In defense of airplanes, or why you shouldn’t be afraid to fly. How long does it take to get from the Earth to the Moon? What are airport taxes and why are they different everywhere?

They say that a certain businessman was so afraid of flying on planes because of the threat of explosions that he came up with an original method of fighting terrorism: on any trip he took with him a dummy bomb, confident that there would certainly not be a second person on board with the same luggage. .

If before your trip you fantasize about the wine list at the airport, and when choosing an airline, you are guided by the opinion of Yandex on the topic “Yak-40 plane crashes along the route - over the last 15 years,” we sympathize - you have aerophobia.

Often, patients with this unpleasant disease consider it to be something like an exacerbation of common sense: “Well, the plane crashed just yesterday - I knew it, I’ll never sit in this death capsule again!” And then, when you do have to fly, the flight attendants observe nervous, sweating passengers who, as soon as they enter the cabin, buckle up tightly, grab the armrests and, with a crazy look, begin to wait for death. If you are one of these unfortunate people, then remember: aerophobia is a diagnosis.

Terror flying on wings

Imagine a map of the world. Of course, you are the center of the universe, but still, how many people are there on this planet? major cities. And they have airports. And every hour these airports are visited by 20 aircraft. And in total, 138,000 aircraft in the world fly safely to their destination every day - and these are only commercial flights. If the chance of a daily crash was only 0.01%, that would mean that at least 13 planes would have to crash per day!

It turns out that there are about 50 million flights in the world every year. There are only a few unsuccessful ones. Well, let's say six. This is about 500 people. Those who landed successfully are about 5 billion. And therefore the chance of dying in the next raid is 1 in 10 million. Yes, of course, it exists - but where is it not? You walk along an icy street in February, eat bony fish, swim drunk, water flowers in Haiti, ride the Moscow metro... And those around you don’t care about your life. On an airplane, it is you who are taken care of by a multimillion-dollar industry, honed down to the most insignificant cogs: precisely because flying is initially dangerous, humanity has made this action as safe as possible.

How to calm down

However, all these facts only partially convince a true aerophobe. “What if the wing falls off?”, “What if there’s a thunderstorm?”, “Well, maybe the engines will turn off?” - in fact, the questions are endless. There will always be an additional one, the same one, the answer to which should once and for all expose the worldwide conspiracy of aviators against your life.

It's better not to torture yourself. Just do the following:

Study physics, at least its basics. They will say a lot. For example, many are afraid of simply falling down from a height of 10 km. So, this simply cannot happen due to the strong pressure under the wings of the aircraft. It handles in the air no worse than a car on the highway. You can put it on its tail, rotate it 100 degrees around its axis, point it down - and if you release the steering wheel, the plane will simply sway in the air, like a boat on the waves.

In Moscow you can visit a unique Boeing 737 cockpit simulator. It is owned by the private company TFT. This is exactly the simulator on which real pilots rehearse various emergency situations - the notorious engine and landing gear failures, flying in a thunderstorm, snowfall and fog. Inside, this is a real Boeing cockpit, in which all the effects are absolutely “no fools”. Anyone can fly it together with an instructor pilot; you can also ask them to simulate any situations and explain how the plane behaves.

The right decision would be to see a doctor. After all, aerophobia is a disease, and it needs to be treated. So far in Russia there is only one clinic dealing with this issue - it is called “Fly without fear” and is located in Moscow. The course of treatment usually takes two days and costs several thousand rubles. For those who cannot come, there are online courses that can be paid for online.

Can Russian airlines be trusted?

If you decide to fly without all these tricks, then, first of all, remember: by desperately choosing an airline, you are simply wasting your time. They are all equally safe - Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Izhevsk Airlines.

“No one has ever heard of Tajik-Avia or “Tajik-Avia” planes crashing. Ural Airlines“says the director of the clinic “Fly Without Fear”, a pilot Alexey Gervash. — Airlines, just like turbulence, are just a matter of comfort, not safety. Aviation is a huge structure with a strict hierarchy, there are thousands of requirements, and if a company parks its aircraft at the airport, it means that it meets all of them. And it is completely wrong to believe that Russian airlines are worse than others: 1.5 years passed from the plane crash in Perm to the disaster near Smolensk, and during this time not a single person died “in the sky” in Russia.”

Rumors that pilots in Russia drink, dilute gasoline, and airlines buy planes written off in Korea and repair them in a barn with a sledgehammer are also the result of mass aerophobia. Russia is part of the global aviation community. If fears are to be believed, millions of careless people allow Russian drunken pilots in wrecked cars with diluted gasoline to fly hourly over power plants, schools, UNESCO monuments and the Large Hadron Collider. Suicides, no less. Or is this still not true?..

