Aerobatic team Blue Angels. Russian Knights and Blue Angels USA

In the summer of 1992, the Russian Ministry of Defense created the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Studio. But the military department does not have its own broadcast. And no one then, in the era of a developing market, was going to give frequencies to the Ministry of Defense. However, young and vain, the first Russian general of the army, Pavel Grachev sets our leadership a pretentious task: the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense not only to go on air, but also to win the information war, which was launched by foreign and Russian media vs young Russian army!
The press service of the Ministry of Defense and the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel are taking hectic and sporadic measures to promote on air the developments of the video application of the magazine “Soviet Warrior”, from which the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Center of the Ministry of Defense grew. But, venerable and seasoned in perestroika on-air battles, the sharks of Central Television do not buy into the colonel’s creative attempts, which are naive in their execution. The CT producers were particularly amused by the story about the reception of musical prodigies in the new building of the military department. The minister needed PR, and young talents- deferment from the army!
Then naval officers who completed short-term courses at VGIK and served at the Television Center of the Russian Navy recruit graduates of the renowned All-Union State Institute of Cinematography to carry out the task. And me, including.
“There is no prophet in his Fatherland!” - this maxim reigned in the corridors of Ostankino at that time. “What talent can these peppers from the Ministry of Defense show?!” - the newly minted TV bosses of market relations looked condescendingly at the representatives new wave military journalism. But they were severely mistaken in their short-term forecasts. And now our subsidiary TV channel “STAR” is proof of this!..
Captain First Rank Alexander Bozhov is practically developing a special operation to create and broadcast a story about the arrival of an aerobatics team of the US Navy in Russia. Famous US NAVY carrier-based aviation pilots "BLUE ANGELS" are coming to us!
The press service of the Ministry of Defense cuts off almost all Federal TV channels from covering this landmark event, misleading them and setting them on the wrong trail. In Kubinka we find ourselves in a privileged position.
Here we meet the legendary pilot, Hero Soviet Union, Major General NIKOLAI ANTOSHKIN. In these alarming days of the Great Japanese Tragedy, especially its nuclear aspect and repeated explosions at the power units of the FUKUSHIMA-1 nuclear power plant, I recall the revelations of a combat ace about the participation of the Soviet Air Force in eliminating the consequences of the 1986 accident at the nuclear power plant in CHERNOBYL!..

For 1992, this was a real sensation. To our former USSR the world famous aerobatics team of the US Navy has arrived - US NAVY "BLUE ANGELS" - "BLUE ANGELS"???..
Who fought against us, or we against them, in the skies of Korea in 1950?! And they arrive at the Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Aviation Equipment Display Center named after three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal I. N. Kozhedub!..
Judging by the feverish behavior of its military leadership, the TsTRS of the Russian Ministry of Defense understands the insidiousness of the precedent. The decision to invite yesterday's Cold War enemies is, of course, made by the President of Russia. Suddenly a call comes from the Minister of Defense himself. And the airwaves!.. The airwaves of Central Television must be conquered!
- Where is your Tarkovsky, or Fellini, what’s his name?.. Has he gone with his tricky surname?! – our general, editor-in-chief Alexander Bozhov, asks sternly. “Everyone in the buffet is hanging out with the cameramen.” Who would have thought that in the building of the Main Political Directorate of the USSR Armed Forces they would sell alcohol on tap?
Captain first rank Alexander Bozhov finds our film crew in the buffet. He looks at us with alarm, running into the buffet where the formidable Lev Mekhlis and Army General Aleskey Epishev once ate cutlets. But the former cameramen of the Film Studio of the USSR Ministry of Defense, who came to VOEN-TV from a top secret subject, knew the immutable rule of a professional cameraman: do not eat even 100 grams before filming!.. And they taught me this.
- The press service of the President of the Russian Federation himself, Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin, asks our Main Directorate to provide the maximum possible coverage of this historical event! - the stern Afghan general drills into us glassy eyes. “Colonel Bogdan Vashchernyuk,” the general nods at the mustachioed colonel, “undertakes to resolve security issues and allow the leading channels of Central Television to enter the airfield in Kubinka.”
