Mig 29 Test Flight Ridealong

[spookythecat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fub3Pj2D93E&hd=1

My friend Liz has been working on lots of great PR stuff for Historic Flight Foundation and put together this excellent video from this weeks test flights. If it runs slow for you that's because it's in HD. Just click on where it says 720p and drop it down to 480 or 360 for quicker results. It's worth letting the 720 load up though and cranking up the speakers

[LadyO2Pilot]

great video...thanks for sharing !!

[The Inspector]

Looks like about the most fun you can have with your clothes on

[warbird1]

Cool video, thanks!

FWIW, I've talked to pilots who have flown the MiG-29. According to what they say, it's not an easy airplane to employ in combat. It requires an inordinately heavy pilot load to use as a weapons platform. A lot of the things that we, in the West take for granted, they don't have in that airplane.

[Vulture]

What a sweet aircraft! It says it was the "first" Mig 29? I thought it was in IL? Either way love the new paint job ... seems very slick!

[warbird1]

What a sweet aircraft! It says it was the "first" Mig 29? I thought it was in IL? Either way love the new paint job ... seems very slick!

They're taking lessons from the Collings boys (B-24, LB-30 whatever). BTW, Kirlin's MiG-29 already flew last year.

[Flashonyrsix]

It's the first MiG-29 to finish it's FAA 5 hour flight program. Not first to fly.

Norm

[MKopack]

Cool video, thanks!

FWIW, I've talked to pilots who have flown the MiG-29. According to what they say, it's not an easy airplane to employ in combat. It requires an inordinately heavy pilot load to use as a weapons platform. A lot of the things that we, in the West take for granted, they don't have in that airplane.

I first had the opportunity to see the Fulcrums way back in 1989 (?) during a Soviet Friendship tour stop at the airshow in Harrisburg, PA.

Despite the MiG's unbelievably dirty exhaust trail - it's hard to believe that they hadn't learned to avoid that after our F-4 experiences in SEA - the birds showed great 'post-stall' maneuverability for their time, and put on a pretty nice show.

As far as a combat aircraft though, I'd have to defer to the Soviet pilot that I had the opportunity to speak with - actually factory test pilots rather than military, who said (in broken English) "The MiG is the best airshow airplane flying today, but not for combat. The visibility and avionics are poor and I'm already low on fuel by the time I get to the runway." When I asked what he would prefer to fly in combat, he smiled and pointed over at the Viper and Hornet parked nearby.

Mike

[CptKelly]

"Looks like about the most fun you can have with your clothes on"

Hey Inspector, Don't know what you have been flying, but if you are looking for pure fun, try either an L-19, Supercub, or Champ. In my humble opinion, these are the most fun airplanes in history. Turbines are nice, but way too expensive for much fun.

Mike

[The Inspector]

On the wall, right behind where I'm sitting typing this, is an 10X12 color photo of me taken @ Arlingtons EAA Fly-in back in 1990 or 91, pointing to the sign that used to be in the front turret of 'ALL AMERICAN' (now WITCHCRAFT) that says ' 'Jets are for kids'. I watched the Mig doing stalls about 5 to 6 miles North of my front yard, they were near Mt. Baker while this video was being shot. Even @ that distance, you know that airplane is there by the noise, and I live in the pattern for NAS Ault @ Whidbey Island so I hear EA-6's and EA-18's all day and night so I know noise. (and love it!)

Welcome to WIX CptKelly So, you wouldn't give up your seat in that CHAMP for some really high speed, high altitude time? I'll take a ride in anything this side of a Cody Kite.

[Bill Greenwood]

BS, what pilot load? That thing has a litttle box to move the controls, the pilot hardly does any effort at all. Lindsay Lohan sweats more when jewelry shopping than a pilot flying one of those jet things.

And a real man's airplane don't have no air conditioning, you can't even tell if you are flying over a hog farm or a pot farm sealed inside one of those. The pilot probably drives a Lexus.

And that ain't sound. Sound is what a Merlin makes or maybe a DC-3 as it taxis out. That other ain't sound, it's just noise. Sort of a paralell to music; real music is like Hank Wiliams or Loretta Lynn, most of that new stuff is just noise.

Some misguided folks think those jets are great weapons with all the missiles and rockets and stuff, invented by a bunch of smart ass guys from Cal Tech or even worse, MIT. Seems like it a first glance, but look at the results. Since we started using them diesel airplanes, we have tied one major war, and lost another one. There's a couple of smaller ones that we won, but really it's like beating a Div 2 team in football. We should only count victories over countries where the majority of the population can read and write, and where dog is a pet, not a menu item. 3rd and 4th world opponents only count as a partial victory.

And think how many tractor pulls you could run just for the fuel that thing uses taxing out.

[K5DH]

Great video, worth watching in full-screen HD (even though it took a LONG time to download on my 760K DSL). Thanks for posting the link!

[Chicoartist]

So cool! Played fine on my iPhone.

Wade

[aerocapture]

360º Cockpit Tour of Historic Flight's MiG-29
Crafted by Lyle Jansma @ AeroCapture Images

http://www.jansmadesign.com/aerocapture/MiG29/HFF-MiG29.swf

Last edited by aerocapture on Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[CAPFlyer]

Great to see the progress of this aircraft.

My understanding was that all US certified aircraft (even in the experimental category) had to have an altimeter encoding and calibrated in feet (not meters) and an airspeed indicator calibrated in knots (not km/h). From the pictures, I don't see either installed, so how were they able to get around that requirement?