By the way, pilots and flight attendants do not receive cash bonuses “for risk.” Because the plane flies not contrary to common sense and the laws of nature, but thanks to them.

How many flights per day can one plane perform?

Who trains flight attendants and how?

How many people are in the crew

What are the tariffs and how are they calculated?

How to issue a ticket if you need to fly with one or two transfers

What is an electronic ticket and how to buy it?

What are airport taxes and why are they different everywhere?

What to do at the airport during a layover

Is it possible to refund the entire cost of a ticket if I had to cancel the trip?

What is interline and code sharing?

How do you select seats at registration?

How to check in for a plane yourself

The world's largest aviation alliances

Why do airlines form alliances and what does this give to passengers?

Which airport is called a hub?

How to get to the airport and move between terminals?

Does our aircraft industry have a future?

Yes, because there is potential. But no one knows the future. And on the one hand, this is good, because if a person knew the future, it would not be interesting to live. And of course there is potential. There are a huge number of young people who want and can, and are learning how to build and invent. It’s hard to say how it will go further. At the moment, I do not see any positive changes in the growth of the aviation industry.

Does Russia need an aviation industry? Or is it more profitable for us to fly Boeing?

Russia has a very large brain potential. It's no secret that the best gliders in the world are built and invented in Russia. Gliders in terms of aerodynamic quality. But as always happens with us, somewhere in the bud, it’s being crushed. And brains are flowing to the west. If conditions are created for these people to live with dignity and be able to engage in this business, then it will be possible to boost not only the aviation industry. There will be a desire, there will be aspiration towards this issue, we will achieve it. As of today I don't see anything. Maybe competitors are getting in the way.

In general, what competitiveness is is the ability to choose. If there was only one plane in the world - the IL-96, and no one else made planes, then we would sell it for the price we would like, because no one has it.

But there are a lot of aircraft on the market, and the competition between competitors is great. Moreover, she is always not white, it is always a dirty game. Those who have more money, intelligence, and cunning, promote their goods to the market more. And we have no one to promote the IL-96 aircraft to the world market. Although the plane is very competitive.

There are companies that produce aviation equipment. Why would any other company develop something that is better than theirs? It didn't work out with the engine, build a glider. Buy this engine from the British, who have it better. And if you don’t want to buy, build your own engine and demonstrate it clearly. But this is not done, everything depends on cash.

Our fleet of Airbuses and Boeings consists of used vehicles, and some of them cannot be operated in the United States. I would like to understand how safe and economical this is? That's why they are not profitable for Americans? Economically or according to safety standards?

Any mechanical machine that has rubbing and rotating parts has a certain resource. For an aircraft there is virtually no concept of wear and tear. It can wear out due to the condition of the airframe, metal and everything else. If we took a plane from a trash heap, we must also take into account the fact that there are different types of trash heaps. The US says: “We don’t need a plane that has been flying for more than 15 years. Because it becomes unprofitable for us to constantly change spare parts on it. We’d rather buy a new plane and not change anything.”
In Russia we cannot afford to buy new planes. The Americans have adopted a law that an aircraft after 15 years is considered unusable. This is connected, in addition to private ones, also with state funds, laws, etc. But this does not mean that the aircraft, which has been in operation for more than 15 years, is junk. I can definitely say that you can take a completely new plane from the factory and in a year make it so that no one in any company in the world will look at it. And you can, on the contrary, take a new plane and after 10 years of operation sell it as new. Our people buy old planes because the price is much lower. A new plane costs $100 million, and a maintained one costs $30 million.

It turns out that this is only an economic question?

Yes, this is a purely economic issue. Because buying an airplane is not like buying a loaf of bread in a store. In addition to purchasing the aircraft, the company will have to invest a lot of money on maintenance, insurance, etc. And this is simply unaffordable money for many Russian airlines. New aircraft are operated either by large state-owned companies or by very developed international companies. Once upon a time, the Chinese took new planes, now they are forced to take used ones. But they are establishing production and have received a license to produce aircraft. We conclude that buying new aircraft is unaffordable.

We know that an aircraft can be sent on a flight with a certain set of faults. How does this affect flight safety? Or can a plane fly with a faulty automatic engine thrust control system, and this does not affect anything?

