LCol W.A. Bishop, VC, on the left and Col W.A. Barker, VC, on the right,  in front of a Canadian Fokker D VII War Prize, Leaside, Toronto.

The flight testing of former enemy aircraft is not new to Canadians.  Both LCol (later Air Marshal) Billy Bishop VC[1], and LCol William Barker VC,[2] flew Fokker D.VII[3] fighters brought to Canada after the Great War.[4]  Two RCAF pilots, Squadron Leader Joe McCarthy and Squadron Leader Ian Somerville, provided the a great deal of Air Technical Intelligence through test flights on a number of Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf, Junkers and Dornier War Prize aircraft flown at the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.[5]   

Dornier Do 335 flown by S/L Joe McCarthy in 1945.  Note the Roundel applied over a USAAF star and bar following the transfer of the German War Prize to the RAF in exchange for a number of Focke-Wulf Fw 190s.

The question has been raised as to where and when Canadian Forces pilots conducted flights on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum and other combat aircraft of the former Soviet Union.  The following is a brief outline of a few these flights drawn from contacts provided by the 1 Canadian Air Division Office of Air Force Heritage and History.  Their comments and a few notes on aircraft and pilots that defected from other nations should help to shed some light on the story.[6]

 Top view of Russian MiG-29  escorted by a CF-18 .

1989 Airshow Season

In 1989, the USSR was represented by a large number of aircraft at the Abbotsford International Airshow in British Columbia.  Making their North American debuts were two MiG-29s (codenamed “Fulcrum“), a single and two-seater, a Sukhoi Su-26M aerobatic plane, a Kamov Ka-32 helicopter and the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft.  The MiG-29 demonstration pilot at Abbotsford was Anatoly Kvotchur, who had ejected out of a MiG-29 at Le Bourget, France just months earlier.  History was made at Abbotsford on the last day of the show when Major Bob Wade, a Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 Hornet pilot, became the first western pilot to fly a modern fighter jet from the USSR.  Major Wade took the controls of the MiG-29UB two-seat aircraft with Soviet test pilot Valery Menitsky.[7]

In the words of Captain Douglas Martin, the Soviets had, “offered an unprecedented act of glasnost to a Canadian fighter pilot.”[8]  Major Wade related these historic events as he remembered them taking place, stating, “The story really started several months prior to the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters arriving in Canada.  The Soviets expressed a desire to participate in the Abbotsford Air Show and in return wanted to have the opportunity for their pilots to fly in the F-18 Hornet, F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.  American and Canadian pilots would also be given flights in the MiG-29.  The US government decided that this would not occur under any circumstances because of the potential loss of intelligence compared to what would be gained in return.  The Canadian Minister of National Defence had little option but to agree with this decision as the technology and intelligence was essentially American.

“I was the Alert Force Commander at CFB Comox at the time the MiG-29s were due to arrive for their demonstration at Abbotsford.  We were tasked by Fighter Group to provide an escort for the MiG flight through Canadian airspace on the 6^th of August 1989.  The MiG-29s came from the USSR into Alaska and spent the night at Elmendorf AFB on the 5^th of August.  The F-15 Sqn at Elmendorf hosted the crews well and then provided an escort for them to the Canadian border at the bottom of the Alaska pan handle.  We launched out of Comox with three armed CF-18s to make good the rendezvous as the MiG-29s entered Canadian airspace.  NORAD controlled all the fighter aircraft and the MiG-29s were operating under civilian air traffic control.

“My direction from Fighter Group was to escort and monitor the MiG-29 flight from a distance not closer than 1000 feet and not to attempt communication with them throughout the flight.  This was still at the height of the Cold War and the military and civilian authorities didn’t want any incidents.  We took lots of pictures during the initial portion of the escort and were excited to see these fighters in real time versus an intelligence slide.  AWACS[9] was monitoring our flight but we had neither received nor requested tanker support.

“The MiG-29 flight drifted about twenty degrees right of track and climbed two thousand feet after about twenty minutes.  I was not monitoring their civilian ATC frequency and therefore requested clarification about their routing change from AWACS.   The boys in AWACS said they had no idea where they were heading.  I then called the Hornet formation over to the Vancouver Centre frequency on the second radio and requested information on the routing change.  A very desperate controller then responded to my call stating that I was the first voice they had heard from this whole package transiting their airspace.  There was little option at that point other than to break all the rules and fly up beside the lead MiG-29 in an attempt to determine their intentions.

 “The lead MiG pilot watched me approach.  I pointed at him and then to a position in front of us twenty degrees left of track.  The MiG flight immediately turned to the left.  The MiG fighter lead then pointed to his headset and gave me a thumbs down indication.  He was advising me of a radio failure.  This was the dual seat MiG-29 and the back seat pilot/navigator had his hands in the air palms up, moving them up and down quite rapidly.  It was pretty obvious that the boys didn’t know where they were and couldn’t solve the problem due to an inability to communicate.  Navigation aids are also fairly scarce in the northern part of BC.

