What is business aviation? Private aviation Our advantages in business aviation

For VIP clients who value their time, comfort and mobility, Vnukovo International Airport offers business aviation services in Vnukovo-3.

The advantages of business aviation compared to conventional flights are obvious. Business aviation passengers do not adjust to airline flight schedules, but choose a flight schedule that is convenient for them. They spend less time checking in at the airport and going through border and customs formalities.

At Vnukovo International Airport, business aviation is served by the following companies:

CJSC Business Aviation Center Vnukovo-3

Vnukovo-3 is the largest business aviation center in Russia and Eastern Europe with its own developed infrastructure, two VIP terminals (international and domestic), car parking and a landscaped protected area. The apron and hangar complexes allow for servicing and simultaneous placement of more than 250 aircraft of various types and modifications. The advantages of using hangars in our climate zone are obvious: they help to preserve expensive aircraft equipment from climatic and biological unfavorable factors, as well as to carry out maintenance. Hangar premises are equipped with heating, ventilation, lighting systems, as well as an automatic fire extinguishing system.

The aviation market is tight and highly competitive. But you can still find niches that small companies can occupy. We are talking about handling and ground handling of flights. Having invested from 5 to 10 million rubles in your business, within a month you can reach point zero and receive your first commissions. It is especially valuable to hear about how to organize this business from those who directly use the services of handlers - from the owners of the airlines. Azat Hakim, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tulpar Air Group, a popular expert on the Russian aviation market, told the BIBOSS portal about what requirements are imposed on handlers and what is the key to their long-term successful work in the market.

Where to start?

The hero of our article notes that opening an airline in our time is a troublesome and thankless task. This business is so serious and low-margin that beginners have nothing to do in it. This could be a hobby for billionaires - they can afford to buy an airline and play with aviation. And there are such examples, but these stories usually end in failure. To open an airline from scratch, you need at least 150-200 million rubles at the initial start, and this is just to get it started, and it is not a fact that these funds can be returned. In recent years, a number of disasters in the Russian aviation market have led to the fact that the Federal Air Transport Agency has set its sights on reducing the number of airlines and consolidating them. Therefore, Azat Hakim does not advise anyone to open an airline now. He also identified several more niches in the market that he does not advise startups to go into. The flight catering market is very competitive. Training will require huge investments: one simulator costs as much as an airplane. Board maintenance is a low-margin business that requires high qualifications. Creating interiors for aircraft will require the creation of an entire mini-factory and the recruitment of a staff of highly professional engineers, and given the fact that there are almost no “unattached” clients on the market, it will be difficult to find orders.

But it is not all that bad. If the airline industry attracts the attention of an entrepreneur, then there is a niche in which a newcomer can try his hand. This is handling (from the English ground handling) - ground handling of flights. These are a kind of intermediaries who represent the interests of airlines in relations with airport enterprises. Employees of the handling company - supervisors - take upon themselves the organization of the flight, negotiate with airports about the take-off and landing of the aircraft, meet and see off the crew, control the supply of food, maintenance, refueling and cleaning of the aircraft, provide the crew with transport and hotel rooms. You don't need a lot of money to start such a business. However, the competition is high, and in order to be allowed into the airport, you must be trusted, you must have connections and a reputation.

The owner of such a business must first of all understand how the aviation industry works, how flights are organized, and how the airport operates. He must know the technical aspects of the crew’s work, departure and arrival times. He must know the technology of preparation for departure, what is involved in what. If he knows all this, say, because he studied to be an aviator, graduated from an aviation institute, and worked somewhere in the industry, then he will be able to negotiate with the airport. You can start without an office - regulate processes from home, even from your car. But as it grows, it will be necessary to rent space inside the airport to accommodate supervisors who meet the crew and service the aircraft.

As a rule, handlers themselves do not clean aircraft interiors or perform maintenance. They simply take care of this away from the airlines and pay for takeoffs and landings at airports, negotiate with cleaning companies, maintenance companies, catering companies, fuel companies, and order minibuses for the crew. It is not profitable for the airlines themselves to maintain a huge staff of workers who would deal with all this incredible number of issues at each airport. And it would be difficult to staff it: it requires completely different qualifications, different experience and different knowledge, and training the appropriate specialists for each carrier would be too expensive and take too much time.

