The familiar and measured hum of the turbines was suddenly replaced by a high-pitched roar from the left side of the experimental machine. Immediately there was an asymmetry, followed by a roll.

The pilot ran a quick glance over the instruments, the speed - "to the minimum", the handle - "to the horizon". My eyes had long since caught the steady red signal on one of the blocks. His hands worked automatically, as if responding to an emergency program embedded in the subcortex of his brain. Red color in the cabin is unpleasant. After all, it is associated with danger). And the "Right engine stop" signal was still on. The pilot added a few turns to the left, slightly moved the control stick - the plane reacted with a weak rocking motion. After assessing the situation, the test pilot reported to the flight director: "The car is controlled, I will sit down." The earth reacted instantly. The shortest air corridor to the airfield was released in a matter of minutes, and the runway was urgently prepared.

...I wonder how the plane will behave before landing and during the run? The question of ejecting disappeared somehow by itself. The decision has been made: the car must be saved. The plane carries such a set of research equipment that it is absolutely impossible to lose it.

Ahead, a bend in the river glistened, and behind it, the long - awaited concrete road merged with the haze. Long-range drive, chassis release, short-range call... So far, everything is going without a hitch. But the car is getting harder to obey the steering wheels. "Come on, my dear, don't let me down!" - as the pilot repeated the spell. And as if hearing it, the plane finally leveled out in front of the runway, with a haze of smoke, scratched its wheels on the concrete and rolled smoothly along it...

The fate of the deputy head of the State Flight Test Center for flight work, Colonel Alexander Rayevsky, is not much different from the fate of other test pilots. However, not all of them become Heroes of Russia. Although Alexander himself still considers himself an ordinary hard worker-a test worker who has not done anything that would make him stand out among his comrades. But many of his colleagues puts in a number of heroes. But facts are stubborn things. From the hands of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, it was he, Alexander Raevsky, who received the Hero's gold medal.

The military life of young Sasha Raevsky began, one might say, right from the cradle. My father is an officer, a tankman, a soldier to the core. Since childhood, Alexander learned that a holiday in a military town is also a family event. Such concepts as "honor", "discipline", and "patriotism"easily and firmly entered his consciousness. Alexander's admission to the Suvorov School was not unexpected for the family. There, the guy had no problems with studying, the disciplines were given easily, and he always studied with desire and passion. Suvorov Raevsky's interest in the sky arose, let's face it, by accident. A classmate friend had a relative who was a military pilot. He's also an excellent storyteller. In general, the experienced pilot conquered the boys with his stories about the heavenly distances, the intoxicating feeling of delight when you conquer heights, you feel like yourself a winged car subject only to you.

Yes, it was then that the first seeds of love for heaven fell into the trembling boy's heart. Their shoots rose at the next stage of life, which predetermined the choice of a military school. It turned out to be the Chernihiv Higher Military School of pilots.

Fate and Will

Before the end of the IED, fate decided for the first time to seriously test Alexander for strength. In the seventies, graduates of Suvorov were distributed mainly in command schools. The decision of the mandate commission was logical and concise: Raevsky's graduate should be assigned to the Kiev Tank School. It was here that the character of the young pupil manifested itself. Standing at attention under the stern stares of the grizzled officers, he plucked up the courage to blurt out:: "I want to go to flight school!". There was a pause. No one expected this turn of events. Of course, then there were persuasions, exhortations. And Raevsky had to visit the commission at least three times... It is difficult to say what played a role in this situation - the determination of the young man or the long-term pedagogical experience of the officers, but the documents were still sent to Chernihiv...

Just as in Suvorovsky, studying at the higher aviation school was for the cadet Raevsky a constant knowledge of something new and unusual. Let's note right away: the desire for constant search has always been present in the character of Alexander. And over the years, it became more and more pronounced. Study the theory-so from cover to cover. If you fly, then the entire training flight will take place as if in one breath, without a hitch.

An assessment of the formation of the young pilot Raevsky was the offer of the command to remain in the school as an instructor. Agree, an enviable start for a novice pilot. But... The young lieutenant was disappointed at the tempting offer. It's an act. Raevsky immediately decided to test his knowledge and skills in the army, on combat aircraft. There, as a promising pilot, he was sent to retrain for the then-little - known vertical take-off and landing aircraft of carrier-based aviation-the Yak-38. This is a new and interesting case. Alexander devoted himself entirely to the study of theory and practice. The basics of this type of aircraft navigation were first mastered by helicopter and only then switched to Yaks.

There were enough curiosities at first. Yes, here is at least one. According to the task, it was necessary to do the simplest exercise - to raise the car by 3-5 meters and, as they say, "put" it there. Raise raised, but" put " young pilots anywhere. And they landed next to the playground, and even managed to plop into the grass behind the concrete. But, to my credit, Raevsky did his first exercise clearly and accurately. Where "took", there and "put". As prescribed in the instructions. Therefore, over time, he entered the top three pilots of the training regiment.

But life, as they say, did not stand still. Then there was a referral to the service near Vladivostok. By that time, Lieutenant Raevsky had already started a family. And although Lyudmila (this is the name of the beautiful wife of Raevsky) did not see her husband for days, sometimes for months, nevertheless this did not prevent them from living happily and amicably.

Scheduled sea trips began, which lasted for three to four months. "We were accompanied on long trips by test pilots from the Sukhoi Design Bureau," says Alexander, " experienced and highly skilled pilots. I have always been impressed by their high professionalism, which in the sky was manifested by actions that went beyond basic understanding. The testers in their work teetered on the edge of the possible, like tricksters on a tightrope, considered the norm what others were not allowed to do."

