

Ken Thompson flies a MiG-29 (1999) - Serow225
http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/ken/mig.html

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throwaway_yy2Di
Interesting figures about L-39 jet trainers. The US currently has 242 in
private ownership ("N" tail number), involved in 14 fatal accidents since
1998. So a private L-39 would have had a >5% risk of killing its pilot to
date, or about 0.4%/year.

[http://www.l39.com/content/incidents](http://www.l39.com/content/incidents)

For comparison, the motorcycle fatality rate is about 0.1% per registered
motorcycle per year,

[http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/pub...](http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/special_reports_and_issue_briefs/special_report/2009_05_14/html/entire.html)

~~~
callmeed
Does the L-39 not have an ejection seat standard?

After skimming a few of the reports, at least 2 of the accidents were due to
racing or aerobatics. I imagine that carries somewhat of a risk regardless of
aircraft.

I've always dreamed of owning an L-39 since that can be had for around $200K
[http://www.internationaljets.com/jetaircraft.html](http://www.internationaljets.com/jetaircraft.html)

~~~
Serow225
I believe that it's not uncommon for the ejection seats in private L-39's to
be inop, my guess would be due to the cost to keep them maintained and/or that
the consequences of a poorly maintained system ejecting spontaneously or
accidentally is worse than just having them disabled. I know that when I had
the chance to fly the second seat in one, I had to wear a parachute and was
instructed on how to pop the canopy and bail out in an emergency situation.

~~~
Serow225
Here's a picture of the exact L-39 that I got to fly in!
[https://flic.kr/p/21HC4V](https://flic.kr/p/21HC4V)

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srean

      At 8000 meters, Vladimir took over and performed a cobra
      maneuver. He flew level and pulled up so fast that the
      plane stalled. The plane continued to move horizontally 
      in a flat stall while pointing up. At some point Vladimir 
      performed some magic and the plane leaned over horizontal
      and flew normally. The result was a loss of 300 kmph in
      seconds. This was described to me as a courtesy maneuver
      to allow tailgating traffic to pass.
    

Which year was this? I thought 'cobra' was a post Sukhoi-27 thing. I didnt
even know a MiG-29 could do that. Can all of them do it, or some later
versions ?

@quickpost Thanks you answered my question.

~~~
gchokov
One of the most iconic scenes in the Top Gun as well :)

~~~
azth
The movie didn't have any real Russian planes though right? IIRC, they used
F-5's and pretended they were MIGs.

~~~
gchokov
Correct.

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RobotCaleb
About 7 years ago I was fortunate enough to receive a ride in an F-16. I
passed out that night and got up to write about it the next morning while it
was still fresh in my head.

[http://blahg.res0l.net/2008/10/viper-ride-
october-12-2007/](http://blahg.res0l.net/2008/10/viper-ride-october-12-2007/)

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Sir_Cmpwn
View the source of this page. Older web pages do a good job of reminding me
that the most important part of a website is information dissemination, not
flashy bits.

~~~
cynwoody
Indeed. The page is refreshingly free of JS and CSS and weighs in at a measly
18.8 kb.

But it would have been helpful to have included a full date. Somewhere?
Anywhere. Even (especially!) the URL? Sheesh!

A quick google indicates this took place in 1994, as indicated by this usenet
post to rec.aviation.stories:

[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.aviation.stories...](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.aviation.stories/_Ohb4-f-H38)

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quickpost
In case anyone is wondering, this occurred Dec. 11 - 17, 1999. (The year is
missing in the article).

~~~
cynwoody
1994, based on this usenet post:

