Which aviation school is better? Flight schools of Russian military aviation

Pilot is a specialist who has all the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills to manage aircraft. The latter can be airplanes and helicopters. The words “pilot” and “pilot” are almost synonymous, but are used in slightly different contexts: pilots usually refer to those who fly civil aircraft, and pilots refer to those who work in the military industry. There is also a specialization as a test pilot who tests new aircraft. vehicles. In any case, the profession falls into the “human-technical” category. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in physics (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

Brief description: who is a pilot?

The safety, health and life of the passengers and crew of the aircraft (or the safety of cargo) depend on the pilot. This is a very big responsibility, and it is rarely assigned to just one person. As a rule, there are two pilots on a ship; a commander, a navigator, and a flight engineer may also be present. In emergency situations, pilots can seek help from air traffic controllers on the ground. This is a profession that requires excellent physical and psychological health.

Features of the profession

It is not unreasonable to believe that a pilot is not so much a profession as a vocation. Successful performance of the duties of a pilot requires constant concentration, regular study (as more and more new models of aircraft, helicopters and related equipment appear on the market), as well as attention to one’s health and condition even during non-working hours. The main scope of work that applicants for a pilot vacancy must complete is as follows:

• Operation of aviation complexes that meets safety requirements (in peacetime and wartime).
• Use of automated systems and computer technology when controlling aircraft.
• Interaction with services providing aircraft flights.
• Acceptance and implementation management decisions under time pressure and in critical situations.
• Assessing the level of flight safety, making a decision on the possibility/impossibility of carrying it out.
• Performing adjustment and testing of aviation complexes.
• Configuring and adjusting on-board equipment.
• Filling out accompanying documents.
• Organization of work of aviation personnel.

It may seem that the answer to the question of who a pilot is can be answered in one simple phrase: the one who is responsible for flying an aircraft from point A to point B. However, in practice, both preparation for this flight, and its implementation, and successful completion dependent on a huge number of factors. In order to correctly recognize and take them into account, and make optimal decisions in every second of working time, you need to have deep knowledge and impressive experience.

Pros and cons of being a pilot

Pros

1. A prestigious profession (and the height of its status is equally great anywhere in the world).
2. High level of income.
3. Demand in the labor market.
4. Full social package.
5. As a rule, early retirement age.

Cons

1. Great responsibility.
2. Strict requirements (both for admission to educational institutions and for employment).
3. The need to constantly maintain your health.
4. Frequent absence, difficulties in maintaining relationships with family and friends.

Important personal qualities

As has already been noted several times, for the pilot it has great value physical and psychological state. Representatives of this profession should not have any chronic diseases, problems with vision, hearing, vestibular apparatus or other sensory systems. Pilots regularly undergo medical examinations, and if any illnesses appear, they may simply not be allowed to fly.

In addition, responsibility is important for such specialists, emotional stability, ability to concentrate, high reaction speed, ability to quickly switch attention, lack of fear of heights and confined spaces, certain communication and leadership abilities, analytical thinking.

Pilot training

There are two main options for where to become a pilot: these can be either colleges or universities. So, in colleges you can pay attention to the specialty “Testing of aircraft” (code 02.24.03). In higher educational institutions that provide the opportunity to train as a pilot, the most suitable specialties are “Flight operation and use of aircraft complexes” (code 25.05.05), “Aircraft control systems” (code 24.05.06) and “Operation of aircraft and organization of aircraft movement" (code 25.05.05).

To enter a secondary school, a certificate is enough (the competition is held based on the average score), and to study at a university to become a pilot, you must pass the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, mathematics and physics or computer science. Training in this responsible and difficult profession, in any case, will last at least 5 years (even when entering a college). Moreover, when studying at a university via correspondence or evening classes, you will need to spend 6 years to master the profession of a pilot, and when entering a secondary school after the 9th grade, it will take 4 months more.

Universities

Courses

This specialization is quite complex and responsible, so there are no easy and quick courses where you would only need a few months to study to become a pilot. There are courses, for example, at the Aeroflot flight school: they last two years and are only suitable for candidates with a higher technical education, and highly desirable - by aviation.

The best universities for pilots

1. SPbGUGA
2. SPbGUAP
3. MSTU im. N.E. Bauman

Place of work

Pilots work in public and private airlines, can be personal pilots of private aircraft, and engage in test flights at enterprises involved in the development and production of helicopters and airplanes.

Pilot salary

As a rule, pilots receive high salaries even when working for state-owned aviation companies. For even greater income, they can exceed the norms for departure per month, but there are restrictions on such excesses, and it is not recommended to do this all the time due to the need for proper rest.

Salary as of 01/30/2020

Russia 30000—42300 ₽

Moscow 20000—55000 ₽

Career growth

A pilot's career begins with work on commercial routes, in small companies, and in light aviation. Once he has gained at least a couple of years of experience and enough flight hours, he can get a job at a more serious company. Over time, the pilot can become the chief pilot, crew commander, or take one of the leadership positions in the airline itself.

