Despite the fact that the great Leonardo da Vinci designed the first aircraft back in 1483, people were able to take to the sky only three centuries later. And it all began with balloons driven by the wind.
The first experience of aeronautics
The Montgolfier brothers, together with the pilot Jean-Francos, ushered in a new era in the conquest of the elements of air. Their prototype balloon was not much different from modern models: the flight was possible due to the temperature difference between the warm gas in the spherical sphere and the cold air outside. The successful experience was recorded in 1783. 
Subsequently, repeated attempts were made to install the engine in the balloon nacelle so as not to depend solely on the wind. But only in 1901, the Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont managed to fly a cigar-shaped device over the outskirts of Paris with the help of a gasoline engine. The flight distance at that time was only 11 km.
And in 1914, the German Hans Berliner was able to fly from Berlin to the Urals. Gradually, the idea of \u200b\u200bballoons was supplanted by bulky airships, capable of lifting many people on board. Huge ships were able to cross the oceans and even fly around the Earth. In particular, as did the airship "Graf Zeppelin" in 1929. Later, these flying structures found their application in military aviation.
Parachute prototype development
Individual safety equipment in the air has its own characteristics. The fabric dome, which was invented almost at the same time as the balloon, in 1783, successfully copes with the task of making the descent smoother. So, Louis Sebastian Lenormand used ordinary beach umbrellas to demonstrate the possibilities of the dome design. True, he only jumped from a tall tree. 
Already in 1802, another Frenchman Andre-Jacques Garnerin conquered the height of 2400 m. In the middle of the 20th century, the Parachuting Federation was created, which gave impetus to the development of popular entertainment.
The appearance of the first helicopter
Modern helicopters are equipped with two propellers powerful enough to lift several people or a large group of people. However, this was not possible at all times. In 1784, the French J. Bienvenue and B. Longois were able to build a helicopter, and after more than half a century, the Englishman Keiley even managed to raise the device a full meter above the ground. At the beginning of the 20th century, the helicopter rose to a height of up to two hundred meters, but it was still uncontrollable and was tied to the ground with cables. And only in the late 30s it turned out to make a vertical flight using the blades. 
The distinguished Russian-American aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, who was previously engaged in aircraft construction. Sikorsky built two helicopters in the Russian Empire - in 1908 and 1909. The helicopter took off, but was not strong enough to lift the pilot.
Glider aerodynamics
Free planning on the waves of air currents became a reality after the development of the German Otto Lilienthal, who lived in the second half of the 19th century. However, the "glider" invented by him led to the death of its creator. Read about inventions that killed their developers on our website. Only in 1896, American inventors modified the tail section of the vehicle and built an easily controllable glider. And starting from the 30s of the XX century, these individual gliders were introduced into mass production. 
At first, they were used in the war, when it was necessary to break through to their own through an ambush. Modern technologies have made it possible to significantly improve the aerodynamic component of gliders, thanks to which their use has become a separate kind of tourist sport.
When the kite became a plane
It was these "naive" aircraft that the Wright brothers first hunted. But as history has shown, this hobby was a foreshadowing of the invention of real aircraft. In 1903, the internal combustion engine in the engine of the Flyer airplane reached a flight speed of 3 m / s. A few more decades, and this achievement will be surpassed many times over, and airplanes will become number 1 air transport. In this case, the aircraft will lose its propeller and become jet-powered. Since it is jet thrust that makes it possible to reach speeds of over 700 km / h. The first such engine was the legendary Junkers, produced by German developers from BMW in 1938. 
A little later, the technology will be used by all the advanced countries of the world. At the moment, the development of technological progress has led to the fact that in 2004 NASA has so far designed an unmanned vehicle capable of reaching a speed of 3 km / s. Thus, the appearance of passenger rocket planes can be expected soon.
The heaviest plane in the world
If we talk about modern aircraft construction in Russia, then it is necessary to start from the distant 1910, when the biplane "Russia-A", designed on the basis of the French design, was first produced. A few years later, the name of Jan Nagursky will become loud: it is he who should be considered the ancestor of the most complex Arctic aviation.Of the most notorious accomplishments of domestic aviation, the grandiose achievement of the Soviet Antonov plant should be noted. It was here that at the end of the 1980s the largest passenger aircraft, called "Mriya" (translated from Ukrainian - "dream"), was designed. The payload capacity of this colossal super-heavy aircraft still cannot be surpassed by any aircraft. The creation of a heavyweight aircraft was associated with the development of a great power's space program.
The largest and heaviest aircraft in the world - "Mriya"
People by nature do not have their own wings, but there is much more - the ability to dream and make their dreams come true. We invite you to find out about the fastest airplanes in the history of mankind.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
AIR TRANSPORT, transportation of passengers, mail and cargo on aircrafts - airplanes and controlled balloons. Regular air transport is carried out between certain points according to the established schedule, and occasional flights are made without a schedule.
Currently, in the countries that own the air fleet, passenger air transport predominates, which also serves for postal transportation. Freight air transport does not yet exist at all, and it is only partially carried out on post-passenger aircraft. The main advantage of air transport is speed, the main disadvantage is its high cost. When comparing air transport with land and sea, the following points should be noted: 1) the ability to move in a straight direction (at long distances - along an arc of a great circle), 2) the ability to cross land and water sections without changing vehicles, and 3) flexibility in changing routes.
Average speed of air transport: on airplanes 130-160 km / h, 1200-1600 km per day without night flights, 2500-3000 km per day for night flights; on controlled balloons 80-110 km / h, 1800-2500 km per day (according to projects). The maximum speed of transport aircraft reaches 215 km / h, and of special racing aircraft - 512 km / h. Distance traveled without descent: on average 500-700 km on airplanes, up to 3-5 thousand km on controlled balloons (according to the projects of transoceanic lines). Nevertheless, air transport gains time only at distances over a certain length: on short lines, the gain is entirely absorbed by the delivery of passengers from the city to the airfield and back. For overhead lines competing with the railway, the minimum length is about 300-400 km. On lines exceeding 1,500 km, time savings compared to railways can only be obtained on night flights; otherwise, an overnight flight interruption could nullify the winnings. The problem of night flights is of great importance for air transport, especially in the countries of Western Europe and North America with a dense rail network. In recent years, a number of lines have been equipped for night flights. Tab. 1 shows the comparative gain in time on different lines of air transport.