“I advised AWACS and NORAD of the situation and told them I was taking the lead of the formation.  I pointed at the lead MiG-29 pilot with my left forefinger and then patted my right shoulder.  The MiG lead nodded and moved into a very close echelon formation on my right wing.  His wingman was tucked close in on his right wing.  I was impressed.  My F-18 wingmen remained in a battle formation behind us to monitor the situation.

“Through hand signals used by most of the world’s fighter pilots I determined that the MiGs had less than 30 minutes of fuel remaining.  Abbotsford was more than 30 minutes flying time away under the present routing.  I changed to civil control for separation and got clearance for direct routing to Abbotsford.  We had thirty thousand feet of cloud to penetrate during a long en route descent into Abbotsford.  I brought my two F-18 wingmen into close echelon left formation and we penetrated some dark and dirty weather for the next twenty minutes.  Both MiG-29 pilots remained stable and tucked in on my right wing like they just came off a formation aerobatic team.  We broke out of cloud about five miles short of the runway in Abbotsford, cancelled IFR, and completed a flypast down the runway in this big Vic formation.  I turned the formation to downwind and then waved off the MiG flight to land.  The three F-18s then returned to Comox and went back on Alert.

“I was messaging Fighter Group on the activities of the day when I received a phone call in the Alert Centre from whom I think said was the Russian Air Attaché to Canada.  He wanted to express his sincere appreciation for the assistance provided to the MiG-29 flight.  I was also invited to be his guest at the Soviet Pavilion at the Abbotsford Air Show.  I was planning on taking two CF-18s to Abbotsford for static display anywise and accepted the invitation.

“On the first day of the air show I approached the Soviet Pavilion and asked the rather large and burly guy at the entrance to speak with the MiG-29 pilots.  He took my name and returned several minutes later to advise me that I could not see them.  I tried one more time on the second day of the air show and was treated quite poorly.  I laughed it off and knew we were still a long way off from detente.

“The third day of the air show, Sunday, 13 August, 1989, I was taking my turn at standing with the static display CF-18.  One of my buddies came out of the crowd and said MGen Scott Eichel wanted to see me.  MGen Eichel advised me that the Soviets had decided to allow a Canadian pilot to fly the MiG-29 without any reciprocal requirement for a Russian pilot to fly a Western aircraft.

“Associate Deputy Minister of Defence, Mary Collins, who was visiting the air show, was convinced to allow this to happen and reversed the decision by the Minister of Defence.  This was a very gutsy call on her part as it was a very politically sensitive issue.  I was putting on Russian test pilot Roman Taskaev’s G-suit when Mary Collins introduced herself to me.  I can quote exactly what she said, “Major Wade, Don’t Fuck This Up”, and then walked away.

“I had to wear Roman’s helmet and G-suit as our gear would not connect to the MiG-29 system.  Roman is about six inches shorter and 40 pounds heavier than me so the equipment really didn’t fit that well.  Mikoyan test pilot Valerie Menitsky was to fly with me in the rear seat.  Valerie was very personable and spoke to me through the use of a translator as he had very little command of the English language.  He showed me the front cockpit and controls and the use of the emergency escape systems.  I strapped into the front seat with the help of a ground crew technician and he assisted me in starting the engines.

“I taxied the aircraft as Valerie had very poor visibility from the rear cockpit.  Valerie and I had agreed on the ground that he would shake the stick and say “Valerie pilot” when he wanted control to fly and would say “Bob pilot” when I was to take control.  The HUD (heads up display) and all weapons systems were turned off for the flight due to intelligence concerns.  The flight instrumentation was analog with height displayed in meters and speed displayed in kilometres.  It was readily apparent that this would be a seat of the pants experience as the instrumentation meant little without any time to study numbers such as speeds for take off and landing and G limitations.

“I got clearance for take off from the tower and then taxied to the runway centerline.  Valerie said nothing throughout this portion of the flight.  After selecting full afterburner the aircraft accelerated incredibly fast and it was obvious that we had better thrust to weight power than that of the CF-18.  I was the CF-18 demonstration pilot in 1986 and had a fair amount of experience at low altitude high performance manoeuvring.  This gave me a good reference when making an assessment of the MiG-29‘s performance.  The take-off loop was part of my F-18 air show routine but I had noticed that the Russian pilots did a roll off the top manoeuvre during their shows.  I elected to do the roll off the top as per the Russian routine on my take off.

“The MiG-29 accelerated as I pulled through the vertical after take off.  It was obvious now that the MiG-29 had superior thrust to weight performance.  I rolled the aircraft to level flight as the nose approached the horizon and could see that there was an excellent roll rate even at low airspeed.  I wanted to see the low speed performance of the aircraft and pulled hard into the vertical again to complete the first half of a snowman manoeuvre or one loop on top of the other. The MiG’s roll rate and stability at slow speed was equal to or better than any fighter I had flown.  Valerie then shook the stick and said “Valerie pilot”.  I relinquished control to him and Valerie took the aircraft into a hard 180-degree turn and then pulled the nose to the vertical while bringing both throttles to idle.

