Dream of Svetlana Protasova. Ban above aviation authorities

Protasova, Svetlana

Fighter pilot, captain. The only female pilot in Russia flying in a combat regiment on a MiG-29.

. 2009 .

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A resident of Lobnya, Svetlana Protasova, the only female fighter pilot who flew at the helm of the MiG-29, has been looking for work for two years without success. Her position is so desperate that a woman is even ready to go to work as a cleaner, according to Podmoskovye Segodnya correspondent Alexander Umrikhin.

MAIN DREAM

Protasova has many hours of flying time behind her on fighters, as well as on civil aircraft. However, now the woman was literally thrown to the sidelines of life: for two years since the moment of dismissal from the airline (Svetlana stubbornly refuses to name the employer, fearing revenge on his part - ed.), She has not been able to get a job.

Svetlana shows photos in the album, as if flipping through the pages of her past life. Here she is at the helm of a fighter jet, here she is in the cockpit of the Tu-154, and in a few more pictures - during a business trip to the United States 10 years ago.

I was born into a military family. My father graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages ​​(now - VUMO RF). As a child, I had to fly a lot, mainly from Yegoryevsk to Makhachkala, where my father served and my mother worked. And the cockpits were open, I went there, the pilots put me on their knees, I really liked it, and at the age of three I announced that I wanted to become a pilot.

FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH

By the time Svetlana graduated from the aircraft engineering faculty of the Moscow Aviation Institute, special kits for women were opened at the Zaporozhye flight school of DOSAAF. And Sveta, without hesitation, entered there. After graduating from college, she repeatedly wrote reports with a request to be transferred to the Armed Forces, but the requests were not satisfied for a long time - exactly until the moment when Pavel Grachev became the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. He signed the corresponding reports to all the pilots.

After that, Protasova went to Colonel General Nikolai Antoshkin, who at that time was the commander of the front-line aviation and, according to Svetlana, strove to ensure that a woman in aviation was "treated like a person." So, Protasova was accepted on the MiG-29. However, around this time in the army, according to Svetlana, "the collapse began."

Later, in Kubinka, I was not allowed to fly - I only went to the formation. I have repeatedly asked for permission to fly - no effect. I was transferred to Borisoglebsk, and for several years there I normally flew a MiG-29 - a training ground, air battles, a couple for a couple, at night, - complains Protasova.

VIRAGES

In 2007, after being retired with the rank of major, Svetlana began to go to airlines, but she was not taken anywhere again. Communications in the Federal Air Transport Agency helped - with one of the airlines Protasova they managed to conclude an employment contract. But when the Tu-154 was taken out of service, the pilots were laid off.

Protasova did not have a job for a year and a half. As a reward for all the ordeals, fate smiled at her again. The pilot got a job with an American airline. She successfully passed the language proficiency exam, testing on an airplane simulator, on which she had never even flown, and successfully worked until 2011, when the company collapsed. After that, all the personnel were admitted to one of the leading Russian airlines - Protasova worked there until 2015.

I have 100 or 200 flight hours plus four years of work in one of the leading airlines in the Russian Federation. No incidents, no rough landings - nothing happened. And at the end, there was a conflict with one of the young commanders, as a result of which I was removed from flights. They sent me to the RPP (flight operations manual - ed.) And to the simulator, where for some reason they gave two points. After that, they recommended resigning of their own free will. Now they don't take me anywhere - I walked around all the companies, all of them are recruited, but after a call to the previous place of work they refuse me, - says Svetlana.

Former military pilot Svetlana Protasova, who worked in civil aviation for eight years, left Aeroflot in 2015, and since then she has been trying to get a job as a pilot again, but nothing comes of it.

Svetlana is 51 years old. She alone brings up a daughter who is engaged in ballet and goes to a music school. Several years ago, Protasova and her daughter moved into the purchased on credit private house. Most Svetlana gives pensions and alimony as a loan.