The Colonel is clearly not at ease. Still alive in his memory, instantly outdated, job descriptions, but which no one canceled. Such a massive fraternization of US military pilots and our “Russian Knights” was started in the Kremlin?!..
Unexpectedly for myself, I declare:
- Federal channels You MUST STAY AWAY from filming demonstration performances of aerobatic teams at the airfield in Kubinka!
Captain of the first rank of naval intelligence, it was he who found me in a haystack: a naval officer, a party member, most importantly, a graduate of VGIK, but without Moscow registration! Alexander Bozhov turns white, looking at me. “What are you talking about?!” - one can read in his perplexed look.
- Otherwise, we will never go on air with our LOGO! – I continue, taking advantage of the sudden pause. – Moreover, the Russian Ministry of Defense will never have its own branded TV shows or its own TV CHANNEL!..
- What? What?! – our general freezes, like the ocean before a storm. – OWN TV CHANNEL???..
Now this once formidable general has been sitting in the State Duma for a long time, and he has forgotten those who were once subordinate to him creative people. But we all remember, and we remember this first minute of broadcast of our native Russian Ministry of Defense.
I understand and feel that our general intuitively guesses what we're talking about, and how it can all end: A MILITARY TV CHANNEL!
- What is a Logo? – without further ado, he asks.
- The verbal part of a trademark, or trademark! - and, without allowing the general to come to his senses, I continue, as if in an exam at the institute.
After the stern views of Sergei Bondarchuk and Sergei Gerasimov, the post-perestroika general’s anger amuses me more than it frightens me.
- Requirements for the logo: memorability!.. Universality!.. Originality!.. Associativity! - Without stopping and without explaining the essence of the words, I am still afraid of being misunderstood. – Expressiveness!.. Functionality!.. Conciseness!.. Uniqueness! – I hit one point with words.
A graduate of the General Staff Academy, our handsome lieutenant general had natural ingenuity and listens to me not only attentively, but also with understanding.
- An ideal logo should solve several fundamental functions: Phatic!.. Expressive!.. Referential!.. Impressive!.. Poetic, and so on! - The general cannot defeat me on his battlefield.
- Perhaps you misspoke! – our bearded cameraman Mikhail Zverovoy tries to correct me. – Probably “factual”?
- Exactly, “phatic”. To speak out and be understood! - I explain.
- Consider you understood! – the general unexpectedly concludes. - Fatally! – and laughed. – What logo do you propose?
I pause:
- “VOEN-TV”!..
Everyone present in the office of the head of the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel of the Ministry of Defense freezes.
- Is Russia a country at war?! – Alexander Bozhov cannot stand it. – I understand that during the Great Patriotic War the “VOEN-KINO” logo was appropriate. But now?!..
None of the military present wants to say out loud the names of the hot spots: Abkhazia, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, North Ossetia, South Ossetia, Tajikistan. Still, this is not a war!
Each of us remembers our own. I will remember for the rest of my life the words of the officers whose children we took by plane for vacation to the pioneer Far Eastern camp “Ocean” in June 1992. Then the war was already breathing down the children’s backs.
- All this will end with the Great Caucasian War! – the career military predicted with bitterness.
I listened to these prophetic words and did not fully believe in them, despite the depressing pictures when our troops left the Vaziani airfield in a hurry.
“It is not possible for us to predict how our word will respond,” the general suddenly summed up. – Prepare the “VOEN-TV” logo. But it’s realistic to use it exclusively on my command!.. If we cut off the leading TV channels from video filming of the “grain of the plot”, won’t the producing producers form a “conspiracy of silence” for us? – the head of Glavka was worried.
We must give him credit, the general managed to grab several special terms, the main one is the famous “plot grain”, which I came up with from the “role grain” of Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Having managed to study the theater of television action, I had no doubt about the greed and omnivorousness of the production editors of Central Television, greedy for this kind of sensation.
- THE Plot WILL BE SWALLOWED! – I assured the Afghan general.
- Look!.. We didn’t graduate from VGIK! – the head of the Main Directorate summed up the conversation with a threat in his voice.
The military is letting our civilian film crew go home. And the general begins to call friends from work and study so that there are no extra video cameras on the Kubinka takeoff field during “H.”