"The MiG decelerated rapidly as we climbed through about 5000 feet AGL (above ground level).  I could feel the G forces drop below one as the speed decreased to zero with the nose still 90 degrees to the horizon.  The aircraft entered a tail slide with no vibration or pitching moment and appeared quite stable as we began to fall back toward the ground.  Valerie held the nose vertical with small stick inputs for several seconds and then relaxed the back pressure on the stick and the nose began to fall immediately.  I had seen the tail slide several times from the ground and knew the recovery was quick and predictable but had no idea how little pilot input was required.  The CF-18 required about 5000 of altitude to recover from a tail slide and was not always predictable.  The MiG-29 recovered in less than 500 feet and was very stable throughout the entire procedure.

"Valerie used full afterburner on the recovery and both engines lit off in burner at exactly the same time.  Western jet engines are great but afterburner light off varies somewhat at that extreme edge of the flight envelope.  I was pleased to then hear Valerie say “Bob pilot” and I assumed control without delay.  I pulled the aircraft back into the vertical and duplicated the tail slide Valerie had just demonstrated.  The aircraft handled just as easily as Valerie had made it look.  I next wanted to assess the high angle of attack manoeuvring capability of the MiG-29 and pulled the aircraft up and entered another tail slide.  I held the aircraft nose at about 70 degrees nose up on the recovery in full afterburner and then tried manoeuvring laterally through the use of aileron and rudder.

"The MiG had an amazing ability to point its nose and remain stable at high alpha.  Valerie then took control and flew back over the airfield.  He entered a flat 360 turn at about three hundred feet AGL and maintained what I thought felt like seven or eight G.  The aircraft didn’t decay any airspeed throughout the turn while in full afterburner.  Valerie then passed control back to me and was trying to get me to land as we were a bit low on fuel.  I set up for landing, dropped the gear and flap, and tried to guess at an appropriate airspeed.  Valerie said nothing so I was happy touching down at the speed we had and braking to a stop was effortless.  The MiG-29 had no nose wheel steering so differential brake was required to get the MiG to where we wanted to go.  I was very impressed with what I had just seen.  The obvious lesson to be learned was that given equal pilots we in the West would be at a disadvantage when gun fighting the MiG-29.  I had no opportunity to assess the MiG’s performance at medium to high altitude or to see the weapons displays or radar capability but from a visual dog fight arena this was one fine fighter.

"The Russians swept me away to their private pavilion after we deplaned.  There were about ten of us in the tent and I was the only Westerner.  The atmosphere was very happy and celebratory. Tumbler size glasses were filled to slightly more than half full with vodka.  The translator called for a toast to Mikoyan and the MiG-29.  Everyone emptied their glasses in one set of thirsty gulps and I followed suit.  The next toast with an equal amount of vodka was to Canada and Major Wade.  Again the glasses were emptied in one non- stop set of gulps.  My ears started to ring and my skin tingled.  I wasn’t a teetotaller but rarely drank.

“Once again the glasses were filled and this time it was a toast to the Soviet Union.  I couldn’t refuse and once again downed the drink.  Everything became a bit of blur after this point and I don’t really remember how long the celebrations lasted.  I did several interviews with the media after departing the Soviet Pavilion and they weren’t the most eloquent of presentations.  You can still see some of the interviews if you search Google for Major Bob Wade and also MiG-29.

“The Canadian Forces gained a bit of an intelligence coup from this flight and I spent a good deal of time traveling around to various NATO and USAF Bases during the next year telling of my experience.  This was a tense time during the Cold War as the world knew the Soviets were experiencing financial difficulties.  The world didn’t know how they would solve that problem and the collapse of the USSR wasn’t a first guess.  It is my belief that the Mikoyan Aircraft Company knew they were going to have to market the MiG-29 to remain solvent.  They needed to establish credibility in the Western world to accomplish that goal.  The air shows at Paris and Abbotsford were the first two stops.

“By the third day of the Abbotsford show it became obvious that the Canadians and Americans would not allow them to fly the F-18, F-15 or F-16 aircraft.  The Soviets then presumably thought that the good press they would receive by allowing a Western fighter pilot to assess their aircraft was the best alternative.  I think they liked the press I gave them as they asked me to fly a new air superiority vectored thrust variant of an aircraft then known as the Sukhoi Su-27 (codenamed “Flanker“) at the Farnborough Air Show in 1996.

“I left the military in 1991 to fly with Canada 3000 Airlines and was an A320 Captain at the time.  The Russians were working through an associate from Langley, Virginia and knew that I was no longer a fighter pilot.  I had the airline tickets from Vancouver to London Heathrow on the Saturday before leaving for the show on Sunday.  Twelve hours before the flight was to depart I received a call from this same guy in Langley to advise me that the aircraft would not be shown in Farnborough and the trip was cancelled.  In 1999 I joined Korean Air Lines and flew out of Seoul, South Korea.  I was an A 330 Captain and had many flights into Moscow.  Through friends I found Anatoly Kvotchur, the Russian MiG-29 test pilot that bailed out in the Paris Air Show oF-1989.  Anatoly is now Deputy-Head of the Institute, State Scientific Centre, Gromov Flight Research Institute in Moscow.  His business card reads: Hero of the Russian Federation, Honoured Test Pilot.  Anatoly still flies many of the advanced Russian fighter aircraft and has several world records. He confirmed the Su-31 was not ready for the Farnborough Show.  Valerie Menitsky didn’t remain in the test and development world but is doing well in business.  Roman Taskaev is a test pilot on helicopters.”