[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.aviation.stories...](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.aviation.stories/_Ohb4-f-H38)

~~~
quickpost
Good catch. Thanks! I was referencing this source:

[http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=16574.0](http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?topic=16574.0)

And "cal 1999" where it looked like Dec. 11 - 17 was a traditional week.

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Tepix
I loved this quote:

    
    
      Then came the acrobatics. It was the same as the L39 but six G's instead of 
     four G's and 4000 meters altitude instead of 2000 meters. At this time I realized 
     that the ground crew had not connected my G suit to the pneumatics in the
     plane. At the bottom of every loop, my vision went from color to
     black-and-white. It happened in about a second like someone pulled down a
     no-color shade in front of my face. Shortly after that, the
     black-and-white
     faded into grey-and-grey and finally just grey. Very strange feeling.
     I didn't black out but I was able to know exactly what it would feel like.
     After the G's subsided, my vision returned in reverse sequence.

------
ekianjo
The last line was great:

> Was it worth it? Yes. Would I do it again? No.

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dojomouse
Really enjoyed the read, but I don't understand the line about going from
500km/h - 1000km/h in 5 seconds... treetop level or otherwise. Is that really
possible? I think my math is off if so.

Mass with a 900kg fuel load looks to be around 12,000kg Max thrust is 162kN
for both with afterburner.

500km/h = 139m/s 1000km/h = 278m/s Going from one to the other in 5s means an
average acceleration of 27.8m/s^2... or almost 3 g, which is monstrous!

But how does this work? Solving F=ma for a gives a=F/m = 162000/12000 =
13.5m/s^2

And that's before accounting for the not insignificant thrust required just to
overcome the aerodynamic drag.

Is it just an understandable overestimation of the acceleration due to the
direct experience of it? Or am I missing something?

Either way, awesome.

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signa11
this is pretty nice: "If you have been to Moscow during Soviet times, you will
probably remember paying almost nothing to be ignored by a waiter in a
restaurant. Now you pay a fortune to be ignored by ten waiters."

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jestinjoy1
Wow he know how to fly a plane! Why he went to Russia? Whether there is
similar service offered in US?

MiG-29 recently made headlines in India, the first and one of the largest
export user, when one crashed

[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-
states/mig29-cra...](http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-
states/mig29-crashes-near-jamnagar-air-base/article5329357.ece)

~~~
serf
I don't believe there is any equivalent here. People race planes, but military
planes are forbidden I believe.

here's the kind of thing offered here : [http://aircombat.com/about/our-
aircraft/](http://aircombat.com/about/our-aircraft/)

fast and aerobatic planes, but not fighters.

~~~
TylerE
There isn't any specific prohibition against owning US jets AFAIK, but not
many ever hit the market. WWII era stuff is common. Some of the early jets
(e.g. F-86, F-100s, F-5/T-38) exist in private hands.

In general, the Russian stuff translates better to private ownership because
there is much less specialized support equipment or maintaince required - in
general the soviet's built stuff for a real SHTF scenario, where-as the US was
much more willing to complicate the design to gain a small edge.

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omilu
wow awesome report. I'm not a pilot but i still found the account thrilling.

~~~
keithpeter
Walking up on the high moors in the Dales in Yorkshire you see the shadows
first, moving up the valley floor. If you are quick, and look _below_ your
ridge, you can spot the two grey isosceles triangles as they disappear out of
the head of the valley.

A few seconds later, you hear the _sound_

Treetop training looks fun (they are always in pairs and I'm sure they are
playing tag) but I imagine can be a bit tense...

~~~
arethuza
I remember watching a Hercules flying along Glencoe from one of the mountain
tops - it seemed rather weird looking _down_ on such a large aircraft nimbly
maneuvering along the narrow glen.

Mind you - nothing beats the time as a kid when I got to watch a Vulcan doing
low level aerobatics above the village I grew up in - an amazing sight and
quite a remarkable sound!

~~~
mhandley
I fully agree about the Vulcan. I still remember the time as a kid on holiday
in Anglesea - we were driving past the end of the runway at RAF Valley when a
Vulcan took off right over us. It must be nearly 40 years ago now. The sound
of those four Rolls Royce Olympus engines at full whack just over your head
isn't something you ever forget.

~~~
krisgee
I was in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets when I was younger and took the
Survival Instructor Course. We were only on base one night out of the week
(Saturday night for Sunday morning review, then back inna woods) I remember
one of the weeks the CF-18s were paying us a visit and doing flights at all
hours. It was pretty awful at the time because that was your one guaranteed
good night of sleep a week but I do remember being enchanted by the whine of
the engines spooling.

Shame I was colour blind and didn't get told till I was 15 (at which point my
career choices were Astronaut, Fighter Pilot, SAR helicopter pilot).

~~~
stan_rogers
That's depressing, that is. I was in the Forces when the 18s came online;
Voodoos, 104s and 5s were current when I joined, and there were still a few
Clunks in special trim doing real work. I suddenly feel _old_. And the Sea
Kings I worked on are still in service. We got them when I was 3.

~~~
krisgee
That's interesting! I worked at the CSA for awhile as one of my co-op
internships and my supervisor would tell stories (mostly horror) about the big
purchase of CF-18s and vetting all the code in the flight computer and such.

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kndyry
Incredible. I can't imagine taking 6G without the benefit of a suit, never
mind repeatedly. This story very much reminds me of another account by Hans
Krohn [0], though he flew the MiG-21 (in a full motion simulator).

[0]
[http://www.hanskrohn.com/FlightSimStories/Mig/Mig.htm](http://www.hanskrohn.com/FlightSimStories/Mig/Mig.htm)

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chrissyb
What a thrilling read! Thanks to OP and Ken.

