Unusual homemade aircraft. DIY aircraft

I already wrote in the article how the guys from Germany, using standard parts for radio-controlled models, made with their own hands a multicopter capable of lifting a person and lifted him into the air, that is, they made the world's first manned flight on an electric multicopter. This was in October last year. But they didn’t stop there, they didn’t start working on radio-controlled models, but went further and developed a concept for the development of their project, putting their ideas into it.

This is the official unveiling of the E-Volo 2012 promotional video. At the beginning of the video you can see the world's first manned flight of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, with a purely electric drive. In the second part you will be able to see the concepts of research into the future of volocopters.

Pioneer Aviation.

After more than a year of development work on the volocopter VC1, the E-Volo team achieved its goal and on October 21, 2011, the world's first manned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with purely electric drive made its maiden flight.

What is Volocopter?

The E-Volo volocopter is a completely new, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) manned aircraft that cannot be classified into any known category. The fact is that this model was conceived as a device with a purely electric drive, which distinguishes it from conventional aircraft.
With the help of its many propellers, the volocopter can take off and land vertically, like a helicopter. A significant advantage, in addition to the simple design, without complex mechanics, is the redundancy of the rotors. This allows the volocopter to land safely even if some of the propellers or their drives fail.

How does volocopter work?

Control in flight is carried out using a joystick, by wire and, in principle, very easy. Unlike any other vertical take-off aircraft, the control operation is reminiscent of child's play. The machine takes off and lands vertically, and the pilot pays little or no attention to the flight path angle, minimum speed, cockpit position, pitch control and many other things that ordinary pilots do and about which aircraft are so demanding.
Screws give birth to everything upward force, and by selectively changing the rotation speed, they simultaneously replace the steering wheel by changing the direction of movement. In addition, unlike a helicopter, there is no need for mechanical control of the pitch of the rotor at all.
Automatic position control and direction control are carried out using several independent on-board computers that control the rotation speed of each propeller individually and the multicopter as a whole.
As an option, you can use another pusher screw, which will significantly increase horizontal speed flight.

Prospects for the development of Volocopter

Together with a network of renowned partners in the field scientific research and industry, Volo will be moving forward with the development of volocopter technology over the next year.
The goal of the cooperation is a two-seat volocopter that complies with safety standards, and is based on the concept of study and evolution of the VC 2P, with the following performance characteristics:

Speed over 100 km/h
minimum flight altitude ceiling 6500 feet
take-off weight 450 kg
more than one hour of flight time

I understand that we can’t expect substantive comments from our public, but here’s how American enthusiasts of unusual aircraft comment on this idea:

Absolutely amazing! Can't wait to see the first production models. Volocopter - quadcopters are the future of aviation.
I need one, even if it's a bad one.
Lots of comments about "it's safe, it's not safe" but no one remembers that a guy named La Cierva developed a very nice machine... about 80 years ago! Never heard of gyroscopes? Many people didn't (and didn't) know nowadays) that the main mistakes in piloting occur at low altitude. I believe that the gyroscope is the most necessary, but underestimated device in an aircraft. Look at it. beautiful video here on YouTube, which shows how a gyroscope helps aircraft land and take off. By using gyroscopes on such a Volocopter - quadcopter, you can achieve the highest piloting reliability.
It is theoretically the safest manned aircraft design ever made.
Conventional helicopters, as everyone knows, are thousands of parts connected into a complex kinematic chain. Even with a fixed plane, the blades are thousands of individual moving parts. This multicopter has 18 moving parts. That's it.
A high degree of redundancy means security. There is always the possibility of engine failure, in this case it is not scary.

What is your opinion?

Nowadays, airplane travel is no longer unusual. People fly them every day. However, this is not exactly what you want. To satisfy the desire to fly, it is best to design an ultra-light aircraft.

What are the requirements for ultralight aircraft?