REFERENCE
"BLUE ANGELS" (English Blue Angels) - aerobatics team of the US NAVAL FORCES. Created in 1946. Joint formation "DIAMOND".
In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to Far East to participate in the Korean War (this step was caused by a shortage of flight personnel). In 1951, the Blue Angels were formed again. If necessary, its aircraft can be prepared for participation in hostilities within 72 hours. Twelve former Blue Angels pilots became admirals. And one is even an astronaut!
***
September 2, 1992. They arrive accompanied by our elite aerobatic team“STRIZHI”, and not just anywhere, but to the super-elite CUBINKA. Sky-blue beauties “BLUE ANGELS”!.. On elegant, like lacquered and sleek foreign cars, on carrier-based fighter-bombers “HORNET - 18 - F/A”.
The entire aviation elite of the capital comes to provincial Kubinka for a unique spectacle. Shining with their flight uniforms and their lovely spouses, Air Force attaches from all over the world, accredited in Moscow, are striking.
The newly emerged Russian nobility, with its interests in the American and aviation business, surrounded by assistants and secretaries, show business stars and even opera singers, meaningful and mysterious, as if she had been busy ruling this country all century, condescendingly pushing among the covered tables on the veranda of the observation deck.
Only the gray-haired aces of the Second World War, in general's uniforms and with the stars of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, stay away from this motley and imposing public, greeting us, journalists with video cameras, with prickly glances.
Finally, the creatives of the international air show are remembering the front-line soldiers. Lovely creatures with trays on which glasses of vodka and cognac sparkle in the sun, and sandwiches with red caviar, swim up to the Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexander Efimov, with smiles.
The legendary attack pilot, not paying any attention to the girls, watches the arrival of the US aerobatic team through binoculars. “Blue Angels” in cruising formation, in afterburner, with obvious chic, roaring over the tower. So low that you can clearly smell aviation kerosene.
- Mikhail, remember how we cut them down in Korea?! - the planes take a turn, their roar subsides, and Marshal Efimov, turning to his neighbor, takes a glass of cognac from the tray. - About a thousand!..
And the marshal’s neighbor was none other than twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Mikhail Odintsov.
- How can I not remember, Alexander Nikolaevich?.. We fought with them over the jungles of Vietnam! – a thin and youthful front-line soldier takes a foggy glass of vodka. - They piled up more than four thousand. Including “BOING B-52” - “STRATOFORTRESS”.* As many as THREE TEN!..
The Air Force attachate, with crystal glasses in white gloves and dark glasses, busy with sandwiches with black caviar, as if by chance, turn their gilded caps towards our grandfathers. Fluent in Russian, many foreign officers, especially the Korean and Vietnamese, nodded their heads and smiled as a sign of gratitude, with raised glasses.
- Evgeny Pepelyaev! – the Korean attache bares his yellow teeth.
Everyone drinks the traditional glass of corporate flight camaraderie together.
However, the American air attaché defiantly turns away from the dressed-up audience, looking through binoculars at the next approach of the Blue Angels.
- Whoever remembers the old, look out! - approaches a group of front-line soldiers and, trying to defuse the situation, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Antoshkin laughs.
- Girl, pour Kolya Antoshkin into a glass! - Marshal Efimov demands the waitress. - Penalty!..
Costumed in Russian National Costume, the girl fills Antoshkin a whole glass of cognac.
- It will be useful for him to pour in Chernobyl radiation! – Colonel General Mikhail Odintsov picks up with a chuckle.
The brilliant female foreign entourage of tables set by the Kremlin, having heard the word CHERNOBYL, without noticing an obvious oversight, hides their exquisite figures behind the bodies of their handsome husbands. And the air attaches involuntarily take a step back.
And only the Military Air Attaché of the Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow, a tall pilot colonel, having heard and seen the hero of the Chernobyl tragedy and taking a glass of vodka, goes to the current commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District, Nikolai Antoshkin.
- Oh, Nikolai! - the colonel rings the crystal. – How did our “BLUE ANGELS” seem to you?!
- "Blue Angels"! This is the best aerobatic team in the world!** – says the Russian general solemnly.
And they each drink their own.
- Excellent, real vodka! – the American attache frowns blissfully, eating a sandwich with black caviar.
- From the basements of the Kremlin! – General Nikolai Antoshkin is not joking.
For the sake of such a unique occasion, the chief of protocol of the President of Russia gives the appropriate order, and selected, the best in the world, vodka with the label “STOLICHNAYA” is delivered to Kubinka. In the right quantity!..
With an unprecedented, but pleasant for the body, roar over the tower once again passes the formation of the Blue Angels on approach.
On the site near the hangars, on an improvised stage, a concert of the best Russian creative groups begins.
First Rank Captain Alexander Bozhov comes up to me.
- Everything goes according to plan. ORT is filming, this is a creature of the Kremlin administration. And Russian television is wandering somewhere in the forests near Moscow!..