There is a book that describes the minimum equipment with which an aircraft is allowed to take off. Everything is written down there: when it’s possible, when it’s not, and everything else. Naturally, if the plane’s engine doesn’t work, no one will let it go anywhere. If the light in the toilet does not work, then, of course, you can fly. Those defects that affect flight safety are unacceptable in operation. Those that indirectly affect flight safety, they can be considered from the point of view that there is no need to return the aircraft to base and that the probability of failure of this system is unlikely to occur. And on the other hand, even if the system fails, we will get to the base in any case. That is, duplication of these systems allows the use of the aircraft, all this is spelled out in the book.

For example, an airplane has 2 engines and an auxiliary power unit. Let's take the electrical part, each auxiliary power unit has an electrical generator. An aircraft may take off with an inoperative auxiliary power unit. That is, it is broken, there is no contact, the plane can be started from a ground source, from another engine, etc. Why is this allowed? We took off, one engine failed, then we connected to the auxiliary power unit. And here we have no auxiliary power plant and the engine failed. The point is that an airplane can fly on one engine.

And even if the second engine fails, we have a battery. The conclusion is that this defect indirectly affects flight safety. But with this defect, the plane cannot fly constantly, so a certain time frame is given for repair. But if something burns in the engine, then this directly affects flight safety. And not only on Boeing, Airbus, but also on TU-154, IL-62, IL-96. This has always been, is and will be.

Have you ever had to refuse a flight in your practice? Moreover, having already boarded the plane, preparing for departure, you discover that something is not working.

Yes, and this happened more than once. I arrived on the plane, was already taxiing, and in that process something broke. And either it was repaired or used as a reserve aircraft.

Have there been problems that happened after takeoff, already in the air?

Of course we have.

Can you tell me an incident?

The TU-154 suffered an engine failure during takeoff. Nothing bad happened, because engine failure is not an emergency.

Can you feel an engine failure in the cabin?

I don’t know, I wasn’t in the cabin, I was sitting in the cockpit. But passengers said that they could hear. This is not even a failure, but the engineer turned off the engine because the oil was being lost. And in order not to lead to a fire, they turned off the engine. But still we decided to return.

On a Boeing at night in the clouds bad weather took off one day, and suddenly everything went dark. The electricity has run out. Again, nothing bad happened, they redistributed the food and flew on. There was also a situation on the fighter plane. At night the attitude indicator disappeared. I suffered a lot of fear, I was young.

Failures do happen; I’ve experienced them more than once in my flying life. But I didn’t have anything beyond emergency. There was a situation when approaching Antalya airport, I released the mechanization, the hose burst, and the hydraulic system leaked. I had to spend 5 days in Antalya in a five-star hotel until the plane was repaired.

Are the landing gears out?

Everything worked out. We simply lost the hydraulic system, naturally we did not fly out of there. We arrived, we were settled, the plane was laid up. We were waiting for the technicians to arrive from Russia. Until we found the reason, we ordered a hose, while we installed it, we checked it. And we, like pilots, stayed in hotels. So there have been such cases. .

Is it true that when traveling by plane, the most dangerous part is the car ride to the airport?

More likely yes than no. Returning to the Internet, a person there wrote: “You are incorrectly assessing the ratio of risk and probability.” Cars crash, but there are more of them than planes. But if we take it in absolute numerical terms, we take statistics for one plane and one car. And if we take it in absolute numbers, it turns out that the plane is still safer. For every million flights there is one disaster.

Disaster or flight accident?

I find it difficult to answer this question. Because I didn’t keep these statistics myself. We will talk about disasters when there are casualties. After all, the concepts of disaster and accident are different. A disaster is an incident involving a technical device that results in human casualties within 3 days. The accident was a broken car, no casualties.

If we assume that the car leaves the house every day. Although the plane takes off every day, it does not stand still, because a plane for commercial purposes must fly 16-17 hours a day. Otherwise, it's just a losing business. If we take a million aircraft sorties and a million vehicle departures, then the ratio of accidents and catastrophes will clearly be more in the direction of cars.

And therefore, it is absolutely legitimate to assume that the road from home to the airport is much more dangerous than flying by plane. The probability of getting into an accident on an airplane is approximately equal to the probability of getting hit in the head by an icicle while walking on the sidewalk. No one can be immune from this.

Modern aircraft are ready to fly in any weather conditions? Or are there weather conditions under which the plane cannot fly?

The plane can fly in any weather conditions. On the other hand, he can fly, but who will let him in? The cloud front can be bypassed. Thunderclouds and everything else are not so much dangerous as the phenomena that are present in these clouds are dangerous.

