Flying beauties: Russian women who successfully fly passenger planes. Are there female civil aviation pilots in Russia?

— Why is the profession of a pilot considered male?

— Apparently because initially flying on airplanes was a dangerous and difficult business, and the first aeronauts were real testers. During the Second World War, not only men took to the air. Women's regiments and units left a bright historical mark. As for working in civil aviation From the post-war period to the present day, I think one of the reasons was the creation of liners with a control system that involves physical effort. But there have always been female exceptions, who flew both the An-2 in the north, and the complex Tu-134, An-24, Yak-40. The stereotype of the "male environment" was kept for a long time, it is noticeable even now.

— When did you decide you wanted to fly?

— The conscious desire to become a pilot came after the initial flight with an instructor in a small sports aircraft. My first flying club teacher, Sergei Nikolaevich Dadykin, managed to create an incredibly comfortable and favorable learning environment for us, then still schoolchildren. In this flight, I felt what piloting is, and after that no power: neither stereotypes that this is still not a profession for a girl, nor the surprise of others, nor financial difficulties could stop me. From the age of seventeen I knew what I wanted to do. The flying club itself, in which I was brought up, was a very attractive and romantic place. It is unfortunate that this aviation structure in the budget version is now almost abolished.

from the personal archive of the hero

— Where did you learn your profession?

— I studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Civil Aviation. In my course I was the only girl, but each aviation educational institution keeps its legends about female pilots. And teachers always remember them with pleasure. I felt respectful towards myself, I was accepted on an equal footing.

— What is the percentage of female pilots in Russia today? Does it differ from similar indicators in the world?

— I don't have exact statistics. I can assume that about 50 women work in the civil aviation structure of Russia today. This is a very modest figure. While in major European and American airlines, the ratio of women is approximately 20-30% of total number pilots.

— Have you encountered distrust from male pilots, stewards, technicians?

— It all depends on how you feel. I can not imagine that my crew can not trust me and doubt. The same applies to ground personnel. Seconds of doubt in the eyes of colleagues are replaced by our constructive cooperation after they realize that I am competent, prepared and in the right place.

— Do female pilots have the same workload as male pilots?

— The job of a line pilot is challenging not only and not so much during critical phases of flight such as takeoff and landing, but also because of its intense and often changing schedule. The change of day and night activity is harmful and poorly tolerated by both men and women. Personally, my schedule from the "male" is no different.

Maria Uvarovskaya

press service of Aeroflot

— How did your relatives react to your decision to become a pilot?

— Fortunately for me, they did not forbid or hinder the realization of the dream, and at the stage of training they helped morally and financially. My success is their direct merit.

— Tell us about your form. Are there any rules about what a female pilot should wear? And how is the uniform sewn for you?

— Form, as in general appearance, is part of our work and self-confidence. It is important to look restrained, so that it is comfortable to work, and, of course, beautiful, we are women. By international standards the set consists of trousers and a tunic, it is obligatory to wear a tie, a headdress in the form of a cap is always with you. Aeroflot orders a personal uniform for all female pilots, we can discuss and make our own adjustments together with the masters.

— Were there any cases personally on your flights or on the flights of other female pilots, when passengers somehow reacted in a special way to the message that they would have to fly with a woman at the helm?

— Some passengers try to thank and express their impression of the flight. Someone asked to be photographed, and there was a case when a passenger asked to leave an autograph in her passport. Personally, I was touched by the case when one woman, getting off the plane after the arrival of the flight, asked me to write on paper words of support and encouragement for her daughter and sign my name and position. I don’t know a more pleasant mission if my words and I helped a person to believe in himself and overcome obstacles.

The list of typically male professions is very long. For example, you will not find a woman - a miner, a fireman, a machinist ... But there are pilots! And not only in America (in the homeland of militant feminism), but also here. Who are these beauties and was their fate thorny?

"Nuuu, pilot ..." - you say. - “There, we even had Tereshkova, the first woman cosmonaut” ...

Yes, in our country no one will forbid a young girl to learn and get a job at Aeroflot. Another thing - will she want to do it? In addition to the skills to control a winged machine, the pilot is required to be well versed in the technical part, in the "nuts", in a word. Well, besides, the pilot must always be in good physical form(not to mention the ability to cope with stress and high level internal discipline). It's easier to go to the teacher, well, or to the manager!