When this field of activity was just beginning to develop, many people made many mistakes in the design or neglected any important requirements, without which flight would have been impossible. For this reason, many have never been able to launch their own device. However, several decades ago, the Ministry of Aviation released a collection of certain requirements for ultra-light aircraft. There are quite a few of them, but among them there are several of the most important.

Devices assembled with your own hands must be simple to operate, easy to control during landing and take-off. In addition, the use of any management methods other than traditional ones is strictly prohibited.
If a microlight aircraft's engine fails for any reason, it must be designed to glide and land smoothly.
The maximum permissible takeoff run of an aircraft before takeoff is no more than 250 meters. The minimum speed during acceleration must be at least 1.5 m/s.
The forces applied to the control stick should be in the range from 15 to 150 kgf, depending on the complexity of the maneuver being performed.
Clamps for steering planes must withstand a load of at least 18 units.

Design

Besides general requirements requirements for ultralight aircraft, there are also certain conditions regarding the design of these devices.

The main requirement for this type of device is as follows. When constructing the apparatus, it is unacceptable to use steel, cables, hardware components and other materials of unknown origin. This is due to the fact that the unit itself belongs to the group of devices with an increased risk to human life. Another very important condition is that if you assemble an aircraft with your own hands using wood, then it must be without any visible flaws, knots, wormholes, etc. In addition, in those compartments where moisture may accumulate for any reason, drainage holes must be equipped.

Assembly nuances

It is highly not recommended to use bent pipes or rods. This is especially true for those units where forces may arise to compress or stretch the material. It is imperative that when assembling an aircraft with your own hands, you need to ensure that everything threaded connections had a lock, and the movable type hinge joints must be equipped with a mechanical stopper. The use of growers or is prohibited. All cables used during assembly must be free of knots and damage to the cores. In addition, they must undergo mandatory treatment with anti-corrosion compounds.

High wing

The simplest version of the aircraft to manufacture is the high-wing one. This model is a monoplane with a pulling motor propeller. It is worth noting that the circuitry of this device is already quite old, but reliable and time-tested. Among the shortcomings of these aircraft, there is only one minus - when emergency situation It is quite difficult to leave the cockpit due to the monowing. However, the design of these units is very simple, which is the most important feature when assembling an aircraft with your own hands.

The wing is constructed of wood using a two-spar design.
Frame material - welded steel. Riveted aluminum options can also be used.
As cladding, you can use completely linen materials, or combined types.
The cabin must be closed type. It should be closed with a car-type door.
The usual pyramidal type of device is used as a chassis.

High wing braced model

The model of the single-engine high-wing aircraft "Leningradets" is one of the varieties of homemade aircraft, the design of which is also very simple. If you assemble an aircraft with your own hands, you need to know the following details. The wing can be made of pine plywood. The fuselage is welded from an ordinary steel pipe, and the usual fabric version is used as skin. Parts from rural equipment were chosen as wheels for the chassis. This is done so that you can start from an unprepared surface. The engine of the aircraft is based on the design of a motorcycle engine model MT8, which has 32 horsepower. The take-off weight of the device is 260 kg.

This aircraft demonstrates its best qualities in the field of control and ease of maneuvering.

DIY drone

(BPA) are also quite common nowadays. Here it is worth saying that the assembly of this unit, especially if it is assembled according to last word technology will be quite expensive.

As the main material, you can choose one that has characteristics similar to foam plastic, but will not be deformed by the use of glue, and its strength indicators will be higher. You can also use fairly lightweight, but very rigid polyethylene foam. It is worth adding that to assemble this device you will have to master the skills of working with a soldering iron yourself.

You have decided to build an airplane. And immediately you are faced with the first problem - what should it be like? Single or double? Most often this depends on the power of the existing engine, availability necessary materials and tools, as well as the size of the “hangar” for building and storing the aircraft. And in most cases, the designer has to opt for a single-seat training aircraft.