The profession of a pilot is very difficult by its very nature. It requires enormous endurance and emotional stress. There are flights that last almost 14 hours, and all this time the pilot should not be distracted from work - he needs to monitor the instruments and check their serviceability. What it takes to become a passenger plane pilot and how to become a civil aviation pilot in Russia is of interest to many who are in love with the sky.

The pilots themselves say that in itself it is a very beautiful job. Nevertheless, it is also dangerous, although it is not officially recognized as such. After all, during a flight various emergency situations may arise - from engine failure to a terrorist attack on board. The pilot must be prepared for any of these situations and know what and how to do. How to become a civil pilot in Russia?

In general, the pilot must not only control the aircraft during the flight, but also prepare for the flight, inspect the aircraft before departure, and be able to manage the crew of the airliner.

The most important thing is to ensure the safety of each and every individual passenger on board. This is a huge responsibility that falls on the shoulders of the pilot, especially the PIC.

What is needed for this?

First of all, of course, very good health. Pilots regularly undergo medical examinations. commission, and are also examined by a doctor before the flight.

Excellent vision and hearing, excellent eye, impeccable mental health, good vestibular apparatus - this is not yet full list health requirements for pilots.

The work of a pilot is complex and intense.

Work experience, availability of certificates, permits and a diploma from a flight school, as well as good knowledge of the English language also play an important role in the development of a future pilot.

As for the PIC, they also need to be a Personality with a capital P. After all, they are the ones who make all the main decisions regarding the flight and during emergency situations.

You must constantly be concentrated and attentive. The slightest mistake can cost the lives of not only the pilots themselves, but also all passengers on board.

Where in Russia do they train to become a civil aviation pilot?

There are only a few in Russia educational institutions, where future pilots are trained. It's quite difficult to get there. To do this, you must be in excellent health (before admission you must pass a medical examination) and pass exams in basic technical disciplines.

At the same time, if during training your health deteriorates (at least according to one indicator), then you may be removed from training.

Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation School and St. Petersburg Academy of Civil Aviation- here are the best flight training institutions where they study for 5 years.

Omsk LT College of Civil Aviation, Sasovo Flight School of Civil Aviation, Krasnokutsk Flight School and Buguruslan Flight School - a list of other educational institutions where training lasts 3 years.

It’s more difficult not to even get in there than to complete your studies. After all, theory is one thing, but being in a real cockpit is quite another.

Upon graduation from college/academy

When a future pilot completes his training only 150 hours of flight time. This is very little, because to become a passenger airliner pilot you need at least 4,000 flight hours.

At the moment in Russia there is a huge problem in order to develop required quantity hours. The Soviet Union had a well-established training system for passenger airliner pilots.

At first they worked on forest protection or other similar aircraft. Then they transferred to domestic airlines and the last stage was international flights.

Pilots learn throughout their lives.

Now this system is no longer in effect. For this reason, airlines have to hire pilots with a minimum set of flight hours. As sad as it may be, this is directly reflected in the level of service on the flight.

Some of the pilots go abroad and gain experience there, working as a pilot for small companies or as an instructor. For example, in the USA, such work allows you to earn money.

On the contrary, in Russia they don’t pay anything for this. Also individual companies have their own flight schools , training in which makes it easier to find a job.

In addition, you must have a special flight pilot or commercial pilot certificate. To receive them, you must graduate from an academy or college. It's like a driver's license that allows you to fly an airplane.

Plus, pilots have categories - 1, 2 and 3. Respectively, To get the first category, you need to unlearn grades 2 and 3. And in general, throughout their career, pilots undergo various advanced training courses. This means that pilots need to learn constantly.

How to get a job at a large airline?

As noted above, for this, first of all must have a large number of flight hours and a commercial or airline pilot certificate.

To get a job at a good airline, a pilot must have a certain number of hours.

Of course, each individual airline has its own requirements for candidates. For example, how to become an Aeroflot pilot from scratch?

To do this, you need to have one for each aircraft model at least 500 hours of flight time, and he must also know English language at level 4 on the ICAO scale. This international organization at the UN. It sets the rules and regulations for civil aviation around the world.

You must have a higher or secondary education with the rank of pilot. The break in work should not exceed 5 years, and you already know about having a line pilot certificate.

What is required to get a job as a flight attendant and what their salary is, indicated and

Investigation of the Boeing 737 plane crash in Kazan. It turned out that the most “working” version of what happened was a crew error. IAC specialists found that the technical condition of the aircraft was at the proper level.

Pilot errors are leading to more and more plane crashes in Russia. According to experts, it is human factor became decisive in the last major air disasters: the crash of the Tu-134 near Petrozavodsk, the Tu-154 at Domodedovo airport and the Yak-42 airliner in Yaroslavl (then the entire Lokomotiv hockey team died).

The average age of pilots is rising. Young specialists appear, but not in sufficient numbers: pilots are trained in only three universities in the country.