Major Wade concluded, “It makes me smile to think of all (these) wonderful guys. We did have fun!”

Major-General Scott Eichel provided his recollections on the events around the MiG exchange flight Major Wade made at Abbotsford in 1989, stating, “I had flown to Vancouver to attend the Abbotsford Airshow and arrived in the terminal to receive a “page” from which I learned I was to call Ottawa immediately.  There was, as I recall, a message from the Deputy Minister’s office explaining that a Soviet Airforce delegation led by Marshall Skomorokhov was arriving for the Airshow, apparently without the foreknowledge of either DND or External Affairs!  This seemed a bit strange but the game was afoot and I was instructed, as the senior officer in the neighbourhood, to host the Marshall and his party.  There were no other details beyond his arrival time.

“I met with the air display organizers who were local people and who had been doing this for some years.   Apart from this group were the trade show people who appeared to have invited the Soviets.  At a reception on the Friday , the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Paul Manson,  who had been made aware of the situation, told me that  exchange flights between the Canadians and Soviets were not to take place.  It was well understood the Russians would have liked to have a good look at the CF-18 and I didn’t need any prompting to understand how pressure would be applied accordingly.

“The air display organizers allowed me to set up a small “Ops” area, with telephone, in one corner of their pavilion and from there I enlisted the help of LCdr Considine who was a CF public affairs officer and who turned out to be a considerable help.  I secured a staff car and duly met the Marshall on his arrival at the airport.  We got along quite well and agreed to visit certain static displays together, a situation which was greatly helped by the intervention of the air display organizers.  We started doing the rounds during which time the Associate MND, Mary Collins showed up and offered to assist in what she had realized was an unusual and unexpected turn of events.  She had been on a private visit with her daughter.

“It was not long of course before the Marshall began asking about exchange rides between the MiG-29 and the CF-18.  He kept the pressure on throughout the weekend, frequently repairing with his delegation to caucus.  I consistently refused any idea of exchange rides and Ms. Collins, who read the situation well, regularly made herself available for discussion.  She was supportive and understood the CDS direction.  But as the weekend wore on, it was possible to discern a shift in the situation.  Not only were the Soviets keeping the heat on but some of our own people, notably Col Dave Jurkowski, BComd Cold Lake, were suggesting that a Canadian pilot, namely Major Wade making a flight in the MiG-29 might be a good thing to do.  Bob himself made it plain that he was willing and able, indeed anxious, to do so.  The on- scene Pentagon representative whom I knew professionally, was naturally concerned about CF-18 technology being accessed by the Soviets but it seemed to me there was no clear  reason why we could not go in the other direction, being mindful of the CDS\s instructions.  The challenge was to resist pressure for reciprocity.

“By the Sunday afternoon of the last day the Soviets had apparently given up any hope for a CF-18 ride and the issue became one of whether or not Bob Wade could be allowed to fly in the MiG-29.  The Russians were keen to have this happen (perhaps with a view to future considerations?), and at about 1500 hrs Ms. Collins and I met to go over the situation.  I recall saying “...the world is changing”, and I went on to say that I thought  we (the Canadian Forces) would appear more out of tune with reality if we prevented the flight than if we gave the OK.  She did not disagree.  It was decided to let the flight go ahead with a couple of provisos which I set out and to which she agreed; these being that the flight would take place after the show’s end at 1700 hrs and that there would be no public  announcement of the event.  We called over Colonel Jurkowski and Major Wade, told them of this decision and then advised the Soviets accordingly.  Ms. Collins added another proviso to me that I was to call the CDS immediately on my return to my hotel in Vancouver.  I needed no prompting on that count.

“Immediately on completion of the regular  airshow, cheerfully disregarding my instructions, a PA announcement blared out that history was about to be made, or something to that effect and whatever numbers of the crowd who were leaving turned around and came back to watch the show.  And a very good show it was.  Indeed it would have been a pity to have missed it.

“On returning to my hotel I called the DCDS, LGen David Huddleston and briefed him fully on what had happened. He listened without comment.

“By the time I returned to Ottawa it was considered that Bob had scored a coup, as indeed he had, and he was soon invited to speak of his experience to all and sundry.

“A post-script to this might be a question as to why I didn’t call the DCDS for guidance before agreeing to Major Wade’s ride.  The answer is that until Sunday around noon the issue had been fairly clear.  But the situation had indeed been shifting and, as you will doubtless understand, there are times when the person on the spot is in the best position to appreciate and assess the intangibles.  And take the consequences.

“That …is how I remember events.  It all seems fairly quaint now but 1989 was another time and such contact was not usual for most of us in those days.  Interestingly, to me at least, is that not long after, while I was still CADO, I led the first Canadian Airforce delegation to the USSR.  Perestroika was under way and we were afforded some very interesting insights that would have been out of the question not long before.”[10]

 1990 Airshow Season

The following year the Russians brought another MiG-29 team to Canada, with plans made for putting on an airshow in Ottawa for Canada day festivities.  Warrant Officer Vic Johnson, a Canadian Forces Photo Technician provided the details and photos in the story that follows.