The regularity of air transport suffers greatly from meteorological reasons (fog, snowstorm, poor visibility) and from mechanical defects (damage to the engine and equipment). In the summer season, irregularity due to meteorological reasons accounts for only 1-2% of all flights, in the autumn and winter months it increases greatly, and in the winter a significant part of air lines is completely closed. Violation of the regularity for mechanical reasons gives from 1 to 5%, on average - 2.5% of the number of flights started, i.e. for every 20-100 (on average 40) flights, depending on the nature of the line, its length and qualities materiel, there is one flight interruption or emergency landing. The use of multi-engine aircraft increases the regularity of air transport, although in this case the possibility forced landings on the way is not excluded, and along the air line it is still necessary to have a certain number of spare landing sites.
Air network development... The first regular air lines appeared in 1918 in the USA (experimental postal line New York-Washington) and Germany (military postal lines in the occupied territory of Ukraine). In 1919, a number of passenger and postal lines appeared in France, Germany and England. While all the lines are working on airplanes. On controlled balloons of the "Zeppelin" type, a test line was operated in Germany in 1919. In the USSR, after several experiments of air communication on aircraft of old military types in 1918-1921, since May 1, 1922, post-passenger and freight traffic Moscow- Konigsberg (1200 km) of the mixed Russian-German Air Service Society, abbreviated as Deruluft. In August and September of the same year, the Moscow-Nizhny-Novgorod line of the Aviakultura society operated during the All-Union Fair. At the beginning of 1923, the joint-stock companies Dobrolet (All-Union Society of Voluntary Air Fleet) and Ukrvozduhput (Ukrainian Society of Air Communications) were formed. Both societies have developed a significant network of overhead lines. Third Society "Zakavia" (Transcaucasian Society civil aviation), which arose in the same year, was liquidated in 1925. At present (early 1928) the network of air lines in the USSR is 7400 km and is operated by three companies: Dobrolet, Deruluft and Ukrvozduhput.
Worldwide network of air lines in 1927 it reached a length of about 65,000 km; of these, Europe accounts for about 40,000 km (Fig. 1).
The most extensive network united by the German Air Hansa Society (Deutsche Luft-Hansa) is in Germany, about 20,000 km, France (1927) has about 11,000 km of air lines; the most important of them are: Paris-London (Society "Air-Union"), Paris-Berlin (Society "Farman", in parallel with the "German Air Hansa"), Paris-Vienna-Constantinople with a branch Prague-Warsaw ("International Air Service ", With the participation of the Romanian and Hungarian capital) and colonial lines: Toulouse-Casablanca-Dakkar with a branch to Algeria and Tunisia and the intended continuation to South America (society" Latecoer "), England has in Europe only about 1500 km of air lines connecting London with the main capitals of the continent. In the colonies England is doing a great deal of work to prepare a network of "imperial" air routes, both by airplanes and by controlled balloons. Of the projected air route London-India-Australia, only the Cairo-Baghdad-Basra (Imperial Airways Society) section is regularly operating. The rest of Europe has partly national, partly mixed air service societies, usually subsidized by the state and operating relatively small local lines. In the United States, in 1920, the New York-San Francisco air mail line (4300 km) began operating, crossing the entire country (see Fig. 2).
Since 1924 it has been operating day and night and has been electrified for over 2,200 km. In addition to the named one, 17 more air lines operate here under a contract with the post office. The length of the entire US network by the end of 1927 reached 15,600 km. Most American lines operate all year round. Other non-European lines include Belgian lines in the Congo, German lines on seaplanes in Colombia ( South America) and the Australian lines, which in 1927 reached a length of over 4000 km.
Air lines of the USSR... 1) Dobrolet, after the experiments of air communication on the lines Moscow-Nizhny-Kazan and Sevastopol-Yalta, since 1925 concentrated his efforts on the outskirts of the lines, which give a very large gain in time, in areas devoid of normal mechanical transport. In 1927, Dobrolet contained lines in Central Asia: Tashkent-Samarkand-Termez-Dushambe, 930 km, and Chardjuy-Khiva-Tashauz-Chimbay, 480 km (Fig. 3).
At the end of 1927, regular flights were opened on the Frunze-Alma-Ata, 240 km, and Tashkent-Termez-Kabul, 1140 km lines. The line of the same society operates in Transbaikalia: Verkhneudinsk-Urga (in Mongolia), 600 km away, with a planned extension to Beijing. The tremendous saving of time given by these lines is given by the concept of Table. 1. 2) Ukrvozduhput in 1927 operated the daily line Moscow-Baku, 2510 km, through Kharkov-Rostov-Mineralnye Vody-Grozny. An extension of this line to Pahlavi (Anzali, Northern Persia) was opened to join the Persian-German line of Junkers Pahlavi-Tehran. 3) Deruluft in 1927 worked on the line Moscow-Konigsberg-Berlin, with a length of 1800 km. The listed lines, except for the Asian ones, operate only in the summer, while the Asian lines operate almost all year round, with small breaks in the winter months.
State of the art. Air transport... On modern air lines, in addition to a small number of adapted military aircraft, there are three categories of post-passenger aircraft: a) exclusively postal, small in size, with engines of 150-400 hp. with., without a passenger cabin (ch. arr. on American lines); b) passenger aircraft and seaplanes of medium power, single-engine, 200-500 hp. from.; c) large passenger airplanes and seaplanes with 2, 3 and 4 engines, with a total capacity of 600 to 1300 hp. from.: The most used types are given in table. 2.
Low power aircraft, below 70 hp with., in regular air transport are not used and are still only for sports. Aircraft from 70 to 150 HP from. in some cases they are used on short lines (access roads), as well as on individual flights for hire (taxi). Controlled balloons (airships) for air lines are under construction in England and Germany and belong to the rigid type (the Zeppelin system). Their volume is from 100 to 150 thousand m 3; number of motors 5-7; their total capacity is up to 3000 liters. from.; speed 110-120 km / h; seats for passengers 100, full payload 20-30 tons.
Air Transport Statistics... The operation of overhead lines in the main countries of Western Europe is characterized by the data in Table. 3 and 4.
The volume of work of the air lines of the USSR, although it is still inferior to the scale of the Western European, has been showing rapid and regular growth in recent years (see Table 5).
Air transport safety ... As you can see from the table. 6, the number of accidents in air transport compared to railways is still high, and the degree of safety is insufficient. However, it is impossible to give a strictly objective comparison based on statistics, since air transport has not yet reached such a scale and does not have a mass character. According to the statistics of Russian railways for 1913, 1 killed passenger accounted for 1,300,000 passengers transported, or 825,000 train kilometers traveled. T. about. in relation to the number of kilometers traveled, air transport for passengers can already be on a par with railways in terms of safety, but in relation to the number of passengers carried, the number of accidents in air transport is many times greater than in land.