Azat Hakim

Tulpar Aero Group

Getting to the airport is not easy for new handlers. The airport management is trying to take this business into its own hands; as a rule, their companies operate under the name of front men. But if you really want to, you can get into the market. There are a lot of ways. For example, recently some guys surprised me. They contacted me, arranged a meeting and offered their handling services at all airports in the world. They themselves lived in London and moved to Moscow because they believe that the market here is growing. They have offices in Europe and Malta, operate at many European airports, and in Moscow. The competition there is fierce, but they succeed. Why? They speak English perfectly, have a good education, are very energetic and charismatic. If I was persuaded, that says a lot. From the first meeting I believed in them. This is handling at the world level. Moreover, they started only 5-7 years ago. But their advantage is that they also organize the flights themselves. Not every airline has such strong specialists to quickly and competently obtain permission to fly to other countries; this is a difficult process. But these guys have everything worked out, they provide a full range of services, including permission to fly to another country. They also take on all expenses themselves; the airline can pay these expenses and their services after the flight or even after a month. This is the main advantage of turning to handlers, since the airline does not always have free money before the flight, but you already need to fly.

What other market nuances do you need to know? You need to know by sight the participants in this market - airlines, aircraft owners, everyone who will use your services. And start searching: who will become the starting customer, at which airports with whom you can negotiate.

Investment size

Azat Hakim

Tulpar Aero Group

For the airline to trust me, I need personal contact, I need to come, meet, I need to see these people. Only after this I give the command to sign the contract.

Where to look for funds for startup? Experts do not recommend taking out loans. The business is low-margin, and loan interest will eat up all your income, you may even go into the red. This is not an option for a startup. You can sell your vacant property and invest your own funds. Or find investors and partners. This type of business is not interesting for state support funds.

The running costs of this business will depend on the volume of orders. In addition, if you hire staff, you will need to pay salaries and pay for business trips, because the supervisor must be in the city where the aircraft being serviced will arrive in advance to negotiate with the airport, prepare the runway, and so on.

Step-by-step instruction

Some handling companies enter into contracts with fuel refueling companies, purchase kerosene and refuel the plane themselves, thereby earning more. If the fuel company does not want to enter into an agreement with you, know that this is not prohibited by law today. You can complain to the antimonopoly committee, and they will quickly be forced to sign an agreement and place the fuel in storage.

The airline should not have any problems during the flight - this is the task of the handling company. If a malfunction suddenly occurs and the plane lands on an alternate runway, you need to quickly organize refueling there, etc. Sometimes handlers also take on the services of obtaining visas for the crew.

Azat Hakim

Tulpar Aero Group

What kind of personnel is needed for the job? In the beginning, 2-3 people will be enough. The more customers, the more specialists you need. A company with serious turnover employs a maximum of 30 people. Each manager takes one or two flights and specializes in them - some in the south of Europe, some in the north, some take on Asia. Of course, this requires knowledge of the language. Without knowledge of English, there is no point in hiring a person for a supervisor position. As a rule, work is around the clock - mainly due to the time difference between cities and countries. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for a shift organization of work. Plus, employees must understand finance and accounting, since all their work is related to payments for the services of organizations. Also, handlers must be communicative, be able to negotiate and respond quickly to changing conditions.

Azat Hakim

Tulpar Aero Group

A handler's earnings depend on his ability to obtain discounts from airports, cleaning companies, hotels, and maintenance companies. Due to these discounts, the competitiveness of the handler increases - he can offer his services at lower prices. However, the handler can bargain with the airline: if it is ready to pay for your services today, then they will cost, conditionally, a thousand dollars. If she is ready to pay only in a month, then you can increase the agency commission, since it turns out that you are giving the airline money at interest. And airlines do this because they understand that money is expensive. But what percentage you can negotiate with them depends on your art. As a rule, in the case of an annual deferment, 10% per annum is added.

At first, you don’t have to rent the premises. Airlines typically don't even ask if you have an office. The main thing is that you cope with the organization of the flight without delays, because the laws of the market are cruel: once you let the customer down, or rather, his passengers, he will no longer work with you. But later you will understand that rented space in an airport building is not a luxury, but a necessity. The supervisor must be located near the airfield in order to quickly receive and track arrival information and meet the aircraft on time. Its area can be small - 10-15 sq.m. This is a simple room where supervisors can stay when, for example, an arrival is delayed.