Captain Craig Richmond of 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron, CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, led a flight of five CF-18s from 441 and 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron to escort the MiGs as they transited from Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska to CFB Comox in British Columbia.  Captain Craig stated, “Our job was to make sure they got there.”

From CFB Comox, Captain René Leblanc of 441 Squadron took over as flight leader for the Comox to Winnipeg leg of the trip.  In Winnipeg, four CF-18s from CFB Bagotville, Quebec, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Ray Levasseur, Commanding Officer of 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, took over the escort for the next leg of the trip to Ottawa.

CF-18  flown by LCol Ray Levasseur , CO of 433 Sqn, escorting MiG-29  single seat variant flown by Roman Taskaev , and a MiG-29 dual seat variant flown by Marat Alykov , and navigator Yuri Bramkov  in the back seat on the Winnipeg to Ottawa leg of their flight on 30 June 1990.  (CF Photo by Vic Johnson )

View of the MiG-29  flown by Roman Taskaev , from the back seat of the CF-18  flown by LCol Ray Levasseur , 30 June 1990.  (CF Photo by Vic Johnson )

The two MiG-29s included a single-seater which would perform a spectacular air demonstration in Ottawa and a dual-seat aircraft for static display.  Both had flown into Elmendorf AFB from Anadyr, a Russian Air Base in north-eastern Siberia, following several hops across the Asian continent.  The longer route from west to east was chosen rather than staging through Europe because of the complications of overflight clearances through several European countries.  The MiGs were followed by an Ilyushin Il-76 (codenamed Candid) transport aircraft that carried support crews, spare parts and ground handling equipment.

The Soviet pilots, Roman Taskaev and Marat Alykov, were both civilian test pilots serving with the USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry.  Both pilots were assigned to the Mikoyan Design Bureau in Moscow, which is the same company that builds MiGs.  Their navigator flying in the back seat of the dual MiG-29 was Yuri Bramkov

The CF-18 and MiG-29 crews met at Elmendorf AFB for their first face-to-face briefing and mission planning session.  Captain Richmond stated, “Communication wasn’t a great problem, but it wasn’t easy either.  The Russians had a fair grasp of English, but spoke with heavy accents.”

The airmen tried to foresee and resolve any potential problems that might arise as a result of equipment and procedural differences in their rather unorthodox mixed formation.  Soviet equipment and procedures differ from those in the Canadian Forces, sometimes significantly.  In Russia, for example, military aircraft have top priority over all other air traffic.

Captain Richmond stated, “On a previous escort mission through Elmendorf, the Soviet fighters were parked where we couldn’t see them from where we were.  We were strapped in our aircraft, ready to go for more than an hour while we waited for the Russians to get ready.  Then they just suddenly flashed up their engines and blasted off.  All we could do was scramble our aircraft and try to catch up with their smoke.  At any other time or place, that could be seen as a violation of regulations, but under the circumstances, everyone just tended to look the other way.”

To ensure this didn’t happen again, the two lead CF-18s positioned themselves in front of the MiGs with three CF-18s in trail for taxi and take-off procedures.  That worked well and the departure went without incident, although Captain Richard noted that, “In spite of that, there were moments of consternation once we were airborne.  Most of the flight was over open seas, and that, combined with coastal weather and a lack of alternate airports, was enough to keep our attention up.

On arrival in Comox, more than 1,000 spectators watched the fighters perform a seven-plane “V” formation flypast before landing.

The first and only significant hiccup of the trip occurred at CFB Comox where it was discovered that the MiG-29s don’t burn JP-4 fuel – the type used by NATO fighters.  Instead, they use Jet-B, a fuel used by civilian airliners.  The nearest Jet-B fuel available was in Vancouver, and it had to be shipped in by tanker trucks aboard a ferry.  This caused a 12-hour delay but was a relief for the pilots who had already experienced a 14-hour duty day.  They just went to bed.

The next morning, all flight crews were up early and airborne shortly after sunrise.  By the time the crews were flying over the Rockies and the Prairies they had grown comfortable with each other.  After a formation approach and flypast, the fighters landed in Winnipeg on a glorious Manitoba summer day and were met by Lieutenant-General Fred Sutherland, Commander of Air Command.  He and his staff, along with a large group of local media, were given the opportunity to closely inspect the MiGs.  While they were doing so, the Soviet aircrew wolfed down an huge breakfast during a briefing with Lieutenant-Colonel Levasseur and the 433 Squadron pilots who would lead them on to Ottawa.

LGen Fred Sutherland , Commander Air Command, poses in front of a MiG-29  with Soviet aircrews at CFB Winnipeg, prior to their flight to Ottawa in June 1990.  To his right are Yury Brmakov , navigator, Marat Alykov  and Roman Taskaev , pilots.  (CF Photo by Vic Johnson)

Lieutenant-Colonel Levasseur reported, “They speak better English than I do Russian.”  He explained certain manoeuvres with hand gestures – the international language of pilots, but it all came down to one basic concept, expressed by Lieutenant-Colonel Levasseur, “We lead – you follow – no problem!”