Design of overhead lines... The organization of air lines is preceded by the preparation of a technical project, organizational and operational estimates. The technical project includes: 1) establishing the route, defining stages and scheduling the movement; 2) calculation of the number of aircraft and engines; 3) establishment of types of technical equipment; 4) calculation of flight personnel (pilots, onboard mechanics and radiotelegraph operators); 5) the location and equipment of airfields and landing areas; 6) projects of buildings on airfields and sites; 7) design of lighting equipment for night flights; 8) organization of meteorological service; 9) organization of radio-telephone and other types of communication through the line; 10) organization of supply of materials and spare parts. The route is chosen, if possible, allowing safe landing on the way. The length of the stages that can be completed without descent is determined in relation to the qualities of the selected aircraft, taking into account adverse winds and the length of the day at different times of the year. In this case, a reserve of about 100 km is required per stage; the length of the stages rarely exceeds 800 km. Landing pads in case of forced descent are planned every 50-70 km and are provided with distinctive signs visible from above. The travel schedule is based on the average cruising speed of a given aircraft, which has been verified by experience (usually 15-20% below maximum speed). The number of aircraft on the line is determined based on the allowable flight load and is equal to the number of kilometers traveled along the line per month divided by the allowable flight load per month per aircraft plus the number of spare aircraft. The latter are usually available 1 at the endpoints plus 1 for every 1000-1500 km of the route. The flight load on the aircraft is normally 8000-12000 km per month. The pilot is usually attached to a specific aircraft and has the same flight load, i.e. 60-90 flight hours per month.
Example: line length - 2000 km, number of flights - 6 per week in each direction, total 52 flights per month; speed, on average, 150 km / h, the number of pilots and work planes 2000x52 / (90x150) ≈ 7or 8,spareaircraft 3;totalaircraft 10-11. Numbermotorsatstockacceptedusuallyin 100%fromnumbersestablishedonplanes.Termdepreciationmotors 700-1000 hourswork;for2000 aircraft-3000 hoursflight, or an average of 3-4 years.
The cost of air transportation by aircraft is higher than all other modes of transport (see Table 7).
On a single-engine aircraft with a capacity of 200-400 liters. from. (4-6 passengers), 1 km of flight costs 1 r.-1 r. 70 k. With daily flights all year round, the cost is closer to the lower limit, with infrequent flights, it increases greatly. Large planes provide relatively cheaper transport, but only if they are provided with a sufficiently large load, which is still rare. For controlled balloons there are still no proven cost figures, and for large controlled balloons under construction of 100,000-150000 m 3, the cost is expected to be 5-10 k. Per passenger-kilometer and 50 k-1 r. with tkm. The reasons for the high cost of transport on existing aircraft: a) relatively low carrying capacity (2-3 pass, for every 100 hp); b) the high cost of airplanes and motors, still manufactured in small numbers; c) short amortization periods for aircraft and engines; d) high cost of fuel; e) high insurance; f) a large% of overhead costs due to poor use of the material part in time (incomplete year and a small part of the day). Comparison of the cost of air transport with the size of the accepted tariffs shows that air transport is still unprofitable everywhere. Unprofitableness is still increasing due to underloading, which takes place on many lines. The deficit in all states is covered by government subsidies. Their size for 1926: in France - about 5 million rubles, in Germany - about 9 million rubles, in England - about 2.3 million rubles; in addition, states provide free ground equipment for air transport (airfields, lighting, etc.). The most cost-effective cargo is mail, paid for 4-7 rubles. for 1 tkm, but its number is still not enough to load air lines. The development of air mail is now the surest way to break even air transport. Passengers and cargo can only recoup the costs on lines that pass in off-road areas, such as the Central Asian Dobrolet lines and some colonial lines, where in fact already now most of the operating costs are covered by income; in the near future, such lines will become profitable. Technological progress in aircraft and airship construction promises in the coming decades a significant reduction in the cost of air transport, achieving its full profitability and lowering tariffs for passengers and mail to approximately the railway level. In parallel with this, an increase in the regularity, speed and comfort of air transport is foreseen and, as a result, a huge expansion of the field of its application.
in the discipline "Transport logistics"
on the topic "Air transport"
Air transport is the fastest and at the same time the most expensive form of transport. The main field of application of air transport is passenger transportation at distances over 1000 kilometers. Cargo transportation is also carried out, but their share is very low. The main cargoes carried by air are either high value or perishable goods, when high transport costs are justified. Potential objects of air cargo transportation are also products traditional for logistics operations, such as assembly parts and components, goods sold through mail order catalogs. In many hard-to-reach areas (in the mountains, regions of the Far North), there are no alternatives to air transport. In such cases, when there is no airfield at the landing site (for example, the delivery of scientific groups to hard-to-reach areas), they use not airplanes, but helicopters, which do not need a landing strip.
Aircraft - An aircraft supported in the atmosphere by interaction with air, other than interaction with air reflected from the surface of the earth or water.
In accordance with the code of the International Aviation Federation, aircraft are divided into classes, for example:
Class A - free balloons;
Class B - airships;
Class C - aircraft, helicopters, seaplanes, etc.
Class S - space models.
In addition, class C is divided into four groups, depending on the power plant. Also, all civil aircraft are grouped into classes depending on their take-off weight:
Out of class - no weight limit;
First class - 75 tons and more;
Second class - 30-75 tons;
Third class - 10-30 tons;
Fourth class - up to 10 tons.
Depending on the nature of operation, civil aviation aircraft can be classified into:
1) aircraft of general aviation (GA);
2) commercial aviation aircraft.
Aircraft in regular operation, that is, in the field of activities of commercial airlines that carry passengers and cargo on schedule, are classified as commercial aviation. The use of the aircraft for personal or business purposes classifies it as general aviation.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of general-purpose aircraft, as they are able to perform tasks unusual for commercial aviation - transportation of small cargo, agricultural work, patrolling, pilot training, aviation sports, tourism, etc., and also significantly save time for users. ... The latter is achieved due to the ability to fly out of schedule, the ability to use small airfields for takeoff and landing, and the user does not waste time on issuing and registering air tickets and has the ability to choose a direct route to the destination. As a rule, GA aircraft are aircraft with a take-off weight of up to 8.6 tons. However, it is also possible to use a larger aircraft.
Depending on the purpose, two main groups of aircraft can be distinguished, regardless of the operating conditions - multipurpose and specialized aircraft.
