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Stationed aboard three ships: USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, USS Saratoga and USS Nimitz. Passed over, or boarded probably a quarter of the surface fleet at one time or another. In addition I trapped aboard several other US carriers and HMS Ark Royal and Foch. I was on a NATO inspection team that went aboard Ark Royal in 1977. We found her to be in acceptable material condition. Considering her age and status, we were amazed.
Much later in my career, my airline got a contract to train a bunch of Aeroflot pilots on the 737. They seemed amazed at the small crew size we were using. I was amazed that they would use a five man crew on what amounted to a local flight. A few years ago, I got to visit Russia and was the guest of one of the Aeroflot pilots I trained. He took me to a Russian air base where I was given the grand tour, including some stick time in a Su-27. I was impressed with the plane's fit and finish. So many Soviet built aircraft were crude machines. To be fair, the Su-27 I got to fly was nearly new, with fewer than 200 hours logged, and it was built in the post-soviet era. It was not up to our standards, but it was quite good. Performance wise, it was what I had been lead to expect. Very maneuverable, and well behaved. (That is a requirement of the Russian Air Force these days because they don't get many hours.) I expect that a minor air force or even a major non-NATO ally could safely operate Su-27s. They really are not much good for NATO allies, except for DACT.
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