After taking off from Winnipeg, the fighters swung wide to fly to the west of the city, then joined up in tight formation for a low flypast for media and spectators before climbing to 39,000 feet for the transit to Ottawa.  En route, the weather changed from a gorgeous prairie high pressure system to an Ontario low with associated clouds and rain.  At altitude, that was no problem and so the fighters flew above the weather.  However, a formation let-down through the murk could have been precarious if the aircraft had become separated.

Although the Soviet pilots were familiar with the international rules of flight, and their aircraft were equipped with an instrument landing system (ILS), approaching a busy, unfamiliar airport – even under ideal conditions – can be a challenge.  But when weather conditions make you feel like you’re inside a ping-pong ball, and the radios crackle with an unfamiliar language, the pucker factor goes up in direct relation to the number of minutes of fuel remaining.

Thirty minutes from Ottawa, the fighters began their approach.  Viewing the situation from the front seat of his dual CF-18, Major Yvan Blondin, the Deputy Flight leader commented, “It sure is dark down here,” as six ghostly shadows groped their way through the gloom.  Fortunately, the formation stayed together until it broke through to a low ceiling and heavy rain showers over the city of Ottawa.

Once again the fighters tucked in tight for a formation flypast by Ottawa airport and the site of the National Capital Airshow, then made a wide swing over the city before landing.  After a flight of more than 20,000 kilometres – half way around the world – the MiGs had arrived.[11] 

 1993 Airshow Season

During the first summer after the declaration of Independence of Ukraine  from the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Air Force embarked upon a tour of air shows across Europe and North America.  It was the first time that Ukrainian colors were flown on Ukrainian Air Force fighters in the West.  Major Hank “Hankster” Blasiak  stated, “I had the good fortune to fly with the MiG-29  Demonstration Team for the summer of 1993 across Canada and the USA.”[12]  He was serving as the CF-18  Standards Officer in North Bay  in 1992, when, “a request was made for a Ukrainian/Polish speaking pilot in the CF to fly with the MiG-29 Air Demonstration Team for the summer.  I jumped at the opportunity and headed to Edmonton to meet the pilots that were going to spend the summer bringing their MiG-29 Demonstration Team to various airports across North America.  (They didn’t speak a whiff of English).  Our first trip was a test flight after the two aircraft were unloaded from their Antonov An-225  “Mirya” (codenamed “Cossack ”) transport plane.[13]  

Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29  with a pair of USAF F-16s.  (Photo courtesy Hank Blasiak)

“The wings were put back on the aircraft and an uneventful test flight was carried out.  The fun started when we were RTB (return to base) and Valery requested an airshow practice.  None of this was coordinated with ATC (air traffic control), so on the fly, I arranged this with Tower and we shut down the airspace over the base for 10 minutes.  The first surprise, which I was not prepared for was the cobra manoeuvre followed by a tail slide right over the base.  After flying over 2,000 hours in the CF-18 , I was duly impressed and over the course of the many airshows we flew in, the plane behaved exactly the same way each time.  

Ukranian Air Force MiG-29  with CF-18 .

“The pilots were extremely competent and I got to know them quite well as we progressed through the airshow season. I was even able to get all of them (four Colonels) to my grandmother’s house in Toronto for Borsch and perogies!  We became and still are very good friends and despite the geographical, military and cultural differences between our two countries, it showed that the pilot brotherhood is alive and well!

“Much preplanning had to go into each transit to the airshows as you had to program all the nav aids and radio frequencies on the ground.  Once airborne, you could not select a different frequency, so we had to be spot on with our preparations.  (No defecting for us!).  After the third airshow, while we were in London, I purchased a Garmin 200 GPS (Global Positioning System), which we installed on the aircraft.  This enabled us to get around with a little more confidence as I’m sure we stressed many of our center controllers with our navigation abilities.

“On many airshows, the advance team wasn’t able to make it to the next airport, so many times we landed without a drag chute.  Some of the runways were 5,000 feet long and believe me, we used up every inch of the pavement just so we wouldn’t have to pack the chute (and the brakes were “red-hot”).  On the odd time we did use the chute, it was deployed while still about 2,000 back from the runway and about 10 feet in the air.  This also got my attention the first time they did this, as it was the last thing I expected and something we had never done in the CF.

“The aircraft was very sturdy and rarely broke down during the summer...a great workhorse.  The cockpit was tight and nothing like HOTAS  (hands-on throttle and stick) capabilities of the Hornet.  Every switch was a manual selection, much like the F-5 . The aircraft had a very rudimentary HUD  (head-up display) and their version of “bitching Betty” (audible spoken warning system) frankly scared the pants off me...you wouldn’t want to make any mistakes with that voice barking at you!  The acceleration was more powerful than the CF-18  but it couldn’t turn very well, due to the “alpha-limiter” (angle of attack limiter) on the control column, which restricted the rate at which you could turn, at least on this earlier version of the MiG-29  we were flying.

