Gloomy afternoon XXI century. Air Fleet Festival: Russian pilots celebrate Aerospace Forces Day Aviation Day in August

Airborne Forces Day or Paratroopers' Day is always celebrated at the beginning of the last summer month, namely August 2. The whole country knows about this holiday, as former paratroopers celebrate it very wildly and noisily, and on a grand scale.

Airborne Forces Day is celebrated every year on the same day. So in 2018, the “winged landing” will accept congratulations on August 2.

On May 31, 2006, the President of Russia signed a Decree, which indicated that Airborne Forces Day would be celebrated annually on August 2. This holiday is considered in Russia not just a memorable day, but also a day that is designed to strengthen and revive military traditions. This day also helps to increase the prestige of the service.

The Russian airborne troops have many combat vehicles. The most famous are considered to be the BMD-2, BMD-3, BMD-4, the SPTP 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank gun, the 2S9 Nona-S self-propelled artillery gun, the Kornet-E anti-tank missile system (based on armored personnel carrier BTR-D).

The Airborne Forces are a highly mobile branch of the military that conducts combat operations in the air and also tries to get behind enemy lines by air. Today, the main commander of the Airborne Forces is Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov.

History of the Airborne Forces Day holiday

The day of creation of the “winged landing” is considered to be August 2, 1930. Since it was on this day, during exercises near Voronezh, for the first time, paratroopers parachuted from a TB-3 bomber. It was after these scientists that experts realized that the country needed these types of forces.

As a result, a year later the first landing units were formed in the Soviet Union. And already in 1932, the first airborne battalions became part of the Air Force (Air Force).

For about 15 years, the Blue Berets belonged to the Air Force. Only in 1946 did they begin to report to the Minister of Defense. However, they never became an independent type of army.

From that time on, they were part of the ground forces for another 45 years.

For a long time they dreamed of becoming an independent army. And it still happened. Already in 1991 they gained independence.

And it was after this that the country began to massively celebrate Airborne Forces Day.

And only after the President of Russia signed the official status of the holiday, mass and noisy celebrations began.

Memory of “Uncle Vasya” on Airborne Forces Day

Speaking about the history of the “winged landing”, we must not forget about “Uncle Vasya”. After all, sometimes even the paratroopers themselves decipher the abbreviation Airborne Forces as “Uncle Vasya’s Troops.” “Uncle Vasya” is the hero of the USSR Vasily Margelov. It was he who commanded the Airborne Forces for 20 years.

Vasily Margelov made the paratroopers what they are today. It is thanks to him that the Airborne Forces have vests and blue berets. In addition, he taught his comrades how to parachute in combat vehicles.

Traditions of celebrating Airborne Forces Day

There are many interesting traditions on Airborne Forces Day. One of them is to put on your blue berets with vests, and also swim in the city fountains.

Eating watermelons is also considered one of the most “delicious” traditions. This tradition arose because watermelons ripen just in time for August. This “watermelon habit” appeared in the late 1980s, precisely after the Soviet Airborne Forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

In addition, on August 2, many airborne troops ride around different cities in their own cars, showing the symbols and flags of the Airborne Forces.

However, these are not all existing traditions for Airborne Forces Day. Another popular tradition is the awarding of honorary titles, medals and valuable gifts to the best paratroopers.

On Airborne Forces Day, “blue berets”, in addition to congratulations from their families, also receive them from the president and minister of defense of the country.

Also on Airborne Forces Day, various demonstration performances take place at the main venues of the country, where they show the weapons and equipment that they have in service.

In addition to demonstration performances, on this day there are festive concerts, master classes in hand-to-hand combat and parades.

Also on this day, Airborne Forces remember their fallen comrades: as a rule, not a single August 2 is complete without a ceremony of laying flowers at the memorials to paratroopers.

Where did the strange tradition of swimming in fountains and eating watermelons on Airborne Forces Day come from?

