The airworthiness administration of the Russian civil aviation certification authority issued the Certificate of Conformity for maintenance of hot-air balloons of the BB type manufactured by the Balony Kubiček spol. s.r.o.  The BB type aerostats (according to the manufacturer’s classification) is admitted to Russian customers, which at the moment operate 5 balloons, through the Augur company, the authorized dealer of the world-famous hot-air balloons manufacturer Balony Kubiček spol. s.r.o in the CIS. 

The Augur Aerostatic Systems, unlike many other Russian aerostatic companies, operates hot-air balloons in the aerospace of Russia legally. The Augur has started a process of certification in the whole series of aerostatic developments thanks to which a wider range of Russian aerostatic vehicles will be brought to the domestic as well as the international market. To every hot-air balloon operator the Augur Aerostatic Systems guarantees the high safety of flights as well as appropriate preparation of aerostats and qualification of pilots.

After completion of tests the Au-34 mini-attraction whose design is based on a tethered low-volume gas balloon was put into commercial operation. Anton Surovatkin, responsible for this project, remarked that the demand for “aerostatic rides” is reasonably high even between the seasons. The two-seat aerostatic system made by the Augur Aerostatic Systems is the best solution for entertainment of tourists who have chosen the seaside vacation.

The tests of the aerostatic attraction build by the Augur Aerostatic Systems to the special order began in Sochi. The attraction comprises a low-volume tethered gas balloon, 2-seat gondola, and winch placed on a special platform.

We expect that by the season of 2006 summer visitors of Sochi will be able to enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the Black Sea aquatorium.

The VII International ballooning festival "Caucasian Mineral Waters – Pearl of Russia" timed to the 195th anniversary of the town was held in Zheleznovodsk. 23 teams from Russia and the United Arab Emirates took part in the fiesta.

The Zheleznovodsk festival hosts only high class pilots: masters of sport, awardees of Russian and international championships. The mountainous landscape and unpredictable air currents complicate conditions of flight considerably. The parade of montgolfiers went above four towns: Pyatigorsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki, Kislovodsk.

The Augur company was presented by three pilots — S. Fuodoroff,  V. Shkulenko, D. Egorushkov — on the balloons "Karelia", "Augur", “Rosto”, "Pedigree".

Within the program of the event there was held the competition of pilots. The first prize went to the pilot from Smolensk Alexei Semochkin with his white and red “Watermelon” balloon. The second best was the Moscow aeronaut Serguei Bazhenov on the “Yuri Rost” aerostat. Valery Latipov from Moscow came in a good third on his “Aeronatz” balloon. The winner was awarded with the gold signet ring adorned with a diamond in the shape of a hot-air balloon. The special cup of the mayor of Zheleznovodsk Anatoly Zubtsov was handed to the Augur’s pilot Stanislaw Fuodoroff on the “Karelia” balloon for “aerobatics”.

The annual convention of aeronauts in the town of Suzdal gathered pilots from Vladimir, Moscow and Moscow Region, Smolensk, Kemerovo, Velikiye Luki. The Augur Aeronautical Centre was represented by Stanislaw Fuodoroff and Alexandr Vinogradov with the “Karelia” hot-air balloon. Next year the program of the event will be enhanced considerably. In addition to the convention of aeronauts, the organizers plan a fiesta. The foundation is already laid: authorities opened the air zone over Vladimir and Suzdal and permitted flights to be performed over the towns. It will be another step for the national aeronautics and a thing to remember for guests of the event. The beauty of sights in Suzdal seen from above is unforgettable.

On the 14th September of 2005 the Au-12M 2-seat airship designed and built to the order of the Moscow Government within the program of monitoring and optimization of traffic in the Russian capital performed its first flight over the Moscow ringway. The airship was piloted by the Chief of the Flight Department of the Aviation Centre of Ministry of Interior colonel Yuri Mogdalev with the second pilot Leonid Putintsev, the chief of flight and test complex of the Augur Aeronautical Centre.