Multipurpose aircraft are designed for a wide range of tasks. This is achieved through re-equipment and re-equipment of the aircraft for a specific task with minimal or no structural changes. Depending on the ability to take off and land not only at airfields with artificial turf, but also to use the water surface for these purposes, multipurpose aircraft are ground-based and amphibious.
Specialized aircraft are focused on performing any one task.
Of particular importance for civil aviation is the classification of aircraft depending on their flight range, in accordance with Figure 2.12:
Short-haul (main airlines) aircraft, with a flight range of 1000-2500 km;
Medium-haul aircraft with a flight range of 2500-6000 km;
Long-haul aircraft with a range of over 6,000 km.
Figure 1. Classification of aircraft depending on range zones
Russia is a country with a length of almost 10,000 km, and of course long-haul, medium-haul and regional aircraft are needed. The model range of aircraft produced by Russian airlines is as follows.
Long-haul aircrafts such as Il-96-300, Il-96-400M, Tu-204-300 allow to carry from 164-436 passengers depending on the layout of the passenger compartment for a distance of up to 6500 km.
Medium-haul aircraft such as Tu-134, Tu-204-100, Tu-204SM, Tu-214, SSJ-100, as well as the priority program for the production of MS-21-200 (up to 150 passengers), MS-21-300 ( up to 180 passengers) and MS-21-400 (210 passengers) and An-148 can carry 160-210 passengers, flight range up to 4300 km.
In the short-haul segment there is a Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (GSS) aircraft in the basic dimension of 95 seats.
Regional aviation has aircraft, such as An-140 with a capacity of 50 seats, An-38 - a 30-seat aircraft.
Freight "regionals". Now in the post-Soviet space, seven aircraft for regional and local transportation are being developed and tested - Sukhoi SuperJet 100, An-140, Tu-334, Il-114, An-38, Su-80GP, An-148. However, only the transport version of the Il-114T is still considered by the UAC as a commercial cargo aircraft. This machine, with a carrying capacity of 7 tons, was flown around in September 1996. Its serial assembly is planned at the Chkalov Tashkent Aircraft Production Association. However, so far no orders have been received for the Il-114T. Venezuela may become the first major buyer of the Il-114. Caracas intends to purchase from 15 to 20 Il-114 in modifications of a naval patrol and a cargo plane.
Most of the rest of the listed projects also have "on paper" cargo versions. True, the lightest of them were immediately made in a cargo-passenger version, which makes it easy to remake the passenger compartment into a cargo hold. Thus, An-38-120 can transport up to 2.5 tons of cargo over a distance of 1.54 thousand km, and SU-80GP - 3.3 tons per 1.3 thousand km. On the basis of the An-140, projects were developed for the An-140T transport with a carrying capacity of 6 tons with a flight range of 2.34 thousand km, a convertible An-140TK cargo-passenger and an An-142 military transport with a ramp.
A ramp cargo version of the An-148T has been developed for the transportation of 15-20 tons. It is planned to install modified D-436T3 engines with a thrust of 9-9.5 tons instead of the standard D-436-148 engines with a thrust of 6.4-6.83 tons. However, while the An-148 sellers are in no hurry to start assembling the transport version. “It is in our lineup, but now it is not a priority,” IFC CEO Alexander Rubtsov explained to BG. “In the next three years, we need to launch the production of passenger cars at VASO, and only after that switch to the cargo version as requests come in.”
However, the rate of production of Russian commercial cargo aircraft remains low so far. The results of the aviation industry in 2007 in terms of production of long-haul aircraft show that the planned indicators laid down in the federal target program "Development of civil aviation technology in Russia in 2002-2010 and for the period up to 2015 ”, were not fulfilled. The aircraft factories, according to the plan, were to transfer 2-4 Il-96 and 10-12 Tu-204 aircraft of all modifications to the customers last year. At the same time, only two aircraft were manufactured at VASO, one Il-96-400T was submitted for certification tests, but not sold. Aviastar-SP delivered one Tu-204-100, Tu-204-300 and Tu-204S to its customers. According to the plans of the United Aircraft Corporation, in 2008 three Il-96-400T (VASO) and eight Tu-204 (Aviastar-SP) are to be assembled. In addition, it is expected that this year VASO will begin serial production of the An-148 regional aircraft: the UAC has set the task of assembling the first four aircraft there, but the implementation of this plan seems extremely problematic.
IL-96 - passenger wide-body aircraft for long-haul airlines, designed at the Ilyushin Design Bureau in the late 1980s. It made its first flight in 1988, has been serially produced since 1993 at the plant of the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Building Company. The Il-96 became the first and last Soviet long-range wide-body aircraft. Unit cost - $ 58 million
The aircraft has been mass-produced since 1992 at the Voronezh Aviation Plant. Since 1988, 23 aircraft of this type have been built. As of August 2009, 16 aircraft are in operation (13 in Russia). Of them for passenger transportation 6 Aeroflot airliners are used.
Commercial operation of the aircraft began on July 14, 1993 on the Moscow-New York route. At first, the aircraft was used on mainly foreign flights: to Singapore, Las Palmas, New York, Tel Aviv, Palma de Mallorca, Tokyo, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Santiago, Lima. All Il-96 aircraft currently flying at Aeroflot were assembled in the first half of the 1990s.
Two aircraft were built to serve the President of the Russian Federation (Il-96-300PU modification, w / n RA-96012, RA-96016).
In 2005-2006, three Il-96-300s were delivered to Cuba, including one to serve the President of Cuba. In 2009, the Venezuelan government signed a contract for the supply of two Il-96-300s - one for passenger, the other for VIP transportation.
The Il-96-400T is a cargo version of the Il-96-400. Flight performance remained unchanged. Serially produced at the VASO plant in Voronezh. The first Il-96-400T was created by reconstructing the Il-96T assembled in 1997. In 2007, a completely new aircraft was assembled. Both aircraft were sold to Atlant-Soyuz in 2007, and in 2009 they switched to Flight.
The current version of the aircraft is equipped with new engines, the most modern Russian-made flight and navigation system, which allows the aircraft to be operated without any restrictions around the world. Such aircraft have not yet been produced in Russia. IL-96-400T can carry up to 92 tons of cargo on medium and long-distance routes. The aircraft is certified in accordance with Russian airworthiness standards, harmonized with EU and US standards.
