Russian Air Fleet Day

Every 3rd Sunday in August is Russian Air Fleet Day, when pilots, aviators and all workers in this field are honored The professional holiday was established by a special Decree of the Russian Federation in 1992, and its history goes back centuries For the first time, a semblance of an air force appeared under Nicholas II His decree of August 12, 1912 separated them into a separate aeronautical unit A year later, the tsar awarded special insignia to military pilots And although French aircraft were used, by this time attempts to create their own designs had already been successfully implemented The first Russian aircraft with a gasoline engine was the Kudashev model, and the representative of heavy artillery was the Russian Knight biplane It was he who became the prototype of “Ilya Muromets” - the national pride of the empire Two years after the creation of the air fleet, during the First World War, military flying units were already actively participating in battles After the revolution of 1917, both military and civil aviation began to develop rapidly in the Soviet Republic On May 1, 1918, an air parade was organized for the first time after the war It took place on the Khodynka field, and was hosted by Lenin, who took an active part, not only examining the equipment, but also talking with the pilots and workers Those who were present at the parade that day were amazed by the aerobatic maneuvers they saw performed by pilot IN Vinogradov on his small plane This was the first demonstration flight over Red Square, which went down forever in the history of the Air Fleet The further development and popularization of aviation among the population of the USSR, including the formation of the Moscow Aviation Institute and the development of parachuting, prompted the government to create a regular thematic holiday, separate from the traditional parades Which was realized in 1933 The chosen date, August 18, remained unchanged until 1980 Then it was decided to hold the celebration on a weekend in the third week of August Undoubtedly, on this day it is worth noting the merits of aviation technology developers, designers and testers, thanks to whose work the “heavenly” fleet has demonstrated its development throughout time And although today Russia does not have an advantage in the quantitative measurement of units of equipment in use, there is a tendency towards a major modernization of the fleet On the holiday, various events are held at airfields in many regions of the country, demonstrating to everyone the skills of pilots and parachutists, and interesting aircraft models Exhibitions are organized introducing the historical development of aviation, and even exhibits from excavations of military operations, once again indicating how much technology has progressed recently Let us add that on February 9, Russia celebrates another aviation holiday - Civil Aviation Day