According to statistics, this class of aircraft is the most widespread and popular among amateur designers. For such machines, a variety of designs, types of structures and engines are used. Equally common are biplanes, monoplanes with low and high wings, single and twin engines, with pulling and pushing propellers, etc.

The proposed series of articles contains an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the main aerodynamic designs of aircraft and their design solutions, which will allow readers to independently evaluate the strengths and weaknesses various amateur designs, will help you choose the best one and the most suitable for construction.

WITH AN AIRCRAFT - ONE ON ONE

One of the most common designs for an amateur single-seat aircraft is a braced monoplane with a high wing and a pulling propeller. It should be noted that this scheme appeared in the 1920s and has remained virtually unchanged throughout its existence, becoming one of the most studied, tested and constructively developed. Characteristic signs an aircraft of this type - a wooden two-spar wing, a welded steel truss fuselage, fabric covering, a pyramidal landing gear and a closed cabin with a car-type door.

In the 1920s - 1930s, a variation of this scheme became widespread - a parasol type aircraft (from the French parasol - sun umbrella), which was a high-wing aircraft with a wing mounted on struts and struts above the fuselage. “Parasols” are still found in amateur aircraft construction today, but they are, as a rule, structurally complex, less aerodynamically advanced and less convenient to operate than classic high-wing aircraft. In addition, for such devices (especially small ones) access to the cabin is very difficult and, as a result, the difficulty of leaving it in an emergency.

Single-seat high-wing aircraft:

Engine - LK-2 with a power of 30 hp. designs by L. Komarov, wing area - 7.8 m2, wing profile - ClarkU, take-off weight - 220 kg (pilot - 85 kg, power plant - 32.2 kg, fuselage - 27 kg, landing gear with skis - 10.5 kg , horizontal tail - 5.75 kg, wing with struts - 33 kg), maximum speed— 130 km/h, flight range with a fuel supply of 10 l is 180-200 km

Engine - “Zundapp” with a power of 50 hp, wing area - 9.43 m2, take-off weight - 380 kg, empty weight - 260 kg, maximum speed -150 km/h, rate of climb at the ground - 2.6 m/s , flight duration -8 hours, stall speed - 70 km/h

The advantages of high-wing aircraft include the simplicity of piloting techniques, especially if the specific wing load does not exceed 30 - 40 kg/m2. High-wing aircraft are distinguished by good stability, excellent takeoff and landing characteristics, they allow rear alignment of up to 35-40% of the average aerodynamic chord (MAC). From the cockpit of such a device, the pilot is provided with optimal downward visibility. In short, for those who are building their first plane, and who are also planning to learn how to fly it on their own, there is no better scheme to come up with.

In our country, amateur aircraft designers have repeatedly turned to the braced high-wing aircraft design. Thus, at one time, a whole squadron of “parasol” aircraft appeared: “Baby” from Chelyabinsk, created by former pilot L. Komarov, “Leningradets” from St. Petersburg, built by a group of aircraft modelers led by V. Tatsiturnov, a high-wing aircraft designed by machine operator V. .Frolov from the village of Donino near Moscow.

We should tell you more about the latest device. Having studied well the most simple diagram braced high-wing aircraft, the designer carefully planned his work. The wing was made of pine and plywood, the fuselage was welded from steel pipes and these elements of the aircraft were covered with fabric using classical aviation technology. I chose large wheels for the landing gear so that it could fly from unprepared ground areas. The power unit is based on a 32-horsepower MT-8 engine, equipped with a gearbox and a large-diameter propeller. Aircraft take-off weight - 270 kg, flight centering - 30% GR, specific wing load - 28 kg/m2, wingspan - 8000 mm, propeller thrust in place - 85 kgf, maximum speed - 130 km/h, landing - 50 km /h.

Test pilot V. Zabolotsky, who flew over this device, was delighted with its capabilities. According to the pilot, even a child can control it. The aircraft was operated by V. Frolov for more than ten years and participated in several SLA rallies.