The Ilyushin design bureau is already working on a new version of the aircraft modernization - the Il-196. The cargo version of the Il-196T will have a maximum take-off weight of 270 tons and a maximum payload of 92 tons, performing with it a flight of 5.8 thousand km. IL-96-400T with a takeoff weight of 265 tons and the same 92-ton load can fly only 5 thousand km. However, if the fuel consumption of the 400T is 7.5 tons per hour, then the IL-196, according to calculations, will be 6.1 tons (19% lower). True, you will have to pay for such savings: the catalog price of 400T is $ 75 million, and for the 196th it is planned at the level of $ 90-110 million. “Such a machine will outperform the Boeing 777 in its performance,” Mr. Rubtsov said. True, the Boeing 777F, which should appear on the market in 2011, is still ahead of the Il-196 in a number of characteristics, the deliveries of which are planned to begin a year later. Boeing with a maximum take-off weight of 347 tons will transport 104 tons over 6,020 km with a fuel consumption of 5.82-6.21 tons per hour. However, the Il-196 will be half the price: the predicted catalog price of the 777F will be $ 187-250 million.
The creation of the Il-196 aircraft depends on whether the NK-93 engine brought to mass production appears. Its bench tests in Samara began back in 1989.
Table 1. Flight performance
| Characteristic | IL-96-300 | IL-96M / T | IL-96-400M / T |
| The first flight | September 28, 1988 | April 6, 1993 | May 16, 1997 |
| Start of operation | July 14, 1993 | - | April 23, 2009 |
| Wingspan | 57.66 m | 60.105 m | 60.105 m |
| Length | 55.345 m | 63.939 m | 63.939 m |
| Tail height | 17.55 m | 15,717 m | 15,717 m |
| Wing area | 350 m² | 391.6 m² | 391.6 m² | 40,000 kg | 58,000 kg | 58,000 kg |
| Max. takeoff weight | 250,000 kg | 270,000 kg | 265,000 kg |
| Max. passenger capacity | 300 | 436 | 436 |
| Crew | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Cruising speed | 870 km / h | 870 km / h | 870 km / h |
| Maximum speed | 910 km / h | 900 km / h | 900 km / h |
Continuation of table 1.
In the entire history of operation with the Il-96 aircraft, there have been no disasters or accidents that resulted in the death of people.
On October 5, 2004, some Russian publications reported that on September 29, while taking off from the Lisbon international airport, the Il-96-300PU (w / n 96016) collided with a flock of birds, presumably pigeons. Birdstrike is a common occurrence in aviation, but it does not always lead to engine failure. Takeoff was interrupted and the plane was towed to the parking lot. On September 30, he was examined by the technicians of the State Customs Committee of Russia, which owns the plane, who arrived from Moscow (on the Il-62).
As a result, it was announced that the reason for the cancellation of takeoff was not a collision with birds at all, but condensate from the SCR tubes that got on the dashboard. The moisture distorted the readings of the instruments: the engines were operating in takeoff mode, but the instruments showed that the engines could not reach the takeoff mode. Probably, this case would have remained common if the attention of the Russian press had not been attracted by the photograph of the Portuguese spotter Miguel Claudio, who was lucky enough to photograph the plane at the time of the incident. Putin was not on the plane at that moment, he was in Saratov.
No flying
On August 2, 2005, the same Il-96-300PU, but with the president on board, could not take off from Turku airport, where Putin was on an official visit. While taxiing, a certain technical malfunction was discovered, it was decided to transfer the president to the reserve Il-62.
The consequences of this incident were more serious. On August 22, at the suggestion of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Transport, flights of all Il-96 aircraft were prohibited. This was due to a systematic failure of the wheel braking system, which occurred including on August 2 in Finland. It was announced that one of the wheel brake assemblies, UG151-7, was defective and did not correspond to the declared drawings. Units UG151 for the Il-96 were assembled at the Balashikha Foundry and Mechanical Plant, for their replacement a new batch was assembled at the NPO Molniya plant in Moscow.
The ban resulted in multi-million dollar losses of airlines using the IL-96, primarily Aeroflot. On October 3, the general director of VASO Vyacheslav Salikov was dismissed, IL-96 flights were resumed on the same day. The ban on flights lasted 42 days.
An-124 ("Ruslan") (according to NATO codification: Condor - "Condor") - Soviet / Ukrainian-Russian transport aircraft, which is the largest serial transport aircraft in the world. The An-124 Ruslan aircraft was created primarily for the air transportation of mobile launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles, such as the MZKT-79221 tractor, as well as for large-scale amphibious air transport of personnel, heavy military equipment and large-tonnage transportation in the interests of the national economy.
The first flight of a prototype aircraft made on December 24, 1982 in Kiev. The aircraft entered service with the military transport aviation of the USSR in January 1987. Serially produced by the Ulyanovsk Aviation Industrial Complex "AVIASTAR" in 1984-2004 and the Kiev Aviation Plant "AVIANT" in 1982-2003.
At the end of February 2006, within the framework of the program for the modernization and resumption of serial production of An-124-100 aircraft at the Ulyanovsk enterprise "Aviastar", it was decided to open a branch of the ANTK im. Antonov. However, two months later, the project to resume serial production was declared futile.
In October 2006, the Committee on Economic Cooperation of the Ukrainian-Russian Yushchenko-Putin Commission decided to continue the implementation of the An-124 aircraft project, bearing in mind the possible resumption of serial production. In August 2007, an agreement was signed to resume serial production.
Specifications
Crew: 4-7 people
Empty weight: 173,000 kg
Normal takeoff weight: 392,000 kg
Payload mass: 120,000 kg (An-124), 150,000 kg (An-124-100)
Maximum takeoff weight: 402,000 kg
Fuel consumption: 12 600 kg / h (at maximum commercial load)
Cargo compartment volume: 1050 m³
Cargo hatches size:
front: 6.4 m
rear: 4.4 m
The aircraft has two decks: lower deck - cargo compartment; upper deck - cockpit, shift crew cabin, escort cabin for up to 21 people.
Flight characteristics
Maximum speed: 865 km / h
Practical range:
with a load of 150 t: 3,200 km
with a load of 120 t: 5,200 km
with a load of 40 t: 11 900 km
empty: 14 400 km
Years of production: 1984-2004, will be resumed in 2009-2010
Units produced: 56
Unit Cost: USD 200 Million
As of April 2008, 4 aircraft of the An-124 type crashed.
Table 2. Accidents of An-124 aircraft
IL-76T
The Il-76T cargo plane is designed for the transportation of bulky and heavy cargoes, wheeled and tracked vehicles and cargo placed in containers and on pallets. Maximum payload - 40 tons.