Hail is solid, frozen water, it has weight, an airplane has speed. A piece of ice weighing 50 grams hitting an airplane at a speed of 900 km per hour is a clear hole right through. In addition, the atmospheric conditions in the thundercloud itself are such that the plane immediately begins to freeze. Because the humidity is enormous, the temperature is low, and the rate of ice growth is simply lightning fast. The plane very quickly loses its aerodynamic properties, i.e. it was a plane, and after 10 seconds it turned into a brick. And this will lead to the inevitable death of the aircraft.

There are also downdrafts and updrafts that can throw a plane beyond critical angles. These are all the meteorological conditions. But today all this is predictable. You can fly in any weather conditions, modern aircraft can land automatically. Complete fog, zero visibility, nothing can be heard, but the plane can perform an automatic landing.

Nowadays, who lands planes: pilots or computers?

Basically, whatever you want. I plant it myself. There are conditions under which it is prohibited to land on your hands. That is, in category 3 weather, this is an automatic landing. All this is not regulated, which is definitely necessary in your hands or in a machine. It's all at your discretion.

How many times a day does a pilot fly?

There is a labor code that regulates the length of the working day. A working day cannot exceed certain amounts. We have documents that regulate general position and there are company documents. We cannot work more than 12 hours a day, but we must have a break for lunch and everything else. If we know in advance that our flight will exceed the working hours, then we need a reinforced crew. Working hours are counted not from the moment you take off, but from the moment you arrive at work.

For example, we operate a flight Moscow - Los Angeles. It is clear that the plane will fly for more than 12 hours. Therefore, we will fly not just the two of us, but four of us. One crew will sit in the cabin, the other will taxi the plane. There are rest areas for the crew.

If flights are short, then 2 flights per day. If there are delays, the aircraft commander is given the right to extend working hours by 1.5-2 hours, but with the consent of all crew members. If someone refuses, then we stay. If I clearly know that there is an even longer delay, i.e. more than 14 hours, then I will not fly anywhere.

Is it true that if a pilot flies in the cabin as a passenger, he always sleeps?

I can say about myself - I’m sleeping. Moreover, at any time. The plane makes me sick, but not in the sense that I feel sick, but in the sense that I fall asleep well, like in a hammock.

Can you roughly tell us what happens in the cockpit during takeoff?

Nothing special. We stand in front of the runway, wait, they are allowed to taxi onto the runway, we taxi out, perform a pre-takeoff checklist, get permission to take off, off we go and take off.

Yes. The funny thing is that planes can land automatically, but cannot take off. Not because it is technically difficult, but because it is simply not necessary.

Does the plane begin to squat the moment the autopilot is turned on?

No, this is the moment when the plane took off and accelerated to a certain required speed. The plane begins to squat because the wing mechanization is removed and the flaps are retracted. Due to the mechanization of the wing, resistance is removed, and the speed begins to increase. The flaps retract a little slower than the speed begins to increase, and a slight drawdown results.

What is the reason for the fact that now in the summer many airlines have flight delays for a significant period of time, sometimes even for a day?

This is related to the airline. Some companies, in pursuit of money, overestimated their strength. They collect a certain number of flights without providing a certain reservation. She creates her business plan for the summer with 30% aircraft failures. But in practice it turns out that their aircraft often fails, and their plan begins to go astray. Because it is impossible to load 10 flights per day on one plane.

If we operate one aircraft 16 hours a day, then we should have 8 hours left for its maintenance, refueling and everything else. And some companies try to operate for 22 hours and maintain 2 hours. And this suggests that if the schedule is off by only half an hour, then this delay begins to accumulate.

Here it’s half an hour, there it’s twenty, there it’s another ten minutes. Then the plane broke down, and there was no backup, and it started to snowball. Overestimating one's strengths and capabilities in pursuit of money usually leads to flight delays. If we had 2 planes, absolutely in good working order, and we operated one flight per day, then with almost 100% probability this flight would be carried out without any delays. If we load one plane with 5 flights a day, and there is no backup, then the likelihood that we will not make it somewhere is high.

Does it happen that under such conditions the company puts pressure on the pilot and the director says: “Fly, people are waiting”?

There are rumors, but I haven't personally experienced it. Here, probably, we are not talking about the flight director, but about the commercial director of the company. I have never heard this from flight directors, because he is a pilot himself. A commercial director can say this, and he doesn’t just press, he asks. That is, it is useless to press. There are such conversations. Moreover, you won’t be able to actually apply pressure, but you can stimulate it. As in any field, there are people who approach this issue fundamentally, and some who do not. It's hard to speak for everyone.

During takeoff, the engines operate in takeoff mode. And when landing we hear an increase in noise, does the takeoff mode also turn on, or is this some other phenomenon?

