Mig-29 down in the med

[hornetrider]

Seeing reports on the news...

[hornetrider]

BBC link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/37978463?client=ms-a...

Pilot unhurt.

[Ayahuasca]

[Dogwatch]

If the carrier was steaming into the wind perhaps the pilot got lost in the smoke plume?

[FourWheelDrift]

It's deployment was delayed due to a lack of MiG 29KR trained pilots. More training is needed Igor.

I have never seen it with more than 10 aircraft on deck anyway (SU-33s mainly) it's deployment to the med all mouth and no Sharovary.

[eharding]

Regardless of what you think of the Russian deployment, the fact is carrier operations require huge cast-iron zinc-plated balls.

One of the Waltham instructors used to fly Scimitars back in the 1960s, and one grey afternoon we sat him down, fed him with tea and biscuits and got him to recount his carrier stories. His preparation for his first deck landing was a few days spent landing the Scimitar on the painted outline of the carrier deck on a runway, and then it was off to the ship. There was also the case of the CO of one of the other Scimitar squadrons who went over side, still strapped into the aircraft.

Even today, the US Navy still suffer regular accidents and near-misses during carrier operations - the video of that Hawkeye managing to survive a broken arrestor cable could very easily have ended much less happily.

[DMN]

Didn't we lose over half of the Scimitars to accidents?

Big respect for anyone who flew one of them.

[Eric Mc]

eharding said:

Regardless of what you think of the Russian deployment, the fact is carrier operations require huge cast-iron zinc-plated balls.

One of the Waltham instructors used to fly Scimitars back in the 1960s, and one grey afternoon we sat him down, fed him with tea and biscuits and got him to recount his carrier stories. His preparation for his first deck landing was a few days spent landing the Scimitar on the painted outline of the carrier deck on a runway, and then it was off to the ship. There was also the case of the CO of one of the other Scimitar squadrons who went over side, still strapped into the aircraft.

Even today, the US Navy still suffer regular accidents and near-misses during carrier operations - the video of that Hawkeye managing to survive a broken arrestor cable could very easily have ended much less happily.

That's not the chap who owns and flies a Scottish Aviation Bulldog by any chance?

[eharding]

Eric Mc said:

That's not the chap who owns and flies a Scottish Aviation Bulldog by any chance?

Not sure what Bruce is flying at the moment - had a quick chat him down at the club Wednesday last when Brendan O'Brien came down to talk to us quite how much fun you can have with a smoke system on a helicopter...

[Eric Mc]

I bumped into a chap at the Blackbushe Open Day last summer who had come down from White Waltham in a lovely Bulldog. He told me he'd been a Scimitar pilot.

[Katzenjammer]

A few weeks ago when the Russian flotilla entered the Med, I heard an expert, possibly from Janes or the MOD, on the radio and he predicted with absolute confidence that this would happen.

[hornetrider]

Seeing reports a 2nd one has splashed - SU-33? Apparently an arrestor wire snapped and it went over into the med. Pilot ejected before it ditched.

[aeropilot]

DMN said:

Didn't we lose over half of the Scimitars to accidents?

Something like that.
It was a lovely looking aircraft, but possibly the only time the old adage of...

If it looks right it will fly right.

....wasn't applicable.

I've read that there was one carrier tour where a NAS departed with it's full compliment of Scimitars and retuned with out any of them - as all the ones they returned with were attrition replacements!!