The cargo compartment is equipped with mechanization equipment: four electric hoists (with a lifting capacity of 2500 kg), two LPG-3000A electric winches (with a lifting capacity of 3000 kg), roller tracks with guides and locks for fastening containers and pallets.
When transporting goods in bulk or wheeled vehicles, the roller deck is removed. In this case, the maximum height of the load should not exceed 3.2 m (in the area between the railroad bars No. 18 and 24 - 2.31 m), and the maximum width - 3.16 m.
Despite the crisis, air travel in Russia increased by 11%. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, in 2008 Russian airlines carried 50.1 million passengers - 11% more than a year earlier (45.11 million). International air travel grew by 13.6% to 23.7 million people, domestic - by 8.9% to 26.4 million.
The passenger turnover of Russian airlines grew by 11.3% to 123.5 billion passenger kilometers. The volume of freight and mail traffic increased by 5.8%, to 775 thousand tons.
In the first half of the year, the Russian air transportation market showed record growth rates of 20-25% compared to last year, but in the midst of the “high” summer season, growth began to slow down rapidly.
According to the Transport Clearing House (TCH), in July the growth was already 9.5%, in August - 8.3%, in September - 3.8%, in October - 0.8%, and in November the volume of traffic decreased for the first time by 6.5%. There are no data for December yet, but according to expert estimates, in the last month of the past year, transportation should have decreased by about 3%.
Table 3. Key performance indicators of civil aviation in Russia for January-September 2009-2010.
| Performance indicator by message type | unit of measurement | january-September 2009 | january-September 2010 | % K acc. period last year |
| Passenger turnover | thousand passenger km | 85 057 932,32 | 111 998 174,51 | 131,7 |
| including: | ||||
| International transportation | 47 832 149,96 | 66 092 169,70 | 138,2 | |
| Domestic transportation | 37 225 782,36 | 45 906 004,81 | 123,3 | |
| Freight turnover | thousand tkm | 2 441 596,20 | 3 433 860,57 | 140,6 |
| including: | ||||
| International transportation | 1 962 200,84 | 2 808 503,60 | 143,1 | |
| Domestic transportation | 479 395,36 | 625 356,98 | 130,4 | |
| Carriage of passengers | people | 34 362 907 | 43 762 374 | 127,4 |
| including: | ||||
| International transportation | 16 545 307 | 21 490 806 | 129,9 | |
| Domestic transportation | 17 817 600 | 22 271 568 | 125,0 | |
| Transportation of goods and mail | tons | 493 486,57 | 668 158,23 | 135,4 |
| including: | ||||
| International transportation | 340 148,60 | 484 932,38 | 142,6 | |
| Domestic transportation | 153 337,97 | 183 225,85 | 119,5 | |
| Passenger seat occupancy rate | % | 75,1 | 79,3 | +4,2 |
| including: |
Continuation of table 3.
Table 4. Main operational indicators of airlines
| Indicators | Units | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Passenger turnover | bln passenger km | 85,77 | 93,93 | 111,0 | 122,6 |
| including: | |||||
| - on international overhead lines | 45,78 | 50,92 | 61,81 | 69,9 | |
| - on internal overhead lines | 39,99 | 43,01 | 49,19 | 52,7 | |
| Passengers carried | million people | 35,09 | 38,03 | 45,11 | 49,8 |
| including: | |||||
| - on international overhead lines | 15,88 | 17,26 | 20,86 | 23,6 | |
| - on internal overhead lines | 19,21 | 20,77 | 24,25 | 26,2 | |
| Transported mail and cargo | thousand tons | 628,92 | 640,33 | 732,17 | 779,4 |
| including: | |||||
| - on international overhead lines | 362,47 | 384,65 | 461,60 | 519,9 | |
| - on internal overhead lines | 266,45 | 255,68 | 270,57 | 259,4 |
Today, the domestic aviation industry continues to experience a systemic crisis. The situation with the release of civil aircraft is catastrophic, fraught with lagging behind the West forever. So, the American company Boeing last year delivered 375 mainline airliners, Russia - only 7. For the period since 2003. 7 Il-96 and 25 Tu-204/214 were put into operation, while back in 1991 81 mainline aircraft left the gates of the assembly shops. Sometimes one gets the impression that additional state investments in domestic factories are going into the sand. In piece terms, deliveries of jet passenger aircraft in 2007 and 2008 did not increase by a single unit, remaining at the level of seven cars. In essence, the situation in Russia with civil aircraft construction boils down to the well-known aphorism: "It's hard to carry and it's a pity to leave."
The main cause of aircraft accidents is worn-out equipment. Many of them have been in operation for up to 20 years in a row.
Older aircraft require more careful maintenance and regular testing. However, they are mainly operated by companies that do not have enough funds to renew the fleet as a whole, and, therefore, to care for their cars.
Pilots' preparedness plays a significant role, the more qualified the pilot is, the less likely it is to make a mistake, however, not all airlines can afford to hire only experienced highly qualified specialists and organize their additional training.
The safest aircraft: Boeing 777, Airbus A340, Airbus A330, Boeing 747, Boeing 767.
The most dangerous aircraft: Yak-42, Boeing 727, Tu-134, Airbus A310, Tu-154.
Russian airlines do not buy new Russian aircraft models, but imported ones, but used ones. At the same time, the training of the future pilot personnel takes place on domestic models. Accordingly, the main cause of all accidents is the human factor also takes place.
Training of future pilots has become too expensive and many are transplanted to simulators, respectively, the quality of education has dropped significantly.
To the general not very good condition of the equipment on Russian aircraft, the machinations of employees of factories that produce parts for aircraft are added. Often, decommissioned parts are stolen from factories and sold as new, resulting in really dangerous situations if the equipment is installed in machines.
The most difficult thing in the study of air crashes is that there is never a single reason for an incident, there must be some kind of chain of fatal events that eventually leads to the death of many people. We can only hope for the future development of technology and the professionalism of the pilots.
Bibliographic list
Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below
Students, graduate students, young scientists using the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
Posted on http:// www. allbest. ru/
Air Transport
The twentieth century was marked by gigantic transformations that took place in all spheres of human activity. Air transport was no exception. Its development was facilitated by the growth of the world's population, an increase in the amount of consumed material resources, urbanization, social, political and many other factors. Its main advantage is to provide significant time savings due to its high flight speed.
Air transport emerged in the states of Europe and America after World War I (1914-18). In France and Germany, for example, it began to develop as a mode of transport from 1920-21. In the USSR, the first air line was opened in 1923 on the route Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod.
