...The service "Volga" of the chief of aviation of the Air Force and Air Defense Association, Major General of Aviation Valery Avdonin, ran briskly along the airfield concrete past the silvery transport workers lined up in a row. I couldn't help but think: it's a paradox when a car feels "master" on the runway, and not an airplane. And this is despite the fact that here, in the aviation transport regiment, commanded by Colonel Vladimir Kazachkov, aviators can still be envied - they fly. The pilots completed the transportation plan for the first half of the year by 166 percent, the average flight time was 60-70 hours, while the army's fighters and attack aircraft, chained to the ground due to lack of fuel, can only dream of such indicators.

However, the lack of fuel is only one of the components that characterizes the current very difficult situation in the association. Critical funding affects all spheres of life of military aviators. There are no funds to maintain the airfields in a normal state, both those that are subject to transfer to new owners during the reduction of a number of aviation units, and those that remain in operation. Almost no money is received to provide combat training, repair and maintenance of aircraft, and purchase new vehicles (during the year, the association did not receive a single unit of new equipment). There are still no funds for full timely payment of the monetary allowance.

But nevertheless, even in such difficult conditions, military pilots do not give up, do not be cowardly, do not change the real male profession chosen once and for all.

- No one leaves the flight crew,-emphasizes the chief of aviation of the association, Major General of Aviation Valery Avdonin, - at their own request. There are no people who would write a report for dismissal because they do not want to serve. Pilots leave the army either in connection with organizational and regular activities, when an aviation unit, for example, is generally subject to disbandment, or when the number of flight personnel in the regiment is reduced. And they leave with great reluctance...

Meanwhile, being not just aviators, but really pilots is becoming increasingly difficult. In the association today, only thirty percent of those who are supposed to fly take to the skies more or less systematically, and this is at best twice a month. Most of them fly very rarely, and ten percent, mostly young people, do not fly at all.

- The total raid of our army - this indicator characterizes the level of training of personnel - is now equal to the raid that one aviation fighter regiment had in the mid - eighties, - General Avdonin says with pain. - In general, as far as I know, the flight time in our Air Force has decreased to 20-30 hours per year. And, for example, the same indicator in the United States Air Force is from 200 to 240 hours per year, in the Japanese Air Force-180 hours. Here are some comparative characteristics.

Paradoxically, but for objective reasons, mostly experienced pilots take to the sky, who have very little time left to serve. Young lieutenants fly very rarely. The experience is practically not transmitted. As a result, continuity is lost between generations of aviators.

Nevertheless, as the chief of aviation of the association assured, there are regiments in which, despite all the difficulties of the crisis time, the commanders try to work rhythmically, clearly plan flight training, and today such units represent the backbone of the army.

One of these regiments, Aviation Major General Valery Avdonin called part of Colonel Yu. Novikov, from which officers have been sent to Tajikistan for three years, where they perform tasks as part of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces. This also includes the aviation transport regiment of Colonel V. Kazachkov, which was mentioned at the beginning of the material. In this regiment, despite the problems with fuel, they have recently managed to train several pilots for a higher class qualification. It is hoped that young people will have a chance to gain experience: seven lieutenants who came to the positions of assistant ship commanders last year are now undergoing additional training. Although, as the general noted, the cars in the regiment are much older than the young officers...

The same problems as in these regiments are faced by the pilots of the units commanded by Colonels A. Kuzivanov and E. Chernoussky. And yet, when the long-awaited aviation fuel finally arrived in October last year, flight shifts were immediately held here, during which aviators who had long breaks from work regained their practical skills.

Of course, this is not the case, pilots should not build up their combat skills on a case-by-case basis. By and large, this should not be the attitude of the state towards "people of the sovereign". But along with the understanding of this, the aviators also realize that no one else will fulfill the tasks assigned to the association to protect the air borders of the Far East. And the officers serve honestly, shouldering a whole load of problems. Those who are really attached to the sky with their hearts do not give up their flight work, although they have to work really to the limit of what is possible.

Maybe it's because of these daily chores, which take up all the time and effort, that Aviation Major General Valery Avdonin can't spare a few minutes to write to his son, who, following in his father's footsteps, also became an officer and now serves in a fighter aviation regiment stationed in the Amur region. Thank God, the head of aviation of the association has a phone number at hand:

"Healthy?"

"That's right!

"You fly?"

"In a dream...

You can be proud of the fact that the dynasties of military pilots have not yet passed away. But is there any hope that the state will ever pay attention to this fact and have the wisdom not to break this link of generations? After all, otherwise it may happen that in the near future there will simply be no one to lift planes into the air...

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