TsAGI Engineer Wins Russian National Aeromodelling Championship

21 April 2023

Young scientists are the country’s hope and the main driver of technological progress. Healthy active lifestyle is an essential part of great achievements in science. Aeromodelling sport harmoniously unites exercise and research-and-technology creativity. For many years, TsAGI (a part of NRC “Zhukovsky Institute”) has had Russia’s strongest aeromodelling team, headed by Aleksandr Kornushenko, Head of Division, Department for Aircraft Aerodynamics, TsAGI.

From March 31 to April 11, the team competed in Russian Cup stage and National Aeromodelling Competition in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The first part included seven three-minute tours and two final starts, six and eight minutes. The main challenge was to make the flight as long as possible.

‘During the competitions, the weather was a challenge as strong descending air made many models land fast,’ says Albert Bulatov, First-Category Engineer, R&T Center, TsAGI; F1B Competitor. ‘Out of 62 competitors, only eight went into the final. But the eight-minute finale took place at sunset, when there were no unfavorable air currents and the duration of the flight was determined by the quality of the model, its aerodynamic characteristics and the thrust of rubber motor. That’s why I managed to become the winner of the Russian Cup stage with the maximum flight result of 8 minutes. The success was also provided by high altitude of the model, which was 120 meters.’

The National Aeromodelling Competition’s day was sunny and favorably warm, which is a classic for aeromodelling competition, so it had more finalists. Albert Bulatov won it as well—his model rose to 110 meters, making flight time equal to 7 minutes and 11 seconds. Bulatov outpointed his Kazan opponent only by 50 seconds.

According to his total score in the two competitions, Albert Bulatov won Perpetual Trophy of Vikor Yeskov, who was Merited Coach of the USSR, Trainer of MAI Aeromodellers Team, and Chief National Coach of the USSR and Russia. Apart from that, 2022 Russian Cup results were drawn at the Championship, where Bulatov got second position in the overall score. Sergey Kozyrev and Aleksey Ryazantsev from TsAGI R&T Center got into top 10 strongest glider model competitors. TsAGI was also represented at the competitions by Aleksandr Kornushenko and Aleksandr Shcherbakov. In July, the aeromodellers will soar to new heights in Kazan, at the next stage of the Russian Cup.

Historically, the Kabardino-Balkarian aeromodelling competitions are the largest and greatest in Russia—they involve top aeromodellers from the whole country. Apart from that, the competitions allow its winners and prize winners to get easily a sports category in Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation. In March and April, the Russian Cup first stage and Russian Championship gathered over 130 competitors, which is a record. The competitors represented Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Moscow Region, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Rostov Oblast, Samara Oblast, Perm Oblast, Vologda Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, etc.

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