Bezymyanka Airport is an experimental
aerodrome
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
in the
Aviakor
OJSC Aviakor (russian: Авиако́р) is an aviation plant located in Samara, Russia. It is part of the Russian Machines holding under control of the financial industrial group Basic Element owned by Oleg Deripaska.
Aviakor constructs, rep ...
aviation plant in the city of
Samara, Russia
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population of ...
. It is located east of the Bezymyanka railroad station in the
Kirov district of Samara, east of the city center.
To the east of the airport, the
Smyshlyaevka airport is located. To the south, the settlements
Chkalov
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov ( rus, Валерий Павлович Чкалов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ˈtɕkaləf; – 15 December 1938) was a test pilot awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (1936).
Early life
Chkalov was bo ...
, Padovka, and the
Samara River
The Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə) is a river in Russia and a left-bank tributary of the Volga. It flows into the larger river at the city of Samara. Its largest tributary is the Bolshoy Kinel. It is long, and its drainage basin ...
. To the north, the Aviakor aviation plant and the
TsSKB-Progress
The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...
plant.
The airport has a class 1 rating and can serve most airplane and helicopter types. The total runway length is .
Founded in 1942, the first runway utilized bricks as its pavement. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the aviation plants 1 and 18 were evacuated to Kuibyshev (now known as Samara) from
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
. At the earliest possible date they set up the production of
Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian language, Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a Ground attack aircraft, ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the World War II, Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (C ...
aircraft.
In the second part of the 20th century, the airport served as the testing ground for a number of
Tupolev
Tupolev (russian: Ту́полев, ), officially Joint Stock Company Tupolev, is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow.
Tupolev is successor to the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau (OKB-156, design off ...
,
Ilyushin
The public joint stock company Ilyushin Aviation Complex, operating as Ilyushin (russian: Илью́шин) or as Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a former Soviet and now a Russian aircraft manufacturer and design bureau, founded in 1933 by Sergey Vl ...
and
Antonov
Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
aircraft produced by the above-mentioned aviation plants.
Since 1958, plant 1 was redesigned for the production of
space rocket
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and syst ...
s and
artificial satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisoto ...
s. The airport also started a charter transportation service to
Baikonur
Baikonur ( kk, Байқоңыр, ; russian: Байконур, translit=Baykonur), formerly known as Leninsk, is a city of republic significance in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered ...
and
Plesetsk
Plesetsk (russian: Плесе́цк) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Plesetsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated about northeast of Moscow and south of Arkhangelsk. Municipally, it is t ...
, which continue today. In 1980, the airport was used to transport components of the
Energia rocket carrier to
Baikonur
Baikonur ( kk, Байқоңыр, ; russian: Байконур, translit=Baykonur), formerly known as Leninsk, is a city of republic significance in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered ...
on the
VM-T
The Myasishchev VM-T ''Atlant'' ( Russian: ''Мясищев ВМ-Т «Атлант»'' ( "Atlas"), with the "VM-T" ("BM-T") standing for Vladimir MyasishchevTransport) was a variant of Myasishchev's M-4 ''Molot'' bomber (the "3M"), re-purposed ...
aircraft in preparation for the
Buran Shuttle
''Buran'' (russian: Буран, , meaning "Snowstorm" or "Blizzard"; GRAU index serial number: 11F35 1K, construction number: 1.01) was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran program. Besides describing the fir ...
flight. The runway was extended to a length of .
References
*
UWWG.gif - scheme of the airport*
History of Bezymyanka-65 Samara Today, April 9, 2007
Airports built in the Soviet Union
Airports in Samara Oblast
Samara, Russia
{{Russia-airport-stub