When I think of Soviet Cold War era helicopters, the Mil Mi-24 Hind assault helicopter gunship first springs to mind. Brutish and sinister, bristling with weaponry from the flexible 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B Gatling gun (or 23mm/30mm fixed cannons on some models) to underwing rockets, bombs, gun pods and anti-tank missiles, it can pack a… Read More Mil Mi-24 Hind – Soviet Era Beast From The East!
1960’s Indonesia and the Eastern Bloc Sukarno was the post independence Presidential leader of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967. Indonesia declared independence from Japan in 1945, but it took armed resistance with the Netherlands, the pre-war colonial power, to gain official independence in 1949. In 1957 he began to instill an autocratic system of… Read More The Soviet Era of the Indonesian Air Force
Some of the Mil Mi-24 Hind assault gunships at the Ukraine State Aviation Museum in Kiev have had a bit of a make-over. Who would have thought these mean looking, Cold War era death dealers could become a stunning work of art?! The painted examples are Mi-24P Hind F (620+ produced 1981 – 1989) and… Read More Aviation Art With Cold War Muscle!
On the far side of the outdoor air park at the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow you will find a very unusual oddity in aviation history. There you will see a bizarre looking jet powered twin boom biplane that could well have been inspired by Frank Herbert’s tales of Dune! What is it? This large… Read More The PZL M-15 Belphegor – Straight from the Pages of Herbert’s Dune!
In addition to the aircraft flown by East Germany, the Technik Museum Speyer also has plenty of other Cold War era Soviet and Warsaw Pact aircraft in its halls and airpark. It’s pretty cool to enter the belly of a Beast from the East as you walk inside a huge 1960’s era Antonov An-22 Cock strategic… Read More Technik Museum Speyer – Soviet & Warsaw Pact Tech
Soviet air power was characterised by powerful, fast, rugged, heavily armed combat aircraft but technologically and maneuverability wise they were generally regarded as inferior to western designs. Then in the 1980’s two true “Beasts from the East” appeared and changed this opinion all together in the form of the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum and Sukhoi Su-27… Read More Central Museum of the Armed Forces – Moscow
In my previous blogs I discussed the early experimental, prototype and operational V/STOL combat jet aircraft that were developed in the late 1950’s through to the late 1970’s. By the 1980’s significant improvements had been made in performance, handling and the weapons load capability of new V/STOL combat jets. The following is a brief history on these second generation V/STOL… Read More A Brief History of V/STOL Combat Aircraft – Part III: From the Harrier II to the Yak-141
Vertical/Short Take Off Vertical Landing (V/STOL) combat jet aircraft began to enter service to operate from normal bases, damaged airfields, rugged forward field deployments close to combat zones and from air-capable ships such as aircraft carriers and helicopter carriers. The United Kingdom, France, West Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States dabbled with V/STOL aircraft designs but ultimately only the… Read More A Brief History of V/STOL Combat Aircraft – Part II: Enter the Harrier and the Soviet Forger
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star “Ace Maker II” jet trainer in USAF markings and a Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot fighter in North Korean markings during the Korean War demonstration at Aviation Nation 2014. This pairing made for a unique display of 1950’s jet powered designs from the United States and the Soviet Union. Another 1950’s jet powered bird… Read More Aviation Nation 2014: East Meets West
During the early years of World War Two in Europe, both Great Britain and Russia needed a vast amount of military equipment to combat Germany and other Allied nations needed help against Japan. These countries lost a lot of equipment in the early Axis onslaught and their need for replacements far surpassed their own production capability.… Read More Lend-Lease Memorial – Fairbanks, Alaska
Aces Flying High 