Upon his graduation from high school, Viktor Veselkov had no doubts about his career — he headed straight to a pilot training school to become a combat pilot.

“I couldn’t get in right after school: I had some health issues, ” Viktor Leonidovich recalls. — “But I never thought about giving up. I had a job for a year, worked on myself and again decided to apply to the Kyiv School. Unfortunately, bad luck struck again and I didn’t get in. I returned home and came to the military enlistment office. There was an ensign — a front-line soldier and a good man. He advised me to go to the Saratov Helicopter School, where pilots and flight technicians were trained. It turned out that the school was secondary, and upon graduation, I could maybe count on working as an on-board technician: there was a shortage there. But what’s the difference? The main thing was that I would fly. They gave me a referral, and I left.

In the dorm, my roommate gave me good advice: to write an application for pilot training and bring it with me to the mandatory commission, as it was possible that someone would not pass. So, I did write it. When I came to the commission, the chairman asked:

 — Well, do you want to become an on-board technician?

 — I don’t.

 — I don’t understand, what’s the problem?

 — I want to become a pilot.

It turned out that there were still some seats available. I take the completed application out of my pocket and hand it to the chairman. To say that he was surprised is to say nothing. On July 27, I was enrolled in the school and my specialty was ‘Helicopter Pilot’. That’s it! Let’s go! Banzai!”