The 4th custom-made hot-air balloons festival under the name of “Heaven of Saint Sergiy” was held in Sergiev Posad. The Augur company was represented by the pilots S. Fuodoroff, V. Shkulenko, N. Galkin, A. Vinogradov, who demonstrated their skills on the balloons bearing the form and the name of “Dragon”, “Airship”, “Sack”, “Pedigree Can”. At night the inhabitants of the town could admire an unusual spectacle — the balloons rose in the sky and were spotlighted from the ground which made them look like Chinese lanterns.

As is known, the altered aviation rules of operation of general-purpose aircraft took effect. Additional to the proposed range of services, the Augur Aeronautical Centre announced its new service — preparation of documents for natural and legal persons wishing to obtain the certificate of general-purpose aircraft operator. The company’s specialists will not only help you to prepare and agree the whole package of documents, but will also advise on the range of issues connected with operation and legalization of aerostatic vehicles.

The 5th International Moscow Region Governor Cup was held in the town of Dmitrov welcoming 18 pilots. Valery Latipov on the “Aeronatz” montgolfier won the first prize. The second prize went to Mikhail Naidorf, the third prize to Serguei Vinogradov. The pilots of the Augur Aeronautical Centre Stanislaw Fuodoroff and Alexandr Vinogradov also took part in the competition.

The International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2005, significant event for the entire Russian aerospace industry, closed on 21 August, 2005. The high status of the event is emphasized be the fact that the President Vladimir Putin personally took part in the opening of the show.
Together with the best samples of aircraft and aerospace equipment presented by Russian and foreign manufacturers, balloons and airships of the Augur Aeronautical Centre were in the font ranks of the exposition. Daily flights of the AU-12М airship, built on request from the Moscow Government within the program of monitoring and optimization of the traffic, made an original addition to the show of piloting crews.
According to observers estimates, the airship showed controllability and manoeuvrability sufficient to accomplish the assigned tasks.
Outdoors, the company demonstrated another airship - the AU-11 "Stork" of the ВА-02 subclass (according to the FAI classification) which is designed to train airship pilots. Potential customers highly commended the performance of the worlds smallest one-seat hot-air airship AU-29 "Chaffinch" (ВХ-02 subclass) which made several demonstration flights. The Augur Aeronautical Centre plans to put this mini-airship in serial production in 2006-2007.  By the way, early in 2005 the "Stork" and "Chaffinch" airships established several world records registered by the FAI.
Throughout the whole aerospace salon, the tethered aerostats "Bars" and "Rys" soared in the sky. These vehicles are intended to act as long-term aerostatic platforms for various systems (telecommunication equipment, video cameras, sensors, radars, etc). The Augurs show-bench presented the "Puma" aerostatic system developed to enhance efficiency of air defence assets; and it drew close attention of both representatives of the Russian Defence Ministry and specialists of foreign military services. Also guests of the MAKS 2005 had a chance to acquaint themselves with the current works on 8-seat airship Au-30 "Argus" which in the near future would become an element of one of the state programs.
Summing up the results of the aerospace salon, the Chief Designer of the Augur Aeronautical Centre Stanislaw Fuodoroff said, "The stable interest of customers to domestic air systems testifies to the fact that Russia occupies one of the leading positions in the market of lighter-than-air vehicles."

Valery Shkulenko (town of Khimki of the Moscow Region), the Russian aeronaut, 310 hours in flight, established a new world record in duration of flight of the smallest in the world hot-air airship of the BX-2 category (according to the FAI classification). The World Air Sport Federation (FAI) with its headquarters in Lausanne , Switzerland , keeps track of all records set up by aircraft, balloons and airships. Up to the present day, the world has not seen an attempt to build such low-volume hot-air airship, although the FAI record register provides a "niche" for this type of vehicle.

In honour of the 60th Anniversary of the WW2 Victory Day, three Russian balloonists on two hot-air balloons of different categories established four national records at one bout: two duration records and two distance records. The records are remarkable for the fact that flights were made in daytime and - first in the history of the Russian aeronautics - in night-time. The pilots have long prepared for this important event on the eve of the Victory Day. Especially for the record program, the pilots obtained the night-time flight permission.