In modern conditions, air transport is one of the most dynamically developing means of transportation. In the main directions of development of the national economy and civil aviation, it is assigned an important role. The development of air transport for the country is simply necessary. Aviation is the youngest and fastest direction, designed to carry out communication links between different regions. At the same time, this is the most expensive industry. With its help, medicines and mail, industrial and food products are delivered to the most inaccessible corners.
It should be said that aviation is the most advanced form of transport. She does not need roads and is not afraid of various obstacles. It was thanks to aviation that mankind got the opportunity to go into space.
The most common form of air transport is, of course, an airplane. Aircraft have the fastest speed of all other types of air transport, so air delivery of cargo by air is the fastest. In addition, the aircraft are subdivided into groups in terms of carrying capacity, flight range and speed characteristics.
The next most common type of air transport is helicopters. It is clear that helicopters are used mainly for short-distance (about 500-1000 kilometers) transportation of small consignments.
The third type of air transport is actually sea, but it has the shape, design and principle of movement of air transport. These are the so-called ekranoplanes and ground-effect vehicles. They surpass many aircraft in speed, safety and carrying capacity, but are inferior to them in maneuverability due to the fact that the flight height of these ships is only a few meters. In addition, ekranoplans and ekranoplanes do not need airfields or airports for landing, they are capable of splashing down on almost any water surface.
Air transport has a number of undeniable advantages. First of all, it is high-speed. At the same time, an important maneuverability is achieved when organizing passenger transportation. In addition, modern airlines provide non-stop flights over long distances.
In order to regulate all activities of world civil aviation, unify its use and application, as well as exchange experience in all areas of air navigation, in the fall of 1944 under the auspices of the UN, a specialized International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was established and is now successfully functioning, of which Russia is a member. ICAO publishes detailed statistics on all the diverse aspects of the activity and state of air transport in the world. The activities of ICAO are determined by the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation - a legal act and a fundamental source of air international law. Anticipating the global development of air transportation, the founders of the ICAO managed, in particular, to avoid the inconsistencies that complicated at one time the establishment of uniformity in railway traffic (right-left-hand traffic, wide-narrow gauge, etc.). All ICAO regulation is aimed at ensuring flight safety, aviation security (protection against terrorism) and maximizing the simplification of the air transportation process between states. Of the many specialized agencies operating under the auspices of the United Nations, ICAO is not only the largest but also the most efficient organization, ensuring uniformity and order in the transport of more than 1.6 billion passengers and 30 million tons of cargo by air annually.
Unlike ICAO, another international air transport association - IATA (International Air Transport Organization), founded in 1919, is engaged in the financial management of air transportation. A clearing settlement system, for example, allows airlines to manage financial flows centrally. During the year, 34 billion US dollars, transferred by more than 300 airlines, pass through the IATA financial chamber. The system of mutual settlements for the sale of passenger transportation simplifies the process of issuing tickets and reduces the costs associated with their implementation. In addition, IATA is a legislative and advisory body on all issues related to tariffs for international air transportation, and also prepares forecasts for the volume of passenger traffic, the development of the route network, plans for the reconstruction and development of airports, and also sets standards for servicing passengers and their baggage in airports.
Depending on the nature of operation, civil aviation aircraft can be classified into:
1) aircraft of general aviation (GA);
2) commercial aviation aircraft.
Aircraft in regular operation, that is, in the field of activities of commercial airlines that carry passengers and cargo on schedule, are classified as commercial aviation. The use of the aircraft for personal or business purposes classifies it as general aviation.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of general-purpose aircraft, as they are able to perform tasks unusual for commercial aviation - transportation of small cargo, agricultural work, patrolling, pilot training, aviation sports, tourism, etc., and also significantly save time for users. ... The latter is achieved due to the ability to fly out of schedule, the ability to use small airfields for takeoff and landing, and the user does not waste time on issuing and registering air tickets and has the ability to choose a direct route to the destination. As a rule, GA aircraft are aircraft with a take-off weight of up to 8.6 tons. However, it is also possible to use a larger aircraft.
Depending on the purpose, two main groups of aircraft can be distinguished, regardless of the operating conditions - multipurpose and specialized aircraft.
Multipurpose aircraft are designed for a wide range of tasks. This is achieved through re-equipment and re-equipment of the aircraft for a specific task with minimal or no structural changes. Depending on the ability to take off and land not only at airfields with artificial turf, but also to use the water surface for these purposes, multipurpose aircraft are ground-based and amphibious.
Specialized aircraft are focused on performing any one task.
Of particular importance for civil aviation is the classification of aircraft depending on their flight range:
Short-haul (main airlines) aircraft, with a flight range of 1000-2500 km;
Medium-haul aircraft with a flight range of 2500-6000 km;
Long-haul aircraft with a range of over 6,000 km. airplane crew flight air carrier
Airspace refers to the division into echelons or air lanes along which aircraft move. The movement goes so that the distance between the aircraft at the moment of approach is at least 10 km - this is lateral separation. In the airport area, there are some echelons, and on long-distance routes, others.
Air transport management is no easy task. The flight crew includes navigators and pilots, as well as cadets of flight educational institutions who are fit for this work on the conclusion of the medical commission and can fulfill their functional duties. Each member of the crew during the flight is obliged to unquestioningly follow all instructions given by the flight control unit. You can only deviate from the route if there is a threat to the safety and life of people on board the aircraft.
There are certain norms of rest and flight time for the aircraft crew. So, you can stay in the air for no more than twelve hours a day. Such a norm is established for the flight crew of air airliners.
Currently, the safest mode of transport is considered to be an airplane, followed by water and rail transport. The data are calculated based on the number of people injured when using a particular type of transport.
According to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization - the UN agency that sets international standards for civil aviation), there is one accident per million departures, which cannot be said about car and other accidents.
But any plane crash, even the smallest aircraft, immediately attracts media attention. This contributes to the formation of a negative opinion about aviation as a very dangerous form of travel.
The likelihood of a passenger boarding a plane dying in a plane crash is approximately 1 / 8,000,000. If a passenger takes a random flight every day, it will take 21,000 years to die.
It is also considered erroneous to believe that in the event of a plane crash, the chances of survival are minimal. According to the analysis results 568 aviation accidentsthat occurred in the United States from 1983 to 2000, fatalities account for only 5% of the total number of passengers on board. According to these statistics, of the 53,487 people involved in plane crashes, 51,207 survived. As a result of a more detailed study of 26 serious accidents, accompanied by strong impacts of the liners on the ground, their breaking apart and fires, it turned out that about 50% of the people on board were saved in these accidents.