Now many people are interested in where the tradition of swimming in fountains came from. It is believed that this tradition first appeared in the early 80s, when paratroopers left Afghanistan. It was by swimming in the fountains that they showed the shortage of water in hot Afghanistan.

After this, swimming in fountains became a special feature of Airborne Forces Day.

The origin of another “tradition” of the holiday – watermelon pogroms – is also interesting. Veterans recall that on August 2, merchants generously treated the “birthday people.”

But times have changed, street sellers are no longer so hospitable, and blue berets began to destroy watermelon stalls.

The holiday was established both for military and civil aviators, as well as for the developers and creators of aircraft.

The first celebration of Air Fleet Day took place on August 18, 1933. On this day in Moscow, at the Central Airfield named after M.V. Frunze (on the territory of Khodynka Field) an aviation festival was held, during which samples of Soviet aviation technology, the skill and courage of aviators were shown. The air parade was attended by members of the Soviet government and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, headed by Stalin. From this day on, August 18 became a national holiday, however, despite the fact that the Day of the “entire” air fleet was declared, that is, all aviation of the USSR, including aviation of the Navy, Civil Air Fleet, Defense Assistance Society, Aviation and Chemical Construction USSR (Osoaviakhim), etc., the Air Force of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), both in numbers and in the variety of tasks performed, played a leading role in this holiday.

Since 1935, air parades dedicated to the USSR Air Fleet Day have been held in Tushino on weekends, i.e. were not strictly tied to the day of August 18, but were sometimes postponed to another day or even canceled due to weather conditions.

After the Great Patriotic War, air parades were not held every year; sometimes they were held in July (in 1951 - July 8, in 1952 - July 27). The last air parade in Tushino took place on July 9, 1961. Subsequently, aerial displays of new models of military and civil aircraft were held in Domodedovo. The last of them took place in 1967.

In the 1970s and 1980s, central air parades were not held. However, the tradition of holding air holidays dedicated to the USSR Air Fleet Day has been preserved at the regional level. Every year, air holidays were held in Zhukovsky (by test pilots of the M. M. Gromov Flight Research Institute), in Monino, in Kubinka and other aviation centers of the country.

Since 1972, the holiday has been celebrated on the third Sunday in August.

Officially, the postponement of the celebration of USSR Air Fleet Day to the third Sunday in August was legalized by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 1, 1980 “On holidays and memorial days.”

In 1997, military pilots had their own holiday - Air Force Day, celebrated on August 12. Therefore, since 1997, Air Fleet Day has been a professional holiday for teams of enterprises and organizations, workers and veterans of civil aviation.

Civil aviation in Russia began its development from the moment in February 1923, the Council of Labor and Defense of the RSFSR adopted a resolution “On the assignment of technical supervision of air lines to the Main Directorate of the Air Fleet and on the organization of the Council for Civil Aviation,” which marked the beginning of state regulation of activities air transport in the country.

In 1923, the first aviation society "Dobrolet" was created in Moscow to organize on a commercial basis the transportation of passengers, mail, aerial photography and other work. By June 1923, Dobrolet was equipped with the first regular passenger airline in the USSR Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1931, the country's first passenger air terminal opened at the central airfield (Khodynskoye Pole) in Moscow. On February 25, 1932, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet (GU Civil Air Fleet) was formed and the official abbreviated name of the country's civil aviation was established - Aeroflot. In 1932, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR approved the first Air Code of the USSR. In 1936, the USSR became a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

During the Great Patriotic War, aviators of the civil air fleet made a significant contribution to the victory over the enemy. Special units of Aeroflot participated in combat operations. During the war years, pilots made more than one and a half million combat missions, of which about 40 thousand were behind enemy lines, transported 1.6 million people, and over 400 thousand tons of military cargo.

After the end of the war, the Soviet Union restored the destroyed civil aviation facilities and continued to develop a network of allied and local lines, building new air terminals and runways. Representatives of a new generation of aviation equipment began to appear on Aeroflot routes.