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American ultra-long-range strategic missile-carrying bomber in service with the US Air Force.
** - Blue Angels! This is the best aerobatic team in the world!

The day after the arrival, September 2, 1992, high-ranking spectators at the airfield in Kubinka saw a spectacle that is unlikely to be seen by anyone in the future. However, anything can happen in this life.
The only person missing from the observation tower was Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The aviation beau monde not only of Moscow, but of Russia arrives and gathers for a phenomenal spectacle - a show of the best aviation aerobatic teams in the world: our “SWIFT”, “RUSSIAN VITES” and the deservedly famous USA “Blue Angels” - “BLUE ANGELS”!
And the Russian Defense Minister sets before creative team“VOEN-TV” has an impossible task: to conquer the airwaves!.. And not only to repeat the long-standing success of the legendary television program “I SERVE THE SOVIET UNION”, where civilian stars such as Mikhail Leshchinsky and German Sedov ruled the roost. And the main curator was the military department of the CPSU Central Committee. Pavel Grachev demands the creation of a fundamentally new television product, namely, a TV CHANNEL (STAR, for example), subject only to the military department.
Without having its own transmitter, its own frequency and a state broadcasting license, experts perceive this task, tinged with black humor, as delusional! However, the generals clicked their heels, and smart colonels began to feel for gaps in the orderly ranks of the Central TV channels.
On the ruins of the TV show “Serving the Soviet Union,” a group of former like-minded people is trying to revive the former spirit of the rating brand. But there is no Soviet Union, and there is no one to serve it - former faithful representatives of one of the oldest professions quickly find their niches in moneyed media holdings, and many simply leave the border. And emigrants from Russia from there broadcast to the whole world, very successfully for half a dollar and half a Euro, about the true state of affairs in our country, and most importantly, truthfully about our past. Why, they lived here!..
The newly created “RADAR” flashes... The “RANGE” appears. But these were already parodies of an old popular program. And from the departmental shadow of the Russian Ministry of Defense comes an unknown video supplement to the magazine “SOVIET WARRIOR”. The video application is being transformed into the Central Television and Radio Broadcasting Studio of the Russian Ministry of Defense!..
So, we are faced with the operational – tactical task of going on air. Our military leadership is developing a kind of special operation to cut off part of the central television channels so that military journalists themselves can provide a ready-made story. And this event is very risky, because censorship has been abolished, and the presentation of material is monitored by the Press Service of the President of Russia.
The observation tower of the airfield in Kubinka has never seen so many general and diplomatic uniforms embroidered with gold in its history. And this entire official establishment is illuminated by precious stones of shining earrings and necklaces, and fur crafts and the smiles of dignitaries warm the golden September day with warmth.
When the show ends, shocked by what I saw, I forget for a long time about my first love - navy!.. I was attracted to work in military journalism by officers of the Naval Intelligence of the Russian Navy, however, with one condition - I would be a director in the fleet. However, from this memorable day, amazed by the flying skill of our pilots, I am imbued with a real feeling of reverent admiration for all the Armed Forces of Russia. And I understand why this happened. At the same time, I remembered the story “SINGERS” by our Russian writer Ivan Turgenev!..
Officially, these flights of the aerobatic teams of the two Great Powers were not of a competitive nature. And yet, it was not only female curiosity and the professional interest of the Air Force attaches accredited in Moscow that forced such a respectable audience to gather at the observation deck in Kubinka. And our front-line soldiers, Heroes and twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, marshals and generals, only emphasize the significance of the moment.
In the behavior of representatives of the US Embassy in Moscow, the US military and air attache, some constraint and excitement at the same time are noticeable. Yesterday, they and their spouses behaved completely differently, washing down casual conversations with representatives of the business world with vodka and cocktails.
Strict and collected, the usually smiling Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Antoshkin, commander of aviation of the Moscow Military District. But Stalin’s air marshal Alexander Efimov doesn’t care.
- Today Nikolai will expel x-rays!
Looking at our perplexed faces, Antoshkin explains:
- During flights and overloads, the body is cleared of radiation. Otherwise, how would I survive after Chernobyl?!..
From newspaper and magazine publications we knew that Nikolai Antoshkin, taking personal part in eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, hovering in a helicopter over the destroyed unit, received a lethal dose of radiation. And the doctors insisted on decommissioning the general from flying service...
The first to take to the skies is the Swifts aerobatic team flying a MIG-29. They were beautiful in their acrobatic figures and formations. And if now, someone from the composition or admirers of this wonderful group is reading this short story, then let them forgive me for the modest description of this performance of the Swifts. MIG-29 vehicles are lighter in class compared to the American Hornet F-18 and our SU-27.