Where are pilots trained? In Ulyanovsk or St. Petersburg, in flight universities. And also in schools located in smaller cities (Sasovo, Omsk, Kaluga, Buguruslan, Krasny Kut).

What do you need to submit upon admission?

• Data on overall school performance.
• Tests that confirm the excellent state of health.
• Pass psychological tests.

During study in classes reigns almost army discipline. Absenteeism is not tolerated here and no one will give marks for “eyes” or a short skirt.

So how many pilots do we have? For 2016, 450 women received a flight license. Of these, 30 women successfully pilot passenger aircraft. More than half, namely 20, are in Aeroflot (five of these ladies became first pilots, that is, crew commanders).

Why so few? The fact is that having received a certificate, the pilot must pilot only cargo aircraft for some time, improving his skills. Only after that he can be trusted with passengers (and then after retraining at the flight base - which, by the way, is also not cheap).

And do not think that the steering wheel is issued once and for all. Women (like men) constantly improve their skills, train on simulators and pass a medical commission. This moment, in particular, is shown in the Soviet film "Crew".

How about over the ocean? There are many more pilots in the country of victorious feminism. 27 thousand ladies received the license. About 1000 girls pilot civil aircraft.

When did women first take the helm?

The war acted as the engine of progress (as is the case with the development of many other male specialties). During the First World War, the number of men fell sharply, and the authorities of many countries allowed women to sit in the cockpit of winged vehicles, if only there was someone to fight.

Thus, the Frenchwoman Elisa De Laroche became the first female pilot (you can see her in this retro photo). She first took to the skies over a hundred years ago - in 1910.

IN Russian Empire there were also such revolutionaries - the most famous example can be called Princess Shakhovskaya (1915). By the end of the war, dozens of military pilots could be counted in many countries. In World War II, this figure increased even more (remember at least the “winged witches” that German soldiers were so afraid of).

As for civil aviation, even after the Second World War, it was dominated exclusively by representatives of the strong half of humanity. And only in the 21st century this "fashion" has changed.

Of course, in fairness, we note: in the 70s, courses for future pilots consisting of only girls were recruited twice in the USSR (90 graduates graduated from them). But then this practice died out on its own.

Names of modern "heavenly ballerinas"

As they say in our country, "heroes need to be known by sight." Such heroines - for sure! Moreover, their faces are beautiful, their characters are strong, their fate is unusual and more than interesting. Of course, we cannot tell about each of the thirty. But we can shed some light on the biography of women who communicate with the press more often than others.

Maria Uvarovskaya

Since 2014, he has been the commander of the Airbus A320 of Aeroflot.

She claims that in Russia it is not a problem to learn to be a pilotess. However, getting a job and piloting an airplane is still difficult. Firstly, many passengers are more than wary of pilots in a skirt, and secondly, it is not easy to work with every male colleague (and the “complete set” of crews changes all the time, as the management believes: if the pilots are not familiar, they they will not trust each other, which means they will more carefully check the indicators of devices, controlling each other).

It is also difficult with relatives who do not always let their daughters or wives go to heaven. For example, the first thing Maria does after every landing is to call her mother. Although she let her daughter go to conquer the skies, she is terribly worried about her during each flight.

Pilotess A-320.

This is not just the owner of a flight license, but the continuer of the family business (all the men in Olga's family were aviators).

For this woman, the biggest problem in her work turned out to be going on maternity leave. She had to hide her interesting position to the last, retraining for another model of the aircraft already with a decent tummy. Before giving birth, the authorities, having learned about the upcoming decree of the woman, fired her with shouts. Fortunately, everything ended well - when the baby grew up, Olga was accepted into Aeroflot.

Children are the hardest part of the job of a female pilot. It’s good when there is someone to look after them (for example, Olga’s son lives with her mother, her grandmother).

The youngest pilot in our country (and throughout the world too), who received the helm of a passenger ship at only 23 years old. He has been piloting Superjet since the end of 2016.

And then there is Olga Gracheva (since 2009 - Boeing 767 commander), Tatyana Rymanova (Boeing 737 commander), Elena Novichkova (Airbus A320 FAC), Daria Sinichkina (piloting the Sukhoi Superjet-100 since 2015), Larina Evmurzaeva (the first pilot among Chechen women) and many others.