When the plane begins to descend, the engine begins to operate at higher speeds. The point is that wing mechanization, flaps, and landing gear are produced, and they increase drag.

At what speed does the plane take off and land?

Take-off speed is approximately 230-250 km/h. Landing speed is approximately equal to take-off speed, even a little less. Because the fuel has run out, the plane is lighter. In general, landing speed is 200-250 km/h. It all depends on the weight, condition of the strip, pressure, etc.

Could you tell us how you came up with the idea of ​​starting your own “live journal”?

It wasn't me who came up with this idea.

When I became more familiar with the computer, I began poking around on the Internet. I started climbing where I could and couldn’t. I was mainly interested in aviation, I wrote in a search engine and surfed forums, websites, etc. Through a chat on the Internet I met more advanced guys. And they advised me to publish my photos in the LiveJournal. And it turned out a good option, because it was possible to publish and write something there. That's how I basically became a writer and photographer. And in this magazine I wrote once, twice, and everyone began to write: tell me, show me. That's how it all went and went.

Moreover, until recently I did not even know that there were any ratings, although they do not interest me much. Because I write for my readers. Essentially, I keep a diary, I open the year 2005, I remember where I flew, where I was. I run it more for myself, my friends, children, acquaintances. I never have material of a scandalous nature, because I don’t see the point in bringing quarrels out of public view. I never discuss in my diaries the conclusions of the interstate aviation committee on this or that disaster, I do not discuss what is published in the newspapers. And not because I don’t have my own opinion, but because my opinion may often not coincide with others.

Lately I have been communicating with the press and am convinced that in most cases, certain conversations that we had will be published in the publication in a distorted form. Moreover, they are distorted so cleverly and coolly that it seems like you were talking about one thing, but it turns out that you were talking about something else. Although I understand that the person who interviewed him has several tasks. Either reflect the desired direction of this publication, or form a public point of view, or simply interview an interesting person. Therefore, naturally, having the art of the pen, you can do anything. He sends it to me, read it, this is how we will publish it, and this is how it will be written. I agree, I like it. The text is published, but everything is the other way around. Honestly, I won’t say anything more to Komsomolskaya Pravda. Because we were discussing flight safety, and in the newspaper close-up naked girl and a scandal is described. Of course, I understand that this is to attract attention. It’s just unpleasant when you talk to a person and everything is fine, and then everything is the other way around.

Has anything changed in your life because of the popularity of your live journal?

Yes. First of all, journaling is time consuming. Secondly, there were many interesting people, I'm learning a lot. I've always had a dream to ride hot-air balloon. And thanks to the live magazine, they invited me and took me for a ride. Basically, what I expected is what I got. And useful acquaintances are also not the least important thing. Honestly, I wanted to go on vacation. I put out an ad: “Who can help with a vacation?” A lot of people responded. I called someone on the phone, talked to someone on ICQ. And he chose what he wanted and went on vacation.

Some time ago you wrote a story about a doctor from some village who saves an airplane. How did the idea to write this story come about?

In general, this idea arose against the backdrop of my enormous indignation and losing my temper. Although I am a very calm person. A dispute ensued on the Avia.ru forum about whether the simmer would land the plane. Simmer are those who torture the computer in the hope of mastering the mystery of piloting supersonic and passenger aircraft, and at a certain point losing the idea of ​​the connection between reality and virtuality. Moreover, I was surprised that people who are already over 30 believe that he can easily move into the real world and can easily fly an airplane. This skirmish lasted several days, I realized that I was not in peace of mind. Then I somehow remembered the film when all the pilots were poisoned. And I decided to take the plot from there and decided to add a simmer there. But only modern, funny. And I started writing this story online, and within 3 days I’ll write 10 lines. So I wrote it.

So can Simmer land a plane?

Of course not. This is from the realm of fantasy.

Even despite all the automation of landing, despite the fact that there is a computer?

The computer can crash, but the simmer cannot. It all comes down to the fact that a person, finding himself in real life in a real cockpit, with all his computer skills, he simply will not be able to carry out the algorithm of actions that will be transmitted to him. There are simmers who actually fly. They were interested in simulators, went to flight school, and actually flew.

Simmers know a lot. But you need to be able to use the acquired knowledge and where to apply it. That is, you need to know where to get the right information at the right time. It is easier to learn certain main directions and at the right time find the right way to solve a situation, rather than memorize everything. And so the huge amount of information actually prevents simmers from doing what the average statistical pilot does.