When the elite USA “Blue Angels” start working on large varnished toys, everyone present in Kubinka freezes. Aviation enthusiasts are familiar with SIMPLE aerobatics: Turn, Horizontal Figure Eight, Spiral, Dive, Slide, Combat Turn.
And I remember Turgenev’s story “Pyvtsy”:
“So, the rower stepped forward, closed his eyes halfway and sang in the highest falsetto. His voice was quite pleasant and sweet, although somewhat hoarse; he played and wagged this voice like a top, constantly poured and shimmered from top to bottom and constantly returned to the upper notes, which he sustained and pulled out with special diligence, fell silent and then suddenly picked up the previous tune with some kind of rollicking, arrogant prowess.”
Everything shakes inside when the Blue Angels perform COMPLEX aerobatic maneuvers: Turns with a bank of more than 45°, Rollover, Dead Loop, Immelmann Rollover, Dive (with a dive angle of up to 60°), Hill (with a pitch up angle of up to 60°), Controlled barrel roll, slide flips, corkscrew!
"SINGERS":
“His transitions were sometimes quite bold, sometimes quite funny: to a connoisseur they would bring a lot of pleasure; a German would be indignant at them. It was a Russian tenore di grazia, t;nor l;ger 1. He sang a cheerful, dance song, the words of which, as far as I could catch through the endless decorations, added consonants and exclamations!..
Only with a song can one compare the filigree close formations of the incomparable blue and gold “Blue Angels”. Short and loud takeoff rolls, high speeds, rolls, delayed rollovers, Cuban figure eight. For greater effect, pyrotechnics are used.
Rhombus (“Diamond”): Performed from a group of four aircraft taking off simultaneously. The group immediately after takeoff goes on a diamond loop.
A “mirror” aerobatics maneuver performed by a pair of aircraft, one of which flies on its “back” parallel to the other, creating the optical effect of a mirror.
I notice how brilliant ladies suddenly scream out of empathy and inner fear. These are “HORNETS”, when performing aerobatics ON COLLECTING COURSES, moving towards each other, they diverge in close proximity to each other. The spouses of military attaches, clutching their husbands' forearms with their hands, hide their heads on the medal bars.
I remember Turgenev’s “Singers” by heart. Today they come in handy!..
“The rower sang for a long time, without arousing too much sympathy in his listeners; he lacked support, a choir; finally, during one particularly successful transition, which made the Wild Master himself smile, the Stunner could not stand it and screamed with pleasure. Everyone perked up."
THE BLUE ANGELS are ramping up the pace of their amazing show.
“Fan” - a single plane performs a roll around five planes flying in a “diamond” formation!.. Dissolution of “Fountain” and “Scissors”!..
“Barrel by four” - four planes perform a barrel roll around their trajectory!..
Americans are admired by everyone. Professionals see and understand each other based on the smallest elements of coherence and teamwork. Twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, Marshal Alexander Efimov and Colonel General Mikhail Odintsov, shake their gray heads approvingly.
And literary “Singers” sound within me.
“Encouraged by signs of general pleasure, the row began to swirl completely, and began to make such curlicues, clicked and drummed his tongue so frantically, played with his throat so furiously that when, finally, tired, pale and drenched in hot sweat, he let go, throwing his whole body back, the last dying cry - a common, united cry answered him with a frantic explosion. The stunner threw himself on his neck and began to strangle him with his long, bony hands!
A long-term program of the best carrier-based aviation pilots of the US Navy, incorporating world-class flying achievements recent years, honed to perfection, could not help but shock even specialists and seasoned Air Force veterans.
“BLUE ANGELS” were created in 1946... They delighted and continue to delight millions of viewers around the world with their filigree craftsmanship. Including presidents, kings and sultans!..
And our “RUSSIAN VITYAZI” were formed only on April 5, 1991! What can a young, almost newly created, unknown aerobatic team of the Russian Air Force do?!..
Great Russian prose. A century and a half has passed, and Turgenev’s famous story “The Singers” seems to have been written solely as a commentary on precisely this unforgettable event.
After the American-angelic triumph, our multi-role “heavy” serial fighters Su-27 – “RUSSIAN VITYAZI” – rolled into the taxiway.
“WHEN FINALLY, YAKOV REVEALED HIS FACE – IT WAS Pale, LIKE A DEAD’S; THE EYES BARELY FLICKERED THROUGH THE DROPPED EYELASHES. HE TOOK A DEEP BREATH AND SINGED..."
A concerned girl from the Kremlin press service once again approaches me.
- Where did the film crew of Russian television go?! - she asks irritably.
We shrug. The press secretary leaves to look for the extreme ones.
- We're working! - I hear the quiet voice of captain first rank Alexander Bozhov from behind. Russian television entered the restricted area of ​​the second Moscow air defense ring. Mobile phones don't work there!..
"THE FIRST SOUND OF HIS VOICE WAS WEAK AND UNEVEN AND SEEMED NOT TO COMING FROM HIS CHEST, BUT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE FROM A FAR, AS WELL AS FLYING ACCIDENTALLY INTO THE ROOM. THIS FLAWING RINGING SOUND HAD A STRANGE EFFECT ON ALL OF US; WE SCARED LOLED AT EACH OTHER."