Well, this video will tell about another living legend, with whom we were lucky to be born. Svetlana Kapanina was named the seven-time absolute champion in aerobatics (and this title was given to her not by other "heavenly swallows", but by harsh male pilots). Yes, this woman is probably the only one in the sports federation ... And at the same time the best! As her fans say, "ace in a skirt." So, "Wings of Parma", performance for 2017. It's really beautiful!

And why, sobbsno, "Uvarovskaya is called here the first woman in Russia - the commander of an aircraft"? IMHO, this is not the case:
Our contemporary Nina Vasilievna Lityushkina.
Nina Vasilievna is an airliner pilot, no woman in the world has flown so many hours at the controls of a jet aircraft.
Article from the newspaper "Arguments and Facts":

Avialady.

Men love to play pranks on female drivers. But it is unlikely that anyone will be able to throw a barb in the direction of this helmsman. Nina Lityushkina controls not a car, but an airplane! She is a first-class pilot, for many years she was the commander of the Il-18, now she is the pilot of the Tu-154 aircraft. The total flight time is about 24 thousand hours! This is a unique indicator even for male pilots. Lityushkina is the only female pilot in Russia and former USSR who has so many accident-free flying hours.

She studied and honed her flying skills in the skies of her native Mordovia. On her "Annushka" Nina Vasilievna transported passengers and cargo to all corners of the Volga region. Delivered doctors to hard-to-reach areas, took out patients. Since 1971, it has been in the sky of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, then it completely expanded its horizons, began to fly to various parts of our country and neighboring countries.

Nina Vasilievna has an excellent command of the An-2, Il-14, Il-18, Tu-154 piloting technique. She has a permit for control and test flights, can carry VIPs, flies in a reduced composition - without a navigator, has mastered flights using satellite navigation systems. By the way, in August 2007, the pilot received the Nesterov medal. This is the most honorable insignia in Russian aviation. In the airline where Nina Vasilievna works, such an award is still in a single copy.

Article in the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk worker":

Do-well! At the helm - pilots in earrings! ..

She tore her eyes from the instruments, turned to Governor Lebed and smiled. Alexander Ivanovich saw a charming woman in a flight uniform, and soon found out that friends and colleagues recently congratulated Nina Vasilyevna Lityushkina on her 35th anniversary of flight work and 20,000 hours of accident-free flying. This among women is a kind of world record. The general bowed gallantly and stepped out of the cockpit. A few minutes later he returned, brought an elegant box of chocolates and gave Nina Vasilievna ...

Her colleague Albert Nikolaevich Zhukov, the commander of the same type of aircraft, said briefly but clearly about her:

Aspired to the sky, dreamed, wanted, hit - through DOSAAF!

And he is right: there was no other way to this profession for girls, only through sports flying clubs. Not everyone could withstand the grueling trials and merciless selection. After all, it has always been considered: aerobatics is a man's business ...

Nina was born in November 1942 in the Mordovian village of Chukola, Ardat region. Soon, her father went to the front, it was not easy for her mother to cope with four children, and Nina began to live with her grandmother. Tatyana Pavlovna gave the girl an Orthodox upbringing.

Shortly after the war, Nina watched the film "Night Witches" - about the Taman women's aviation regiment and its battles with the Nazis. And these "witches" dragged her into the sky!..

Having finished high school, worked in Saransk at an instrument-making plant and went to Kuibyshev. Here, at the flying club, she managed to pass the initial training of a glider instructor, combining it with the work of a receptionist at a river port. And in the report card almost all excellent grades, only "Charters Soviet army"and" Fundamentals of military education. "Alas! It is difficult to defeat female psychology ...

At the same time, she mastered flying on Kai-12 gliders from the Hercules-3 winch and on the L-12 Blanik, followed the plane ... The desperate girl made 172 flights, flying almost 36 hours, more than ten of them were soaring, that is, the most virtuoso.

The road to the sky continued ... Two years later, Lityushkina was sent to the Central Joint Flight Technical School of the USSR DOSAAF, from which she graduated in 1964 with a degree in instructor-glider pilot.

Nina studied at school on a Yak-12 aircraft, flew 476 times, spending more than 130 hours in the air! .. The girl was awarded the first category in gliding. Lityushkina expressed a desire to work at the Saransk Aviation Enterprise, where she also retrained for the An-2 aircraft. When she flew more than two thousand hours on the Yak and Annushka, she was approved as the commander of the An-2 aircraft. And then at the Kirovograd school of aerobatics, she mastered the IL-14 and An-24.

