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There's a nice write up of how the Germans got their MiGs here. While I knew that they had inherited them from the Ossies, the East Germans, I didn't know the whole story. Now I do.
Also saw one of these motoring over the base one day. It got my interest and kinda made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
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| Antonov AN-2 (Source) |
The North Koreans had some of those and our intel boys always said that if you saw one, there were probably more and they'd probably be carrying North Korean paratroops. So don't go near juvat's golf course, that was a good place to drop 'em.
Nice.
So yeah, that big old biplane got my attention. Never did learn where she came from. Looked pretty damned cool though, I'll say that.
Anyhoo, I saw a clip of a Russian flight video, seems you can ride a MiG-29 to the "edge of space" if you have the bucks to spare. I don't, otherwise I'd seriously consider it.
Enjoy.
Looks like fun. But wait, there's more!
Bonus footage of a Russian L-39 in flight, down low.
Sign me up Товарищ!
(You almost got a rerun today, then I thought about those videos. Who knows what I might do tomorrow? I sure as Hell don't...)
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Videos work and those are very cool!
ReplyDeleteWorry about tomorrow tomorrow...well, at least later tonight.
Who knows, something may pop up during the day.
Hey, I think I am first today...
Yes Suz, you have the honor of being the first commenter today.
DeleteYou're up early.
Whoo-hoo! :)
DeleteI am almost always up early (5:30ish). I think it is genetic...my folks always were, and still are, even they are in their 80's. I don't need coffee or anything, I am just awake and ready to rock and roll. I do not bubble at that early hour though...my 2nd husband broke me of that habit. Lol. He was a definite night owl. The downside for me being a "morning person" is by 9pm I have a hard time making the brain work correctly.
😊
DeleteCouple of nice videos Sarge. If memory serves me right a AN-2 showed up for one of the CAF airshows at Holman Field back in the nineties. When that flew into the wind I swear I could walk faster (chuckle). Congrats Suz.
ReplyDeleteYes, the AN-2 isn't a real speed demon.
DeleteLearned more about AN-2 than I care to remember but I do recall thinking that we could possibly see our first helicopter ace, come the day.
ReplyDeleteHelicopter ace? Against the AN-2?
DeleteQuite possibly.
N. Korea is stuffed wtih them we have some serious helicopters in S. Korea.
DeleteSome very serious, well armed helicopters!
DeleteI really wanted an AN-2. Round engine, pull the prop to clear the oil, real WW2 technology. Slide out battery (Don't let it freeze, Ivan! Take it in the chum!!), air shocks and tires that adjust to field conditions. Made for rough field work. A jeep in the air!
ReplyDeleteFAA had some weird restriction on them. Musn't let that compete with any American made aircraft... 30,000 dollars each when I was semi-seriously considering it.... (30 gallons per mile??)
The Russians do build some pretty useful stuff. Rugged and primitive, gets the job done.
DeleteKnowing what I know about Cold War Russian tech though, I'd want to up my life insurance before dropping some change on that Fulcrum flight. I'd rather go up in an Eagle or a Kfir. Wonder if ATAC does this.
ReplyDeleteYes, maintenance is an issue. Russian stuff is useful but its reliability does give one pause.
DeleteOn the other hand, their ejection seats are second to none. Of course, they have to be...
DeleteTrue dat!
Deletesrsly? kfir. no i won't be taking that ride.
DeleteDitto. F-15, F/A-18? Sure.
DeleteToo much bad ju-ju with the Kfir.
No... not after Lex
DeleteYes, just that.
DeleteI wonder, Sarge.
ReplyDeleteDo you think some folks might have a misconception as to what “first responders” are?
Wouldn't surprise me.
DeleteAN-2 was a challenging intercept. Very low, very slow, and at night. Practiced in the sim on every sim ride, til one got the procedures right. Didn’t have anything cllose enough to actually fly against, so wouldnt want to do it for real.
ReplyDeleteAh ha! I feel your pain, in a simulated manner that is. In the IL-2 flight sim the Polikarpov Po-2 (a very slow WWII Russian biplane) is one of the aircraft you can fly against. It's very slow and trying to get after the damn thing in an Me-109 was most frustrating. I can well imagine trying to intercept the AN-2, at night!
DeleteA most interesting tactical problem when really fast goes up against really slow. Toss low and at night into the mix and you've got a real challenge.
“The Po-2 is also the only biplane credited with a documented jet-kill, as one Lockheed F-94 Starfire was lost while slowing down to 161 km/h (100 mph) – below its stall speed – during an intercept in order to engage the low flying Po-2.“
DeleteDangerous, indeed.
I won't say that my Me-109 impacted a hillside while trying to get a bead on said Po-2.
DeleteWon't say that at all...
There were a number of AN-2's in Laos. Since there technically wasn't a war going on there, they were tied down about fifty yards from our Pilatus Porters. Weird way to run a war, but that's how it rolled.
ReplyDeleteOdd indeed.
DeleteReminds me of the old cartoon where the sheepdog and the wolf greet each other as they clock in at the start of the day, fight tooth and nail all day, then say "g'night" while clocking out at the end of the day.