However, the woman is afraid that she may soon be left without alimony (Protasova receives alimony in the amount of about 40 thousand rubles a month). According to her, her ex-husband took parental leave to another family, and he got a job as a pilot in China. “In Russia, he will not officially receive income and will stop paying,” says Protasova.

“I have not communicated with him for several years, I tried to find him, only through the bailiffs already,” she clarified.

Protasova's last hope is that she will still be taken as a pilot in one of the airlines. “If there is no hope, I’ll just die,” she concludes.

For help, the pilot turned to LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, State Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarova, State Duma deputy Nikolai Antoshkin, as well as the Ministry of Transport, the presidential administration and the Federal Air Transport Agency. The latter even took up the employment of Svetlana herself and began to send letters to the airlines asking them to consider her candidacy, as well as letters asking them to inform the reason for the refusal to employ the pilot. One of these letters is at the disposal of "Storm". However, even after the intervention of the department, the situation did not change.

“I went to the Nordwind company. I passed the tests, three months have passed, no one called. It's the same with the Red Wings. These are airlines where they fly on airplanes suitable for me - Airbus, ”says the pilot. On Airbus, she flew 2,700 hours, all in all, Protasova has flown 4,500 hours. “Civil aviation pilots are only 350 hours short of retirement,” Svetlana clarified.

“Even [Air Marshal and the last Minister of Defense of the USSR Yevgeny] Shaposhnikov tried to help me,” said [to the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim] Sokolov. But that didn’t help, ”the pilot complained.

In February last year, she took tests with the I Fly airline. “They gave excellent English,” says Svetlana. At I Fly, she underwent a medical examination, paying 30 thousand rubles for it, but nothing has changed. “Later I called them, they say - the pilots are not needed, I open the website - and it says that they are needed”.

In December 2017, Protasova already tried to get a job at the Rossiya airline, where she also passed the tests and also did not receive any answer. Protasova is sure that widespread refusals in employment are connected with “persecution” by Aeroflot. “The airlines just call Aeroflot and after that they don’t take me,” she says. According to her, she is not the only one who faced this problem. In addition, she notes that in Russian airlines women are generally reluctant to accept.

“In one of the airlines I was told:“ Our general director categorically does not take women. ” I say: "But you have two women flying." In response: "One is the flight director's wife, the other is the commander's mistress, and who are you?" - says Svetlana.

In turn, the Sheremetyevo trade union of flight personnel believes that it is not a matter of discrimination, but of Aeroflot itself and its tough selection of employees. “The company keeps statistics and determines that it is easier to train young pilots, since they are like blank slates, and the military, as a rule, are already adults - they already have their own system and it is more difficult for them to offer new approaches,” the union explained. They also said that they had contacted the airline about Protasova, but they were told that she was a "weak pilot."

“But if she’s a weak pilot, why wasn’t she fired right away, she worked for the airline for four years. So, all this time she arranged for the management as an employee? " To which they replied: “Well, that's how it happened,” they say in the trade union.

The pilot herself assures that in 2015 she came under massive layoffs at Aeroflot. “The load on the planes dropped to 30-40 passengers instead of 240. Of course, they had to be fired. They took their friends and children there, and those who came from the street, like me, were forced to write a statement of their own free will, ”the pilot says.

Protasova, along with other pilots, came to Aeroflot from the low-cost airline Avianova after the latter was liquidated. There she also worked as a co-pilot on an Airbus aircraft. On this aircraft model, Svetlana learned to fly at Siberia Airlines (now S7), where she was sent after leaving the army. Then the Federal Air Transport Agency helped her get a job. The airline told her that five military pilots had undergone retraining there before her. According to her, she would not have been taken to teach if the instructor had not stood up.

She underwent retraining to become a civil aviation pilot from a military pilot at the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation Flight School on an airplane Tu-154. Then it was used in both civil and military aviation... In 2008-2010, airlines removed this aircraft model from their fleets.

Until 2007, Protasova served in the Russian Air Force. There, she first flew on a Czech-made L-39 combat training aircraft, and then transferred to the Soviet fourth-generation MiG-29 multi-role fighter and became one of the few women in the world who piloted this aircraft.

