEN, FINALLY, YAKOV OPENED HIS FACE, IT WAS PALE, AS DEAD; EYES BARELY FLICKERING THROUGH DOWN EYELASHES. He took a deep breath and began to sing…”
to me in Once again a worried girl from the Kremlin press service approaches.
- Where did the film crew of Russian television go? she asks irritably.
We shrug. The press secretary leaves to look for the extreme ones.
- We work! - Behind me I hear the quiet voice of the captain of the first rank Alexander Bozhzhov. Russian television has entered the restricted area of ​​the second air defense ring of Moscow. There Cell phones does not work!..
"THE FIRST SOUND OF HIS VOICE WAS WEAK AND UNEQUAL AND DID NOT APPEAR TO GO OUT OF HIS CHEST, BUT BROUGHT FROM SOMETHING FROM Away, AS LIKE IT HAVE FLYED INTO THE ROOM. THIS FLATTERING RINGING SOUND STRANGELY AFFECTED ALL OF US; WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER."

The entire air elite present at the tower of the airfield in Kubinka, especially the wives of the attaches, enthusiastically welcome the clear success of the USA "Blue Angels" aerobatic team - "BLUE ANGELS". Everyone raises their white-gloved hands with glasses of champagne towards the blissfully smiling US Air Force Attaché.
- Without a single blemish!* - the happy colonel of the USA Air Force triumphs, addressing our pilots - veterans of the Great Patriotic War and personally, Major General Nikolai Antoshkin, Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the aviation of the Moscow Military District.
Still, the thought flashes through my head, the Blue Angels have existed since 1946! ..
And our "Russian Knights" - just over a year.
- Congratulations! Nikolai Antoshkin smiles enigmatically in response. We are just learning.
Once again, a representative of the Press Service of the President of Russia approaches our film crew. Now the girl is accompanied by two tall employees, apparently, the FSO. **
- The Russian channel left Ostankino a few hours ago! - starts irritably, with the appearance and figure of a fashion model, blonde. - ORT journalists were the last to see them at the fork in the road! and she looks at me suspiciously. - you own useful information?!
- A typical case! - we begin to calm the top model. - This area is included in the second echelon of Moscow's air defense. And it is only open for visiting ESMI.***
Why don't they call? Are they provided with Nokia cellular communication?! - the blonde takes out her irritation on me.
And the Directorate of Information Programs RTR, having received a message from the military by fax at the very last moment, takes a rash step - sends a car with a film crew along an unknown route. It is easy to enter the forest near Moscow within this radius. And without military journalists and experienced drivers on staff, the group enthusiastically rolls towards Kubinka, not knowing the specifics of the arrival at the airfield. Once they make a mistake, they go in the wrong direction. Another time they visit a specially protected area. The car is stopped until the circumstances are clarified. Our VAI helps them in this. ****
In addition, citizen journalists do not know iron rule such events: after a certain signal, during "H", in the area of ​​​​land exercises or flights, any movement of vehicles is strictly prohibited. Even for generals. I personally convinced myself of this, and more than once! ..
And one more important detail: in the event of the arrival of VIPs, but they were waiting for the arrival of the President of the Russian Federation, mobile phones are practically useless.
The film crew of "RTR" is content with video filming of the air show "BLUE ANGELS IN RUSSIA" from a distance of 5 kilometers!..
- We would have this technique, in the forty-first! - Marshal Alexander Efimov says dreamily. - These are multi-purpose, highly maneuverable, Mikhail ?! - he turns to his friend twice Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Odintsov, Colonel General.
- All-weather! .. Fourth generation! - My new friend Mikhail Odintsov explains to me. - The first car was lifted into the air by the test pilot Hero of the Soviet Union, my friend, Vladimir Ilyushin.
- Titanium! - General Nikolai Antoshkin says quietly and leaves for the command post.
In those days, journalists said thank you for this information. Now such a detail will seem an insignificant fact, but then everything had some kind of sacred meaning.
