The founders of the First Flight are two people who are passionately in love with the sky and have become international-class masters of sports in airplane sports, Roman Ovchinnikov and Dmitry Samokhvalov. According to the creators of the group, it was their dream, which took a lot of time to realise. In the early 2000s, having a good airfield near Moscow, future champions had the opportunity to come and try to fly and create something new in the sky. It so happened that the wishes of Roman and Dmitry coincided and led to the creation of an aerobatic team.

Roman Ovchinnikov - the founder of the aerobatic team, president of the Moscow Airplane Federation, international master of sports, gold medalist of the European Championship in Advanced class of 2019, absolute champion of Russia in Advanced class, absolute champion of Europe in Advanced class of 2017: «Coming back in 2002 in the year at the Myachkovo airfield to the Flanker flying club, in order to learn how to fly, I met Dmitry Samokhvalov, and we decided to create our club, our aerobatic team. And in 2007 we systematically went to this: we purchased the first two aircraft with which it all began, this is the Yak-52. And so already gradually, in 2009 we already created our flying club and began group flights. But before that, of course, we competed in aerobatics in Russia.»

Dmitry Samokhvalov - founder of the First Flight aerobatic team, general director of the Moscow Airplane Federation, international master of sports, multiple world and European champion in the Yak-52 and Advanced class, absolute world champion in aerobatics in the Advanced class of 2016: «It was a long way - our group was ten years old, and probably about ten years before that, every month, every week, we took some steps towards this. And my personal surprise is that we had the patience to do this all methodically, systematically and for a very long time. We are probably not as diligent people as it might seem from the outside, but we really just like it sincerely, and it gives us pleasure. Probably, for this reason, everything worked out for us. And over the past ten years, I realised that we are not like other aerobatic teams. This does not mean that we are better or worse, we are just different.»

Over time, the aerobatic team grew not only in the complexity of the aerobatics displayed, but also in the number of aircraft and participants. Following Roman and Dmitry, Alexander Mikhailov came to the First Flight team, who later became the leader of the group.

Alexander Mikhailov - the leader of the First Flight group, the head of the helicopter search and rescue squad Angel, a master of sports in motor sports: «I never thought that I would become the leader of the aerobatic team, I never planned this. Do you know how to take children to kindergarten? So, by chance, I got into a group. In general, before the age of 30, I thought that pilots were made in some separate special test tubes, in separate maternity hospitals, and that for ordinary mortals this was unattainable. And at the age of 30 you accidentally found out that you can fly. I came to aviation as a master of sports of Russia in motor sport. And five years later, being already an experienced pilot, having flying behind us on multi-engine planes, seaplanes, and generally on all kinds of different planes, I accidentally flew past the Bolshoi Gryzlovo airfield, where the athletes had to get to the neighbouring city for a performance. And while we were flying to Ulyanovsk, Dima came up with different thoughts that my plane could be used as a lead group. They flew so close to me, they put such experiments on me that for the first time in my life my legs were tightened.»

Every year, the number of fans and the popularity of the aerobatic team grew more and more. The First Flight became regulars at various public events and aviation festivals in our country: Norilsk, Krasnodar, Ulyanovsk, Surgut, Gelendzhik, Sochi, Pushchino, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl and others. In addition to Russia, the First Flight was marked by performances in Ukraine, China.

At one fine moment, the First Flight group appeared on the most important aviation site of our country - the MAKS airshow. So, 2019 was no exception, and the “First Flight” performed with resounding success at the air show last summer in Zhukovsky near Moscow, which showed a new figure - the “propeller”. This is one of the main rules of the group - to constantly surprise the audience with new figures. All aerobatics are invented and worked out in advance on the ground. But it also happens that sometimes members of a group come up with new aerobatics by chance.

Konstantin Borovik - master of sports, bronze medalist of the world championship on Yak-52 of 2017, silver medalist of the world championship and Russia in the Advanced class in team competitions in 2018. «We have a fairly good group flocking, and we only need a few training sessions before the performance itself. And then already - an airshow. Now we are experimenting on different shapes, combinations of shapes. What will turn out - see at the next air show. I think we will surprise you with something. This will be a group aerobatics.»

Despite some secrecy regarding their plans, the group members nevertheless revealed some cards. In particular, performances in the evening and night are planned specifically to expand the indicative program. Especially for this, Konstantin Borovik received training in working with pyrotechnics. The group expects to combine the flight capabilities of the Piper aircraft and the visual pyrotechnic effects.

Also, in addition to group flights, “First Flight” also shows solo performances. One of the main “soloists” of the group is the only representative of the beautiful half of humanity in the “First Flight” - master of sports in airplane sports Irina Markova.