The test pilots were no less delighted by the PMK-3 aircraft, created in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow by a group of amateur aircraft designers under the leadership of N. Prokopets. The vehicle had a unique forward fuselage, a very low landing gear and was designed according to the design of a strut-braced high-wing aircraft with a closed cockpit; a door was provided on the left side of the fuselage. The wing is slightly beveled back to ensure the necessary alignment. The design of the aircraft is all wood, covered with canvas. The wing is single-spar, with pine flanges, a set of ribs and the wing forehead are covered with plywood.

Wing area - 10.4 m2, wing profile - R-W, take-off weight - 200 kg, fuel reserve - 13 l, flight balance - 27% CV, static propeller thrust - 60 kgf, stall speed - 40 km/h, maximum speed - 100 km/h, flight range - 100 km

The fuselage is based on three spars, and therefore the fuselage had a triangular cross-section. The plumage and control system of the PMK-3 aircraft are designed like those of the famous training glider B. Oshkinis BRO-11 M. The basis of the power plant is a 30-horsepower liquid-cooled “Whirlwind” outboard motor; at the same time, the radiator protruded slightly from the right side of the fuselage.

An interesting variety The “Don Quixote”, developed in Poland by J. Yanovsky, became an amateur-built braced high-wing aircraft. With the light hand of an enthusiast of amateur aircraft construction, the famous glider test pilot and journalist G.S. Malinovsky, who published the drawings of “Don Quixote” in the magazine “Modelist-Konstruktor”, this, in general, not entirely successful scheme became very widespread in our country - at SLA rallies there were sometimes more than four dozen similar devices. Professional aircraft designers, however, believe that amateur aviators were attracted to this scheme primarily by the unusual appearance of the aircraft, but it was precisely there that some “pitfalls” were hidden.

Characteristic feature“Don Quixote” had a forward-facing cockpit, which provided excellent visibility and comfortable seating for the pilot. However, on an extremely light aircraft weighing up to 300 kg, the alignment changed significantly in the case when, instead of an 80-kg pilot, a more slender one, weighing 60 kg, sat in the cockpit - the device suddenly turned from overly stable to completely unstable. This situation should have been avoided even when designing the car - it was only necessary to install the pilot’s seat at its center of gravity.

Airplanes with a pusher propeller, designed according to the Don Quixote airplane design:

Engine power - 25 hp, wing area - 7.5 m2, empty weight - 150 kg, take-off weight - 270 kg, maximum speed - 130 km/h, rate of climb at the ground - 2.5 m/s, ceiling - 3000 m, flight range - 250 km. Machine design - all wood

Engine power - 30 hp, wingspan -7 m, wing area - 7 m2, empty weight - 105 kg, take-off weight - 235 kg, maximum speed - 160 km/h, rate of climb - 3 m/s, flight duration - 3 hours

Construction - fiberglass, engine power - 35 hp, wingspan - 8 m, wing area - 8 m2, wing profile - Clark YH, take-off weight - 246 kg, empty weight - 143 kg, flight balance - 20% MAC, maximum speed - 130 km/h

Another feature of Don Quixote is the landing gear with a tail wheel. As is known, such a scheme, in principle, does not ensure the directional stability of a light aircraft when moving along an airfield. The fact is that the movements of the aircraft, with a decrease in its mass and moments of inertia, become fast, sharp, short-period, and the pilot has to focus all his attention on maintaining the direction of the takeoff or run.

The A-12 aircraft from the Aeroprakt club (Samara), which was one of the copies of Don Quixote, had exactly the same birth defect, which is the first-born of this galaxy, however, after testing the machine by professional pilots V. Makagonov and M. Molchanyuk, the designers quickly found an error in the design. By replacing the tail wheel on the A-12 with a nose wheel, they completely eliminated one of the main disadvantages of the Polish-design aircraft.

