MULTIFUNCTIONAL PILOT TRAINING COMPLEX TO BE SET UP IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW, JANUARY 30 (RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT MIKHAIL SMIRNOV) - On the basis of Moscow's Tushino airfield and the Valery Chkalov National Flying Club, a multifunctional pilot training complex for Russian aviation may be set up. The proposal was advanced on Friday by Vyacheslav Fetisov, chairman of the Russian Sport Committee, at the official function to honor the birth centenary of famous pilot Valery Chkalov.

Fetisov said that Chkalov, who in 1937 made a non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver via the North Pole, still is the idol for many generations of air pilots.

Fetisov believes that the renascence of Russian aviation is impossible without the comprehensive system of pilot training. In this connection, he thinks important the creation of a nationwide system of children's flying schools to be named after Valery Chkalov.

Fetisov said that such schools juveniles could get aviation training and be educated in the best traditions of Russian aviation.

The head of the Russian Sport Committee voiced confidence that his initiative will gain support from the defense and education ministries, without which it is impossible to create a training system of future pilots.