If you had the opportunity to choose any historical era in which you would have to live an alternative life, which era would you choose?
The era — I think it is probably the times of the birth of aviation, before the First World War. My whole life is connected with aircraft, and the first aircraft, the First World War — is a time when there was no autopilot, no systems that supported it. It gave the greatest feeling of flight.
And then family values, love, love for the Motherland meant much more than any material values.
Was there a story, fairy tale, legend or myth in childhood that, in your opinion, significantly influenced your value orientations and worldview?
In conversations with my father, when he remembered something, told me, in general, he probably talked more about pilots. Constantly, when we went somewhere — it didn't matter if it was just a walk, or if we were purposefully going somewhere — my father always told me his life stories. About his life, about his service.
Later, when my father passed away, I realized that these were not just stories — this was his method of upbringing.
What is your childhood idea of who a "hero" is that turned out to be true over the years, and which one, on the contrary, did not?
Today, for me, heroes are people who put the price of freedom on the scale much higher than the price of their own comfort. People who give their lives and health — for me, these are real heroes.