Irina Markova - master of sports, multiple medalist and winner of the Russian aerobatics championships: «I am very comfortable working in a group, given that group flights are very difficult, so the hardest part of the program is on men's shoulders, and I have a simpler program, I am a soloist. Purely technically, it’s much more difficult to fly in a group than to fly alone, because in the group each pilot is responsible not only for himself, but also for who is nearby. And when you are alone in an airplane - you are alone with the airplane and with the airspace, you can do anything you like.»

Mostly Irina flies on a Yak-54. This is a fairly serious plane that requires a masculine character and piloting, so the men in the First Flight wonder how this fragile girl can make such figures. The plane is quite strict, and it is more difficult to fly on it than on those planes on which the other members of the group fly.

However, despite the differences in airplanes and piloting styles, each of the group members aims not only to entertain the audience, improve their skills and compete in competitions, but also to popularise air sports in our country and train new pilots. So, next year marks the 10th anniversary of the Moscow Air Sports Federation. With the help of this organisation, pilots got an additional opportunity to engage in the development of aircraft sports and the promotion of their aviation philosophy.

«Personally, I would very much like everyone to regard the plane as a means of transportation that can move you from one point to another. And everything else - sports, demonstration flights and some additional functions - this is a development. But the direct duty of our federation is to train athletes on the territory of Moscow. It’s one thing when a person just learned to fly, but some advanced skills in airplane control and piloting techniques are just our story. Every year from five to ten new athletes appear who try themselves in sports. With each pilot contacting us, we share all the experience that we have. In general, the Russian aerobatics school remains one of the leading in the world. And from generation to generation we pass on our knowledge. The technique of piloting is an ongoing learning process. Unfortunately, this is impossible once in a lifetime to learn and then just use it. Skills come and go. I will not reveal a secret, but even test pilots come to us to constantly maintain their skills. They have the opportunity to come to us and even get answers to some questions,» says Dmitry Samokhvalov, founder of the group, general director of the Moscow Airplane Federation.

«We are ready to share our experience and train people who want to learn how to fly. Moreover, we are planning, probably, to recruit new young people into the group. First Flight needs a second roster. We want to attract young pilots to the demonstrations that we perform, to the air show, so that the air show in the country takes place more often and in different cities,» says Roman Ovchinnikov.

«Learning is never too late. It doesn't matter if you came at twenty, thirty, fifty or sixty. The path in both small aviation and large aviation all over the world begins with an aero club, with a flight on your first two-seater aircraft,» Alexander Mikhailov believes.

The aerobatic team has experience in training not only Russian, but also foreign pilots. In the group, this direction is also considered quite promising.

«I would like this to continue. Now we, for example, teach piloting an Italian citizen. He saw our performances at the MAKS airshow, was inspired by our level and realised that this is the place where he will be taught to fly exactly on the Yak-52, since he bought such an aircraft and is a fan of Yakovlev’s equipment,» says Irina Markova.

The Yak-52 aircraft is considered the most massive aerobatic aircraft in the world. More than a thousand of them were produced, so on any continent you can find this aircraft in quite large quantities. And sometimes this allows the group to come with a show to some country and not to transport their planes. This is a unique aircraft, it has no analogues in the world. It allows you to learn absolutely everything - from simple flying in a circle and route flights, to the entire spectrum of aerobatics.

It should be noted not only the successful performances of its participants in the competitions and beautiful demonstration flights at the air show, but also the use of modern technologies and software products. The result of their symbiosis was the technology of printing text in the air with fumes, which was called the "aviation printer".

Dmitry Samokhvalov: «Indeed, we have obtained a rather interesting experiment. We were always asked to draw something new. But, when we fly low, in front of the audience, the smoke quickly dissipates - it was necessary to rise. We really developed software, and the possibilities of programming are endless. We will continue to experiment in this direction. Perhaps someday we will do text printing not with five planes, but with six, seven, and even eight — the more planes, the more detailed the image. What everyone saw is just the beginning of our journey. This is not new in the world, but for the first time in our country. And the best part is that both hardware and software, which is very expensive, are fully developed by our programmers and made by our engineers. All that we have on board is our exclusive, domestic, without the use of some "brains" from the outside.»

Throughout its existence, the First Flight has shown the audience not only the ability to pilot light-engine aircraft, but also the capabilities of the person behind their control stick. Starting with ordinary flights and the desire to fly, for 10 years the aerobatic team has become the hallmark of Russian aviation, along with the famous Swifts and Russian Knights, being an adornment of not only domestic but also foreign air shows.

The editors of AVIA*RU Network and Aviation EXplorer congratulate the First Flight aerobatic team on its 10th anniversary and wish its participants good health, success, clear skies, vibrant performances and soft landings!