In 1970, the USSR became a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Within the framework of this organization, Soviet specialists participated in the preparation of international legal norms related to liability for damage caused by an aircraft, and contributed to the development of a convention on the rights and obligations of an aircraft commander.

By the end of the 1980s, Aeroflot annually transported more than 120 million passengers, about three thousand tons of cargo, and over 400 thousand tons of mail.

Air transport accounted for up to 20% of the total passenger turnover of the USSR, and on long-distance routes (4 thousand kilometers or more) - over 80%. The share of air transportation in the country's cargo turnover was small (less than 0.1%). Civil aviation aircraft of the USSR performed regular flights to 4,000 cities and towns of the Soviet Union and to airports in almost 100 foreign countries.

In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR and Russia’s declaration of sovereignty, a new stage began in the history of domestic civil aviation. In the former Soviet republics and regions of Russia, their own airlines were created. Aeroflot ceased to be an all-Union structure and became one of several hundred airlines and civil aviation production associations.

In 1992, work began on industry restructuring, corporatization and privatization. Airline enterprises were divided into independent airports and airlines.

On March 19, 1997, the Air Code of the Russian Federation was adopted, establishing the legal basis for the use of Russian airspace and activities in the field of aviation. In accordance with the code, federal rules for the use of airspace and federal aviation regulations have been developed.

Today, domestic civil aviation is demonstrating high growth rates, and the geography of flights of Russian airlines is expanding. Based on international and regional hub airports, a route network is being formed to meet the growing needs for mainline, regional and local air transportation of passengers and cargo.

As of 2016, 259 airfields were included in the register of civil aviation airfields of the Russian Federation, of which 81 airports are approved for international flights.

In the transport system of the state, civil aviation is an important component. In 2015, Russian airlines transported about 92.1 million passengers and more than one million tons of cargo and mail.

During the first half of 2016, aviators transported about 38.1 million people and more than 436.9 thousand tons of cargo and mail.

In the life of Russia with its vast territory, the importance of air transport is enormous. It ensures the mobility of people, solves the most important social problems of supplying residents of hard-to-reach areas with food, medicine and other essential items, promotes the development of business activity, and ensures interregional connections.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Happy Russian Air Fleet Day,
I wish you success and happiness,
May heaven protect you from grief,
Let any bad weather pass by.

Let the service always be a joy,
May your aspirations come true,
May our country prosper
Let him inspire you to achieve achievements.

Let there be good health,
Family certainly gives strength,
The sky always beckons to success,
And let the passion always burn.

Those who are always on top
Who knows no barriers in the sky,
We hasten to congratulate you today,
Wish them victories and awards!

May your profession be difficult,
There is still danger and risk in it,
The air fleet in Russia is always -
Our pride and our honor.

Congratulations on Russian Air Fleet Day and I sincerely wish you to always have the necessary information, always control any situation, always know the right course to success, always be at your best - the height of your skill and courage.

Steel wings, rising in height,
Once again they occupy the echelons in the blue sky...
And you celebrate this holiday on the fly,
Today is the day of Russia's favorite falcons.

Accelerate, air fleet! Forward and upward!
You must always maintain heights in everything.
For new victories, only strive for the best.
Thanks to everyone who is connected with the sky!

If the planes are loud
They've been buzzing all day since morning,
If lined up in the sky
Well, it's like going to a parade,
So, the day has come seriously,
The day of the Air Force has arrived.
I will congratulate them soon
Until the holiday is over!

The month of August has arrived
He proclaimed a holiday.
Air fleet notes,
Celebrates birthday.

We wish you clear skies,
To fly faster.
Have a soft landing,
Meetings of earthly and sweet!

Be faithful, sons,
For the family and for the country!
We read the congratulations -
Now let's pour some!

