Svetlana Vladimirovna Kapanina ( rus, Светлана Владимировна Капанина) is a Russian

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

pilot.

Biography

Kapanina was born on 28 December 1968 in

Shchuchinsk Shchuchinsk ( kz, Щучинск, ''Şuchinsk''; russian: Щучинск, ) is a city in northern-central Kazakhstan, located 75 kilometres south-east of Kokshetau on Lake Shchuchye. It is the seat of Burabay District (form. Shchuchinsk District) ...

Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(now

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

). She dedicated herself to several sports modalities at school and always liked motorcycles and other motor vehicles. She enrolled at medical school in Tselinograd (now

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

), where she graduated in pharmaceutical sciences. She started flying at age 19, in 1988, on a

Sukhoi Su-26 The Sukhoi Su-26 is a single-seater aerobatic aircraft from the former Soviet Union, powered by a single radial reciprocating engine. The Su-26 has mid-mounted straight wings and fixed landing gear, the main gear mounted on a solid titanium ar ...

M3, while working as a technician at the

Kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

sports aviation club of

DOSAAF DOSAAF (russian: ДОСААФ), full name ''Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy'' (russian: Добровольное общество содействия армии, авиации и флоту), was a parami ...

. By 1991 she was already an instructor pilot at DOSAAF's

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

club, and then back at Kurgan. Also in 1991, she became a member of the Russian national aerobatic team. In 1995 she graduated from

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

aeronautical technical school. She lives in

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 ...

with her husband and two children.

Achievements in aerobatics

Kapanina was World Aerobatic Champion in the women's category in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2011 and has won the title more times than any other pilot in the category. Additionally, she was overall

World Air Games The FAI World Air Games (WAG) is an international air sports event organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation - FAI), inspired by the Olympic Games. Competitions #Aerobatics #Aeromodeling # Air racing #Bal ...

Champion in 1997 and 2001. Together with

Mikhail Mamistov Mikhail Mamistov (born 26 April 1961, in Leningrad), is a Russian powered and Gliding, glider Competition aerobatics, aerobatic pilot.

and Oleg Spolyansky, she won the team gold medal in the 16th FAI European Aerobatic Championships 2008 in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

(Czech Republic). She placed fourth overall and was best female participant.

Awards

In 1997, she received the

Paul Tissandier Diploma Paul Tissandier (19 February 1881 – 11 March 1945) was a French aviator. Biography Tissandier was the son of aviator Gaston Tissandier and nephew of Albert Tissandier, Gaston's brother. Tissandier began his flying career as a hot air ballo ...

by the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

(FAI). In 2005 she was awarded the

Sabiha Gökçen Sabiha Gökçen (; 22 March 1913 – 22 March 2001) was a Turkish aviator. During her flight career, she flew around 8,000 hours and participated in 32 different military operations. She was the world's first female fighter pilot, aged 23. As an ...

Medal and the Centenary Medal by the FAI. She was awarded Russia's

Order of Courage The Order of Courage may refer to: * , a state decoration of the partially recognized republic of Abkhazia * Order of Courage (Iran), a state decoration of Iran * Order of Courage (Russia) The Order of Courage (russian: Орден Мужес ...

by President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

on 22 December 2014.

References

External links

*
Official website
Aerobatic pilots Russian aviators People from Akmola Region Sportspeople from Moscow 1968 births Living people Russian women aviators 21st-century Russian women {{Aviation-bio-stub

Biography

Achievements in aerobatics

Awards

See also

References

External links