The first group of third-year cadets of the Syzran-based affiliate of the Air Force Academy named after Prof. Zhukovsky and Yuri Gagarin has completed training in flying the Ansat-U trainer helicopter that has been supplied to the Russian Defence Ministry by Kazan Helicopters (a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters holding) since 2009, with 24 machines having been delivered to Syzran. The Ansat-Us have been in opeval until recently, flown by instructor-pilots, while the cadets trained on obsolete Mi-2s.

At long last, the Syzran cadets started flying the Ansats on 19 May 2014. This year, 29 rookies have been trained on them, with each having logged an average of over 130 sorties (almost 48 flight hours). The total flying hours logged by the cadets on Ansat-U helicopters during their training has accounted for 1,390 h. Next year, they will begin to learn to fly the Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters.

At a meeting of the squadron's personnel and the manufacturer's representatives in the wake of the Ansat-U training course, Lt.-Col. Sergei Spiridonov, OIC of the training air group, stressed that the Ansat-U was a manoeuvrable, fast and easy-to-control machine with sensitive controls and electronic displays customary to youth, which enabled the latter to learn quickly how to fly the advance helicopter and to get top marks during their training. "We expect six more new machines of the type in the Air Force training centre in November", said Lt.-Col. Spiridonov. "Next year, as many as 57 cadets are to be given Ansat-U flight training, with about 300 to follow suit in 2016".

(Photo: Ruslan Denisov)