A lot was written and said about Siberia in those years, and youth does not tolerate monotony, and Nina Lityushkina agrees to work as a co-pilot of the Il-14 and

IL-18 at the Krasnoyarsk Aviation Enterprise. Three years later, he retrained in Ulyanovsk to drive the Il-18 ship and received a postscript to the Krasnoyarsk 214th flight detachment. Her personal file is replenished with invigorating lines: "For health reasons, she is fit for flight work without restrictions, she flies confidently, she is hardy in flights."

She is so little on earth that she barely has time to write letters to her relatives and see her soulmate Galina, a nurse from the clinic. They are like sisters. “There is no buying and selling in friendship, there is only honesty and trust,” says Nina. “I’m afraid of unscrupulous people,” she adds. bad people I see, I bypass". She believes that "aviation is the sphere of decent people."

That is why, apparently, Nina Vasilievna never doubted her choice. And on the flight uniform of Lityushkina, a second badge was added "For an accident-free flight of 7000 hours." And again Nina picks up speed: in Ulyanovsk she retrains at the rate of commanders of ships of aircraft of the Tu system. Here again, the aerobatics of her life - the certification commission in 1983 approves her for the position of co-pilot of the Tu-154.

Nina Vasilievna smiles: “Of the women of Russia, I am the only one flying the Carcass ...

An entry appears in her description: "She performs complex, sometimes hard work on an equal footing with men, without requiring discounts ..." Further, the conclusion: "Worthy of being a candidate for ship commander ..."

It will not be a secret that the human resources departments of the airlines keep the insurance-disposition of the pilots in case of death. Nina Vasilievna bequeaths a modest amount to her sister Lida. We are talking, of course, about the risk in flying. She somehow confidentially says: "The Almighty protects us!" Adds: "I will fly as long as I live!"

And it's natural. Heaven - Nina's prayer, but mother earth once nevertheless took her own - she helped to experience female happiness with Sergey, to share with him the love of heaven. Now she not only meets with delight the takeoff, but also the landing. They are waiting for her on earth, here she and her husband cultivate a garden in which every flower, every blade of grass caresses the heart with joy. Nina worships flowers and regrets that they are not among the indescribable beauties of the sky...

But on the other hand, she is given, as she claims, "to see all of Russia from the sky! .."

That is, she was already a FAC in the USSR, and transferred with this title already in new Russia. So sh...

The sky has always conquered girls, but today girls conquer the sky. How? Easy - follow our detailed instructions.

Theory

Pilots joke that it is easier to master air transport than “terrestrial” transport: there are no cars in the sky that interfere with you. However, learning to fly a plane is not cheap. Therefore, in order not to waste money and time, we advise you to first go through a medical flight commission, because you may not be allowed to sit at the helm for health reasons. But if everything is in order, go to a training center or an aviation club. Before you discover the sky, you need to take a theoretical course. In every training center he has his own, but the standard is 220 hours. A flight book is issued for a novice pilot, where the entire flight time is recorded, checking theoretical knowledge, piloting techniques and flight permits. Yes, you have to take exams too!

Vasil Khanafiev, director of the Aviator aviation training center, Kazan: “There are more men among our cadets, but we are more willing to train girls - they are more disciplined. From November 1, 2010, the sky is “open” for everyone, now it is enough to announce your intention to take the plane into the sky in 2 hours. And that's it - fly!"

Practice

It is better to start training in autumn or winter - in summer it is very hot in the cockpit, and frost is not a hindrance for a beginner, from a huge amount of adrenaline in the blood, a novice pilot does not experience either cold or hunger, and sometimes even fear.
After completing the theoretical course, you will be able to sit at the helm of the aircraft, but so far with an instructor. After 9 hours of practice under his supervision, you will be released on a solo test flight: learn to take off and land on the airfield. The mandatory practical course lasts 42 hours. On average in Russia, the cost of training is about $10,000. profile.

On takeoff

Before the start, the pilots wish each other parity. This means: let the number of takeoffs equal the number of landings. To start your even countdown, you need to get an amateur pilot certificate. Perform excellent test flights - and the certification sheet is in your pocket. Once you have obtained your "rights", you can use them at your training center or others if your instructor puts in a good word for you. In our country, a license to fly an aircraft gives almost nothing. But it can be exchanged for an American or European one, having passed from 2 to 7 exams, and fly freely in other countries, carry passengers, travel, rent a plane, land at any airport.