"I fondly remember the first time we crossed the US border on the way to Fort Wayne, Indiana from London, Ontario.  Immediately upon entering US airspace, we were intercepted by F-16  Fighting Falcon fighters from Vermont and numerous photo opportunities were taken.  To compliment the photos, the F-16’s took advantage of getting all the HUD  film they could get on us, since this was the first chance to have a MiG-29  in their sites.  Fox 1s, Fox 2s[14] and Guns were called from all angles and I’m sure these films became prized possessions for the lucky few who could say they had accomplished this.  (The back of my head is probably in a lot of these photos!).

“The summer ended up passing all too quickly, and in all we had performed airshows in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Bagotville , North Bay , Trenton , Toronto, London, Indiana and Pittsburgh.  I finished my “brief” MiG-29  tour with 24 hours on the machine, 4 of which were front seat time.  Best summer in my 23 years with the Canadian Air Force!”[15]

BGen (Ret’d) Claude Thibault , a former Commander of Canadian Forces Europe (CFE) wrote, “in May 1993, as Comd CFE, I led a delegation from Lahr to Posnan in Poland .  This was a reciprocal visit as the Poles had visited CFE and four of them got rides in the CF-18 .  We were later joined in Poland by LGen Huddleston , Commander Air Command.  In the delegation, I had the likes of Col Lloyd Campbell, Comd 4 Wing, LCol Ed Campbell and Maj Cash Poulson and eight other officers from CFE.  Four of us got to fly, two on the MiG-29  and two on the Sukhoi Su-22  (Fencer F).  I flew in the Su-22 and I believe Dave Huddleston  flew in the MiG but I’m not sure about the other two.  On a related topic, on 17 June 1992, Capt Koturna and I flew to Berlin (Schonefeld) in CF-18D 928.[16]

“The flight I took was on 5 May 1993 with Polish Air Force Major Ostaszewski in Su-22  No. 304.  After a good briefing on the aircraft and the ejection system, I was strapped into the back seat and we took off.  It was a very impressive take-off, the acceleration comparable to a CF-101  Voodoo.  The aircraft was very stable and felt solid and heavy on the controls.  We had a 250 kg bomb under each wing and the cannon.  We proceeded to a gunnery range north of Poznan where the two bombs were dropped separately in two passes.  The targets were old MiG aircraft and some army vehicles.  We then did two strafing passes on the same targets.  As all the air-to-ground communications were in Polish, I missed a lot of the commentary.  We then went low level to just under Mach 1 and returned to base for a full stop landing.  The flight lasted some 35-40 minutes.

“The aircraft itself seemed very powerful with its huge engine but not very manoeuvrable.  The forward visibility from the back seat was very limited and, in fact, there was a periscope undoubtedly to assist a backseat monitor or instructor on approach and landing.

“The thing that struck us all the most was how structured all their missions were.  In the first place, the flying time was extremely limited and each mission was rehearsed ad nauseam before the actual take-off.  Even then, the whole flight was monitored very closely from the ground using a variety of sensors.”[17]

Lieutenant General David Huddleston  stated, “I did fly a Polish MiG-29  (back seat) at Minsk on 6 May 1993 during the visit Claude describes.  Actually, my ADC and I joined the CFE group at Rhein-Main (USAF Base, Germany ) where the Poles picked us up in a Yak-40 (codenamed “Codling”) – a small three-engined airliner.  I had perhaps a 30-minute flight in the MiG-29 at Minsk and found it much like other aircraft of that vintage in handling and performance generally.  We stayed very close to the airfield; indeed the furthest we flew was at the very end when he positioned the aircraft for a straight-in approach from at least 10 miles out, which left me staring into the periscope to see the field ahead.  It seemed so incongruous after throwing the aircraft through a whole series of aerobatics within sight of the runway.

 “This seemed to demonstrate something of a paradox which, I suspect, we only came to appreciate fully as we came to know these people, and which was reinforced at Minsk when we visited the simulator.  They would go through each sortie from take-off to landing in the simulator under close supervision before flying it, leaving little room for deviation.  They certainly flew much less frequently than our pilots did (probably around 100 hours a year), so they should reasonably have wanted to extract the maximum from each sortie, but it seemed to be more a matter of overcontrol, even mistrust.  How that attitude played into my flight is hard to deduce, but I had rather expected a more expeditious return to the runway after an energetic flight.”[18]

LGen Huddleston ‘s comments reminded me of the stories from the Korean War, in which a number of aviation analysts assessed that if the MiG-15  equipped with a copy of a British jet engine and heavy cannon had been flown by well-trained (Western) pilots, the combat kill ratios against North American or Canadair-built F-86  Sabres would have been reversed.  The MiG-15 could out-climb, out-turn, and fly higher than the US-built F-86 Sabre.[19]  The advantage western pilots had was that they had far more training and flying hours and if the Russian, Chinese and Korean pilots had had the same skills, the air war would have been far more deadly for opponents on all sides in the Korean conflict.  Based on these reports, it would appear that little has changed, even in peacetime, and that it would appear we still have the formula right - getting more experience in the air, even if the equipment is old.  Colonel Erich Alfred “Bubi” Hartmann , Germany ‘s leading WWII air combat ace with 352 kills, still preferred flying his Messerschmitt Bf-109 long after most pilots had moved on to Focke Wulf Fw-190s, and because of his skill it worked for him.[20]

The 1993 Summer Airshow Season saw Air Demonstration performances by the “Russian Knights ” flying in their Sukhoi Su-27s (codenamed Flanker ) at a number of airshows, including the Abbotsford  Air Show in August that year.  LCol John Bagshaw was one of at least two CF pilots who went up in a visiting Flanker.[21]  

Russian Knights Su-27 and CF-18 on the runway at Abbotsford.