The likelihood of survival for the crew of passengers and pilots increases if the plane makes an emergency landing, even if it is not designed for such measures. Experts say that splashdown increases the chances of human survival by 50%.
Flight safety is in the first place for major air carriers. Pre-flight inspection of passengers, baggage and cargo, as well as a thorough technical inspection of the aircraft before departure are an integral part of the ground transportation services.
In Russian aviation, the leading airline in terms of safety and regularity of flights is occupied by the largest Russian airline, the national carrier - Aeroflot - Russian Airlines.
The company's fleet is one of the youngest in the world. Aeroflot owns 163 airliners, most of them Airbus A320, A330, Boeing 737, Boeing 777 and Sukhoi SuperJet-100.
Aeroflot has the largest Flight Control Center in Eastern Europe.
The route network has its own scheduled flights to 123 destinations in 52 countries, as well as the company's clients have the opportunity to fly to 1,052 destinations in 177 countries around the world through the extensive joint route network of the largest SkyTeam alliance.
In 2015, Aeroflot was awarded the World Airline Awards for the third consecutive year and for the fourth time in its history in the category “Best Airline in Eastern Europe”.
Flight safety, thorough inspection of the aircraft, saving time, as well as first-class service on board the aircraft will not leave anyone indifferent and will force them to resort to air transport again and again.
Bibliography
1. Shishkina L.N. Transport system of Russia.-M.: Zheldorizdat, 2005
Posted on Allbest.ru
Similar documents
The history of air transport in Russia from its origins to the present day. The development of the air traffic control system, the main stages in the formation of ATC. Ensuring the safety of civil aviation flights. Air navigation services for aircraft flights.
test, added 01/04/2015
Determination of advantages (high speed, efficiency), disadvantages (weight limitation) and problems of air transport development. Consideration of measures to ensure aviation security. Analysis of indicators of the effectiveness of the functioning of SVT.
abstract, added 03/18/2010
General characteristics of world air transport, its significance. Statutory provisions and organizational structure of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Assembly, council, commission activities. European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation.
term paper added on 12/06/2013
Satisfying user requests airspace to use it. Aircraft movement. Ensuring the required level of flight safety in air traffic services. Airways and local air lines.
term paper, added 03/02/2014
Features of civil aviation activities in a market economy. The largest airlines in Russia. Modern trends in the development of air transport, methods of its state regulation. Problems of Russian air legislation.
term paper added on 11/28/2013
Legal regime of aerodromes, airports and air traffic management facilities. Types and purpose of state aviation airfields. Participation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the state regulation of air transport.
test, added 02/10/2014
The concept of air transport is an air transport that transports goods by air. The terminal is the terminal part of a certain system, which provides a connection between the system and the external environment. Automation system for the operation of a cargo air terminal.
abstract, added 12/13/2011
Acceleration of the rate of development of Soviet air transport in 1961-1970. Introduction of second generation jet aircraft. Intensification of aviation work in the national economy and expansion of international cooperation of Aeroflot.
abstract added on 05/27/2014
Advantages and disadvantages of pipeline, rail, road and air transport in Russia. Mixed message organization schemes. Calculation of operating costs and time components of cargo delivery for different types of transport.
term paper, added 03/16/2014
Modern aircraft and ground equipment. Study of the route and meteorological documents, maps of special phenomena, maps of the vertical section of the atmosphere and maps of prevailing winds. Air transport efficiency and aircraft flight safety.
Air Transport
LECTURE 10
Air transport, being versatile, is mainly used to transport passengers over medium and long distances and certain types of cargo. Air transport accounts for approximately 40% of intercity passenger traffic. Such a significant role of air transport is associated with the large size of the territory of our country and the insufficient provision of certain regions with other modes of transport. The growth of material well-being, the expansion of cultural, business and scientific ties lead to an increase in the mobility of the population, which determines the need for high-speed travel - aviation.
The volume of cargo transported by air is insignificant. The range of goods is limited: valuable goods (for example, works of art, antiques, precious metals and stones, furs, etc.); goods requiring urgent delivery, including perishable goods; humanitarian aid; medicines; mail; food and industrial goods of the "captive" regions; cargo for emergencies.
Air transport occupies a special place in a unified transport system, since it is capable of carrying out a number of works necessary for the sectors of the country's economy that cannot be performed by other modes of transport.
Specific areas of air transport activities include: installation of high-rise building structures, gas and oil pipelines, power lines; traffic inspection; agricultural work (watering, fertilizing, spraying pesticides for weed control, pre-harvest removal of cotton leaves, aerosowing of herbs, rice, etc.); fire extinguishing, especially forest areas; communication with remote and hard-to-reach areas; emergency medical care, including the transfer of specialists of a narrow medical profile in case of emergency in their absence or shortage in the area; transportation of mail; maintenance of polar regions; geological exploration; aerial photography; exploration of oil deposits; ice reconnaissance and pilotage in the Far North and Northern Sea Route; delivery of workers to offshore oil fields with a rotational work method, etc.
In 2007, 45.1 million passengers used the services of Russian airlines. This is 18.6% more than in 2006. The growth of international air passenger traffic was 20.8%, and domestic - 16.7%. The leading positions in the field of passenger transportation belong to the airlines Aeroflot-Russian Airlines, Siberia, TransAero, Utair, and Russia. During the year, Russian airlines delivered 732 thousand tons of cargo, or 14.4% more than in the previous year.
The total number of Russian airlines at the beginning of 2008 was 178, 35 of which carry 95% of all air passengers.
Over the past 15 years, the country has sharply reduced the network of airfields. Of the 1,300 airfields that operated in 1992, only 330 remained. In 2007, another 21 airfields were closed for air traffic. This reduction has occurred and is happening due to a lack of investment in their operation and development, as well as due to the lack of the necessary funds for certification of their activities.
At present, out of the total number included in the register of civil aviation in Russia, only 58 airfields have runways with artificial turf. All other lanes of operating airfields are unpaved. Only half of the total number of aerodromes are equipped with light-signaling equipment.
The concept for the development of the domestic core airport network developed by the Federal Air Transport Agency provides for the creation of 12 international and 30 domestic hub airports in the country.
In 2007, the federal budget provided financing for 52 domestic civil aviation facilities for a total of 20.5 billion rubles. The actual development of these investments amounted to 19.9 billion rubles. In 2008, the state allocated 24.2 billion rubles for these purposes.
The development of air transportation in the country and the possibility of their reduction are constrained by the rise in prices for aviation fuel. In 2007, its price increased by 23%.