Svetlana wanted to become a pilot since childhood. In order to become a pilot, she graduated from the aircraft engineering faculty of the Moscow Aviation Institute, then went to Zaporozhye flight school DOSAAF, where special kits for women were then opened.

Svetlana entered the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation after Pavel Grachev was appointed to the post of Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. He signed reports to the pilots with a request to be admitted to the RF Armed Forces.

At the helm of the MiG-29 supersonic fighter, Protasova was thanks to the help of Colonel General Nikolai Antoshkin, who at that time was the commander of the front-line aviation of the Air Force (now a State Duma deputy).

The felting master spoke about the wonderful properties of felt and the unusual things that can be made from it.

As you follow your path, miracles happen at every step. This happened with the resident of Kirov, Svetlana Protasova, who at one time quit her job and plunged into creativity. Now she has her own art workshop and many plans for further development felting price Kirov |

Svetlana, is the handicraft in your life from childhood, or did it come at a conscious age?

- From early childhood. As far back as I can remember, I have always sewed, knitted from the age of five. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. But the Soviet upbringing, the imposed framework of "what is allowed and what is not" did their job. As a result, I spent many years doing sales.

How did felt come into your life?

- It was a difficult period when I found myself in a strange city. And what is the best antidepressant for a woman? Shopping! I went to a jewelry store and there in the window I saw an amazing burgundy lily with a Swarovski crystal inside. She struck my imagination. The consultant explained that the lily is felted. So I began to study a new direction for myself - felting from felt.

- Many. I was looking for information, I tried to fool myself, but nothing worked for me. Imagine I had a whole bag of wool. Every weekend I took it out, laid it out, tried to do something, nothing worked for me, I put the bag away until the next weekend. And so for a whole year.

But in the end the felt still obeyed?

- Yes, I went through master classes, learned how to make felt jewelry, slippers. But my dream was to make felt clothes. And one day I just made the decision to quit my job and do what I really like. And when you get into your stream, all the possibilities open up. Immediately after my dismissal, I came across information about a seminar in Moscow where they teach how to make clothes out of felt. And here is my first felted dress, it still hangs on the mannequin.

Do you wear your own felt clothes?

- Of course I do. But I have an interesting tendency - the thing that I put on myself is immediately sold. After "walking out into the world" immediately there is a customer who wants to buy a dress that is on me. Thus, my wardrobe is not large, because things are taken off immediately from me (laughs).

Svetlana, what is felting for you today - a job or a hobby?

- During the day - work, and at night - a hobby.

And what do you do at night?

- Dresses made of silk and wool, for which there is not enough time during the working day.

- For one reason - you have to live on something, but you won't bring your students home. So I started looking for a place to create, conduct classes and master classes.

How long did it take from an idea to its implementation?

- Very little, everything happened quickly. Literally in May, we looked at the premises, and on June 2 we stopped by.

Were there any unexpected effects after opening?

- There are still unexpected effects. These are those pleasant moments when people come and say that they have heard and read a lot about felting, but did not think that there is such a thing in Kirov.

Is your workshop the only one in town?

- Yes, there are no such workshops anymore. Anyone can come to me, see how I work, study everything, try things on and immediately enroll in courses.

Who comes most often?

- My clients are mostly women, whom I divide into two types. The first are women with a high level of income who want to look extraordinary, love natural materials and are used to dress the way they want. And the second group is women with a small income who like to do everything with their own hands. They usually come to study.

- Everything. Various decorations - brooches, necklaces, slippers and shoes with soles, boots, dresses, coats, hats, paintings and rugs. Even underwear can be made.

Do you make underwear?

- Not yet. I will not say anything ... ( laughs)

How long does it take to make one item?

- Always different. Since wool is a living material, when working with it, the energy of the person for whom the order is being made is clearly felt. For example, I can make a dress for a client in a day, and recently I just returned an order to a person, because I could not make a product for him. On average, it takes two weeks to make an item.