LCol Eric Volstad , Commanding Officer 412 VIP Transport Squadron, Ottawa stated, “…As much as I enjoy flying the Challenger these days, I often miss the adventure of flight testing, and the MiG-29  was certainly a highlight for me!…during my 13-½ months with the International Test Pilots School (now dormant) in Woodford, Cheshire, I had the thrill of flying all kinds of interesting airplanes, with all kinds of interesting organisations.  I went to Russia twice on my course - first in November 1997, for a four-flight performance testing program with the MiG-MAPO company test pilots at their production test airfield in Lukhovitsy; and again in July 1998, for ten flights at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky.  From the first flight onwards, I had a blast.  In fact, that first flight is one I often recall, doing a check climb/level acceleration with afterburner (AB) from brake release to 10,000 metres/1.4 Mach.  Nothing out of the ordinary about that...except, the ceiling was 100 metres obscured in snow, 1 km visibility, with moderate rime icing up to 5000 metres – and the instruments I was flying on were so utterly foreign to me that I had to do a double-take just to convince myself I was right-side up in cloud!  Ah, to be young and foolish like that again...The cockpit systems spoke of a very different doctrine from ours in the West – I couldn’t tune radio and navigation aids to different frequencies for different airports around the world; I only had three big pushbuttons which allowed me to choose one of three Russian airports to land at... One “significant emotional event” was deploying the drag chute the first time, the Russian way...while still airborne, two metres off the deck.  Other highlights included a flight devoted to cobra manoeuvres and tailslides to determine safe entry parameters, etc, and a level accel to 2.1 Mach followed by a climb to 21,800 metres (~71000 ft).  When I got a right engine overheat up there and had to shut the thing down, I was glad that I was wearing a well-designed Russian pressure suit and sitting on a legendary Zvezda K-36DM ejection seat, just in case things really started to go south on me.  But apart from the odd snag like that, and the limited avionics, the jet was superbly well-behaved and a joy to fly.  Honestly though, the best memories were of the guys I worked with in Russia - confident pilots, stoic, smart, and very human. Had we grown up in the same neighbourhood, in a different era, we would have been best friends.” [22]

There are currently a number of MiG-29s to found in the West.  The German Democratic Republic bought 24 MiG-29s (20 MiG-29As, 4 MiG-29UBs), which entered service in 1988–1989.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the reunification of Germany  in October 1990, the MiG-29s and other planes of the Luftstreitskrafte der NVA were integrated into the Luftwaffe.  After upgrades by Daimler Chrysler Aerospace (now EADS) for NATO compatibility, they were designated MiG-29G and MiG-29GT.  In March 1991, one of the MiG-29s in German service was transferred to the USAF for evaluation, along with several Sukhoi Su-22  and MiG-23s.

During their service in the Luftwaffe, one MiG-29  (“29+09”) was destroyed during an accident on 25 June 1996 due to pilot error.  In September 2003, 22 of the 23 remaining machines were sold to the Polish Air Force for the symbolic price of €1 per plane.  The last of these airplanes were transferred in August 2004.  The 23^rd MiG-29 (“29+03”) remained on display in Laage, Germany , before being moved to the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr in Berlin’s Gatow Airport in 2006.

In 1997, the United States purchased 21 Moldovan MiG-29s for evaluation and analysis.  Fourteen were the MiG-29S variant, which is equipped with an active radar jammer in its spine and is capable of being armed with nuclear weapons.  Part of the United States motive to purchase these aircraft was to prevent them from being sold to “rogue states”, especially Iran .  In late 1997, the MiGs were delivered to the National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC ) at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. 

One former Moldovan MiG-29S is currently on display at the National Museum of the USAF at Wright-Patterson.  As of June 2007, the aircraft has been put in display at the Cold War Exhibit of the Museum and continues to receive minor upgrading while on display.  One MiG-29UB is on display at the NAIC  headquarters of the base.  Many of the former Moldovan MiG-29s are believed to have been scrapped.  One MiG-29  is on display at Nellis AFB , Nevada, in Soviet colours alongside a MiG-23 ; while another of the former Moldovan aircraft is located on the base in its original camouflage.  A MiG-29 is on display at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada and another is on display at MacDill AFB , Florida, minus its canopy, while a third is located at Goodfellow AFB in Texas.  One MiG-29 is on display outside the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.[23]  The John T. Sessions Historic Aircraft Foundation in Seattle, Washington, recently acquired a MiG-29UB Reg No. N29UB.[24]

 FOOTNOTES

Related Page:  Picture Gallery