Documentation

You do not need to obtain any special permits to start this business. Previously, this type of activity was licensed, but today this procedure has been abolished, since it does not require special knowledge, but only entrepreneurial acumen and organizational skills. A person can work at an airport for some time, and if he is smart and proactive, he can manage a handling company.

Opening checklist

• Analysis of the market and competitors (range of services, prices, personnel, etc.),
• Selecting a range of services,
• Registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC, registration with the tax office,
• Search for employees (if necessary),
• Conducting interviews, selecting candidates,
• Shift scheduling,
• Applying for a loan (if necessary),
• Searching for first clients through negotiations,
• Concluding agreements with airline service providers.

Is it profitable to open

The cost of the company's services consists of the cost of organizing the flight and the agent's commission. On average in the market, the agent commission ranges from 3 to 10% of the cost of all expenses. Sometimes 10% is taken - if the flight needs to be organized urgently, for example, on the same day. It is not easy to get permission to fly from the country in such a short time; you need to make a lot of calls and spend a lot of energy. And airlines, understanding this, are increasing their commission.

The pace of development of business aviation in Russia and, in particular, in Moscow is so great that it is difficult to compare it with any other industry. According to experts, the business flight market is not yet fully saturated, which contributes to the emergence and development of new companies. All business aviation companies can be roughly divided into large operators and small ones. Each has its own niche, its own fleet of aircraft (own or leased), and its own layer of clients.

Business aviation airlines: equally divided between Russian and foreign operators

There are currently over 50 airlines registered in Moscow that provide business class flight services. This is approximately equal numbers of foreign and Russian players. At the same time, it is difficult to say which operator is a “pure” carrier (providing exclusively business aviation services). There are only a few such operators, while the rest provide brokerage services and play in the tourist air charter market to maximize market coverage. The largest market players provide management services (help interested businessmen and companies choose and purchase their own aircraft).

Clients prefer foreign aircraft to business aviation

As already mentioned, foreign business aviation airlines have a significant share in the Moscow air charter market. This trend was typical at the beginning of market development: when domestic carriers with their aircraft converted for business jets competed weakly with modern, comfortable, compact and inexpensive foreign jets.

However, recently the main Russian operators can afford to purchase and lease foreign-made business aircraft. Knowing the needs of your client, Moscow business aviation companies create the proper level of comfort, gradually expanding their influence.

As for the pricing policy offered by Moscow operators, it can be classified as average. However, the increasing level of competition, updating the fleet of equipment, new approaches to service, according to experts, will soon lead to cost optimization without affecting quality.

Business aviation companies: features of work

The most popular destinations provided by the capital business aviation airlines— flights from Moscow to St. Petersburg, to the Far East and to the Western European part of the continent.

Business class aircraft include aircraft whose capacity does not exceed 19 passengers. This is a rather relative concept, since in no country in the world (including Russia) business aviation is not regulated and has no legal status. All business aviation flights are classified by airports as civil aviation.

Which business aviation airline to choose?

The most popular in Moscow business aviation aircraft on average they can fly 7-10 thousand kilometers and have a capacity of up to 20 passengers. All popular business jets are foreign-made. Russian aircraft factories cannot yet offer a single small aircraft that could be called a domestic business jet.

However, Moscow operators still use converted Tu-154, Tu-134, Yak-42 and Yak-40 for flights. Their service life is close to exhaustion (there are still a few years left), after which they will have to look for an alternative replacement. It should be noted that clients of Moscow business air carriers still prefer to fly on foreign jets. We can list the most famous business aviation aircraft in Moscow. These are Hawker 800, Challenger 604, Global Express XRS, Gulfstream G200 and others.

With all the variety of airlines in the capital, the issue of choosing a suitable carrier remains relevant. Against this background, the operator Charter Tour stands out. The company provides its customers with an advantageous choice between Russian and foreign aircraft, has an optimal level of service and fair prices. And ordering a plane from this operator is no more difficult than calling a taxi.

We continue to look at the interiors of business jets presented at the September business aviation exhibition Jet Expo-2013 in Vnukovo.

Bombardier GE 6000 VistaJet

The people at Vista Jet value their reputation so much that before publishing these photos on the blog, they asked me to send them the photos to give them permission to post them online. Yes please, I don't feel sorry.