Probably, such reflections prompted Raevsky to seriously think about his next height. And the testers, with whom he became friends during the military campaigns, advised: go study, you have the makings for our work.

After another hike, Alexander did not hesitate for a long time. In the shortest possible time, the necessary documents were collected and sent to the Akhtuba GLITZ. There were no delays with the registration, the command went forward. The call came quickly, and after it, already in the Center, there was a series of tests and exams, which, by the way, Rayevsky passed flawlessly.

At that time, there was only one stumbling block - flight class. The trouble is that on the Yak-38 aircraft that Raevsky mastered, they did not assign higher than the third class. This was a special feature. The Admissions Committee of the Center in this regard faced a dilemma - to accept or not to accept the future student to the school. To resolve the controversial issue, Alexander had to seek a meeting with the head of GLITZ. In the conversation, he asked with a hint of doubt::

"Do you think you can handle your new job or not?"

Preparing for the meeting, Alexander anticipated this question. He saw the pilots who came to study with him. These were such "bison" combat aviation units - no fire, water and copper pipes were not afraid of them. Almost everyone has first class. Well, on the other hand, he is also not a bast sew: he thoroughly mastered the Yak-38 deck plane, again, an indomitable passion for the sky, flying, multiplied by a huge desire to become a test pilot, completely cut off all escape routes.

By the way, Alexander Rayevsky's firm answer to that gray-haired general seemed to please the latter. The path to the top was open.

Take - off and landing

Testing school. Original and non-standard methods of teaching students developed their interest in a new profession. For example, a new type of aircraft is being studied.

Future testers get acquainted with the theory, matchmaking. Then-testing, and go to the plane! 2-3 control flights to the zone, which determine the adaptability of the pilot. In this method, we are not talking about the development of technology, but rather such an element as the mobility of the pilot, the ability to immediately master a new machine for him. Just as an experienced professional driver does not feel any difficulties in operating a car when switching from one type to another, so a novice tester must quickly adapt to any instruments and controls in order to be ready for a flight mission in the shortest possible time.

This approach of teachers and instructors of the Center gave rise to high personal responsibility in their studies. So the sprouts of a new profession were laid.

Time passed, and its contours began to appear in reality. Testing activities began. Raevsky understood that it was impossible to embrace the immensity. Therefore, I took the ship's theme as a basis, because after all, I have the experience of a "deckman"behind me.

A series of tests of systems and complexes of a new type of aircraft began. Flights from the ground, platforms, decks. The new car, in fact, also needs to be" taught " to fly...

...In one of the trips to the Mediterranean Sea on the Admiral Kuznetsov, Alexander was preparing for the next flight shift. Shift as a shift. "Extreme" flights were carried out on new machines by testers, then the ship's pilots began to fly them. After running through the theoretical task, Raevsky mentally sorted out his actions in flight. Everything worked out smoothly.

...Failure of the cleaning mechanism of devices that increase the lifting force of the wing occurred immediately after takeoff. An outside observer would have noticed that the plane had left the deck and continued its flight at an unnatural angle. Since the speed of descent of the aircraft from the deck is small, the tester increased the angle of attack of the car, which was extremely unsafe. Another one or two degrees - and the plane will reach extreme angles-and then... However, there was simply no other way out. Oh, if at that moment the only correct algorithm of actions laid down in the mind of the tester by the Akhtuba school did not work! Rayevsky managed to hold the plane, gave it the opportunity to accelerate, And yet a short but succinct phrase followed the flight manager on the air: "Coming in for landing. On the move." Approach, alignment. Touching the deck, grabbing with a hook - the plane, having rolled a little, freezes. That's just where Alexander gave himself the opportunity to relax. The car is intact, which means that the causes of malfunctions will be found. Found them. Not only in his plane,but also in dozens of other similar cars on the Kuznetsov .

Earth and sky

In his forty-two years, the tester does not yet consider himself to have reached the peak of professionalism. As Alexander himself says, real experience comes at the age of fifty or fifty-five, At this age the pilot has the highest practical experience and excellent theoretical training. He is a real air ace instructor who thoroughly knows many types of aircraft. But the paradox. In reality, testers who are at the peak of their skills are forced by law to leave the Armed Forces at the age of fifty. It is good if one or the other is taken away by some design bureau. And what should dozens of others do?

Here is an example. Not so long ago, the Hero of Russia Mikhail Ivanovich Pozdnyakov, an experienced "bomber", a class professional, and a participant in many research programs, left the Armed Forces by age. With his departure, a whole layer of unresolved developments was exposed. It turned out that they raised and trained the tester for about ten years, then five years of active work, and... straight to retirement. Although Mikhail Ivanovich's reserve of strength would have been enough for the same period of time. So it turns out that the state "grounds" the Air Force's aviation elite with its own hands.

And there is a way out. It would be more realistic, I think, to write off a test pilot from flight work not by age, but by the state of his health. As a result, the test programs "will not hang", and we will save the pilot. In this situation, the payoff is obvious. That is why today it is a problem of GLITZ flight crew problems.

...Not all testers have the honor of being awarded the heroic title. Very few people received awards from the hands of the first persons of the state. Raevsky was lucky. But when the President of the country presented Alexander with the Golden Star of the Hero, the pilot caught himself thinking that he was not thinking about the solemnity of what was happening, not about a high award, but... about tomorrow. What will it be like: light - from the fact that the next test car "gets on the wing", or, conversely, gloomy - from the next "whim" of the plane or people who do not want to subdue it? And will there even be that new car tomorrow?..

It will, Comrade Colonel. It will definitely happen. And, we hope, not alone.

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