Suddenly, the excited audience on the tower freezes. From the beginning of the runway, a characteristic rumble of SU-27s taking off is heard. Painted in the colors of the State Flag of Russia, the four "RUSSIAN VITYAZS", as if thrown out of a catapult, with a unique roar, practically without the usual take-off, in a few seconds, gains a height of more than a thousand meters! And it twists the famous dead loop with a diamond-shaped four.
“The first sound was followed by another, more firm and long, but everything is apparently trembling, like a string, when, suddenly a rang under a strong finger, it fluctuates the last, quickly freezing oscillation, behind the second - the third, gradually hot and expanding”! ..
I vividly imagined the famous Turgenev scene of "SINGERS" in a shabby village tavern. A dark room with a bench, two or three empty barrels, a corner table. Colorful print shirts. Two village peasants compete in singing: Ryadchik and Yashka.
A century and a half has passed, an elite US aerobatic team "Blue Angels" arrives in Russia. From our side, aerobatic teams "Swifts" and "Russian Knights" perform on domestic and best fighters in the world. But spirituality and the essence of the phenomenon remains the same.
Figures of simple, complex and aerobatics are known to all. And these figures are performed by demonstration air groups of many countries.
Moreover, the air shows - groups of "Blue Angels" are furnished with a unique ritual, which is adopted on American aircraft carriers, and which is performed by the attendants.
Everything is simple for our pilots. No pre-flight movements, like the Americans, more like a spell. "Russian Knights" do not use smoke and pyrotechnics. But why does the soul freeze in a special way when you look at our aerobatics magicians?! ..
Why does our heart beat faster when heavy cars ... Yes, it is the SU-27 that is considered a heavy fighter, it is almost twice as heavy and larger in size than the Hornet - 18 / FA, and therefore it is considered insidious to drive ... When three heroes : Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich lay turns, spirals, horizontal eights, dive and make slides with unthinkable pitching angles! .. And this is Ivanushka - the Fool on the stove makes a combat turn, and, my God, Immelman's coup! ..
“He sang, AND ALL OF US BECOMED SWEET AND TERRIBLE. I confess I have seldom heard such a voice: IT WAS SLIGHTLY BROKEN AND RINGING LIKE A CRACKED VOICE; HE EVEN RESPECTED SOMETHING PAINFUL FIRST; BUT IT WAS GENUINE DEEP PASSION AND YOUTH, AND STRENGTH, AND SWEETENESS, AND SOME FASCINATING, CAREFUL, SAD GROWTH"!..
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union ALEXANDER POKRYSHKIN joins the Russian epic heroes. First, he makes the most bewitching and deadly aerobatics - BELL! ..
His plane is nose up at ZERO speed, until the thirty-ton colossus comes to a complete stop, the car HANGS in the sky! And the tail sways from side to side, like the tongue of a bell. Blagovest! .. Here, not every ace is given not to go into a deadly tailspin! ..
I watch the Air Force Attaches accredited in Moscow. All as one, with aspiration, take pictures and video cameras of this particular Russian BELL! .. For a long time the figure was considered accessible only to propeller-driven aircraft. And our Pokryshkin mastered it! ..
But that's not all... PUGACHEV'S COBRA! But at the same time, it maintains the same direction of flight. Then, the plane returns to normal flight mode with almost no loss of altitude!..
Seasoned military diplomats are unable to hide their surprise. They heard something, but they see it for the first time! ..
Pilots - Americans are all as thin as one, and look like hairpins. And they fly, not like birds, but like paper airplanes. And if they fly, then not in a group, but in formation! ..
Am I really that Russian?!.. "Blue Angels" carry out single and group aerobatics flawlessly!.. However, "RUSSIAN VITYAZI" and coloring (white - blue - red) are consonant with our free Slavic soul!..
"THE RUSSIAN, TRUE, HOT SOUL SOUND AND BREATHE IN HIM AND SO GRABS YOU BY THE HEART, GRABS DIRECTLY FOR ITS RUSSIAN STRINGS"!
An already bored blonde from the Press Service of President Boris Yeltsin is running towards us.
- Boys! - noticeably picking up, she babbles. - Just got a call from the presidential administration. They messed up with Russian television. The journalist chose the wrong point for filming, somewhere in a clearing, in the forest. I hope you share the footage with colleagues?! ..
I look puzzled.
- Our cassettes are classified as "Secret"! I'm starting to like the girl.

* - Without a single blot! - without a single blemish.
** - FSO - Federal Security Service.
*** - Electronic media.