Company founder Thomas Flor: “I wanted to change private aviation so that people like you and me could have a simple business model and fly in complete comfort. Our philosophy is simple: to give you the best. It is at the core of everything we do.”

The company offers two types of transportation – “Your Program” for frequent flyers and “Flights on Demand” for those who use business aviation services from time to time. For example, fly to Monte Carlo, play roulette and soak your body in the coolness of the Mediterranean Sea, covered with a thin film of suntan oil...

Founded in 2004, Vista Jet has become one of the fastest growing private airlines in the world. Its Bombardier aircraft are located in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and West Africa and are ready to take you anywhere in the world. Every whim for your money!

Let me remind you that the plane can cover a distance of more than 11 thousand kilometers. A non-stop flight can be made, for example, from Los Angeles to Tokyo. In half an hour the plane can reach a cruising altitude of 13,100 m. The maximum speed of the airliner is 950 km/h at a flight altitude of 15,545 m

I asked one of the stures to give me a crumpled card, she went to ask another sture for a better one and she said that no, no, we won’t give that away! Damn, I should have grabbed the crumpled one and ran away while they were offering it. For the first time in a business jet there are safety instructions.

The brother of the previous aircraft is the Bobmardier GE XRS from ComLux Aviation.

Machine 9H-XRS belongs to Comlux Malta LTD, ST HELENA’S BUILDINGS TUMAS FENECH STREET BIRKIRKARA. The same aircraft was presented at the EVACE statics in Geneva (the coolest business aviation exhibition in Europe).

The Comlux Group of Companies provides modern, comfortable and reliable aircraft throughout the world on VIP charters. With their ramp, all small Comlux business jets seem to say: “I’ll fly wherever I want!” Saving time, yeah.

Maximum speed 935 km/h, flight range 11,112 km with 8 passengers and 4 crew members. Maximum certified flight altitude 15,545 meters

Located in the aft section, the lounge is separated from the forward command section by the salon conference area.

Modest, but tasteful, everything is certified and exquisite.

The table can be removed if desired, and the chairs can be folded out. But a long flight in a leather seat is questionable in terms of comfort, I suggest changing to velvety sofas, which are required to have seat belts.

The interior light control is pulled out from the side panel - the passenger can choose the environment and lighting to their liking.

The number of passengers is up to 19, depending on how many people the main passenger has in his retinue, but no more.

Everything in the cockpit is familiar and normal; we haven’t even gotten to the iPads on the dashboard yet... are they needed?

EMBRAER Legacy 650 – another one with its own gangway

The crew of this board carries everything with them - from a can of cola to signal vests.

But nevertheless, he is very sociable and ready to show his bird

And there is something to see here. Although it is not as large as the ACJ, there is enough space for both the Main Passenger and his accompanying persons.

You can discuss the problems of the global crisis, or you can just have breakfast while watching the sunrise through the window.

During climb and landing, all this beauty is removed - safety comes first!

Jackie Chan has just such an aircraft in his fleet. You can't stop flying beautifully.

It's always good to know what you're flying over.

And if you miss the comfort of home during the flight, teddy bears and pillows will create the atmosphere of your home’s living room on board.

The mimemeter is especially off scale at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

Not only the living room should be cozy, but also the toilet room. A flower is included for comfort. From Brazilians to Americans - GULFSTREAM G280.

The G280 has the longest range and cruising speed in the super-midsize business aviation category.

The G280 features the PlaneView280™ flight deck, which enhances safety by providing reduced pilot workload and improved situational awareness.

The most spacious cabin in its class, the G280 can accommodate up to ten passengers in two areas. The large on-board galley allows passengers to receive the highest level of comfort.

One hundred percent fresh air, low pressure, large windows and silence reduce fatigue and create a cozy atmosphere in the cabin.

They asked to film without details.

I don’t think this applies to pillows; they were the main trend at this JetExpo.

The owners do not prohibit removing parts of the pads, thank you.

And again the toilet room and again the flowers.

During the flight, access to the luggage compartment is free and it doesn’t matter if you put your gadget in your suitcase - no one will take it out without you.

Buy G280! It costs nothing - 24 million green!

Don't want a G280? So buy the G450, very inexpensively.

The Gulfstream G450 is a large, long-range business aviation aircraft, a direct descendant of the legendary GIV series aircraft, the most popular business jet in the world. With its intercontinental range, the G450 takes you from Dallas to Paris with ease.