It is believed that craftswomen, as a rule, do not have free time and free space at home. How are you doing with this?

- Of course, I have little free time, but there is a lot of space at home, since I have my own workshop. This is my life, my energy. I only come home to sleep.

- Felting relieved me of stress, cured depression. It was creativity that helped me get out of the point called the bottom. Now this is a whole life for me.

What, in your opinion, is the popularity of felt today? Why is this direction being revived?

- Working with felt is faster than knitting and easier than sewing. Plus, felt is a living material that relieves stress. Despite the fact that this is a rather costly hobby - after all, natural wool is expensive - but the quality and the pleasure that we see in the output compensates for everything.

What's the most amazing thing about working with felt? Is there something you won't get used to?

- Taking orders, I can never say exactly what kind of dress I will receive at the exit. For example, recently with a client we were planning to make a dress with a three-quarter sleeve, but when I started working, I realized that it was a sleeve with a long cuff. As a result, we received a dress that was not at all the intended one. Therefore, people who trust me come to me.

- It turns out so.

Svetlana, you are a happy person - you do what you love. Do you have a dream?

- The closest dream is the Felt Festival, which will take place on December 11. I am organizing this event in our city for the first time, so I am very excited. I would like everything to go as it should, so that people get acquainted with such a wonderful material as felt, and see those wonderful products that can be made from it.

Svetlana, from your first Yak-18 and Yak-52 machines to the ultra-modern MiG there is a huge distance ...

Yes. But persistence, and maybe stubbornness, helped me. Even when I was a student, Mikhail Simonov, the general designer of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, taught us. He created a female group of pilots "Swallows" in Zhukovsky near Moscow. We flew in the Yak-52. Somehow they even performed at an air show. Then the "swallows" flew away. The men who also flew with us, in the end set a tough condition: either they, or the women. So we were left out of work.

Some of the pilots believe that the woman in the cockpit is a potential danger ...

Tired of these stupid male conversations!

How did you get into fighter aircraft?

After the story with "Swallows", as a "compensation" I was transferred to Kubinka. But even there they were not allowed to approach the combat vehicles. You will, they say, a dummy for journalists. Let them take pictures, tell them about aviation, but don't dream of serious machines.

And you made your first flight in a fighter ...

April 4, 1996 When I got into the cockpit, the bowels were shaking. Not from fear. From delight: here it is, a dream come true! And it took off, and all the excitement disappeared.

After that, did the male pilots accept you as their own?

No. I had to defend my rights to flights with the commander-in-chief (he was then Pyotr Deinekin). They took me to his office in secret. Without prior arrangement. At first he got angry for “partisanism”, and then he listened to me and laughed: “Let's wipe our nose to the vaunted Western warriors. We will also have a female fighter. ”

By his personal order, I was transferred to the regiment in Borisoglebsk. After such an order, I flew two or three times a week. And there was enough kerosene. Not like later.

They say you were invited to France as an instructor pilot?

They were invited. She worked there. Several businessmen bought sports cars from us and asked us to teach them how to fly. So she taught. The work is profitable, but still it is not a fighter. And I wanted to be and will be a fighter.

Did you offer to get married in France?

Let it remain a secret.

Wasn't it hard to return to Borisoglebsk after Paris and Cannes?

I was returning to Russia. In the capitals, we forget that such cities as Borisoglebsk are the majority in the country. I used to live in a hotel. Now they gave us a one-room apartment. But I haven't got any furniture yet. There is not enough money, and prices are quite metropolitan. But the sea of ​​mushrooms.

Are they letting you into the sky?

Not good. Everyone wants to fly. And before the captains there are still majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels.

I have a goal. Until I become a first class pilot, I won't think about my family. Yes, everything depends on the same - there are not enough flight hours. From time to time I turn into a "wedding captain" again.

What do you dream about the most?

I want to fly. To get into a unit where there is both kerosene and the authorities have an open mind towards women. I'll have to, I'll get to the commander-in-chief. They say he is the right man.