The only helicopter pilot in the Russian Guard spoke about the gifts of men

Can a woman be a military helicopter pilot? Probably, the majority, without hesitation, will answer this question in the negative. And completely in vain. A girl with a task at the helm of a rotary-winged machine will cope no worse than a representative of the strong half of humanity, and in some ways even give them a head start. On the eve of the women’s holiday, MK talked with the pilot of a combat helicopter, senior lieutenant of the Russian Guard Anastasia, and found out what it’s like to be the only military helicopter officer of the department.

Anastasia came to study at the flying club as a student at the Chuvash University. She trained as an amateur pilot on the Yak-52 sports aircraft. The plans were to participate in competitions. But, as it turned out, this sport is not cheap. To prepare for the competition required a large raid.

But the sky beckoned, and at some point Nastya decided to enter the flight school. The girl’s parents reacted to the choice of their daughter with understanding – they always supported her in everything.

Anastasia entered the Omsk flight technical college of civil aviation named after Lyapidevsky. She graduated in the spring of 2018 and in the fall she entered the service in the special forces aviation detachment of the Russian Guard. She already has over 400 flight hours.

– To what extent did your appearance in the detachment surprise the men? You are the first and only female pilot in the men’s team.

“Of course, everyone was already aware of my arrival,” the girl laughs. – Indeed, there were no female helicopter pilots in the detachment before me. Our course was the second set in the school.

According to Anastasia, initially colleagues were skeptical about her appearance in the team, to put it mildly. It makes sense, she admits. Unfortunately, there is still an opinion in society that a priori a woman copes worse with this kind of work.

There were no concessions to the young pilot, rather, on the contrary, some did not hesitate to openly demonstrate their distrust of her professional qualities. I had to prove it not with words, but with deeds. When the pilots and flight technicians saw that Nastya was flying no worse than the guys, the doubts dissipated by themselves.

– How long did it take to prove that you are not inferior to men?

– From the first flights it becomes clear what a person is capable of. You can see what kind of piloting technique he has. Plus, they look at the quality of performance of official tasks. There was not a single failure due to my fault.

– Are there any advantages in the profession of a pilot from the fact that you are a woman?

– Gifts for March 8, – Nastya laughs.

– But is the profession of a helicopter pilot more for a male character warehouse or for a female one?

– To be honest, despite the fact that I sometimes get indignant when some men say that this is not a female profession, I agree that the mindset should be appropriate. Just do not think that I want to say that most women are not given this. But you must admit, there are those who don’t even know how to drive a car, this also applies to men, by the way. They are just that kind of people. But a representative of my profession must still have a technical mindset.

Anastasia mastered two helicopters – Mi-8 and Ka-226. He says that both cars are not very difficult to manage, they just have different tasks. Mi-8 is designed for landing, and Ka-226 is for patrolling. The piloting technique of rotorcraft is also, of course, different.

“The Ka-226 is a coaxial helicopter, and the Mi-8 is a single-rotor helicopter,” the girl explains. – Therefore, “Mishka” requires more attention to the direction of the wind, and “Kashka” – more concentration on landing. It is necessary to monitor the vertical rate of descent.

– Men, probably, somehow in a special way congratulate the only girl in their team on Women’s Day?

– Basically, everything is standard: flowers, sweets, a certificate somewhere. There was a funny incident once. On March 8, the guys gave me and another girl from the office cards to the grocery store. It was funny but cute. This year they decided without impromptu, according to a proven scheme.

Nastya admits that she has long been accustomed to the male team, and she no longer pays special attention.

“It seems to me that they don’t pay attention to me either,” the pilot laughs. – Everyone has already become related over the years of joint work.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28985 dated March 8, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Helicopter “Bear” and female hands