The aircraft can reach a maximum operational speed of Mach 0.88 and carry a group of eight passengers up to 4,350 nautical miles (8,056 km) at a normal cruising speed of Mach 0.80.

Attention to detail.

G450 operators can choose from six interior configuration options to customize the cabin to suit their needs.

These individual cabin configurations provide comfortable seating for up to 16 passengers and six sleeping berths.

A kitchenette with a microwave and a sink for washing fresh vegetables and fruits brought from the markets of Central Asia.

A personal steward is not included as standard.

The technological level of the G450 flight deck is recognized as the highest in business aviation. The aircraft's avionics display critical flight status data on 14-inch (36 cm) LCD displays in landscape format. Buy our elephants!

Small aviation, ultra-light aviation, private aviation - these are all terms of the same concept. All of them refer to aircraft that are similar in weight, power, engine type and passenger capacity to passenger cars. Small aviation is primarily a one- or two-seat aircraft, a light helicopter for 4 passengers, and a gyroplane can be classified in this category. The main task of this category of transport is personal transportation of a person.

What is small aviation?

Private aviation is taking over the world. The usual aluminum in the frame of aircraft has been replaced by composites of high-tech carbon materials. Small aircraft are made from carbon film, which is somewhat reminiscent of polyethylene, by rolling the film into many layers. Ultimately, the skin of the aircraft is somewhat reminiscent of a cocoon. The aircraft becomes much lighter, which allows for significant savings on fuel, and this, in turn, greatly reduces the cost of transportation.

About 90% of all aircraft on earth operate in small aviation, almost all of them are classified as small aircraft flights. For example, about 250 thousand private aviation aircraft are used in the United States. 5,400 runways, hangars, and much more are specially allocated for them. The total annual income from such aircraft is about $50 billion.

Some European countries (Ireland, England and Germany) provide the opportunity, after receiving a private pilot's document, after some time, if desired, to pilot an airliner. Many programmers, teachers, doctors and others are just line pilots.

Small aviation in Russia

In Russia, the term “private aviation” is not defined by GOST, but it is taken into account that aircraft with a thrust of up to 500 kgf can be considered small aviation. At the same time, the number of passengers should not exceed 19 people. As for helicopters, their kgf indicators for small aircraft are in the range of 500-4500 kgf, and drones can have a thrust of up to 8600 kgf. For convenience, many small businesses prefer private flights and business trips through private aviation.

Airplane

The most popular private aircraft in the Russian Federation are the Yak-52 and L-29. The cost of flights as a passenger is respectively 150 and 400-600 dollars per hour of flight.
The Yak-52 is a sports aircraft for training, a monoplane with an aerodynamic low wing. The length of the aircraft is approximately 7.7 meters, the wingspan is about 10 m. The weight of the empty aircraft is 1000 kg, and the weight of the loaded aircraft is up to 1200 kg. The plane is two-seater.
The L-29 is also a training aircraft, with a crew of two, a wingspan and a length of about 10 meters. The empty weight of the L-29 is 2200 kg.
Today, the Cessna 172 and Yak-18 are popular. The cost of a Cessna 172 at the moment is about 1,500,000 rubles, and the Yak-18 will cost 2,200,000 rubles.

Helicopter

In addition to airplanes, you can also pamper yourself with an American-made Robinson helicopter, but this will cost 600-700 thousand dollars, and the Mi-34 will cost 400,000 dollars. The Russian-made Sigma ultralight aircraft, which has fairly good quality and efficiency, now costs about 55,000 euros, but if you need a six-seater Eclipse aircraft to transport business partners or just a sightseeing flight, then you will have to pay at least for it $1.6 million, not including fuel.

Autogyro

The gyroplane is a lightweight platform for transportation, which, weighing only 40 kg, is capable of reaching speeds of up to 180-200 km/h due to power of up to 140 hp. Speed ​​is provided by a lightweight water-cooled ROTAX 793 engine. The device looks like a helicopter, has a closed cockpit, and the aircraft itself can be modified, as an option - changing the engine. Autogyros take off with a run of 10-50 meters. Due to the supporting rotor, the lifting force is quite significant and, unlike a helicopter, the propeller is directed against the movement, taking on the role of a wing with a positive angle of attack. There are several options for a screw engine, but the diameter of the screw will not depend on this, the engine will simply affect the load capacity. This compact device can land anywhere in Russia due to its small dimensions, and the cost of the device is such that even a non-rich person can buy it.