Another significant drawback of Don Quixote is the use of a pusher propeller, obscured in flight by the cockpit and wing. At the same time, the efficiency of the propeller dropped sharply, and the wing, not blown by the air flow from the propeller, did not provide the calculated lifting force. As a result, takeoff and landing speeds increased, which led to a longer takeoff and run, and also reduced the rate of climb. With a low thrust-to-weight ratio, the plane might not get off the ground at all. This is exactly what happened at one of the SLA rallies with the Elf plane, built according to the Don Quixote scheme by students and employees of the MAI.

Of course, building aircraft with a pushing propeller is not at all prohibited, but the need and feasibility of creating an aircraft with such a power plant in each specific case should be carefully assessed, since this will inevitably lead to losses in thrust and lift of the wing.

It should be noted that designers who creatively approached the use of a power plant with a pusher propeller managed to overcome the disadvantages of such a scheme and create very interesting options. In particular, several successful devices based on the “Don Quixote” scheme were built by P. Atyomov, a machine operator from the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk.

Wing area - 8 m2, take-off weight - 215 kg, maximum speed - 150 km/h, stall speed - 60 km/h, rate of climb at the ground - 1.5 m/s, operating load range - from +6 to -4

1 - metal wing sock; 2 - tubular wing spar; 3 - flap; 4 - tubular spars of the aileron and flap; 5 - aileron; 6 - engine control handle; 7 - front door cockpit (right); 8 - engine; 9 - aileron control rod; 10 - strut in the plane of the wing; 11 - riveted duralumin fuselage beam; 12 - tubular spars; 13 - speed indicator; 14 - ignition switch; 15 - altimeter; 16 - variometer; 17 - slip indicator; 18 - cylinder head temperature indicator; 19 - flap control handle; 20 - dorsal parachute

A well-flying airplane with a pushing propeller was created by a team of amateur aircraft designers from the “Flight” club of the Samara Aviation Plant under the leadership of P. Apmurzin - this machine was called “Crystal”. Test pilot V. Gorbunov, who flew it, did not skimp on his high praise - according to his reviews, the car had good stability, was light and easy to control. The Samarians managed to ensure high efficiency of the flaps, which were deflected by 20° during takeoff and by 60° during landing. True, the rate of climb of this aircraft was only 1.5 m/s due to the shading of the pushing propeller by the wide cockpit. However, this parameter turned out to be quite sufficient for an amateur design - and this despite the fact that its take-off was somewhat difficult.

Attractive appearance"Crystal" is combined with excellent production execution of an all-metal monoplane. The airframe fuselage is a duralumin beam riveted from 1-mm D16T sheets. The beam's load-bearing set also included several walls and frames curved from sheet duralumin.

It should be noted that in amateur designs, instead of metal, it is quite possible to use plywood, pine bars, plastics and other available materials.

In the bend of the fuselage beam, in its forward part, there was a cabin, covered with a large transparent faceted canopy and a light fairing made of D16T sheet 0.5 mm thick.

The braced wing is an original single-spar design with a spar made of 90x1.5 mm duralumin pipe, which absorbs the loads from bending and torsion of the wing. A set of ribs made of 0.5 mm D16T, stamped into rubber, was secured to the spar with rivets. The wing strut is made of duralumin tube 50x1 and is ennobled with a fairing made of D16T. In principle, duralumin spars and struts can be replaced with wooden, box-section ones.

The wing was equipped with ailerons and flaps with a mechanical manual drive. Wing profile - R-III. The aileron and flap had spars made of duralumin pipes with a diameter of 30x1 mm. The wing forehead is made of 0.5 mm sheet D16T. The wing surfaces were covered with canvas.

The plumage is cantilever. The fin, stabilizer, rudder and elevator are also single-spar, with spars made of D16T pipes with a diameter of 50x1.5 mm. The plumage was covered with linen. The aileron control wiring had rigid rods and rockers, the wiring to the rudders was cable.