PART 6

In these moments of aerobatics performed by the RUSSIAN VITYAZI group, which show their skills after the sensational performance of the American "BLUE ANGELS", all the military attaches present on the tower of the Kubinka airfield begin to realize something unthinkable: only Russian pilots can do such an aerial extravaganza! .
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Yefimov in admiration takes off his blue marshal's cap from his gray head and in excitement slaps it on the railing of the tower.
“I FELT MY HEART BOILING AND TEARS RISE TO MY EYES; MUDDLE, STOPPED SOBS SUDDENLY STUNNED ME... I LOOKED AROUND - THE WIFE OF THE KISSER WAS CRYING, HOLDING her BREAST TO THE WINDOW. YAKOV GAME AT HER A QUICK LOOK AND GOT ​​EVEN LOUDER, EVEN SWEETER THAN BEFORE. (I. Turgenev. "Singers".)
And the “Moment of Truth” comes: “RUSSIAN VITYAZI” pass over the tower at a completely low altitude and at minimum speed. Like geese - swans, with their glass heads up in the sky, heavy fighter-interceptors, as if thinking about something bad and completely losing speed, slowly crawl over the tower. It becomes uncomfortable. Live kerosene is poured onto the guests of the show in Kubinka, which has not burned down to the end in the afterburner. The roar is deafening and intoxicates with the unbearable smell of aviation fuel.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOULD RESOLUTION THE GENERAL ANXIETY, IF YAKOV SUDDENLY DID NOT CUM ON A HIGH, UNUSUALLY THIN SOUND - AS LIKE HIS VOICE HAS BEEN CRASHED ... "YOU ... YOURS ... YOU WON"! ..
As a result of lengthy training, the pilots open up the so-called "second sight", which allows them to evaluate the behavior of their machine as if from the outside.
With my second sight, I watch the US Air Force Attache. Shocked by what he saw, the colonel just shook his head. "Blue Angels" (Blue Angels) - aviation aerobatics team of the US Navy was created in 1946! .. And these Russian "RUSSIAN VITYAZ" huddled in a flock just a year ago! .. And they show it! ..
And now: having rebuilt, and gaining speed, they demonstrate their signature dissolution "TULIP"! ..
Hero of the Soviet Union Major General Nikolai Antoshkin leaves the control room, flashing his white-toothed smile - they knew how to select personnel before! An American literally rushes towards him, ahead of all the other Air Force Attachés accredited in Moscow.
- Nicholas! exclaims a US Air Force colonel. - Allow me to fly on the "SU - twenty-seven"?!
- No problem! - answers Antoshkin, joyful from success.
They leave and return, dressed in flight suits.
"Antoshkin flies"?! - questions are raised. – “After Chernobyl”?
Everyone knew that during the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, General Antoshkin, the chief of staff of the Air Force of the Kiev military district, receives a terrible, almost fatal dose of radiation! .. The medical commission is trying to write off the sick pilot, but the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee intervenes personally - Mikhail Gorbachev.
And Nikolai Antoshkin not only remains in the Air Force, but also continues to fly fighter jets, never ceasing to amaze everyone with his love of life.
He lifts the car into the sky with a US Colonel. SU-27 does several aerobatics. Hill... Barrel... Dead loop!..
And the commander of the "Blue Angels" rides on his golden-blue F - 18 - "Hornet", our commander of the "Russian Knights" Colonel Vladimir Basov.
A blonde from the Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin approaches us, who has become dear.
- The question of secrecy is removed! she says importantly. – Your Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev received instructions from the Presidential Administration. You will prepare a video for showing on Russian television!
The operator and I pretend to be holy innocence.
- Let's do it! Hiding my interest, I answer. - Only Minister Grachev, for Poptsov - Nobody! ..
- Oleg Maksimovich is ready to accept your creative help! - as if understanding everything, the girl smiles. - The RTR group got stuck somewhere in the forests of the Moscow region.