Paralets and trikes

The paraglider and the trike are approximately similar structures, the main part where the pilot and the engine are located, both aircraft have the same, a trolley welded from pipes, with a pilot’s seat and wheels installed, a motor and controls attached to it. A propeller is attached to the motor, which moves the entire structure in the airspace. In flight, the frame itself rests either on a semi-rigid delta-shaped wing, which consists of a frame of duralumin tubes covered with airtight material, or on a frameless wing - a parachute. The paraglider and trike are structurally elementary means of flight. The peculiarity of these aircraft is their easy disassembly, packaging and small volume when folded, as well as their low weight, making them unpretentious to take-off and landing surfaces, storage and maintenance. In fact, an ordinary garage is enough to service and store paralets and trikes.

Today, many design bureaus work in the field of ultralight aircraft. In Russia there is a whole base already prepared to promote the introduction and development of small aviation in the country. This base was created on the basis of the Samara Aerospace University. SSAU graduates have formed an advanced aviation sector in the Samara region - the Aerosamara Design Bureau (former student aircraft design bureau of SKB LA SSAU), creating and assembling unique devices in their own production.

Aircraft registration

To register an aircraft, you must obtain a permit and license to operate the aircraft. The cost of paperwork costs about 1 million rubles, in addition, you will have to wait from a month to a year for the permit to be fully issued. The certificate is issued after passing all authorities for 2-5 years. After this, the vessel should be re-registered, undergoing a new registration process.

In the USA, for example, a helicopter can be registered in 2-3 days, without subsequent re-registration.

Flying in private vehicles

Modern flights in Russia

At the moment, it is possible to avoid traffic jams in Moscow by ordering your own personal small plane. Formally, there are no restrictions for registering a personal aircraft in any aviation organization for civilians. At the moment, in the Russian Federation there is no opportunity to buy an aircraft, as in a car dealership, but all this can be done through intermediaries. Domestic aircraft are not expensive, but they are inferior in quality and reliability to foreign technology. The best aircraft in Russia for private transport are the A-33, L-42, LA-8 and Su-31. Due to the high cost of certification.

The next important question is: how can you get the quality service and maintenance you need at the airfield?

Russia's infrastructure is still poorly developed and is far inferior to world standards. The personnel crisis in aviation, the small number of training grounds, the lack of necessary additional spare parts and the weakness of DOSAAF have a negative impact on the development of private aviation.

Flights to the EU and USA

In Europe and the USA, light or small aviation is perceived as commonplace as road travel. You get a driver's license, a license, undergo a technical inspection, a gas check, buy a card, and you can fly on business or just for leisure. Before departure, it is necessary to inform the pilot of the weather situation, make an entry in the log of the airfield from which the departure is taking place, write down and inform the destination, after which you can safely fly.

In Europe and the USA, flights are becoming more accessible, the number of flights is growing, and at the same time, interest in the business in which investors are investing is growing. The main clients of small aviation are middle class people, and not just the upper strata of the population. The annual US turnover from small aircraft alone is about 80% of all air traffic.

Small aviation in Europe and the States is the training of professional aviation couriers. Every person's aviation history is erased and not preserved at all; in addition, no one pays any taxes for flights. If we take, for example, Lithuania and Belarus, these countries have recently moved to the European level of small aviation. Thanks to European standards, private aviation began to develop in full swing there.

It is believed that a trial pilot project of a progressive legal framework and small aviation hubs is needed, which will realize the possibility of developing small aviation in the Russian Federation, at least in several large cities.

How to fly in the EU

One of the special schools in Ireland, which was organized by businessmen, has 6 employees on its staff. This school provides theoretical and practical training for aviation flights. Some people can learn to fly using the Internet or purchased special books, especially if they have completed quality training in college. The theoretical teaching system is almost the same as in the physical and technical college. Freedom on the road, strict requirements and exams will give you the opportunity to discover the sky after passing the exams.

