The plane of the President of Russia is a flying work of art

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The history of the creation of a special air squadron, whose task is to deliver the first persons of the state to where they order, began back in 1956. The technical park of this organizational structure was then made up of the best passenger aircraft of Russia, or rather, the Soviet Union - Il-12.

Aviation developed rapidly, and all the novelties tested for some time at Aeroflot arrived at Vnukovo, where government winged aircraft were based. Not only equipment, but also the best pilots were selected here, because the responsibility is great. If some kind of flight accident happens, and the whole world will immediately start talking about the technical backwardness of “these Russians, who cannot even deliver the head of state normally.” But there was no reason for such gossip, fortunately. Emergency situations arose, but not through the fault of our equipment or pilots. For example, in 1961, a plane with the then Soviet Prime Minister L. I. Brezhnev was fired upon by a French interceptor, and only thanks to the skill of the crew, everything went well.

Today the plane of the President of Russia is not just a vehicle. On board iseverything in order to govern the country and work effectively, which is unthinkable even without the opportunity to fully relax. There are bedrooms, and showers, and a conference room.

The need for food is not forgotten either, as the voyages made by Air Force 1 are long. Therefore, the ship's galley is equipped with a cooking stove, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, in general, everything that is in a good kitchen.

The plane of the President of Russia is perfectly finished inside. The representative function of this aircraft is very important, it represents the Kremlin in miniature, just like every aircraft with a tricolor flag on the rudder and the inscription RA on the fuselage. Not a single world leader, having been on board, will be able to say that the authors of the interior did not have enough taste, and the performers lacked the means. The upholstery is made by the same company that deals with interiors of Austin Martin cars. All plumbing fixtures and most interior metal fittings are gold-plated. Overall, luxury equipment costs exceeded the equivalent of $19 million.

Of course, the president's aircraft was built in Russia, a country with a long and glorious tradition in the aviation industry. This is the Il-96-300, a quite decent wide-body vehicle with four engines, very reliable, fast and comfortable.

The incident that occurred in August 2005, when technical problems led to the fact that the plane of the President of Russia was not lifted intoair, caused 42 days of trouble not only to the ground services of the special air detachment, but also to numerous operators of this aircraft, who were forbidden to fly the Il-96. However, it soon became clear that the problems were minor, and flights continued.

Of course, the plane of the President of Russia is not a single concept, there are several main winged machines that perform this function, in particular, there are six Ilov 96s alone. Not all of them have such a luxurious finish as the main board, but the flight conditions on them are quite comfortable. There are also other types of liners in the technical fleet of the squadron - these are the Il-62 and Tu-214, and other reliable aircraft, and besides them - rotary-wing machines to get even where there are no runways.