The entire air force elite present on the tower of the airfield in Kubinka, especially the attaché's wives, enthusiastically welcome the obvious success of the USA "Blue Angels" aerobatic team. Everyone raises their hands in white gloves with glasses of champagne to the blissfully smiling US Air Attaché.
- Without a single blot!* - the happy colonel of the USA Air Force triumphs, addressing our pilots - veterans of the Great Patriotic War and personally, Major General Nikolai Antoshkin, Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of aviation of the Moscow Military District.
Surely, the thought flashes through my head, the Blue Angels have existed since 1946!..
And our “Russian Knights” - just over a year.
- Congratulations! – Nikolai Antoshkin smiles mysteriously in response. – We are just learning.
Once again, a representative of the Press Service of the President of Russia approaches our film crew. Now the girl is accompanied by two tall officers, apparently FSO. **
- The Russian channel left Ostankino a few hours ago! - the blonde, with the appearance and figure of a fashion model, begins irritably. – ORT journalists were the last to see them at the fork in the road! – and she looks at me suspiciously. – Do you have useful information?!
- A typical case! – we begin to calm the top model. – This area is part of the second echelon of Moscow’s air defense. And it is only open to visiting ESMI.***
- But why don’t they call? They are provided cellular communication Nokia?! – the blonde takes out her irritation on me.
A Directorate information programs RTR, having received a message from the military by fax at the very last moment, takes a rash step - he sends a car with a film crew along an unknown route. It’s easy to get into the Moscow region forest within this radius. And not having military journalists or experienced drivers on staff, the group enthusiastically drives towards Kubinka, not knowing the specifics of arriving at the airfield. Once they make a mistake, they go in the wrong direction. Another time they drive into a specially protected zone. The car is stopped until the circumstances are clarified. Our VAI helps them with this.****
Moreover, citizen journalists do not know iron rule such events: after a certain signal, during “H”, in the area of ​​ground exercises or flights, any movement of vehicles is strictly prohibited. Even for generals. I was personally convinced of this, and more than once!..
And one more important detail: in the event of the arrival of VIPs, and they were waiting for the arrival of the President of the Russian Federation, mobile phones are practically useless.
Film crew RTR is content with video filming the air show “BLUE ANGELS IN RUSSIA” from a distance of 5 kilometers!..
- We wish we had this equipment in 1941! - Marshal Alexander Efimov says dreamily. – These are multi-purpose, highly maneuverable, Mikhail?! - he turns to his friend twice Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Odintsov, Colonel General.
- All-weather!.. Fourth generation! – my new friend Mikhail Odintsov explains to me. – The first car was lifted into the air by the test pilot Hero of the Soviet Union, my friend, Vladimir Ilyushin.
- Titanium! – General Nikolai Antoshkin says quietly and goes to the command post.
In those days, journalists were grateful for this information. Now such a detail will seem like an insignificant fact, but then everything had some kind of sacred meaning.
Suddenly the excited audience on the tower freezes. From the beginning of the runway, you can hear the characteristic rumble of SU-27 taking off. Painted in the colors of the State Flag of Russia, the four “RUSSIAN VITES”, as if thrown out of a catapult, with a unique roar, practically without the usual take-off run, gain an altitude of more than a thousand meters in a few seconds! And he spins the famous dead loop with a diamond-shaped four.
“THIS FIRST SOUND WAS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER, SOLID AND PROLONGED, BUT STILL VIBRANTLY VIBRANT, LIKE A STRING, WHEN, SUDDENLY RINGING UNDER A STRONG FINGER, IT VIBRATES WITH A LAST, QUICKLY DYING VIBRATION, FOR THE SECOND YM IS THE THIRD, GREATLY HOT AND EXPANDING”!..
I vividly imagined Turgenev’s famous scene “THE SINGERS” in a shabby village tavern. A darkish room with a bench, two or three empty barrels, a corner table. Colorful cotton shirts. Two village men compete in singing: Ryadchik and Yashka.
A century and a half has passed, and the elite US aerobatic team, the Blue Angels, arrives in Russia. On our side, the aerobatic teams “Swifts” and “Russian Knights” perform on domestic and best fighters in the world. But the spirituality and essence of the phenomenon remains the same.
Simple, complex and aerobatics are known to everyone. And these figures are performed by demonstration air groups of many countries.
Moreover, air shows - groups of "Blue Angels" are furnished with a unique ritual, which is accepted on American aircraft carriers, and which is performed by the service personnel.
For our pilots, everything is simple. No pre-flight movements, like the Americans, more like a spell. “Russian Knights” do not use smoke or pyrotechnics. But why does your soul freeze in a special way when you look at our aerobatics wizards?!..
Why does our heart beat faster when heavy vehicles... Yes, it is the SU-27 that is considered a heavy fighter, it is almost twice as heavy and larger in size than the Hornet - 18/FA, and therefore is considered treacherous to control... When three heroes : Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich lay down turns, spirals, horizontal figure eights, dive and make roller coasters with unimaginable pitching angles!.. And this is Ivanushka - the Fool on the stove makes a combat turn, and, my God, an Immelmann coup!..
“HE SINGED, AND WE ALL FELT SWEET AND TERRIBLE. I CONFESS, I HAVE RARELY HEARD A VOICE LIKE THIS: IT WAS SLIGHTLY BROKEN AND RINGED AS WELL AS CRAPPED; HE EVEN FEED SOMETHING PAINFUL AT FIRST; BUT IN IT THERE WAS A GENUINE DEEP PASSION AND YOUTH, AND STRENGTH, AND SWEETNESS, AND SOME kind of fascinating, carefree, sad sorrow!..
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union ALEXANDER POKRYSHKIN joins the Russian epic heroes. First, he performs the most mesmerizing and deadly aerobatics maneuver - THE BELL!..
His plane is nose up at ZERO speed, until the thirty-ton colossus comes to a complete stop, the car is HANGING in the air! And the tail swings from side to side, like the tongue of a bell. Blagovest!.. Here, not every ace can avoid going into a deadly tailspin!..
I observe the Air Force attaches accredited in Moscow. All of them, as one, breathlessly, are taking photos and videos of this very Russian BELL!.. For a long time the figure was considered accessible only to propeller-driven aircraft. And our Pokryshkin mastered it!..
But that’s not all... PUGACHEV’S COBRA!.. The plane sharply lifts its nose, even to the point of tilting back! But at the same time it maintains the same flight direction. Then, the plane returns to normal flight mode with virtually no loss of altitude!..
Experienced military diplomats are unable to hide their surprise. They've heard something, but they're seeing it for the first time!..
The American pilots are all skinny and look like stilettos. And they fly, not like birds, but like paper airplanes. And if they fly, it’s not in a group, but in formation!..
Am I really that Russian?!.. The “Blue Angels” carry out solo and group aerobatics impeccably!.. However, the “RUSSIAN VITES” and the coloring (white - blue - red) are in tune with our free Slavic soul!..
“A RUSSIAN, TRUTHFUL, HOT SOUL SOUNDED AND BREATHED IN IT AND SO GRABED YOU BY THE HEART, GRABED RIGHT BY ITS RUSSIAN STRINGS”!
The already annoying blonde from the Press Service of President Boris Yeltsin is running towards us.
- Boys! - She babbles noticeably getting better. - The Presidential Administration just called. Russian television screwed up. The journalist chose the wrong location for filming, somewhere in a clearing, in the forest. I hope you will share the footage with your colleagues?!..
I look puzzled.
- Our cassettes are marked "Secret"! - I'm starting to like the girl.