Tests of the aerostatic complex designed at request from the Moscow Government are being completed. The complex includes 2 two-seat Au-12 M airships and three Au-27 tethered balloons ("Lynx").
The purpose of the aerostatic complex is to improve efficiency of traffic control on urban arteries of the capital. The airships and balloons will monitor road traffic. The complex will be equipped with special optical systems analogous to those which are used in reconnaissance helicopters.
The air and ground forces will be co-ordinated from the single ground centre. The airships operator is the aviation regiment of the Ministry of Interior. They will hover above the most difficult road sections in places of regular traffic jams and transfer online information via video cameras to the single control centre. The centre will analyse the received data and, if necessary, direct officers of the traffic police to solve the problem on the spot. Similar systems have long been used in different countries of the world.
The completive test flights were attended by the customers representative, colonel Yuri Magdalev, chief of the flight methodical department of the aviation centre of the Russian Ministry of Interior, who, together with the Augurs pilot Leonid Putintsev made a flight and admitted excellent characteristics of the airship. The aerostatic complex will become a part of the Moscow program designed to increase traffic safety and a testing ground for the main methods of employment of aerostatic systems in the city infrastructure.

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The Augur Aerostatic Systems Company presented its show business equipment in the "Forum" pavilion of the Expocentr exhibition complex which hosted the 2nd exhibition of show business technologies SHOWTEX-2005. Photo shows the impersonator A. Peskov at the Augur's show-bench.

The smallest in the world hot-air airship of the BX-2 subclass (according to the FAI classification) made its flight on 24 February 2005. The one-seat Au-29 airship built by the Augur Aeronautical Centre is capable of travelling at a speed of 40 km per hour. Its envelope length is 24 metres , midsection diameter is 8.4 metres , load-carrying capacity 100 is kg. After completion of the necessary tests, the company plans to put the airship in serial production which opens a new horizon for sports and commercial aeronautics .

On 24 February 2005, nearby the town of Zhukovsky in the Moscow region where new generations of aircraft are being tested and where President Putin has announced the plan to revive the aviation industry in Russia, two brave sportswomen established the new world record in flight endurance on a hot-air airship. Natalia Volodicheva ( Moscow ) and Yekaterina Kochetkova (Korolyov) have already set the world speed record on a hot-air airship of the BX-4 subclass (according to Federation Aeronautique Internationale, World Air Sports Federation ) on 7 February. The record-holders expect that in the near future they will be able to make a new attempt of a record of this type of airships - a distance record. Thus, Russia increases its presence in the FAI and fortifies positions of Russian aeronautics. Today the FAI record register contains names of four Russians: Nikolay Galkin (the flight endurance record on a hot-air airship of the BX-4 subclass; February 2004), Natalia Volodicheva and Yekaterina Kochetkova (the flight endurance record on a hot-air airship of the BX-4 subclass among women; February 2005), and Leonid Putintsev (the speed record on a gas airship of the BA-02 subclass; February 2005).

On February 10, 2005 the Ramenskoye airfield became the place of the new world record of the 1-seat gas airship Au-11 of the BA-02 subclass (according to the FAI classification, the envelope volume from 400 to 900 cu. m ). The pilot-in-command Leonid Putintsev (Korolyov) established the world record in speed. Take-off was made at 13.03 and landing at 13.20; the airship passed over marked runway 4 times. Official sports commissioners enrolled a record result - 50.03 km per hour.

On February 7, 2005 the Ramenskoye airfield saw the world record in speed of hot-air airship flight set by two Russian sportswomen.The female crew consisting of the pilot-in-command Natalia Volodicheva (Moscow) and the second pilot Yekaterina Kochetkova (Zhukovsky) has set the world record among women in speed of flight in a BX-4 subclass hot-air airship (envelope volume 1600- 3000 cu. m ). The airship accomplished 1-kilometer distance, or ground speed course, several times. The mean speed was derived from the two consecutive flights - downwind and upwind. The airship took-off at 16.20 and landed at 16.50; in those 30 minutes it passed over the marked-out runway 3 times.