At school they don’t teach you to study the entire “flight manual” by heart, you have to read it and have an idea. The main emphasis is on understanding the process of work in the cockpit, flight processes, and what to do if something suddenly happens. Simply mindlessly poking buttons does not lead to anything good. And after reading books, simulating the situation in virtual world, he believes that the same thing will happen in his cabin. No, distracting factors affecting the psyche and hearing. For example, you need to start descending, you focus your attention on what you will do in this moment. At this time you have communication, you avoid thunderstorms, etc. Without preparation this is impossible.

You can know the technique theoretically, but until you actually try it, nothing will work. I had an example: 2 simmers were sitting on the simulator, I told them: “Let’s set a course,” instead of the course he set the speed. Then I say: “For the approach, we connect the second autopilot.” But the button is implemented in such a way that by pressing once you turn it on, by clicking a second time you turn it off. Instead of turning on two autopilots, the simmer turned off the first autopilot. The one who was sitting on the left did not pay attention to this, and I naturally remained silent. The plane was balanced because it was on autopilot for some time. The second time they turned off the autopilot, the plane began to smoothly move away from its course. And they think that he is leaving because he is being driven by two autopilots, which means that’s the way it should be. As a result, they did not get onto the runway.

Is it really possible to fly with pilot Lekha?

Go to the Atlant-Soyuz airline website and find the phone number. Call and say: “We bought tickets for such and such a flight and we want Alexey Kochemasov to be our commander.

But seriously, if we buy a ticket at Atlant-Soyuz, is there a chance that we will fly with you?

Is there still an opportunity to fly with you on the Boeing TFT simulator at Kutuzovsky?

Yes. To do this, you should call the phone number listed on the simulator website and find out when I will be working.

Will you have an exhibition of your photographs soon?

Yes, from September 4 to 12 at Kutuzovsky 12. Come, there will be more than a hundred photographs, most of which were taken from the cockpit.

What would you like to wish to our readers who are preparing to fly somewhere?

Don't be afraid, fly. Profitable, reliable and interesting.

Thanks a lot.

If you have your own question that you would like to ask a real pilot, then you can do so in the discussion of this topic. We will collect all your questions and pass them on to Alexey. The answers to them will be published. Also, material dedicated to the Boeing 737NG simulator, which was discussed in this article, will be released in the near future.

Back forward

Attention! Slide previews are for informational purposes only and may not represent all the features of the presentation. If you are interested this work, please download the full version.

At the boarding school No. 14, every year on April 12, according to tradition, a week of cosmonautics is held. This week includes watching films on the history of astronautics, visiting the city planetarium, excursions to the museum of the plant named after. Baranov, a competition of drawings and newspapers dedicated to space exploration, show lectures and game programs for junior and senior schoolchildren.
In 2011, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of cosmonautics, the following events were prepared and held: a tour of the virtual museum of cosmonautics and a quiz for primary school students (grades 1-4), intellectual game brain-ring for high school students (grades 5 - 12), a collective creative activity “A Space Odyssey of Humanity”, which resulted in the release of a 5.3 m long newspaper of the same name, and an experimental work “Constructing a model of a rocket and studying its flight parameters.”

Holiday for junior schoolchildren

Tour of the virtual cosmonautics museum

Quiz “What do I know about space?”

Target: introduce primary school students to the history of space exploration.

Tasks:

• show the chronology of events in the history of astronautics;
• to develop interest among younger schoolchildren in the study of astronomy and astronautics;
• to form a sense of patriotism and pride in the achievements of one’s country in space exploration;
• develop speech and the ability to present information to listeners.

Equipment: model of an artificial Earth satellite - a gymnastic ball with a diameter of 58 cm, floor scales, a model of a rocket, a personal computer, a multimedia projector, a presentation "Virtual Museum of Cosmonautics" ( Presentation ), tokens with a portrait of Yu.A. Gagarin ( Annex 1, picture 1), medal “50 years of cosmonautics” ( Annex 1, Figure 2).

PROGRESS OF THE EVENT

1) A tour of the virtual museum of cosmonautics using a presentation is given by high school students (text of the presentation “Virtual Museum of Cosmonautics” – Annex 1 )
2) Quiz “What do I know about space?” conducted by high school students.

Rules for the quiz

The presenters take turns asking questions. The first participant to raise his hand answers. For the correct answer, he is awarded a token with a portrait of Gagarin. Other participants can add to the answer and also receive a token. When conducting a quiz, models and instruments related to the questions are demonstrated (model of a satellite, rocket, etc.)