The landing gear is tricycle, with a steerable nose wheel. The landing gear on the aircraft was depreciated due to the elasticity of pneumatic wheels with dimensions of 255x110 mm.

The basis of the aircraft's power plant is a 35-horsepower two-cylinder engine RMZ-640 from the Buran snowmobile. The propeller is of wooden construction.

When comparing pulling and pushing propellers, you need to keep in mind that for devices with a low-power power plant, the first is more effective, which was once superbly demonstrated by the French aircraft designer, an employee of the Aerospatial company, Michel Colomban - the creator of the small and very elegant “Cri-Cri” aircraft. "(cricket).

It would not be superfluous to recall that the creation of small-sized aircraft with engines of minimal power has always attracted both amateurs and professionals. Thus, the designer of large aircraft O.K. Antonov, who had already built the flying giant An-22 “Antey” with a take-off weight of 225 tons, in his book “Ten Times First” spoke about his long-time dream - a small plane with a 16 hp engine. Unfortunately, Oleg Konstantinovich did not have time to create such a device...

Designing a compact aircraft is not as simple a task as it might seem at first glance. Many conceived it as an ultra-light vehicle with extremely low wing load. The result was ultra-light vehicles capable of flying only when complete absence wind.

Later, designers came up with the idea of using wings of a small area and with a large specific load for such devices, which made it possible to significantly reduce the size of the machine and increase its aerodynamic quality.

Twin-engine low-wing aircraft:

B - plane "Pasya" by Edward Magransky (Poland) - a good example creative development"Cri-Cri" schemes:

Power point- two KFM-107E engines with a total power of 50 hp, wing area - 3.5 m2, wing aspect ratio - 14.4, empty weight - 180 kg; take-off weight - 310 kg; maximum speed - 260 km/h; stall speed - 105 km/h; flight range - 1000 km

1 - receiving air pressure from the speed indicator; 2 - duralumin propeller (maximum rotation speed - 1000 rpm); 3 - Rowena engine (cylinder displacement 137 cm3, power 8 hp, weight 6.5 kg); 4 - resonant exhaust pipe; 5 - membrane carburetor; 6 - fuel intakes - flexible hoses with weights at the ends (one per engine); 7 - gas sector (left side); 8 - handle for the trimmer effect mechanism (resetting the elevator spring loader); 9 - resettable part of the lantern; 10 - unsupported rocker in the rudder control cable wiring; 11 - hard wiring for stabilizer control; 12 - cable wiring of the rudder drive; 13 - all-moving horizontal tail; 14 - rudder rocker; 15 - keel spar; 16 - chassis with damping in compressed position; 17 - main landing gear spring; 18 - fuel tank drain pipe; 19 - aileron-flap hovering control handle (left side); 20 - fuel tank with a capacity of 32 l; 21 - cable wiring for controlling the nose landing gear; 22 - adjustable pedals; 23 - pedal loader (rubber shock absorber); 24-rubber shock absorber for the right landing gear; 25 - engine installation frame (steel V-shaped pipe); 26 - bow strut control rocker; 27 - wing spar; 28 - hovering aileron (deflection angles from -15° to +8°, hovering - +30°; 29 - foam frame; 30 - wing skin; 31 - hanging aileron mounting bracket; 32 - foam ribs; 33 - stabilizer tip (balsa ); 34 - stabilizer spar; 35 - aileron toe (skin - duralumin, filler - foam)

How do amateur aircraft designers live? How much does it cost to build a helicopter? And is it possible to lift a pile of rubbish into the sky?

According to experts, light aviation in Russia is living out its days with an unclear prospect. Aviators have no place to study - pilot training centers are closing, problems with registration, maintenance and repair of aircraft.

However, the number of amateur aviators has doubled over the past five years, although not everyone can afford to buy and maintain an aircraft. According to statistics, almost every second amateur aviator is also a home-made designer - he chooses and repairs his own aircraft.

