MAKS-2013 air show rehearsal postponed because of bad weather

A rehearsal of demonstration flights at Moscow’s MAKS 2013 air show initially scheduled for Saturday, August 24, has been postponed until Sunday because of bad weather. The flights were supposed to start at 12:30 Moscow time but were delayed several times because of low clouds and eventually postponed. “The low edge of the clouds was 175 metres from the ground while the required minimum is 500 metres,” an air show official said. Weather forecasts warned of a heavy rain and a thunderstorm with a strong wind of up to 15 m/s in the Moscow region on Saturday. The air show is to be held at Zhukovsky outside Moscow from August 27 until September 1. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will visit the MAKS 2013 air show on August 27. Medvedev will attend the International Aviation Congress to be held for the first time as part of the air show. He is also expected to visit Russian and foreign sections at the show and watch demonstration flights. The International Aviation Congress will be held on August 27-28 as part of the air show’s business programme and will focus on the development of the aircraft industry, its competitiveness, human resources and development trends. The Congress will be organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the company Aviasalon and the Directorate of the International Air Transportation Forum in Ulyanovsk. The business programme will open with a plenary session of the International Aviation Congress, where officials from the federal government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Economic Development will address the audience. Parallel conferences to be held after the plenary session will focus on funding for the aircraft industry, new materials, industrial cooperation, HR policy, regional air carriers and other pressing issues. Senior officials from government agencies and state-owned corporations, leading international specialists, entrepreneurs from Russia, Europe, Asia, and the United States have been invited to attend the Congress. Russian and foreign mass media will cover the event to be attended by more than 400 guests. The air show dates back to 1993 and has become a major international venue, where producers can show what they have done, and all those interested can see the achievements of the global aircraft and space industries. “While developing Russian aircraft and aerospace industry, we are perfectly aware that it is not just an indicator that, like in a drop of water, reflects the state’s reputation, it is a barometer of the country’s defensive capacity, its security, the way of creating environment for modern economic growth and technological development of Russia,” President Vladimir Putin said. He reaffirmed that the state had always supported and would support the Russian aerospace industry and described this work as “a top strategic priority.” During 2009-2011, as part of aircraft industry development, the government invested over 270 billion roubles in these programmes, and Russia tanks fourth in the world in terms of annual expenditures on space programmes. “We will primarily focus on technical modernisation and re-tooling of production facilities and scientific organisations, on increasing of their efficiency and competitive ability and on assisting our companies in entering global markets. Certainly, we are open to close cooperation and collaboration with our partners. We are ready to establish alliances and implement joint projects with leading global manufacturers,” Putin said. He noted that Russia needed “a powerful, knowledge-based technological centre for our development” and “decided to establish the National Aircraft Engineering Centre” in Zhukovsky, which will incorporate leading scientific centres, engineering bureaus, institutes, and pilot plants. He said that a world-class research and production cluster with the appropriate educational, social, and transport infrastructure would be created at the centre.