“I am doing what I love” – how the dream about space turned a girl into a pilot
Anzhelika Parfenova, a graduate of Moscow Aviation Institute, is one of the few female pilots in our aviation so far. She spoke about how her path to civil aviation pilots developed, and also shared her experience of amazing and important work – participation in medical experiments of Roscosmos.
Why aviation? Why did you decide to be a pilot?
To be honest, I always dreamed of becoming an astronaut and for this purpose I entered the Aerospace Institute of Moscow Aviation Institute. But while studying there and doing internships at the enterprises of Roscosmos, I realized that it would definitely not work to become an astronaut from the student bench, and engineering, of course, is interesting, but this is not what I dream about.
While studying at the university, I was attracted not only by space, but also by aeronautics. The second is even more interesting in some moments. For example, the fact that a pilot can actually take control over the aircraft, unlike an astronaut. So I decided to enter the flight school.
Was it difficult to get in? What was the most difficult thing about it?
I qualified for free tuition a general competitive basis. Fortunately, in our country there is an opportunity to get one higher education and one specialized secondary education for free (even after 11 classes, and what comes first or second is not important in this case).
To enter the flight school, you must pass medical checkup, pass sports exam, have a good (preferably 5.0) certificate for the 11th grade.
To be honest, I was ready for everything. The flight school, even “Sasovo”, is quite far away, I don’t see the point in going there unsure of my abilities (ed. note – “Sasovo” – civil aviation flight school named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Taran G. A.). I don’t understand those who go “at random” without training. It’s better to check your sports performance in two months and upgrade. Everything was fine with me, I passed the sports standards at admission with “excellent” mark.
The problems were at the winter sessions. I had a hard time skiing. I couldn't, and still can't walk on them. I knock out the required speed with some kind of super-effort, because there is no understanding of the technique. And those who did not achieve the speed to the standard got expelled.
Tell us about your participation in Roscosmos programs.
While studying at the university, I participated in various space conferences. At one of these, I learned about the Institute of Biomedical Problems and their projects related to space medicine. For the first time, I submitted my questionnaire for the experiment with the simulation of weightlessness "Dry Immersion" back in 2019. But then I didn’t fit in two parameters at once: firstly, I was under 25, and secondly, they recruited only men. I also did not know if I could combine participation in the experiment with my studies. And now, after my graduation from the flight school, the world's first women's "Dry Immersion" is held. Of course, I immediately applied, successfully participating in a five-day weightlessness simulation.
It is an incredible experiment and a very rewarding experience for me. I can talk about it for a very long time actually. The purpose of the experiment is to study in more detail the influence of the effects of weightlessness over the human body, in particular the female one. After all, testers are not in space, on Earth and nearby, and research scientists can literally come up, touch, measure, and when you need to study muscles, for example, they can shock or test something. We also tested some new equipment and even food additives that are planned to be used on the ISS and in deep space flights.
Now you got a job as a co-pilot. Please tell us what kind of airline it is and how is the employment?
Yes, I got a job at Khabarovsk Airlines as a co-pilot on the L410, now I am entering the service. Flights will be carried out in the region, this is the Far East. There are routes to points where, except by plane, you can’t get at all. Insanely interesting. Employment was standard: they selected basing on the resume, and then the results of the interview. But at the moment I am the second female pilot in the staff of the company. The third one in history.
Are there any particularities in relation to female pilots?
I did not notice any special attitude in the airline team. As the commanders say: "You are pilots for us and we will demand from you the way as from any other pilots."
It was in the flight school like that. During the flight practice a mistake of a boy is the problem of very particular boy. But if a girl makes a mistake it turns out to be a problem for all the other girls of the course... As if you should be responsible for the flights of all the girls in the school in general, and they are for you. In ordinary life, when I meet different people, they are simply surprised and ask a lot of questions. There is no negativity or any other attitude.
What do you dream about?
To be honest, I have not given up on my space ambitions. But already now I consider myself a happy person, because I am doing what I love.