* - Without a single blot! - without a single blemish.
** - FSO – federal Service security
*** - Electronic means information.

PART 6

In these moments of aerobatics performed by the group “RUSSIAN VITES”, who show their skills after the sensational performance of the American “BLUE ANGELS”, all the military attaches present on the tower of the Kubinka airfield begin to realize something unthinkable: such an aerial extravaganza is only possible for Russian pilots! .
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Efimov, in admiration, takes off his blue marshal's cap from his gray head and slams it on the railing of the tower in excitement.
“I FELT TEARS BOILING IN MY HEART AND RISING TO MY EYES; DEAF, CONTAINED SOBS SUDDENLY STARTED ME... I LOOKED UP - THE KISSER'S WIFE WAS CRYING, LETTING HER CHEST AGAINST THE WINDOW. YAKOV THREW A QUICK LOOK AT HER AND SOUTHED EVEN LOUDER, EVEN SWEETER THAN BEFORE. (I. Turgenev. “Singers.”)
And the “Moment of Truth” comes: “RUSSIAN VITYAZI” pass over the tower at a completely low altitude and at minimum speed. Like geese and swans, lifting their glass heads into the sky, heavy interceptor fighters, as if thinking about something bad and completely losing speed, slowly crawl over the tower. It becomes uneasy. Live kerosene, not completely burned out in the afterburner, is poured onto the guests of the show in Kubinka. The roar is deafening and the unbearable smell of aviation fuel is intoxicating.
I DON’T KNOW HOW THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED IF YAKOV HAD NOT SUDDENLY CUMINATED IN A HIGH, UNUSUALLY THIN SOUND – AS WELL AS HIS VOICE HAS HAPPENED... “YOU...YOUR...YOU WON”!..
As a result of long training, pilots develop the so-called “second sight”, which allows them to evaluate the behavior of their aircraft as if from the outside.
I watch with second sight the US Air Attaché. Shocked by what he saw, the colonel just shakes his head. “Blue Angels” - an aerobatic aviation team of the US Navy created in 1946!.. And these Russian “RUSSIAN VITES” formed a flock just a year ago!.. And they show this!..
And now: having rebuilt and picked up speed, they demonstrate their signature “TULIP” dissolution!..
Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Nikolai Antoshkin leaves the control cabin, flashing his white-toothed smile - they knew how to select personnel before! The American literally rushes towards him, ahead of all the other Air Force attachés accredited in Moscow.
- Nikolai! exclaims a US Air Force colonel. - Allow me to fly on the SU-twenty-seven?!
- No problem! - Antoshkin, joyful with success, answers.
They leave and return dressed in flight suits.
“Antoshkin flies”?! - Quiet questions are heard. – “After Chernobyl”?
Everyone knew that during the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, General Antoshkin, the chief of staff of the Air Force of the Kyiv Military District, received a terrible, almost fatal dose of radiation!.. The medical commission is trying to write off the sick pilot, but the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee personally intervenes - Mikhail Gorbachev.
And Nikolai Antoshkin not only remains in the Air Force, but also continues to fly fighter jets, never ceasing to amaze everyone with his love of life.
He lifts the car into the sky with the US Colonel. The SU-27 performs several aerobatic maneuvers. Slide... Barrel... Dead loop!..
And the commander of the Blue Angels rides our commander of the Russian Knights, Colonel Vladimir Basov, in his golden-blue F-18 Hornet.
A blonde from the Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin approaches us.
- The issue of secrecy has been removed! - she says importantly. – Your Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev received instructions from the Presidential Administration. Will you be preparing a video to be shown on Russian television!
The cameraman and I pretend to be holy innocence.
- They order, we’ll do it! – Hiding interest, I answer. - Only Minister Grachev, for Poptsov - Nobody!..
- Oleg Maksimovich is ready to accept your creative help! – as if understanding everything, the girl smiles. – The RTR group got stuck somewhere in the forests of the Moscow region.
A gala dinner begins at the end of the air show: “Russian Knights” (Russia) and “Blue Angels” (USA). The tables are set in a large hangar and are bursting with strong drinks and excellent snacks. Perhaps for the first time since the meeting on the Elbe, Russian military and American pilots are sitting together for a meal. The focus is, first of all, welcome speeches both sides. Toasts are made and Russian folk songs performed by the best Moscow ensembles are heard.
But the unspoken main characters of the feast are Russian vodka and Russian caviar!..
The Americans are trying to follow the Russian pilots in close formation - looking at our pilots, they maintain the pace and rhythm of the Russian tradition: raising and knocking back a glass of vodka after each toast. And there are more than two dozen toasts!..
When, during a break, to change dishes, everyone goes out into the fresh air, it becomes obvious that Russian vodka has played a role cruel joke with the Americans, especially with the service personnel.
How do Russians drink vodka?!.. Get drunk quickly, but also quickly sober up!.. Having turned slightly pink, without losing their serious appearance, our officers, in the presence of a veteran air marshal and serving generals, behave with our unique dignity. The main thing is not to show that you have drunk quite a lot, but at the same time there is still a margin of safety.
Russian folk dances begin. Girls in kokoshniks invite our and American pilots into the circle. We all know what it's like. And we perceive it as a normal phenomenon. Some Americans who tried to repeat local dance traditions, after duplicating our specific exercises with a glass at the table, and simply put, having become very intoxicated, perceived the village dance as permissiveness!..
One American strips naked to the waist and pretends to be a monkey!..
Another “Blue Angel” from the servants also shows off his torso, pretending to be a rooster!..
The third took an open bottle of vodka from the table and danced Russian with it. He grunts, pretending to be a Pig. He gets tired, and, having caught his breath, drinks vodka from the bottle!..
Finally, the “Monkey” falls on the concrete and, simply put, is cut off!..
The "Rooster" sits astride the "Pig" drinking vodka from a bottle. And they laugh with a crazy laugh, revealing not only their horse teeth, but also their gums!..
With this free concert overseas friends, Russian officers are finally sobering up. After exchanging glances, they return to the hangar to continue the feast.
And “Monkey”, “Rooster” and “Pig”, at the command of the US Air Attache, not without difficulty, are loaded onto an arriving bus and taken away from human eyes to a hotel. There they continue to play tricks, demanding vodka and girls.
We will leave the hospitable Kubinka, the Ivan Kozhedub Russian Air Force Aviation Equipment Display Center. The thrice Hero of the Soviet Union smiles at us with his unique white-toothed smile. They knew how to select people back then!..
Naturally, we did not include raging Americans in our video, which airs on the Russian channel that day. But I really wanted to show “The Monkey.” This cute image was almost passable for broadcast. However, our general ordered the Russian dance scene to be cut out as a symbol of Russian-American fraternization. Captain first rank Dmitry Biketov quickly assembled the material.
So, September 2, 1992 becomes the birthday of VOEN-TV!..
The story of the arrival of the US Navy aerobatics team “BLUE ANGELS” is becoming iconic for us.
The main thing was to infiltrate this snobbish world Central Television. The rest became a matter of technology!.. Over time, the “CTRS of the Ministry of Defense of Russia” created a creative television program “SERVING RUSSIA” and others, which were broadcast simultaneously on 4-5 channels!.. The real pride of our studio is the “MILITARY HISTORICAL MAGAZINE”, which adorned when -TC "CULTURE". This was a real breakthrough for Military Television. The host of a TV show about the majestic Russian military history there was a tragic death on the set of his film, which he so dreamed of, ANDREY ROSTOTSKY!
Personally, they conveyed to me Oleg Poptsov’s proposal to switch to Channel Two. But after “SWIFT” and “RUSSIAN VITYAZ”, I fell ill with love for our ARMED FORCES, forgetting my first love - the Navy and naval navigation. And the second - cinema!.. Subsequently, the producers of many Central television channels will offer me a prestigious job in Ostankino. However, for twenty years now I have been faithful to one star - the First Minute, which flared up and grew into a powerful media resource of the military department - the STAR TV channel!..