Was there anything about the war in Laos that wasn't strange? (Asking for a friend...)
No, it was a very strange war indeed. A horrible proxy war. Vientiene was surreal. The politics like watching five chameleons making love. The DGSE and the French hand were still in play there. The Plain of Jars and elsewhere saw the ending of males from 15 to about 50. There just weren't many males left in Laos. Cambodia was the same sort of weird as the place unwound. Phnom Penh, sitting in a hotel, eating from bone china and silver service on crisp linen and watching the men ride Coca Cola trucks out to meet the Khmer Rouge and die. The 'killing fields' were a more direct way than the Laotian War, but the end was about the same. In the book I wrote, "White Powder, A Novel of the CIA and the Secret War in Laos" (shameless plug), I tried to capture it. The book is written as fiction but the people whose lives the characters were built on - those who survived, had input. I don't know whether or not I suck at being an author, but tell your friend to read the book and let me know what he thinks.
DeleteI was at Tony Po's funeral in San Francisco - something like ten or maybe fifteen years ago. A lot of people showed up. Vang Pao' children were there. The General was too ill to attend. Spooks from the days when things were really spooky.
I will pass that along, thanks LL.
DeleteI did not know this about you.
DeleteI read everything William Lederer wrote. In the last 60 years there were very few like him.
I'll be finding and reading your book.
Let us know Cap'n?
DeleteNow that the unofficial accident rate and maintenance issue rate has somewhat come out regarding the Russians and their jets, unless it's a Mig-21 or earlier I ain't getting near any of them. Once they got above Mig-23, well, nyet.
ReplyDeleteThe bi-wing beaver-looking Antonov looks like a fun plane to be on, but I've watched 2 travel shows that featured them, and both times untoward things happened, one lost the front windshield, the other 2 side windows and a door just fell off, both incidents occurring while flying. It may have been operator-maintainer error, but...
Maintenance has always been a problem for our Russian friends. In the Soviet days officers maintained the aircraft, the enlisted guys, mostly semi-trained conscripts just lifted heavy things and drank anything with even a small amount of alcohol in it. To include drinking the windscreen de-icing fluid on their fighters in the Far East.
DeleteSo I've heard...
MiG and others spec'ed grain alcohol as brake fluid. imagine that
DeleteOh yeah. Russians and alcohol.
DeleteHad an old Boeing engineer friend tell me the AN-2 from the firewall back is 90% DC-3. He went on to say the Russians were good engineers but better at borrowing something that already works.
ReplyDeleteSmart engineers borrow stuff that works all the time.
Deleteas i learned at the outset, don't reinvent the wheeel, make it rounder.
DeleteThe Cap'n is what I'd call a smart engineer.
DeleteI'm willing to bet you also believe that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I've seen AN-2s at 87 North before... One of them got wadded up in a ball, and its replacement was there two days later. They ARE rugged. And a helicopter has already shot down an AN-2. Look up Lima Site 85.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a story!
DeleteSaw one a few years ago at a Cold War airshow in Lancaster, TX. Maybe the same one. Went up in it, sat in the pilot's seat. Didn't pay for a ride. Not in that, nor in the Mi-24E Hind's gunner's seat, or B-26 Invader. Was interesting getting into the gunner's seat of the Hind and realizing first-hand just how poorly laid out some of the gear was, especially to guide the missiles. They had a MiG-23, but I'm not sure it was flight-worthy. It didn't look like it. The F-105 surely wasn't. I've never understood why the USAF has fought tooth-and-nail to prevent the Collings Foundation from restoring one. It took an act of Congress for them to be able to restore an F-4D. Don't know about the F-100F, but that's another one I'd like a ride in. I see they've got an F-6F Hellcat and a Focke-Wulf Fw-190F8 under restoration.
ReplyDeleteThe An-2, that is.
DeleteI think juvat mentioned that when the USAF took the Thud out of service, they actually destroyed all the engines.
DeleteMy old service did (and still does) a lot of weird shit.
Sounds like a show to take in some day!
DeleteI recall the basic problem is nuclear delivery capability. they just need to find a tech to work with vacuum tubes i guess
DeleteAnd those are rare.
DeleteThe DoD was reputed to have done the same destruction when they took the M-14 out of service. I liked that rifle. a lot.
DeleteIt was a very good rifle.
DeleteHey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteI remember the German integrating all the East German gear to their defense establishment. But they quickly sold all of it all and most of their own equipment in the rush to disarm after the end of the cold war. Now they can barely muster 4 eurofighters ready for combat, most of their surviving tanks are red lined due to no parts, and they can't seem to build any mew warships now. The Germans have forgotten how.
I also believe that none of their subs are capable of getting under way.
DeleteGood old Commie Merkel.
They needed their peace dividend to pay for all the services used by the Muslim immigrants Frau Angela let in
DeleteYup.
DeleteI remember the first time I saw an AN-2. Shocked me.
ReplyDeleteYankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti. Sits less than a mile from my house.
Hard to believe they're still in active service in N. Korea, for one no doubt others as well.
Delete