Day of the navigational aviation service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (28/02)

The day of the navigational aviation service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is celebrated annually on February 28, starting in 2008, according to the order of the Minister of Defense of the country.

The purpose of adding a new date to the calendar, as noted in official documents, — to support the prestige of the navigational aviation service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This action is also aimed at « stimulating military personnel to conscientiously perform official duties, developing aviation traditions and improving military-patriotic education ».

It is known that artillery officers of the then army of tsarist Russia in the 1910s became the first navigators. Moreover, only those who not only knew how to adjust the conduct of fire in practice, but also had mathematical knowledge, chose this role. During World War I, the bombers were retrained as navigators and began to supply pilots with flight cards.

The rapid development of the navigational aviation service of Ukraine, which was then part of the USSR, occurred in the 20 – 30s of the last century. At that time, a flight was made from Moscow to New York, as well as a flight along the most difficult track « Moscow — Ankara — Tbilisi — Tehran — Termez — Kabul — Tashkent ». The pilots were helped by navigators to cope with these routes, which calculated the flight parameters with extreme accuracy.

Sturmans are respected and in our time — not least due to the complexity of the work.

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