The Day of the Russian Air Fleet has arrived today,
And I hasten to congratulate him heartily,
I wish you never know grief in your life,
So that you firmly believe in your native country.

So that there is only prosperity in the house,
So that all troubles pass by at once,
So that you don’t forget about valor,
May you stand strong for your family!

Holiday of the Russian Air Fleet
A reason for our pride and joy,
Let all worries pass by,
Congratulations, may happiness come to you again
He rushes, strives and let him come to the house,
Be healthy, our defenders,
Let the joy never run out,
And let no enemy be afraid of you!
Peace - in the family, and in the home of comfort
We wish you to have money,
So that you smile every minute,
Something good has happened in life!

Me on a holiday,
Looking at the clouds
I wish you, pilot,
So that life is easy,

Airy, curly,
All in the sun's rays
Let success be majestic
Present in business

Fly over Nice for you,
Over London Bridge
And the flight attendants cling
Let me touch you with my hip,

Hole-holes with a languid gaze,
Sigh like an eagle
My beloved is waiting at home
And happiness has two wings.

High achievements to you, dear pilots,
The best and most reliable new aircraft,
Clear skies and clear weather to you,
Let everything at the service be clear and classy.
Joy in the family, happiness and health,
May you always be greeted with a smile and love!

Our falcons celebrate the holiday -
He knows no boundaries today.
Our pilots fly bravely
Above all the clouds, above the birds.

We wish you successful flights,
After all, their work is not easy.
May our glorious pilots always
Its height beckons into the sky.

Working in the air is associated with daily risk, heavy loads and stress for the whole body. The profession of heroes, it is respected, admired, people strive for it, it is worthy of awards and generous, loud celebrations and congratulations on the dem of aviation. Aviation holidays are those days on which you simply must congratulate your friends and relatives working in this field. About and congratulations on aviation day read below.

If the heavens have opened for you

So you are winged wizards,

And wondrous expanses stretched out,

And you soar from dawn to dusk.

Life is trusted every day

Hundreds, thousands or more people

Everyone entrusts their hearts and souls to you,

May they be carried into the distance faster!

Take care of them, take care and store them,

To avoid trouble,

Carry me on your wings,

We will always pray for you!

Of course, such a large-scale, multifaceted profession associated with daily risk has more than one date for celebration.

• The successes of aviation on an international scale could not go unnoticed. In 1992, the UN General Assembly established the holiday “International Civil Aviation Day,” which has since been celebrated on December 7.
• February 9 is Russian Civil Aviation Day
• December 23 - Long-Range Aviation Day
• June 1 is Military Transport Aviation Day
• July 17 - Naval Aviation Day
• August 12 - Russian Air Force Day
• 3rd Sunday of August - Air Fleet Day.
• And of course, every 13th of every month, as if in defiance of fate, the heavenly warriors celebrate their successful, countless landings.

Air fleet great holiday

We single him out among many.

And it is collected in the hearts of the most diverse

Whose exploits we don’t even know about.

Heroes, quickly soaring into the skies,

Risking my life every day for you

Whose stripe is infinitely continuous,

Both take-off and your own.

Civilian or military

We honor you each and congratulate you,

Immortal, steel and immortal,

We wish you from the whole world:

Take off... fly... fly...

Always, at any time of the year,

So that the angel can give his protection,

Both on sunny days and in bad weather!

How to congratulate a pilot?

If a person close to you has connected his life with heaven and such a special profession as a pilot, then you should be congratulated in a special way. Choose beautiful words that reflect the essence of the profession, create an unforgettable environment and, of course, interesting gifts.

Why were wings given to man?

To soar into the sky endlessly

How small the particles of the planet are from above,

And the little people are not visible at all.

You're soaring up, you're soaring up

Every day, keeping your finger on the pulse

Responsible for life, responsible for everyone,

So, beautifully soaring above the earth and circling!

We wish you health, strength and patience,

We always wish you good weather

May good luck fly with you,

And there will never be bad hours!