Quiz questions

1) What does the word cosmos mean? (Universe)
2) What objects in the Universe do you know? (Stars, planets, comets, asteroids, etc.)
3) What is the name of the star closest to us? (Sun)
4) How many planets are there in the solar system? (9)
5) List all the planets of the solar system known to you. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
6) What is the name of the largest planet in the solar system? (Jupiter)
7) What does the word cosmonautics mean? (The Art of Traveling the Universe)
8) Why is October 4, 1957 considered the beginning of the space age of mankind? (Because on this day the first artificial Earth satellite was launched)
9) What were the dimensions of the first artificial Earth satellite? Show with your hands. (58 cm) So that children can estimate the size of the first artificial Earth satellite, high school students demonstrate its model.
10) How much did the first satellite weigh? How much is it in boys (girls)? (83 kg 600 g) To compare the mass of the satellite with the mass of the child, we weigh all the boys and girls who want to on a floor scale.
11) How many dogs flew into space for the first time? (1 – Laika)
12) What holiday did we celebrate on April 12, 2011? (50th anniversary of cosmonautics)
13) Name the astronaut who made the first space flight. (Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin)
14) How many minutes did the first human space flight last? How much is this in hours? (108 min or 1 hour 48 min)
15) How many times did Gagarin fly around the Earth? (1)
16) What words did Gagarin say during the launch of the spacecraft? ("Go!")
17) Who is German Titov? (This is an astronaut who made the first daily flight into space in history)
18) Who was the first to go into outer space? (Alexey Leonov)
19) What was Valentina Tereshkova’s call sign during the flight: Belka, Strelka or Chaika? (Gull)
20) Name the main cosmodrome from which the first spaceships launched? (Baikonur)
21) What was the name of the self-propelled vehicle that traveled on the surface of the Moon? (“Lunokhod”)
22) Name the place in the solar system, besides the Earth, where man has set foot? (Moon)
23) How many long-term orbital stations "Salyut" operated in orbit? (7)
24) How does ISS stand for? (International Space Station)
25) Who was the chief designer of the first spaceships? (Sergey Pavlovich Korolev)
26) What is the name of the place from where rockets are launched into space? (Cosmodrome)

Summarizing

1) Rewarding. Counting the number of tokens for quiz participants. The most active participants with the largest number of them are awarded medals. Counting the number of awarded participants in each class and presenting certificates to classes for I, II, III places.
2) Festive rocket launch (the flight of a model rocket created by high school students is demonstrated).

Holiday for high school students

Intellectual game “Brain-ring”

Target: develop the interest of middle and senior students in the study of astronomy and astronautics.

Tasks:

• systematize in a playful way the students’ knowledge acquired during the Cosmonautics Week;
• cultivate a sense of collectivism and the ability to work in a team;
• form an active life position;
• develop a sense of patriotism and pride in the achievements of your country in space exploration;
• develop speech, thinking, and the ability to correctly express one’s opinion.

Equipment: two personal computers, electronic test “The very first” ( Appendix 2 ), a magnetic board with a set of magnets, game cards with events in the history of astronautics, a metronome, a tuning fork with a rubber hammer, signal flags, paper, pencils, tokens with a portrait of Yu.A. Gagarin.

The Brain Ring is held in three rounds. One team from each class participates in the first round. Each team can consist of 4-6 people.

Rules of the first (qualifying) round

Qualifying round or blitz. Consists of 10 questions. The presenter reads out the question. Teams respond in writing. Each answer is given up to 15 seconds. Correct answers can be awarded from 1 to 6 points. At the end of the qualifying round, 2 teams remain in the game. In case of a controversial situation, the presenter asks 2 additional questions.

First round questions

Main questions

1) Who was the first to observe space objects through a telescope? (Galileo Galilei) – 1 point.
2) Give the last name, first name and patronymic of the chief designer of the first Soviet spacecraft. (Sergey Pavlovich Korolev) – 2 points for a complete answer, 1 point if only the surname or first name and surname are given.
3) How many dogs flew into space for the first time? (1) – 1 point
4) The first flight into space on April 12, 1961 was made by Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin on the ship... (name of the ship) (“Vostok-1”) - 1 point.
5) The first flight lasted... (state the duration in minutes and hours) (108 minutes or 1 hour 48 minutes) - 1 point.
6) How many of our compatriots have flown into space? Name them. (3 – Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya, Elena Kondakova) – 4 points if the number and all names are named correctly, otherwise one point per name.
7) The first spacewalk was performed by... (state your first and last name) (Alexey Leonov) – 2 points for the first and last name, 1 point for the last name.
8) The joint flight program of Soviet and American spacecraft was called... (name) (“Soyuz” - “Apollo”) - 1 point.
9) What is the name of the place where spaceships and satellites are prepared for flight and launched? (Cosmodrome) – 1 point.
10) Name a place outside the Earth where man has set foot. (Moon) – 1 point.

