World Affairs Board - View Single Post

entropy · 07-19-2007, 06:40 AM

Zraver,

You guys got interesting airshows over there!
When I lived in Murmansk (Kola Peninsula, near Norway) we had rather small ones, with only some MiGs and the occasional Rook. But once, at the 50 years of victory parade (9th of May 1995) we saw decent aerobatics, as well as a MiG-25! The Foxbat had huge engines and flew really fast. The commentator said that it was doing mach 3. I doubt it did, but it surely was fast!
As for Harriers, they seem nice. STOL Yaks are ugly.

And about the Su-34: it is really one of the most impressive aircraft I've read about. Videos I've seen tell me that it is maneauverable enough to dogfight. How would it fare against, say, a Chengdu J-7 patrol?
Also, how relieving to the crew is the personal space with kitchen and toilet they got there? It surprises me that the Su designers have given that much internal volume to crew comfort.
In the Soviet era, the space would be used to prolong the bomb bay or extra fuel. Even big Soviet airplanes, like the Tu-22 Blinder, had awkward crew compartiments, with the Blinder not having cushions on the seats!

07-19-2007, 06:40 AM	#33 (permalink)
entropy Senior Reader *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 03-19-07 Location: Belgium Posts: 1,628 Country:	Zraver, You guys got interesting airshows over there! When I lived in Murmansk (Kola Peninsula, near Norway) we had rather small ones, with only some MiGs and the occasional Rook. But once, at the 50 years of victory parade (9th of May 1995) we saw decent aerobatics, as well as a MiG-25! The Foxbat had huge engines and flew really fast. The commentator said that it was doing mach 3. I doubt it did, but it surely was fast! As for Harriers, they seem nice. STOL Yaks are ugly. And about the Su-34: it is really one of the most impressive aircraft I've read about. Videos I've seen tell me that it is maneauverable enough to dogfight. How would it fare against, say, a Chengdu J-7 patrol? Also, how relieving to the crew is the personal space with kitchen and toilet they got there? It surprises me that the Su designers have given that much internal volume to crew comfort. In the Soviet era, the space would be used to prolong the bomb bay or extra fuel. Even big Soviet airplanes, like the Tu-22 Blinder, had awkward crew compartiments, with the Blinder not having cushions on the seats! __________________ If memory serves...