A gala dinner begins at the end of the air show: "Russian Knights" (Russia) and "Blue Angels" (USA). Tables are set in a large hangar and are bursting with strong drinks and excellent snacks. Perhaps for the first time since the meeting on the Elbe, Russian military and American pilots are sitting together at a meal. First of all, the welcoming speeches of both sides are in the center of attention. Toasts are pronounced and Russians sound folk songs performed by the best Moscow ensembles.
But the unspoken protagonists of the feast are Russian vodka and Russian caviar!..
The Americans are trying to follow the Russian pilots in close formation - looking at our pilots, they maintain the pace and rhythm of the Russian tradition: raise and overturn a glass of vodka after each toast. And there are more than two dozen toasts! ..
When during a break, for a change of dishes, everyone goes out to Fresh air, it becomes obvious that Russian vodka played bad joke with Americans, especially with service personnel.
How do Russians drink vodka? The main thing is not to show the mind that it was drunk very decently, but at the same time there is also a margin of safety.
Russian folk dances begin. Girls in kokoshniks invite our and American pilots into the circle. What it looks like, we all know. And we take it as normal. Some Americans who tried to repeat the local dance traditions, after duplicating our specific exercises with a glass at the table, and simply speaking, being very drunk, took the village dance for permissiveness! ..
One American strips down to the waist and pretends to be a monkey! ..
Another "Blue Angel" from the servants also demonstrates his torso, portraying a rooster! ..
The third took a bottle of vodka that had been opened from the table and danced the Russian with it. Grunts, posing as a Pig. He gets tired, and, having caught his breath, drinks vodka from the bottle! ..
Finally, the "Monkey" falls on the concrete and, quite simply, is cut off! ..
"Rooster" sits astride "Pig", drinking vodka from a bottle. And they laugh with crazy laughter, exposing not only their horse teeth, but also their gums! ..
With such a free concert of overseas friends, Russian officers finally sober up. After exchanging glances among themselves, they return to the hangar to continue the feast.
And “Monkey”, “Rooster” and “Pig”, at the command of the US Air Force Attache, not without difficulty, are loaded onto an approaching bus and taken away from human eyes to a hotel. There they continue to play tricks, demanding vodka and girls.
We will leave the hospitable Kubinka, the Ivan Kozhedub Air Force Demonstration Center of the Russian Air Force. Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union smiles at us with his unique white-toothed smile. They knew how to pick people back then! ..
In our video, which is being released on this day Russian channel, of course, we did not insert the raging Americans. But I so wanted to show the Monkey. This cute image was almost passable for the air. However, our general ordered that a Russian dance scene be cut out as a symbol of Russian-American fraternization. The captain of the first rank Dmitry Biketov quickly edited the material.
So, September 2, 1992 becomes the birthday of "VOEN-TV"! ..
The plot about the arrival of the US Navy aerobatics team "BLUE ANGELS" (Blue Angels) - becomes a landmark for us.
The main thing was to infiltrate this snobbish world of Central Television. The rest became a matter of technique!.. Over time, the "TsTRS of the Ministry of Defense of Russia" created a creative TV show "SERVING RUSSIA" and others that aired simultaneously on 4-5 channels!.. The MILITARY HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, which adorned when -TC "CULTURE". It was a real breakthrough for military television. Leading TV show about the majestic Russian military history was tragically killed on the set of his film, which he so dreamed of, ANDREY ROSTOTSKY!
Personally, I was given Oleg Poptsov's proposal to switch to the Second Channel. But I, after "SWIFT" and "RUSSIAN VITYAZ", fell ill with love for our ARMED FORCES, forgetting my first love - the Fleet and grabbing. And the second - cinema! .. Subsequently, the producers of many Central television channels will offer me a prestigious job in Ostankino. However, for twenty years now I have been faithful to one star - the First Minute, which flared up and waved into a powerful media resource of the military department - ZVEZDA TV Channel! ..