Additional questions

1) Write your own names of self-propelled automatic vehicles for exploring the Moon and Mars. (“Lunokhod-1”, “Lunokhod-2”, “Mars-1”, “Sojunior (Sojourner)”, “Spirit”, “Opotunity”) - 1 point for each name, up to 6 points in total.
2) What is the name of a spacecraft that has gone beyond the solar system? (“Voyager 1”) – 1 point.

Second round rules

2 teams participate in the second round. The round consists of 10 questions. The facilitator reads the question and gives a sound signal to start the discussion. If the team is ready to answer, it raises the flag. The right to respond is given to the team that first raises the flag. If the first team gives an incorrect answer, the right to answer passes to the second team. If the second team answers incorrectly, the audience answers the question. Spectators are awarded tokens for correct answers. One point is awarded for each correct answer.

Second round questions

(1 point for each correct answer)
1) What is astronautics? (The art of traveling in the Universe)
2) Who owns the words: “Humanity should not remain forever in the cradle?” (K.E. Tsiolkovsky)
3) What shape did the descent module of the Vostok spacecraft have? (Ball)
4) What words did Gagarin say during the launch? ("Go!")
5) Will an astronaut in a spaceship be able to pour tea from a thermos into a mug? (No, because in zero gravity the water “rolls” into balls)
6) What is the name of the installation that is used for training both astronauts and submariners, as well as in medicine for the treatment of certain diseases? (Pressure chamber)
7) Soviet and Russian spaceships have their own name and serial number. Indicate the correct order of ships by name: “Voskhod”, “Progress”, “Soyuz”, “Vostok”. (“East”, “Sunrise”, “Union”, “Progress”)
8) After the flight, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was awarded a car - a black Volga with personalized numbers. At that time, the number consisted of four numbers and three letters. What number do you think was on Gagarin’s car, if it had a symbolic meaning? (12-04 YUAG)
9) What are the names of Russian and American reusable ships? (“Buran” and “Space Shuttle”)
10) Could American astronauts have observed falling stars on the Moon? (No, since the Moon has no atmosphere)

Third round rules

The third round consists of two tasks.

1) Computer test “The very first”. The team selects one representative each to undergo testing. The test contains ten questions, one point is awarded for each correct answer.

2) The task is completed on a magnetic board using ready-made cards. It is necessary to arrange the events in chronological order:

– launch of the first artificial Earth satellite
– flight of the dog Laika
– beginning of lunar exploration
- first manned flight into space
– beginning of the exploration of Venus
– flight of the first female cosmonaut
– the beginning of Mars exploration
- first human spacewalk
– launch of the first long-term orbital station
- joint Soviet-American flight under the Soyuz - Apollo program

In the text of the task, the events are arranged correctly. Teams receive cards placed on the board in random order.
Participants can receive up to 10 points (one point for each event installed correctly).

Summarizing

The jury sums up the results of each round and the overall result at the end of the game. Finalist teams are awarded certificates for 1st and 2nd places.

Today I studied the website of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization or International Civil Aviation Organization). I found some interesting statistics that I think may be of interest to many.

In 2012, there were more than 31 million flights worldwide! From this we can conclude that more than 85,000 aircraft fly over our heads every day! In total, 3 billion passengers were transported in 2012, i.e. almost half of the world's population. We are talking only about civil aviation. In Asia, North America and Europe's busiest airspace.

Screenshot of icao.int website

According to Wikipedia (there may be inaccuracies!) in 2012 there were 25 plane crashes, including small aircraft, in which 314 people died. These were mainly accidents of small aircraft and helicopters. Seven large (or relatively large) passenger planes crashed. Unfortunately, 4 of them were planes of Russian carriers. ATR 72 of UTair airlines crashed on April 2 near Tyumen (31 people died), May 9 Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed during a demonstration flight in Indonesia (45 people died), on September 12 an An28 crashed in Kamchatka (10 people died) and on December 29, 2012, a Red Wings Tu-204 skidded off the runway at Vnukovo Airport. There were no passengers on the plane, but 5 crew members died... Thus, in 2012, almost a third of those killed in plane crashes were Russian aviation... Very sad statistics.

On the other hand, if you look at world statistics, it is obvious that air transport is really very safe. For 3 billion passengers - a little more than 300 dead... That is. this is 0.0000001%. I don’t know the statistics on motor transport, but I am sure that the figure will be alarmingly high.

Believe in good things and always have a soft landing!!!