Personal, elite flight training schools in the United States train both line pilots and pilots of airliners that are used to transport cargo and passengers on Airbuses or Boeings. Becoming a line pilot is now quite easy. Having received a document certifying a person as a private pilot, it is possible to fly “hours” for personal purposes and then be able to increase your flight time to 200 hours. After passing the exams, there is always the opportunity to become eligible to work as an instructor in an aviation club.

From this moment on, you no longer need to spend your own money on training and flying hours. If an interested pilot reaches 500 hours of flight time, he can even become a commercial pilot. If you wish, you can take exams for piloting aircraft with a large crew and become the second pilot of an airliner. All this can be easily achieved by combining any profession with flying and moving in parallel along two career ladders. Tens and hundreds of doctors, programmers, scientists and teachers have the opportunity to fly small or even large aircraft, while businessmen or diplomats more often prefer private flights on small planes and helicopters.

The realities of flying small aircraft in the Russian Federation, training ordinary citizens in aircraft management

Illusory lightness. A flight, just for familiarization, with an instructor, for 20-30 minutes, which includes only basic information, costs at least 5,000 rubles. You can save on your first flight using special coupons or promotions. The student will not be given the steering wheel in his hands right away; the minimum that the instructor will allow him is to hold the steering wheel in his hands. Many people want to experience this feeling a second time. The hope is that the client will become excited and want to continue training again in order to learn how to fly the plane himself. Those who are “hooked” on flying have to pay a lot, especially at the stage of learning to fly.

Amateur aviation is not a cheap pleasure. At nearby Moscow airfields they charge at least 8-10 thousand rubles for an hour of flight. In most aviation clubs, the cost of an hour of flight depends on many factors, for example, the model of the aircraft, the number of flights the aircraft has flown over the entire period of operation, and so on. The cost of a flight is reduced if you pay for several hours of flight time at once.

A small video of the training of civil aviation pilots; it is no different, except for the type of aircraft, from the training of small aviation pilots.

For example, at ChelAvia, where they fly only on Italian Tecnam aircraft, the cost of a flight hour when paying for the entire internship (42 hours) is approximately 8-9 thousand rubles, but when paying for 10 hours or more - 9 thousand rubles in an hour. No one will let a new recruit into the sky, including with an instructor, even for an hour. The maximum flight time for a beginner is about an hour, and the cost of the flight is calculated by the minute.

A beginner can take the helm of an aircraft only after 15 hours of flight with an instructor - these are the rules. In fact, this may happen much later, due to the client's poor learning ability. A trainee's solo flight is allowed only a year after the start of training, when the instructor is confident in the knowledge and skills of his student. It takes about the same amount of time to learn to drive a car at a driving school.

Without a private pilot's certificate, you are only allowed to fly along routes or over an airfield. Flights on routes are allowed only when accompanied by an instructor - again, a similar example with driving a car. To become a full-fledged pilot, you must undergo training, pass an exam and obtain a PPL pilot certificate. The main thing in training is the theoretical part, knowledge of aerodynamics, aviation meteorology, aircraft design, radio communications and the subject of aircraft navigation. The total cost of the course in Moscow costs about 300,000 rubles. In addition, you can experience vertical takeoff, both on an airplane and a helicopter. By itself, a helicopter consumes a lot of fuel, at least 50 liters per hour, which is 5 times more compared to light aircraft. For this reason, the cost of training even on light and economical helicopters can reach a million rubles or more. If you compare the cost of a flight on a light aircraft and a helicopter, then, for example, at Aviamarket they charge 23,000 rubles for an hour of flight, but the training course lasts 42 hours of flight time, like other aircraft. After completing the training course, a private pilot certificate is issued.

The peak of popularity of small aircraft occurred in 2003-2004, then the wave of interest disappeared a little, and now a new trend of flights on small aircraft has emerged. If in Europe the airspace is allocated very strictly, then in Russia you can fly just for fun, for a hobby, far from air corridors and air bases. The average speed of a regular, simple helicopter, which can be taken after training, is up to 200 km/h, and the horizontal speed of small biplanes is 200-250 km/h, with fuel consumption 5 times lower.

It is easier to fly an airplane than a helicopter due to less influence of air currents. Helicopters are more suitable for private small transport, and airplanes are used more often for entertainment, of course, if this concerns small aircraft and not a cargo airliner. In the European Union and the United States, an entire entertainment culture has developed based on ultralight aircraft. The leader among aerobatics competitions is the Red Bull Air Race, which is held at various venues around the world.