Stas Piekha, singer:"Under the guidance of an instructor, I performed aerobatic maneuvers, and I fell ill with flying sports. I have never experienced more thrills! This and stress relief, you then feel light and free."

Well, what about the girls?

. Angelina Jolie learned to fly for her son Maddox. When he was a year and a half, they went to the airfield and Maddox looked with admiration at the planes taking off. Angelina promised that she would learn how to manage them by his second birthday - and she kept her word. Here is mom!
. Nicole Richie flew to Canada last year as a co-pilot in support of her clothing line. In addition, she often takes her family to the city center in a private helicopter - to avoid traffic jams, of course.
. Nicole infected her girlfriend Paris Hilton with a passion for the sky. Each piloting lesson costs the latter $ 7,000, but so far there is no news about her flying success.
. As a child, Natasha Ionova really wanted to become a pilot and enter an aviation school. The dream came true in part: a fan paid the singer for 42-hour piloting courses. Gluk'Oza has learned not only to fly a helicopter on her own, but also to do simple tricks, which she is very proud of.

Gisele Bundchen is almost a professional pilot. On her own helicopter, she often flies from her home in Boston to work in New York.

RATE

BUDGET*	ALL INCLUSIVE*
WHAT? THEORETICAL COURSE:	WHAT? THEORETICAL COURSE:
free with self-study and agreements with the instructor.	220 academic hours with experienced teachers - from 19,000 rubles. When paying for the entire course (theory + practice), an individual discount is made in a single payment.
PRACTICAL COURSE:	PRACTICAL COURSE:
feel free to ask for a discount, its size is negotiated individually. If you are lucky, then with mutually beneficial cooperation, the course will cost you mere pennies. Or study abroad: a flight hour there costs several times less.	flight training 42 hours (9 hours with an instructor) - the price depends on the brand of the aircraft and ranges from 300,000 to 450,000 rubles (from $ 10 per minute of flight).
License: free.	License: free. Bonus: coffee, tea, fresh air and sky.
TOTAL: everything is purely individual, depends on the size of the discount (and it comes up to 99%)	TOTAL: from 317,000 to 470,000 rubles

Very often, when there is a conversation about aviation, the question "Is there female aircraft pilots?"

Of course there is. Back in 1910, in France, the first woman in the world received a pilot's license, she became Baroness Raymond de Laroche.

After that, the number of female pilots begins to gradually increase. In 1914 Shakhovskaya Evgeniya became the first in the world military pilot. In the 20th century, only a few managed to fulfill their dream.

In the 1960s, they first formed female enrollment in the flight school of civil aviation.

And already in 73 there was the first graduation, consisting of 40 people, in 77 there was a second, after which about 50 people graduated. But, unfortunately, there were no more issues in our country.

Today, there are about 25,000 female pilots in the US, making America the number one in the world in terms of this indicator. Women were lucky enough to get a license to fly an aircraft. This profession is gaining popularity among women, in terms of percentage, compared to 2003, the number of female pilots has increased by 9% and women make up 5% of the total number of pilots. 400 women, according to 2010, work in major airlines.

Also, discrimination in the profession is rare these days, colleagues and passengers adequately respond to women in the cockpit.

Polish carrier officer, Agnieszka Baran, believes that there is nothing unusual in our century, including a female pilot. There are only 7 girls in her company, the rest are all men. But Agnieszka says that they were never discriminated against, it made them very happy, they considered themselves full-fledged members of the crew.

World aviation goes to that level, becomes the industry where no one is looking at the floor. This is especially true for Western airlines.

As for women pilots in Russia. They provide support to the civil aviation sector.

At the helm, in Aeroflot - the main Russian carrier, you can also meet a girl.

Asia also has female pilots on its staff. Their services are used by Royal Brunei Airlines - the national carrier of Brunei.

I would like to end this article with the phraseAgnieszka Baran:

“Yes, it is more difficult for us girls, even when no one reminds us of it, but still the requirements remain high, and we need to prove that we are also coping with our responsibilities. The most important thing is to never give up and then all your dreams will come true. Learn and work, and most importantly - never give up.