Probably the most wonderful holiday feeling for pilots is being at home with their family, so don't suggest going out to restaurants or other establishments. The holiday should be a family one, unless, of course, it is already a corporate event.

Fly pilot, fly, take off

Be above everyone every day

And throw away all your strength,

Land without interference!

And on the sides they fly with you

May your angels

And they are watching you

All the way to the ground!

Holiday decorations at home.

Order a cake in the shape of a steering wheel or a uniform cap; you can arrange lunch as if it were on an airplane, serve all the dishes on platters and in disposable packages, but, of course, exclusively home-cooked. Or prepare them in the shape of an airplane, emblems and other flight paraphernalia, and give interesting names associated with this profession. For example, come up with cocktails and name them in an original way, “Runway”, “Turbulence Zone” or “Seven Thousand Above the Ground”. Decorate the salads and also name them – “Chassis”, “Rudder”, “Gangway” (for the color palette we use black olives, brown nuts, purple onions and cabbage). Place the hot dish on a platter in the shape of an airplane or airline logo.

Hang small paper airplanes, balls and other little things associated with air around the apartment.

Corporate

Invitation to a banquet in the form of tickets. The service staff at your banquet should dress in the uniform of the company that is celebrating, and hand out “takeoff and landing” candy at the entrance. Decorate the hall with balloons with airline logos, select appropriate music, periodically diluting it with announcements heard on airplanes and airports.

Chairs can imitate the appearance of airplane seats, for example, they can be equipped with headrests or seat belts. Dishes can be served in disposable containers, foil, or simply reflect a specialized theme.

Organize the event itself in the form of a flight, an exotic trip, an exam for employees of the air industry, or an unscheduled landing. In a retro style, for example, “Flight of the 60s”, or maybe, on the contrary, “Heaven, 3100” and so on.

Present

It is very difficult to surprise a person who has seen many times more than you, but you still need to try. One option is to approach the issue with humor and give him a ticket for a train, bus or sea vessel for some tour of cities or European countries. Present a model of an airplane, cufflinks or a cigarette case with symbols, a personalized watch, a comfortable leather chair, like in the cockpit.

Of course, these are exclusively themed gifts and holiday nuances; you can choose topics completely unrelated to flying.

Lines of congratulations.

Pilots, flight attendants and flight attendants! Every third person in the world has at least once trusted you with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. And you, at the highest level, have coped with this task millions of times. And all because you lack professionalism, courage, bravery, and dedication. With all our hearts, on your holiday, we would like to wish you, most importantly, health! After all, only it gives you the opportunity to soar into the skies, and for us to be in good hands. Incredible luck, on which our destinies also depend. Cloudless skies, endless expanses, the strongest guardian angels and thousands of flight hours ahead! Happy holiday to you, heavenly employees of the flight industry!

Russian Air Fleet Day. Aviation Day- The holiday is celebrated on the third Sunday in August.

The Russian Air Fleet Day holiday is celebrated on the third Sunday of August on the basis of Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated September 28, 1992 No. 3564-1 “On the establishment of the Russian Air Fleet Day holiday.” On this day, in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated August 29, 1997 No. 949 “On the establishment of Air Force Day,” festive events dedicated to Russian Air Force Day are held.

Russian Air Fleet Day has two founding fathers: Nicholas II and Stalin. Both of them gave orders that were significant for domestic aeronautics in August.
The last Russian Tsar in 1912, on August 12, ordered the formation of the country's first unit, as we would now say, of the air force under the Main Directorate of the General Staff and transfer to its jurisdiction all issues of the development of a new type of troops.
And the leader of the peoples started a tradition in the country of celebrating USSR Air Fleet Day starting on August 18, 1933.

In 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation supported Stalin's initiative, deciding to celebrate Russian Air Fleet Day as a professional holiday (only not of the USSR, but of Russia) annually on the third Sunday of August.