P.S. Unfortunately, not all participants in this historical air show from the RUSSIAN VITYAZ aerobatic team will survive to this day.
On December 12, 1995, while approaching Cam Ranh airfield (Vietnam), three Su-27s crashed. Pilots B. Grigoriev, A. Syrovoy, N. Kordyukov, including N. GRECHANOV (he was a participant in the 1992 air show) died...
P.P.S. One day the time comes, and the former RUSSIAN VITYAZ pilot, Major Alexander ZAITSEV, comes to us, at the Center for Radio Engineering of the Russian Ministry of Defense, as a video engineer. If you are reading this novella, Sanya forgive me for some literary liberties. And then came the master gunsmiths of the legendary aerobatic team, two captains: Vladimir ZHUKOV and Alexander SOIKO. With us they received the rank of major and the qualification of Master of All Trades. And most importantly, a beneficial symbiosis occurred high art: our "WAR - TV" and the combat skills of unsurpassed aces, knights of the sky - "RUSSIAN VITYAS"!!!..

After the Second World War, the history of the aerobatic team began. On April 24, 1946, Chief of the U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz issued a directive calling for the formation of a demonstration team to improve fleet morale, demonstrate the power of the fleet's air power, and maintain public interest in naval aviation.
In April of that year, Rear Admiral Ralph Davison personally selected Lieutenant Roy Marlin Voris, a World War II air ace, to assemble and train a team for the demonstration flights, placing him in command. Voris was joined by three instructors (Lt. Maurice Wickendoll, Lt. Mel Cassidy, and Lt. Commander Lloyd Barnard, veterans of the Pacific War). The group secretly performed its first flight over the Everglades, Florida. The first demonstration to Navy officials took place on May 10, 1946 and was met with enthusiasm, after which the command was approved.

In June 1946, a trio of Grumman F6F Hellcats competed in their first air show over Jacksonville Airfield. The show then lasted about 17 minutes. The aircraft have been specially modified to reduce weight and are painted blue and gold. Within a few weeks, the group had already visited several places in the United States. While in New York, the group was given the name "Blue Angels".
In August, the Angels switched to the Grumman F8F Bearcat, in next year the team already had four pilots, then five. In 1948, the team moved to an air base in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1949, the group was stationed at Whiting Air Force Base until the outbreak of the Korean War.

In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to the Far East to participate in the Korean War (this move was caused by a shortage of flight personnel). In 1951, the Blue Angels were re-formed and the group returned to Corpus Christi, and in 1954 the pilots were moved to their current location at Pensacola Air Force Base.

The group currently flies F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers. If necessary, its aircraft can be prepared for participation in hostilities within 72 hours.

The show season lasts every year from March to November. The Blue Angels perform at military and civilian airfields, and often directly over major cities such as San Francisco, Cleveland and Seattle.
The aerobatic demonstration uses just six FA-18 Hornets. Flights are typically performed at low speeds, performing maneuvers such as loops, rolls, and transitions from one formation to another.
In clear weather, flights are carried out at altitudes of no more than 2400 m, in cloudy weather no more than 460 m.

Blue Angel- American retro rockabilly group that existed in 1978-1982. The lead singer of the group was Cyndi Lauper. In addition to her, the group included John Tury (keyboards and saxophone), Arthur Nilsson (guitar), Lee Browitz (bass guitar) and Johnny Morelli (drums). Most of the songs were written by Cindy and John. In addition, the group performed cover versions of songs from the 60s, for example I'm Gonna Be Strong Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Blue Angel were popular in New York clubs.

In 1987, the group reunited for a short time. Cindy performed one concert with them. After this, the group broke up completely.

Discography

The only album named after the group was released in 1980. It was not particularly popular in the US, despite good feedback critics. However, the album was slightly more successful in Europe. Single I'm Gonna Be Strong hit the charts in the Netherlands. Maybe He'll Know, another song from the album, was included in 1986 on the second solo album Cindy True Colors.

In 1980, Blue Angel recorded a second album, which was never released due to personnel changes. record company Polydor Records. Moreover, the new management terminated the contract with the group. The group continued to perform in New York until 1982, when they performed their farewell concert at Studio 54.

We present to your attention a series of photographs taken during the US Navy Blue Angels aerobatic performance, which took place on November 7 in Homestead, Florida, as part of.

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1. "Blue Angels" - aviation of the US Navy.

2. The group was created in 1946.

3. In 1950, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots were sent to the Far East to participate in the Korean War (this move was caused by a shortage of flight personnel.)

4. In 1951, the Blue Angels were formed again.

5. The group currently flies F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers.

6. Maximum speed during airshows: 700 mph (1,300 km/h) and minimum: 120 mph (220 km/h).

7. The aircraft of the Blue Angels aerobatic team are painted in the official colors of the US Navy (blue and gold).

8. Average age of aerobatic team pilots: 33 years. A average age technical staff: 26 years old.

9. The Blue Angels team receives a regular salary without any additional allowance, since being a member of the legendary aerobatic team is already a great honor.

10. There is a lot of competition among pilots who want to get into the group.