P.S. Unfortunately, not all participants of this historical air show from the aerobatic team "RUSSIAN VITYAZI" will survive to this day.
On December 12, 1995, three Su-27s crashed while approaching the Cam Ranh airfield (Vietnam). Pilots B. Grigoriev, A. Syrovoi, N. Kordyukov, including N. GRECHANOV (he was a participant in the 1992 air show) died ...
P.P.S. One day, the time comes, and the former pilot of the RUSSIAN VITYAZ, Major Alexander ZAYTSEV, comes to us, at the TsTRS of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, as a video engineer. If you read this short story, Sanya, forgive me for some literary liberties. And then come the gunsmiths of the legendary aerobatic team, two captains: Vladimir ZHUKOV and Alexander SOYKO. With us, they received the rank of major and the qualification of Masters of All Trades. And most importantly, there was a fertile symbiosis of high art: our "VOEN - TV" and the combat skills of unsurpassed aces, knights of heaven - "RUSSIAN VITYAZ" !!! ..

After the Second World War, the history of the aerobatic team began. On April 24, 1946, the Chief of the US Navy, Admiral Chester Nimitz, issued a directive that called for the formation of a demonstration team to boost fleet morale, demonstrate the power of the fleet's air force, and maintain public interest in naval aviation.
In April of that year, Rear Admiral Ralph Davison personally selected Lieutenant Roy Marlin Voris, a World War II air ace, to assemble and train a team for demonstration flights, placing him in command. Voris was joined by three instructors (Lt. Maurice Wickendall, Lt. Mel Cassidy, and Lt. Commander Lloyd Barnard, veterans of the Pacific War). The group secretly completed its first flight over the Everglades, Florida. The first demonstration in front of naval officials took place on May 10, 1946 and was met with enthusiasm, after which the team was approved.

In June 1946, a trio of Grumman F6F Hellcats participated in their first Air Show over Jacksonville Airfield. The show then lasted about 17 minutes. The aircraft were specially modified to reduce weight and painted blue and gold. In a few weeks, the group has already traveled to several locations in the United States. During their stay in New York, the group was given the name "Blue Angels".
In August, the Angels moved to the Grumman F8F Bearcat, next year there were already four pilots in the team, then five. In 1948, the team moved to an air base in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1949, the group was stationed at the Whiting base until the outbreak of the Korean War.

In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to the Far East to participate in the Korean War (this move was caused by a shortage of flight personnel). In 1951, the Blue Angels were re-formed and the group returned to the Corpus Christi base, and in 1954 the pilots were moved to the current deployment site - Pensacola Air Force Base.

The group currently flies F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers. If necessary, its aircraft can be prepared for participation in hostilities in 72 hours.

The show season runs every year from March to November. The Blue Angels perform at military and civilian airfields, and often directly overhead. major cities such as San Francisco, Cleveland and Seattle.
Only six FA-18 Hornets are used in the flight demonstration. Flying is usually done at low speeds, performing maneuvers such as looping, rolling, and transitions from one formation to another.
In clear weather, flights are performed at altitudes of no more than 2400 m, in cloudy weather no more than 460 m.

blue angel is an American retro rockabilly band from 1978-1982. The soloist of the group was Cyndi Lauper. In addition to her, the group included John Tury (keyboards and saxophone), Arthur Nielson (guitar), Lee Browitz (bass guitar) and Johnny Morelli (drums). Most of the songs were written by Cindy and John. In addition, the group performed cover versions of songs from the 60s, for example I'm Gonna Be Strong Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Blue Angel were popular in New York clubs.

In 1987, the group reunited for a short time. Cindy held one concert with them. After that, the group broke up completely.

Discography

The only album named after the group was released in 1980. In the United States, it was not particularly popular, despite good reviews from critics. However, in Europe the album became a bit more successful. Single I'm Gonna Be Strong hit the charts in the Netherlands. Maybe He'll Know, another song from the album, was included in 1986 in the second solo album Cindy true colors.

In 1980, Blue Angel recorded their second album, which was never released due to personnel changes at Polydor Records. Moreover, the new management terminated the contract with the group. The band continued to play in New York until 1982, when they performed a farewell concert at Studio 54.

We present to your attention a series of photographs taken during the performance of the US Navy aerobatic pilots "Blue Angels" (Blue Angels), which took place on November 7 in Homestead, Florida, as part of.

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1. "Blue Angels" (Eng. Blue Angels) - Aviation of the US Navy.

2. The group was created in 1946.

3. In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to the Far East to participate in the Korean War (this step was caused by a shortage of flight personnel.)

4. In 1951, the Blue Angels were re-formed.

5. The group is currently flying F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers.

6. Max speed during airshows: 700 mph (1300 km/h) and minimum: 120 mph (220 km/h).

7. Aircraft of the Blue Angels aerobatic team are painted in the official colors of the US Navy (blue and gold).

8. Average age of aerobatic team pilots: 33 years. A average age technical staff: 26 years.

9. The Blue Angels team receives a regular salary without any additional monetary allowance, as it is already a great honor to be a member of the legendary aerobatic team.

10. There is a lot of competition among the pilots who want to get into the group.