60 kilometers from Moscow, not far from the city of Kubinka, there is an air base of the same name, which until the summer of 2009 was a joint airfield. Since 2011, the base has been the location of a mixed aviation regiment, which includes An-12, An-24, Tu-134 and others, as well as Mi-8 helicopters. And since that time, the Kubinka airfield has been the Center for the Display of Aviation Equipment of the 4th Center for Combat Training and Retraining of Flight Personnel, or in short TsPAT-4 TsBP and PLS.
At the same time, until 2011, the 237th Guards Aircraft Demonstration Center was stationed at the air base, which included the Swifts and Russian Knights aerobatic teams flying MiG-29 aircraft and aircraft of the OKB im. Sukhoi. Despite talk of redeployment, the Kubinka military airfield is still the location of the Swifts and Russian Knights, which proudly represent our country at all air shows in the world.
Russian Knights aerobatics team
They were born on April 5, 1991, and already four and a half months later they were already being talked about abroad - the first Polish air show in Poznań revealed their names. From that very day, the development of a single design for all fighters began by the specialists of the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Great Britain in 1991 for the first time became an eyewitness to the aerobatics of the group, and since then it has been invited to participate in all Russian and foreign air shows. What is the secret of the uniqueness of the "Russian Knights"? The fact is that this is the only team of pilots performing aerobatics on heavy fighters. Demonstration flights that the Kubinka airfield gives us include programs with the participation of four and six aircraft, two liners demonstrating synchronized, head-on aerobatics, as well as a solo flight with aerobatics.
History of Swifts
This aerobatic team, known throughout the world, was born on May 6, 1991. In fact, their story begins in 1950, when the new 234th Fighter Aviation Regiment was formed. Today the Swifts are part of this regiment. Its main task was to prepare and conduct traditional air parades over the capital, the first of which took place in 1951, on the first of May. Since the mid-50s, ground and flight demonstrations of combat aviation began, the launch pad of which was the airfield located in the city of Kubinka - flights were demonstrated to students of military academies, as well as to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff and everyoneto the leaders of the Soviet Union, the pilots also showed their skills to the military delegations of foreign states. The beginning of the 1960s marked the expansion of the functionality of the Swifts - they began to accompany the aircraft of the heads and heads of foreign states arriving in the capital of our country. The Swifts are also famous for escorting a plane with the first Russian cosmonauts.
Emergency cases
History remembers only two accidents that happened to both groups. The first tragedy occurred in 2006, when the Swifts MiG-29UB aircraft crashed immediately after takeoff from the Bolshoe Savino airport in Perm. At the same time, the crew was not injured, having successfully ejected, and the cause of the accident was banal - birds got into both engines. The second case was recorded in 2009 in a joint flight of the Swifts with the Russian Knights. Two Su-27 fighters from the second group crashed, again no one was hurt.
"Kubinka" today
In December 2004, the Kubinka airfield opened the first flying club in Russia - the Cuban Aviation Technical Sports Club ROSTO (DOSAAF), which is still one of the largest in the Moscow region. This institution was erected just on the site of the Center for the Display of Aviation Equipment. Today, practice sessions are held here that precede real flights. The aircraft fleet consists of domestic and foreign aircraft. The territory is equipped with a dining room, as well as a hotel complex. All comerscan now take a course in skydiving and skydive from a height of four kilometers, there are also courses in dome parachute acrobatics.
In this case, the process of preparing for the jump, flight, free fall and landing can be completely filmed by the accompanying videographer. Training of skydivers is carried out by masters of sports of international class and honored masters of sports of Russia. Therefore, everyone who wants to feel like a “high-flying bird” solves two main questions when going to the Kubinka airfield: how to get to it and how to decide on a flight. It also teaches the art of piloting. After passing special training, a person receives the right to independently control an aircraft. Classes are conducted by reserve officers and graduates of DOSAAF aviation technical schools.
Reorganization of Kubinka
Today, Kubinka receives and departs international civil aviation flights, while according to the plan, all military aviation units should be withdrawn from the airfield, since, as far as international traffic is concerned, since 1938 such flights have been carried out from Kubinka only Military aircraft. In 2009, the Kubinka airfield was excluded from the list of joint-based airports. Thus, it will be a full-fledged civil airport, and military aviation units, in particular, "Swifts" and "Russian Knights" can be deployed in Lipetsk. The proposed construction of an international business terminal on the territory of the airfield will unfold on an area of 46 hectares, and now24 Soviet-era properties are located here. At the same time, the airport will continue to be a training center for the preparation and basing of aerobatic teams. The reconstruction of the Kubinka airfield should be fully completed by 2018.
Forum 2015
The first International Military-Technical Forum has already been held here in the new Congress and Exhibition Center of the Patriot Park. Foreign partners were involved, showing new developments in the military-industrial and scientific fields. Thus, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation demonstrates its readiness to establish contacts and cooperate with foreign states within the framework of the military-industrial complex, create new equipment, develop various solutions and introduce innovations. Within the framework of the forum, domestic military transport, fighter, attack and bomber aviation equipment was demonstrated.
Routes to Kubinka
The airbase is located five kilometers northwest of the city of Kubinka, you can get there by car, and during various promotions and events, specially organized routes from the railway station are sometimes laid here.
Railway
If you prefer public transport, there is a train to the city of Kubinka from the Belorussky railway station "Moscow - Kubinka-1". You can use electric trains to Mozhaisk, Borodino, Dorohovo, Gagarin, respectively, you need to get off at the Kubinka station. The trip will take approximately one hour and 15 minutes, depending on the number of stops,done by trains. There is another option - to take the Moscow-Mozhaisk express train in 55 minutes, you need to "catch" it, since it runs about three times a day.
Metro, bus
A pressing question for many who are going to visit the Kubinka airfield: how to get to it by bus and metro. Method one - from the metro station "Park Pobedy" bus route number 457 follows to the stop "Kubinka", it takes about an hour to go (depending on traffic congestion). There is another option by bus - to get to the Tushinskaya metro station, and from here transfer to bus number 301, which travels to Kubinka for about an hour and a half. There is a third option - the bus "Moscow - Kubinka", departing from the Shchelkovo bus station.
Own vehicle
Let's talk about the last and most convenient route to the Kubinka airfield - how to get here in your own car. Everyone is invited to go to the Minsk highway, smoothly turning into the M1 highway - "Belarus". You will pass the settlements of Vyrubovo, Gubkino and Vnukovo, as well as Lesnoy Gorodok, Krasnoznamensk and Sivkovo. The sign will show a turn to the right, and along the Naro-Fominskoye Highway you will need to get to Kubinka. At the same time, the road (of course, excluding traffic jams) will take no more than an hour and a half. Finally, there is another option for a car route. You are driving along the Mozhaisk highway, which turns into the A100 highway. Passing Mamonovo, Odintsovo, Yudino, Perkhushkovo, Bolshie and Malye Vyazemy and Gar-Pokrovskoe. Then turn right to Kubinka under the sign, and up tocity, the path will lie along the Naro-Fominsk highway. Such a route will take approximately one to one and a half hours, with traffic jams - about two hours.