The main one is the University of Civil Aviation in St. Petersburg. Training is conducted at 8 faculties, the average duration of training is five years. University graduates after graduation are called upon to pilot civil aviation aircraft. The university also trains aviation managers and technicians.

Another “pilot” university is located in Ulyanovsk - the Higher Aviation School of Civil Aviation. It also has eight areas of training, with an average duration of study of four years. The school in Ulyanovsk is more “diversified” and trains not only pilots for civil aviation, but also those who can ensure the proper preparation of an aircraft for flight (diversified training).

The last representative of a specialized “flight” educational institution is. It has 12 faculties and the university is much more diverse. Rather, it trains specialists who can develop technical innovations for the aviation and space industries. The average training period is 5 years.

According to unofficial data, the first two universities have graduated 2,707 pilots over the past 10 years. Nowadays there is little competition for flight schools. There are cases when “retrained” military pilots are hired. Well, young pilots are immediately entrusted with serious tests. According to the data, “previously, for the first three years, graduates were allowed only to the An-2 “maize”, then they were gradually transferred to the larger ones - the An-26 and Tu-134.

And only after having all this experience did the pilots begin to fly 1st class aircraft (Tu-154 and Il-62). Now, under the right circumstances, you can become the commander of a prestigious Boeing at the age of 25.

There is another side to the problem. Previously, civilian pilots retired at age 60. Now, as such, there is no boundary for retirement. They fly until they are “healthy,” which in principle provides financial benefits: the pilot’s salary varies from 80 to 200 thousand rubles.

It is known that many states use the practice of “private” pilot training. Airlines themselves train young pilots so that they then stay to work for them. Russian authorities has already repeatedly approached airlines with a similar proposal, but so far the initiative has not been supported.

The main reason for the shortage of pilots in Russia is the catastrophic backwardness of the specialized education system. The material and technical base of state educational institutions has long been hopelessly outdated.

Pilots are trained on domestic aircraft (Yak, An), which does not allow graduates, after graduation, to immediately take the helm of foreign airliners, which, according to Nikolai Grekhov, make up 70% of the airline fleet. “We have to retrain the pilot from the system of Russian standards to a completely different one, which he does not yet understand,” the expert notes. – For example, according to Western standards, the units of measurement are feet and knots. Another language also causes certain difficulties.”

Moreover, upon completion of flight school, the graduate receives a commercial pilot license (CPL), in some cases, also a so-called “frozen” transport pilot license (ATPLf). A frozen license means that the pilot has all the necessary theoretical knowledge and skills required to fly a commercial aircraft, but does not have the required number of flight hours. And to fly a multi-engine aircraft, you need a line pilot's license - this is the next level, requiring certain experience.

Is it any wonder that many flight school graduates do not work in their specialty? After all, after graduating from college, they actually have to study again at the airline’s training center, gaining the skills to fly on fundamentally different aircraft. Naturally, many choose a simpler path: go to work in another field, where you can earn money right now, without additional training.

To solve this problem, our company has developed an internship program in addition to the training program. Although, even after the first segment of the training program, our graduates will have an advantage in terms of flight hours and license level (260 hours with us, 150 hours in Russia; commercial pilot and flight instructor with us, only commercial pilot in Russia), over their competitors from aviation universities in Russia and the CIS, we do not stop there and offer pilots the opportunity to immediately continue flying as an instructor pilot to obtain work experience from 12 to 18 months and corresponding flight time of up to 1500 hours, with the subsequent possibility of obtaining an ICAO airline pilot license ( FAA/ICAO ATPL). In this case, the airline pilot license will not be subject to freeze and pilots will be able to apply for airline employment after completing the pilot segment.

With this in mind, let's look at the progression of a graduate of our training program compared to a graduate aviation university in Russia or CIS:

Year	Our students	Students in Russia
1	Training, flight time 260 hours	Training, course 1, flight time 0
2	Experience, flight time up to 1500 hours	Training, course 2, hours 0
3	Retraining, flight time 2000 hours	Training, course 3, hours 0
4	Airlines, flight time 3000 hours	Training, course 4, flight time 50 hours
5	Airlines, flight time 4000 hours	Training, course 5, flight time 150 hours
6	Airlines, flight time 5000 hours	Retraining, flight time 500 hours
7	Airlines, flight time 6000 hours	Airlines, flight time 1500 hours

Year	Our students, salary	Students in Russia, salary
1	$0 (student)	$0 (student)
2	$55,000 per year (instructor)	$0 (student)
3	$55,000 per year (2nd pilot)	$0 (student)
4	$75,000 per year (2nd pilot)	$0 (student)
5	$110,000 per year (captain)	$0 (student)
6	$130,000 per year (captain)	$25,000 per year (2nd pilot)
7	$150,000 per year (captain)	$75,000 per year (2nd pilot)

As can be seen from this clear comparison, graduates of our training program, almost from the 2nd year of the program, are already in an advantageous position in terms of licenses, hours, experience and earnings.