HELICOPTER FROM IMPROVED MEANS

The passion of the 75-year-old amateur aircraft designer from Baksan is not supported by his sons and wife. Time and money are wasted, they say. But despite this, Safarbi Batyrgov’s life is wonderful. He is passionate, excited and confident that he will definitely achieve his goal.

To make your dreams come true progress is underway everything at hand: a diesel engine of an old foreign car, a pulley and a seat belt from washing machine. To increase engine speed, trim parts from an iron bed from the 50s are perfect.

Correspondents of the program " Special report»learned how to build your own plane.

He has been drawn to the sky and aviation since his school days. But life turned out in such a way that it was necessary to help the family. After finishing his tenth year, Safarbi went to work: first at construction sites, then, due to leg disease, he got a job as a bathhouse attendant.

He built his first helicopter, albeit a wooden one, right in the courtyard of the bathhouse. But he was not allowed to fly, and the police seized the helicopter for security reasons. Thirty years have passed since then. Now the wooden bird has been replaced by an iron bird.

“The calculations are all in my head! There is not a single drawing. I know everything!” - the designer is confident.

However, the likelihood that Safarbi’s brainchild will rise at least half a meter above the ground is very low. Nevertheless, the designer intends to carry out his first flight at any cost.

FLYING JUNK

But Andrey Sarkisyan from Pyatigorsk was able to lift himself off the ground by one and a half meters in his helicopter. It doesn't matter that this device landed on its right side. A professional singer and musician, he works part-time in local restaurants in the evenings. I became interested in designing unique aircraft eight years ago. During this time I assembled four helicopters.

“Only one flew, but then I had to sell its engine because I needed funds,” admits Andrey.

Engines from Izh and Java motorcycles, large homemade machines and machines for cutting metal, and even a bushing from the tail rotor of the Mi-2 - in general, a pile of metal, iron, plastic and material incomprehensible to ordinary people filled the yard, garage and basement of the master.

In order to fly on aircraft of his own design, Sargsyan is trying to get a pilot’s license.

WHAT IS “BEGOLET”

Professional aircraft designer Alexander Begak made his first aircraft at the age of six. It was a rocket that destroyed the children's room. Six years later, Alexander built his first plane.

“Begolet” was invented because of our roads. You can land on it anywhere, go for bread or provide first aid, give injections and fly away. After all, if it rains, you won’t be able to drive anywhere in Russia. That’s how “Begolet” was born,” says Alexander Begak, general designer, chairman of the Discrete Innovation Cluster of Small Aviation.

Our country cannot do without small aircraft, the designer believes. IN Soviet era local airlines provided full coverage of both the center of Russia and Far East and Siberia. At that time, the Pyatigorsk air squadron alone consisted of more than 350 small aircraft. Today there are no more than three thousand such devices throughout Russia, and they are all in private hands.

DIFFICULTIES OF FLIGHT

Most pilots cannot afford to have their aircraft repaired in specialized shops. There are only a few of them throughout the country. Besides, it's expensive. Repairing a small plane will cost the same as a new car, so pilots try to do everything on their own.

To get a pilot's certificate, you now have to shell out almost 700 thousand rubles. At the same time, there is nowhere in particular to study - aviation training centers almost none left. Affording yourself the purchase of an aircraft and obtaining certification is also expensive pleasure. There is only one aircraft registration desk in the whole country - in Moscow.

In addition, the aircraft's maintenance must be renewed every year. The cost of the document is about 150 thousand rubles.

“The process is organized in such a way that no real technical maintenance is required, but they are forced to simply buy this piece of paper through commercial structures. It turns out that you have to buy a document, and then go to a mechanic and pay the same amount to have him do the annual maintenance,” complains pilot Eduard Losev.

So far, all small aviation is based on the enthusiasm of those who can no longer do without the sky. There is no benefit for aviators from this - it’s pure pleasure.

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